It was a very tough sale to buy at, record averages all around. We came to buy three or four horses and after a long week of very hard work, came out with two really nice New York bred colts who worked well, have plenty of pedigree and really look the part. Colts with the looks and pedigree to run a distance of ground are almost always the toughest to buy (everyone has Triple Crown dreams!) so to be able to purchase two colts who tick all the boxes and are New York breds to boot made it worth the very long, hot days working the sale. As you all know, we invest our own money in every horse and are true value shoppers. Our first purchase of the sale was a colt by Awesome Of Course (HIP #449), purchased for just $40,000 who worked in 10.1 at the sale and did it easily. The $62,000 we paid for our second purchase, the Sky Mesa colt, (HIP #1020) was the most we’ve ever paid for a colt, so that should tell you something. Our previous record was $57,000 for Michael With Us; he was a stakes winner, graded stakes placed and earned over $170,000.
As New York breds both horses are eligible for what is far and away the most lucrative state bred program in North America. Maidens run for $60,000, a simple allowance race is $62,000 - $70,000+. There are stakes at four tracks from $100,000 - $250,000, all restricted to NY breds. But these colts weren’t just bought with the New York bred program in mind. They both are by excellent sires who regularly produce stakes winning distance horses and each of our purchases are half-brothers to graded stakes runners. They moved beautifully at the sale (you can judge that for yourselves by looking at their under tack videos on the OBS website here; http://obssales.com/aprpreview/2015/
These two horses have been placed into group #24, which is expected to be oversubscribed. As always with our Taste of Thoroughbred Ownership program, the group offers a one-time payment with no additional money required at any time for any reason and the horses are sold without markups.
We couldn’t really blame anyone for wondering how we could possibly buy horses like this for less than the sales average and thinking “there must be something wrong or they would have cost more”. That’s how these sales work. Billionaires compete to overpay for some horses, while others that don’t attract the attention of a few buyers with the deepest pockets sometimes struggle to get bids. History shows many of the bargain horses end up being champions, while many horses selling for $1,000,000+ end up as 5 year old maidens. The press release below offers some interesting examples of finding value at the sales (Thanks to Adam Parker for passing it on). Note the prices paid for most of these Graded Stakes winners, and the notably slow workout time at the sale, 11.0, for Stephanie’s Kitten, one of the best horses in the world with earnings now over $2,700,000 and counting.
You can read the release below or access the link here;
http://www.obssales.com/2015/03/wild-dude-leads-1-2-3-obs-sweep-of-santa-anitas-san-carlos-stakes/
Wild Dude leads 1-2-3 OBS sweep of Santa Anita’s San Carlos Stakes
Last Updated: March 7th, 2015
Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and Green Smith’s Wild Dude led a 1-2-3 OBS sweep of Santa Anita’s $250,500 San Carlos Stakes (G2) on Saturday, battling for the lead from the start, taking command turning for home and holding off Kobe’s Back (March ’13) by three quarters of a length, with Conquest Two Step (April ’13, August ’12) another three quarters back in third. It’s the second graded stakes win for the two-time OBS graduate, sold first by Perrone Sales, Agent, at the 2010 Fall Mixed Sale and then resold for $42,000 by Costanzo Sales after turning in an Under Tack eighth in :10 1/5 at the 2012 April Sale. The 5-year-old Florida-bred son of Wildcat Heir is now 12-5-3-2 and has earned $494,220. watch his under tack video
Joe Ragdale’s Sarah Sis picked up her first graded stakes win in Saturday’s $150,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn Park, taking charge on the second turn, opening a long lead in the lane and coasting to victory by a length and a half. The 3-year-old daughter of Sharp Humor worked an Under Tack eighth in:10 1/5 before she was purchased for $20,000 by Mr. Ragsdale out of the Doble Jak consignment at the 2014 OBS June Sale. The win leaves her with a 6-3-3-0 record with $203,000 in earnings. watch her under tack work
Flavor Racing, Brous Stable, Wachtel Stable and Destiny Oaks Of Ocala LLC’s Quality Rocks sat just off the pace in the $180,000 Florida Oaks (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs, hit the front a furlong from the wire and held on gamely for a three quarter length score. It’s the second stakes win for the 3-year-old Florida-bred filly by Rock Hard Ten, trained by Bill Mott, now 6-3-2-0 with earnings of $245,200. She was consigned by Woodford Thoroughbreds, Agent, to the 2013 OBS August Sale, Selected Sale conformation photo
Ken & Sarah Ramsey’s Stephanie’s Kitten got her 2015 campaign off on the right foot at Tampa Bay Downs on Saturday, turning in a strong stretch run to take the $150,000 Hillsborough Stakes (G3) by a length and a half, with fellow OBS graduate Speed Seeker (August ’12) checking in third. That’s seven graded stakes win for the 6-year-old daughter of Kitten’s Joy consigned by Eddie Woods, Agent, to the 2011 OBS April Sale, where she worked an eighth in :11 flat at the Under Tack Show. Trained by Chad Brown, she’s now 20-9-3-4 and has earned $2,724,104. watch her under tack work
Overall the April sale showed very modest increases in average price and median compared to the sale last year with buybacks up, showing it’s feast or famine for sellers. As predicted in our blog, while the market remains very strong, the price increases have topped out.