Mo Donegal Filly Tops OBS October Opener

[Wandering Eyes]

A filly from the first crop of GI Belmont Stakes winner Mo Donegal (hip 177) brought top price of $240,000 during the first session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's October Yearlings Sale Monday in Central Florida. The bay filly–one of three to bring $200,000 or more during the session–was bred by Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds LLC and was consigned by Richard Kent's Kaizen Sales. Christophe Nouvellet, bidding on behalf of Dream With Me Florida, LLC, made the winning bid.

“She was a standout in the back ring,” Nouvellet said. “She looked good, moved good and had something to her. We have open plans for her. We don't know if we are going to race her or sell back. We just liked her. And she was definitely the standout of the day.”

The session-topping yearling is out of the unraced On The Good List (Speightstown), a half-sister to Grade I winner Dunbar Road (Quality Road). Blum purchased the mare, with the filly in utero, for $95,000 at the 2023 Keeneland November sale. The filly RNA'd as a weanling for $55,000 at last year's Keeneland November sale.

“I sold Serena Song's as a yearling and this filly has that kind of class,” said Kent, whose Kaizen Sales was the session's leading consignor with 18 sold for $605,000. “That's big words.”

Of the yearling's session-topping price, Kent added, “The price was excellent. The filly justified the price. She was just a super star all week. She'd been scoped eight times and showed herself just brilliantly over 100 times. She's a very classy filly. We had all the players in town bidding on her.”

Nouvellet was philosophical about the filly's six-figure price tag.

“Every time you buy a horse, you expect to pay less,” he said. “Unfortunately, you often pay more. There is a good horse everywhere. It's a question of opportunities. You are either there or you're not. And when you are there and you see a nice horse, if you have enough money left, you try your luck.”

Dream With Me Florida, which recently purchased the 200-acre McKathan Brothers' Farm in nearby Citra, also acquired a Florida-bred filly by Colonel Liam (hip 182) for $13,000 during Tuesday's session.

Hip 177 was one of four to bring six figures during Tuesday's session. There were seven to reach that threshold in the entire 2024 auction.

During Tuesday's session, 146 yearlings sold for $3,255,600 for an average of $22,299 and a median of $15,000. The buy-back rate was 32.4%.

At last year's opening session, which was abbreviated as the sales company shuffled the auction's schedule ahead of an incoming hurricane, 104 horses grossed $1,713,900 for an average of $16,480 and a median of $10,000. The 2024 auction's cumulative average was $19,275 and median was $10,000.

The final session of the OBS October sale begins Wednesday at noon.

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