$1-Million Maxfield Colt Leads OBS March Opener

[Wandering Eyes]

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis

OCALA, FL – The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training opened Tuesday with a colt from the first crop of Grade I winner Maxfield (hip 119) leading the way when selling for $1 million to Japanese trainer Mitsu Nakauchida. The colt was consigned by Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables.

At the end of the session, 117 juveniles had sold for $15,902,000 for an average of $135,915 and a median of $85,000.

At the conclusion of last year's opening session, 152 head grossed $20,844,000 for an average of $137,132 and a median of $73,500. With the inclusion of post-sale transactions, OBS's finalized figures from the 2024 opening session saw 167 horses gross $21,859,000 for an average of $130,892 and a median of $60,000.

“We're pleased to see that the average and median were up,” said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. “The good news is we still have two days of some really nice horses to sell. It's kind of hard to compare session to session, year to year. But it was a good start and we look forward to more good horses tomorrow and the next day.”

OBS

With 272 juveniles catalogued for Tuesday's session, 102 were withdrawn. Of the 170 head offered, 54 failed to meet their reserves for a buy-back rate of 31.8%.

The horses who sold Tuesday worked during Thursday's first session of the under-tack show last week and faced a persistent head wind. While the $1-million session topper shared the day's bullet furlong time of :9 4/5, the conditions and resulting slower times may have provided buyers with some bargains, according to Dunne.

“I think that, [the $1-million colt] aside, there is tremendous value here,” Dunne said. “And I don't mean this to disrespect anybody, but we've gotten so statistical and so analytical with our numbers, and our gallop-outs and our stride lengths that they've eliminated 80% of the catalogue before they even start to look at them. At the end of the day, the great horsemen through the ages, be it [D. Wayne] Lukas, or [Bob] Baffert, they bought on instinct. That's something that we can't ever lose sight of. Yes, it's an intangible and it's sometimes hard to sell. But the great horsemen have it. And I get it. It's a performance-based sale. But there are so many factors that go into that performance. And I think the guys who are willing to think outside the box are the guys who are going to do well in the end. Because the guys who are pigeon-holing themselves into statistics are always going to have to overpay because everybody has the same statistics.”

Hip 212, a full-brother to Cogburn | OBS

In addition to the session topper, also going the way of Japanese buyers Tuesday was the day's third highest-priced offering, a son of Not This Time who sold to Katsumi Yoshida for $650,000. Yoshida also purchased a filly by Upstart for $375,000.

The session's leading buyer was re-emerging Texas-based owner Leland Ackerley, who acquired four juveniles Tuesday for $1,175,000. Leading the quartet was a filly by Vekoma purchased for $425,000 from the Wavertree Stables consignment.

The OBS March sale continues through Thursday with sessions beginning daily at 11 a.m.

A Cool Million For Maxfield Colt

The gun-slinging started early at Tuesday's opening session of the OBS March Sale. Bidding from the back of the press box in the pavilion for a colt by Maxfield, agent Donato Lanni–accompanied by trainer Bob Baffert–reached in for the colt while Japanese trainer Mitsu Nakauchida threw down the gauntlet out back. When all was said and done, it was Japan that outlasted Team America and held the winning bid, extending to $1 million. Offered as hip 119, the colt breezed an eighth in :9.4 during Thursday's breeze session.

The Maxfield colt's work Thursday | OBS

“Physically, he looks really strong and his movement is really smooth–very nice,” explained Nakauchida, who also conditioned 2023 Japanese Filly Triple Crown winner Liberty Island (Jpn) and Grade I winner Serifos (Jpn). “I just liked everything about him.”

The session-topping juvenile was the sole purchase by Nakauchida during Tuesday's session.

He added, “I liked his breeze at first and then I looked at the physical and I really liked him. And he's by freshman sire Maxfield and he looks like he will be good.”

According to Nakauchida, “He is going to race in Japan and I hope we get lucky with him.”

Consigned by Wavertree Stables, the son of MSW and GSP Eyeinthesky (Sky Mesa) was bred by War Horse Place, who secured the mare in foal to War of Will in 2021 at the Keeneland November Sale.

A scene from the OBS March Sale | OBS

Offered at Keeneland last September, the Apr. 8 foal was purchased by Wavertree's Ciaran Dunne for a pinhooking partnership for $75,000.

“We were lucky enough to get him for what we got him for,” said Dunne. “He was just an easy horse to train. We had originally targeted him for April, but he was just forward and easy to deal with that he kind of pushed himself here. He breezed phenomenally. He vetted good, he showed good. And then we were fortunate enough to get two people who wanted him. That's what it takes. It exceeded all expectations. We just hope he's lucky for the guys at the other end.”–CBoss

Another Mule for Viola

Vinnie Viola's St. Elias Stable, which purchased Army Mule for $825,000 at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May sale, acquired a son (hip 81) of the 2018 GI Carter Handicap winner for $950,000 during Tuesday's first session of the OBS March sale.

Monique Delk | OBS

“We love Army Mule,” said Monique Delk, who signed the ticket on the colt on behalf of St. Elias. “So to be able to support the stallion like that with a horse that we love, we are really very honored.”

The juvenile is out of the unraced Diplomatic Miss (Violence), a daughter of multiple graded winner Miraculous Miss (Mr. Greeley). He was consigned by de Meric Sales and was bred by Machmer Hall.

Facing strong headwinds during the first session of last week's under-tack preview, the colt worked a furlong in :10 flat.

“The wind was a huge issue, so for a horse to perform like that under those conditions, made it even more spectacular,” Delk said.

Delk said a trainer was still to be determined for the youngster.

“He will get a little time off from here,” she said. “He will go to the farm for a little bit and kind of regroup. Then we will make decisions from there.”

Hip 81, an $825,000 Army Mule colt | OBS

Machmer Hall purchased Diplomatic Miss for $45,000 at the 2019 Keeneland January sale. Her 2-year-old colt had originally been slated to sell at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“We did his X-rays for the sale and he had a small fragment,” Machmer Hall's Carrie Brogden said of the decision to withdraw the colt from that auction. “He was a bigger version [Tuesday] of what he always was. He was always a magnificent horse.”

Diplomatic Miss died this year, leading Brogden to assert, “He will definitely be a Grade I winner because the mare died last month. She died of colic. But we are delighted that he will be part of her legacy.”

The mare leaves behind an Authentic yearling filly.

“I am not sure if we are in a rush to sell her,” co-breeder Sandy Fubini said of the yearling. “We'll see how this goes. We keep the broodmares and especially when they throw physicals like this. I really hope he is a star for [St. Elias], And then we will have the half-sister.” @JessMartiniTDN

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