BY CYNTHIA MCFARLAND

OCALA, FL—As buyers arrive for the 2026 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company Spring Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale, they are greeted by a substantial catalog weighted with options. The sale takes place April 14 -17 with 1,220 horses entered, plus supplements.

Tod Wojciechowski – ©OBS Photo

“The quality of the April catalog is such that we have horses by the upper echelon on the general sire list. Pedigree wise, they don’t have to apologize to anyone,” OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski said.

Every stallion in the top 10 on the 2025 Leading Sires by progeny earnings list is represented by 2-year-olds in the sale. These stallions include Into Mischief, Not This Time, Gun Runner, Twirling Candy, Constitution, Practical Joke, Curlin, Nyquist, Candy Ride (Arg) and Justify.

Prominent Florida sires Khozan, Awesome Slew, Cajun Breeze and Win Win Win are represented as well as the Sunshine State’s first crop sires Colonel Liam, Magic on Tap and Roadster.

Juveniles in the sale also represent nine of the top 10 stallions on the 2025 First Crop Sires by progeny earnings list, including Yaupon, Maxfield, Essential Quality, Rock Your World, Beau Liam, Independence Hall, Charlatan, Leinster and Silver State.

“The April sale has grown in such stature that it’s the largest 2-year-old sale of the year. The sale’s level of importance within the industry around the world has grown so much that it’s a true international event,” Wojciechowski said.

“We’re excited the about the group of horses we have here this year,” he added. “They’ve been proving it on the racetrack, and I think they’ll be proving it in the ring as well.”

Horses out of the April sale account for three 2025 Breeders’ Cup victories. These include catalog cover girl Eclipse champion female sprinter Shisospicy, winner of the Grade 1 Prevagen Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint; Nysos, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1); and Cy Fair, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1).

The OBS Spring sale is also well represented by this year’s Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) contenders.

“Four of the horses in the [America’s Best Racing] Derby Dozen are OBS grads and three are April sale grads,” Wojciechowski points out.

Further Ado, trained by Brad Cox for Spendthrift Farm, is now a multiple graded-stakes winner of $1,146,328, with three wins in six starts. The millionaire son of Gun Runner won the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) as a juvenile and just won the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) on April 4. Further Ado was consigned by Scott Kintz’s Six K’s Training & Sales last April and purchased for $550,000 by Spendthrift Farm.

Silent Tactic was a $500,000 purchase by Justin Casse out of the Nick Sallusto’s Thorostock consignment last April. The Tactius colt out of the Gun Runner daughter Magical Sign is now a graded stakes winner of $1,051,922 for owner John Oxley. Trained by Mark Casse, Silent Tactic won the Southwest Stakes (G3) in February and has been on the board in all six starts, including second place finishes in three graded stakes.

The Puma, winner of last month’s ESMARK Tampa Bay Derby (G3) and second in the Curlin Florida Derby (G1), sold at the 2025 April sale for $150,000 to Marquee Bloodstock out of the Hidden Brook consignment. Trained by Gustavo Delgado for OGMA Investments LLC, JR Ranch and High Step Racing LLC, the Essential quality colt has been on the board in all four of his starts for current earnings of $442,280.

So Happy was a $150,000 purchase at the 2025 March sale by trainer Mark Glatt out of the First Call consignment. The Runhappy colt out of the Blame mare, So Cunning, is now a multiple graded-stakes winner of $480,000 for owners Norman Stables LLC and Saints or Sinners. Mark Glatt trains So Happy, who has won three of four starts to date, including the Santa Anita Derby (G1) and the San Vicente Stakes (G2).

“Over the years, the April sale has gained a lot of momentum,” consignor Steven Venosa of SGV Thoroughbreds LLC said. “It seems like April has been the premier 2-year-old sale. A lot of people are targeting it on their calendar now. There are a variety of horses for all different levels.”

Venosa sold the two highest-priced horses at the 2025 Spring Sale, including the sale topping Tiz the Law colt out of Georgian Dancer, who brought $1,500,000 from buyer Spendthrift Farm, St. Elias Stable, West Point. He also sold the Gun Runner colt out of Vanquished for $1,450,000, purchased by Kerri Radcliffe, agent for Memo Racing.

SGV Thoroughbreds LLC was among the top five consignors at last April’s sale, selling 13 head for $4,092,000. In 2025, SGV Thoroughbreds ranked sixth among all 2-year-old consignors at North American sales, selling 32 head for $7,385,000 for an average of $230,781.

“I came up under J.J. Crupi at Crupi’s New Castle Farm and have been on my own as S G V Thoroughbreds for 19 years now,” said Venosa, who trains out of Eclipse Training Center in Ocala. “Our business is about half 2-year-old in training sales and half training client horses for the races.”

Venosa has brought 18 2-year-olds to this sale. Among them are colts by Gun Runner and Tiz the Law, the same stallions that sired the top selling 2-year-olds last April that were both consigned by SGV Thoroughbreds LLC.

“I think we’ve brought some nice horses here again. We have Curtin Call’s full brother,” said Venosa of hip number 714, a Florida-bred Tiz the Law colt out of Deep Trouble, by Into Mischief. Mark Casse trains Grade 1 stakes-placed winner Curtin Call for West Point Thoroughbreds, which bought the colt for $325,000 out of Venosa’s consignment at the 2025 OBS March sale.

Under tack shows took place April 6 – 11 and included additional safety measures first implemented at the 2026 OBS March Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training.

These updated protocols included use of the riding crop restricted to where the rider will not be permitted to strike the horse with their hands off the reins.

“This has been very successful and well received,” Wojciechowski said.

Horses are also required to have a veterinary statement stating they are suitable to perform in the under-tack show.

“The physical exams we’re requiring for horses to participate in the under tack show was easily implemented with the help of the consignors and veterinarians,” Wojciechowski said. “We’re very pleased with how these measures have been implemented and performed.”

Sale sessions begin at 10:30 a.m. EDT each day of the sale.

Hip numbers 1 – 306 will sell on Tuesday, April 14. Hip numbers 307 – 610 sell on Wednesday, April 15, while hip numbers 611 – 916 go through the ring on Thursday, April 16. The sale concludes on Friday, April 17, with hip numbers 917 – 1220 and supplements 1221 – 1224.

The full catalog, photos and videos can be viewed at obssales.com

Online bidding is offered during the live sale. Buyers can register for bidding approval at obssales.com/obs-online-bidding-2