For the second consecutive session, John Ferguson Bloodstock bought the
session topper at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s Spring Sale of
Two-Year-Olds in Training. After going to $675,000 to secure an A.P. Indy colt
on Monday, Ferguson needed only $180,000 to take home Tuesday’s most expensive
offering. Hip No. 443, a Florida-bred filly by Snow Ridge, is out of the winning
Placerita (Gilded Time), a half-sister to the stakes-winning producer Singing
Heart (Palace Music).
Consigned by Leprechaun Racing, agent, the January 17 juvenile is from the
family of Grade 1 winner Slew the Dragon (Seattle Slew). She worked one furlong
in :9 4/5 at the second under tack show last Thursday, and was a $20,000
Fasig-Tipton Midlantic October yearling.
The session’s most expensive colt, and one of only two other juveniles to
command a six-figure price, was RAISE THE BRIDLE (Spanish Steps), a Florida-bred
out of the unraced Poitrine (Gulch), a half-sister to the multiple stakes winner
Shag (Dixieland Band), the dam of 2008 Red Smith H. (G2) winner Strike a Deal
(Smart Strike). Hip 454 was purchased by Double Eagle Ranch for $120,000.
Consigned by Southern Cypress Stables, agent, the March 22 juvenile was a
$14,500 RNA at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky last October. At the second under tack
show, Raise the Bridle completed two furlongs in :20 4/5.
Also selling for $120,000 was GARDEN CIDER (Forbidden Apple), a Florida-bred
filly consigned by Bridlewood Farm who toured the ring as Hip 692. Out of the
winning Stacie’s Halo (Halo), the two-year-old with a January 31 birthdate was
purchased by LRK Inc.
Garden Cider worked the fastest eighth-mile of any entrant in the sale at the
second under tack show, stopping the clock in :9 3/5.
On Tuesday, 212 horses sold for $5,036,300. This represented a drop of 18.7
percent from the comparable session in 2008 when 202 juveniles sold for
$6,196,200. The session average dipped 22.6 percent, from $30,674 to $23,756.
The median declined 28.6 percent, from $21,000 to $15,000.
The four-day Spring Sale continues Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. (EDT). For
complete results, as well as a live broadcast of the sale, visit obssales.com.