NEWS
Smart Strike colt tops strong first day at OBS March
Posted: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 7:50 PM
SESSION TOPPER: SMART STRIKE COLT
Cynthia McFarland photo
by John P. Sparkman
Led by a $400,000 Smart Strike colt, average price rose 3.9% on the first day of the 2010 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. March sale of selected two-year-olds in training, primarily because of unexpected enthusiasm from buyers in the $200,000 and above range.
Agent Donato Lanni, representing California-based owner Kaleem Shah, signed the ticket on Niall Brennan's Smart Strike colt out of Dixie Holiday, by Dixieland Band, who worked an eighth in :10.20 during the first under-tack show.
“We bought Lookin At Lucky as a two-year-old last year, and this colt reminded me a lot of Lucky," Lanni said. "He has a great disposition and obviously worked very well. Smart Strike, Dixieland Band … he has a stallion's pedigree."
Mike Pegram paid $475,000 for Lookin At Lucky, who also is by Smart Strike, at the 2009 Keeneland April sale of selected two-year-olds in training, and he earned the Eclipse Award as champion two-year-old male. Bob Baffert, Lookin At Lucky's trainer, will train the session topper.
"You never know for sure until they walk in the ring, but I had him valued between $350,000 and $500,000," Brennan said. "You just can't beat a pedigree like that. He may not be overly big on the shank, but he's a big horse on the racetrack."
On the day, 87 horses were reported as sold for $8,656,000, down 20% compared with day one in 2009, when from a larger catalog 113 horses sold during the first session for $10,820,000. Median rose 7.1% to $75,000.
More importantly for consignors, the buy-back rate declined from 41.1% during last year’s opening session to 28.6% this year. Thirteen horses sold for $200,000 or more compared with 15 during the larger session a year ago.
“I thought it was very good today,” said Tom Ventura, sales director of OBS. “It was a good feel going in, with positive feedback from both ends—both the buyers and sellers. It was a little hard to read because we condensed everything [because of the two-day delay of the breeze shows due to thunderstorms]. Horses sold in several different price ranges and it wasn't top heavy at all.
“It was a broader base of buyers here,” Ventura said in reference to the lower buy-back rate. “That's a number that's been haunting us, the RNAs, and that's a good number to have. The consignors came to the table with a good group of horses and we weren't tempted as a sales company to add more horses just for the sake of having more horses in the sale. That will affect our total sales, obviously, but we wanted to keep the standards of the sale.”
“Better!” trainer John Sadler said when asked if the sale met his expectations. “It's been stronger than I expected. I've bought two horses in the $60,000-to-$70,000 range, but I bid on a couple of others and they went right past me. I have some better ones to bid on tomorrow.”
The sale continues at 11 a.m. EDT on Wednesday.
John P. Sparkman is bloodstock editor of Thoroughbred Times
|
Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. March selected sale of two-year-olds in training
Session One Summary |
|
2010 |
|
2009 |
| No. offered |
122 |
(-36.5%) |
192 |
| No. sold |
87 |
(-23.0%) |
113 |
| Pct. not sold |
28.7% |
|
41.1% |
| Gross |
$8,656,000 |
(-20.0%) |
$10,820,000 |
| Average |
$99,494 |
(+3.9%) |
$95,752 |
| Median |
$75,000 |
(+7.1%) |
$70,000 |
| For hip-by-hip results, click here. | |
