by John P. Sparkman

Fueled by a flurry of horses that sold for $300,000 or more, average price and total receipts soared to new records as the 2008 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s March sale of selected two-year-olds in training concluded on Wednesday in Ocala.

Led by a sale-topping colt by More Than Ready, purchased for $650,000 by retired aviation executive Dave Clark's Iron Horse Racing, average price soared 36.6% to a record $143,262. Total proceeds rose 25.8% to a new record total of $33,380,000 as OBSC reported 233 horses as sold from 345 offered. Thirty-one horses sold for $300,000 or more, compared with 11 in 2007. Median soared 22% to a record $100,000.

“In this business, and in my position, you try and keep an even keel,” said Tom Ventura, OBSC's director of sales. “When you have really good days, you try to tone it down for days it may not be as good, but this is hard for me to contain. It was an unbelievable sale.

“The quality of horses was exceptional, and also the fact that some of the buyers that have been sitting on the sidelines made the market broader. The top end took care of itself but then the middle and upper middle were very competitive.

“I haven't looked at buyers individually but the good news is if we had 31 $300,000 horses, they weren't all bought by four buyers. It was spread out.”

Seated with trainer Bob Holthus, Clark fought off a number of challengers to secure the sale's highest-priced horse, a half brother to stakes-placed winner Blue Angel out of the Silver Deputy mare Jouled Rhythms.

“He's very athletic and he breezed well within himself," Clark said. "He's by far the best breezer I've ever seen at this sale."

Purchased for $110,000 by consignor Nick de Meric, agent, at the 2007 Keeneland September yearling sale, the colt worked an eighth in :10 at the first presale breeze show.

"You never dare let yourself expect that to happen, but I knew he had the credentials to be a breakout horse," de Meric said, "but to me, half that would have been a breakout.

"In my 25-year career I've only had three horses work in :10 flat, so it's pretty unusual for me. They need to be pretty special to do that in my consignment. He's just the most beautiful mover you'd ever see. He seems to float about eight inches above the ground and he has tremendous reach for a horse his size."

A filly by Trippi consigned by Bryan and Holly Rice's Woodside Ranch, agent for New Bridge Bloodstock, equaled the highest price for a filly at the sale. Out of the Silver Hawk mare Chi, the filly was purchased for $550,000 by Darley USA representative Jimmy Bell, who signed the ticket in the name of John Ferguson, principal buying agent for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum.

"When John [Ferguson] went through all the horses there was a colt and a filly he was most excited to talk to Sheikh Mohammed about," said Jimmy Bell, who also signed the ticket for a colt by Pure Prize at the same price during the first session. "They are very, very similar types—very straightforward. Those that perform the way they have, they answer all your questions. We were very fortunate to get both of them."

"It was a little higher than we expected, but what we hoped for," Bryan Rice said. "She impressed people in her breeze and at the barn also. The vet reports were clean and left the door open for people to buy her.

"It's new ground for Holly and I," Rice said of the highest-priced horse he has ever sold.

Tom Gentry, agent, purchased a Mr. Greeley filly out of Bacardi Cat, by Tale of the Cat, for $550,000 during the opening session.

For hip-by-hip results, click here.

John P. Sparkman is bloodstock editor of Thoroughbred Times