Fast Colts make a collective $600,000 at Ocala Breeders’ Sales, average and median prices fall
In the second and final session of this year’s Ocala Breeders’ Sales in June 2011, a Stormello colt consigned by Blue River Bloodstock was sold to Hall of Fame trainer, Bob Baffert, for $300,000, the highest amount of the session. The dark bay colt managed the fastest time of the sale by finishing a quarter in 20:48.
This is the same colt that Blue River Bloodstock bought from Kaizen Sales on last year’s Ocala Breeders’ Sales in Augusts’ yearling sale for $25,000.
The colt is Blue River Bloodstock’s highest-selling horse now.
Another high selling horse in the second session was a Proud Accolade filly consigned by Lynne Boutte and bought by Patrice Miller and Jeff Seder of EQB Inc. for $200,000. This horse was also fast, finishing the 1/8-mile distance in 9.4 seconds, the fastest time for any horse.
The filly that sold at the highest price for both the sessions combined was bought by Justice Family Racing from the Paul Sharp agency for $220,000. This daughter of Elusive Quality-Di’s Delight ran 1/8th of a mile in ten seconds.
In the first session, a Bernstein colt was bought for $300,000 by Patrice Miller and Jeff Seder of EQB Inc. thanks to his fast workout. Together both these horses were the highlight of the sales.
Fast horses on an average did better at the sale among two-year-old thoroughbreds, while the sale for slower horses was not phenomenal.
However, the sales figures this year was a major improvement from last year’s.
Last year’s sale saw 434 horses out of which 230 were sold for an amount of $4,912,100 while there were 623 horses in this year’s sale out of which 339 were sold for a total of $7,121,700.
However, the average sales’ revenue for both the days was $21,008, a little less than last year’s average of $21,357.
The median price fell even more drastically to $10,000 down from last year’s $15,000.
Tom Ventura, the general manager and director of sales of OBS (Ocala Breeders’ Sales) said, “The number of horses offered through OBS were up this year and all major indicators were up slightly or even with last year. We are not making any dramatic increases, but we're trying to come off the bottom and showing some signs of stabilizing".
It is evident from these figures that after the economic downturn in the last few years, OBS is finally recovering, even if slightly.
While the average and median sales did indeed decline, the overall sales’ revenue rose which is a welcome sign of recovery.
This year’s sales were spread over two days instead of one and featured a larger catalog than last year, showing the re-emergence of the demand for race horses.
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