NEWS
Limehouse filly tops OBS spring sale
Posted: Thursday, April 22, 2010 8:34 PM
SALE TOPPER: LIMEHOUSE FILLY
Cynthia McFarland photo
by Cynthia McFarland
The Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. spring sale of two-year-olds in training concluded on a high note on Thursday with across-the-board increases.
After four days of sales, 739 juveniles sold for $20,754,400, an increase of 4.4% compared with last year, when 799 horses sold for $19,879,800. The average price rose 12.9%, from $24,8881 to $28,084, and the median soared 33.3% from $15,000 a year ago to $20,000.
There were 32 six-figure horses this year compared with 13 in 2009. The buy-back rate of 26% was up just slightly from 24% last year.
“The results were excellent and the numbers went in the right direction,” OBS General Manager Tom Ventura said. “There was certainly strength at the upper end, but there was strength through and through. That was a good sign. There were some smiling faces around the barns, and that was nice to see.”
One of the final two-year-olds from Hobeau Farm brought $500,000 on Thursday to top the sale. Trainer Mark Casse, agent, signed the ticket on the chestnut Limehouse filly named Delightful Mary, consigned by Craig L. Wheeler, agent for Hobeau Farm dispersal.
The filly is out of Deputy’s Delight, by French Deputy, and is a half sister to four winners, including millionaire and multiple graded stakes winner Delightful Kiss. She worked a speedy quarter-mile in :20.40 during the presale breeze show.
“I watched [the breeze show] from over on the backside and I was there when she pulled up,” Casse said. “As she was walking back, I walked beside her and she didn’t take a deep breath. She was just remarkable how at ease she was with everything. That impressed me a lot.”
Craig Wheeler has worked for Hobeau Farm, owned by the late Jack L. Dreyfus, for more than three decades. He admitted that selling the sale topper was exciting but also bittersweet as it signaled the end of an era.
“It’s been a great run and it’s ending on a good note,” Wheeler said. “We wish the new owners the best of luck because she acts like the real deal.”
Limehouse, whose first foals are three-year-olds this year, also was the sire of another top-priced horse during the final session as Bob Feld, agent for Sagamore Farm, went to $200,000 for a powerfully built colt from the debut consignment of Alexandra de Meric and Brandon Rice.
“We’re thrilled with the sale results and excited that he got a really good home,” de Meric said. “We wish everybody the best of luck and look forward to see him racing.”
“We evaluated him as one of the top two colts in the sale,” Feld said, adding that the colt would ship to Sagamore Farm in Glyndon, Maryland, and probably race on the East Coast. “I thought he would go for a little more. When you have two people wanting a horse, things can get crazy.
Danny Dion’s Bear Stables took home a strapping With Distinction colt for $200,000 from the consignment of Hartley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds, agent. Out of the Valid Expectations mare Expected Song, the colt impressed many buyers with a fast one-furlong move in :09.80 during the breeze show.
“He hasn’t been pushed hard; he just did it on natural ability,” Randy Hartley said. “He went [:09.80] just because he could do it. [The rider] didn’t hit him with the whip, [he had] no blinkers … just a really clean breeze. He really looked like he was just cruising.”
The sale’s highest-priced colt went through the ring during the opening session on Monday as Alex and JoAnn Lieblong of Arkansas went to $260,000 for a Pleasantly Perfect colt out of the Deputy Minister mare Minister Thatcher. Consigned by Parrish Farms, the chestnut colt breezed a quarter-mile in :20.80.
Three hip numbers from the end of the session on Thursday, the sale was suspended for approximately a half-hour when what appeared to be a problem with the electrical or air conditioning system caused the sales pavilion to fill with haze. The Ocala/Marion County Fire Department responded within minutes. When the problem could not be immediately resolved, the sale resumed 30 to 40 minutes later with the last three horses selling in the back chute rather than inside the building.
Cynthia McFarland is a Florida-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent
|
Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. spring sale of two-year-olds in training
Overall Summary |
|
2010 |
|
2009 |
| No. offered |
998 |
(-5.0%) |
1,051 |
| No. sold |
739 |
(-7.5%) |
799 |
| Pct. not sold |
26.0% |
|
24.0% |
| Gross |
$20,754,400 |
(+4.4%) |
$19,879,800 |
| Average |
$28,084 |
(+12.9%) |
$24,881 |
| Median |
$20,000 |
(+33.3%) |
$15,000 |
| For hip-by-hip results, click here. |
