‘A Lot of Buzz’: OBS March Sale Starts Tuesday

[Wandering Eyes]

The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training will kick off the juvenile sales season with its three-day run in Central Florida beginning Tuesday. Bidding on the 816 catalogued 2-year-olds continues through Thursday, with sessions commencing each day at 11 a.m.

“There is a lot of activity on the grounds and a lot of buzz, so we are looking forward to a good week,” said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski.

Consignors who were forced to buy yearlings in a competitive environment last fall hope to be on the receiving end of that demand as they take their 2-year-olds to market this spring.

“Every sale I go to, I'm having trouble buying horses because they're so expensive,” said consignor Jesse Hoppel. “I hope since I'm selling them here, it's hard for them to buy them off me because I have so many people trying to buy them. Hopefully, the fact we have to give so much for them means we can sell them for a lot, too. I think we're on the verge of having a really great 2-year-old season.”

The success of OBS graduates on the racetrack continued Saturday with the winners of both the GIII Tampa Bay Derby and GIII Florida Oaks having sold in Ocala last year. Those victories provide the sales company with its best advertisements, according to Wojciechowski.

“We won the Tampa Bay Derby Saturday, we have a number of 2-year-old grads who are on the Derby trail, people just continue to see that every time you look up, somebody is winning a stakes race and it's one of our 2-year-old grads,” he said. “People notice the success of these racehorses at the racetrack.”

The March sale, which is entering its second decade as an open auction, had in some years seemed to be eclipsed by the company's ascending April sale, but its 2025 edition proved it could more than hold its own at the top of the market. Led by the $3-million Brant (Gun Runner), seven juveniles sold for $1 million or more during last year's March sale, both numbers records for the auction.

“When we opened our March sale, I think it really took it to the next level with the size of the catalogue and the quality of the horses,” Wojciechowski said. “It just continues to do well. April has grown in stature. And I would say they are both on equal footing now. I think buyers have confidence that they can buy a good horse in either spot, in March or April or June. And they are comfortable coming to those sales knowing they will find what they want.”

Despite a backdrop of global uncertainties, Wojciechowski said activity was brisk at the sales grounds over the weekend and included a large contingent of overseas shoppers.

“We still see a number of international buyers here on the grounds,” he said. “I guess, when you are in the horse business, we are very comfortable putting blinkers on, so I think as an industry, we are capable of doing that.”

OBS hosted a four-day under-tack show ahead of the March sale last Wednesday through Saturday.

“We were blessed with fantastic weather. It was perfect,” Wojciechowski said. “Feedback from the consignors is that they are very happy with how their horses returned after the under-tack show. Looking at the horses on the grounds today, everybody said there are a lot of horses out of their stalls and a lot of people looking.”

Six horses shared the fastest furlong work of :9 3/5 during the under-tack show. A pair of juveniles by first-crop sire Drain the Clock shared the fastest quarter-mile work of :20 1/5, a colt from the Doble J Equine Sales consignment and a filly from Hoppel LLC.

“Having a good breeze show always gives you confidence,” Hoppel said after his filly tied the OBS quarter-mile record last week. “We work all winter for a single day with these horses and to make it all come together and peak on that day at that time, it's a great feeling for us. I like seeing other people have great days and fortunately today was a good day for us.”

During last year's March sale, 432 horses sold for $65,660,500. The average was $151,992 and the median was $70,000.

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