by Pete Denk

Two questions hover over the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. August yearling sale, which begins its four-day run in Ocala on Monday—will the sale be impacted by weather and will supply meet demand?

Tropical storm Fay was near Cuba on Sunday, and while forecasts vary, some predict she will strengthen to hurricane status before coming ashore late Tuesday or early Wednesday between Sarasota and Fort Myers, Florida, before moving north toward Ocala.

More germane to the sale, buy-back rates have been on the rise in 2008.

OBSC has cataloged 1,342 yearlings—compared with 1,508 cataloged last year—and shortened the sale from five days to four.

“The price range of the horses, especially on Monday’s select day, are right in the range where the pinhookers are very active and comfortable, so I think that helps us,” said Tom Ventura, general manager of OBSC. “The three open days where we have more moderately priced horses, that’s the question: how will those horses be impacted?

“We have 150 less horses this year, which probably is not a bad thing in terms of reducing the supply a little bit.”

La Chica Sensual’s 8¼-length victory in the $100,000 Desert Vixen division of the Florida Stallion series at Calder Race Course on Sunday was just the kind of advertisement Ventura hopes will bring continued success to the August sale.

Although it usually takes two or three years to judge the success of a given auction, La Chica Sensual joined fellow 2007 August graduates Emmy Darling, Southern Exchange, and Fellow Crasher as two-year-old stakes winners.

“The good thing about this sale is that it’s been productive, and that helps in getting return buyers and drawing attention to the sale,” Ventura said. “I hope the average holds up and the buy-backs are reasonable.”

Last year, 945 horses from 1,319 offered sold for total receipts of $18,726,900. Average price was $19,817 and the median was $9,500. The buy-back rate was 28.4%.

Ventura said he does not think the tropical storm will impact the sale, although he said OBSC officials, like most Florida residents, were monitoring the storm.

“At this point it’s still a tropical storm, and it looks like we’ll be fine for a couple days,” Ventura said. “Once those storms get going on the water, you never know which way they’re going to go.

“Ocala can certainly get hit by heavy rain and winds, but typically [hurricanes] slow down a bit when they hit the coast.”

Sessions begins daily at 10:30 a.m. EDT. The sale runs through Thursday.

Pete Denk is sales editor for Thoroughbred Times