BY CYNTHIA MCFARLAND
OCALA, FL—When the 2025 OBS Winter Mixed sale takes place on Tuesday, January 28, prominent stallions from both the Sunshine State and Bluegrass State will be represented by short yearlings and in-foal mares.
This January, the Winter Mixed sale will be conducted in a single session on Jan. 28, beginning at 11 a.m. EST.
“Horses are on the grounds. We’re excited to kick off the year and are looking forward to a good year,” OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski said.
Including supplemental entries, there are a total of 342 horses entered in the sale, of which 253 are newly turned yearlings. Broodmares and broodmare prospects round out the catalog offerings. The full catalog, including supplements, is available online at obssales.com.
“We’ve got an excellent mix of proven stallions and young hot sires,” Wojciechowski said. “The yearling market has been growing and continues to be a great segment of the January sale.”
The top five leading first crop Florida sires—Win Win Win, Bodexpress, Curlin’s Honor, Gunnevera and Seeking the Soul—stand at Ocala Stud and Pleasant Acres Stallions.
Among the horses catalogued are five yearlings by Florida leading first crop sire Win Win Win, who stands at Ocala Stud.
Win Win Win is already represented by a graded stakes winner as his 2-year-old filly Nooni won the Grade 3 Sorrento Stakes. Nooni topped the 2024 OBS March Sale, selling for $1.8 million to Zedan Racing Stable.
Also catalogued in the Winter Mixed sale are yearlings by three stallions atop the Florida Leading Sires list—Khozan, Neolithic and Adios Charlie.
Graded stakes winners and OBS sale graduates Colonel Liam and champion 2-year-old Corniche are among the first-crop stallions represented by yearlings.
The catalog also includes yearlings by first-crop stallions Early Voting, Epicenter, Florida-bred Golden Pal, Greatest Honour, Magic on Tap, Mandaloun, Mind Control, Mystic Guide, Mo Donegal, Nashville, Olympiad, Pinehurst, Roadster and Speaker’s Corner.
The catalog includes mares in foal to first-crop sires such as Verifying, Doppelganger, Simplification, Two Phil’s and Florida-bred Pappacap.
At the 2024 Winter Mixed Sale, Francis and Barbara Vanlangendonck’s Summerfield was leading consignor, selling 43 head for a gross of $808,800, including three of the sale’s five highest priced horses. Among them was the sale’s highest priced Mitole yearling filly purchased by Exclusive Equine Investments for $90,000.
“Medina Spirit and White Abarrio were both sold at the OBS January Mixed sale as short yearlings, so it’s a fabulous place to come look for these short yearlings,” Barbara Vanlangendonck said.
Summerfield consigned White Abarrio at the 2020 OBS Winter Mixed Sale. The colt sold for $7,500 to Jose Ordonez that January is now a multiple graded stakes winner of $6,879,850 including victories in Saturday’s Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park the Grade 1 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2023.
Consigned by Summerfield at the 2019 OBS Winter Mixed Sale, Medina Spirit was a $1,000 bargain who became a multiple graded stakes winner of $1.6 million.
“There’s definitely some good stock that comes out of this sale and we always have a good number of Kentucky buyers coming in. The Eclipse Awards were Thursday night and the Pegasus was Saturday, so if you’re already in the state, it’s a good excuse to come to Ocala,” Vanlangendonck said.
For a number of years, the Winter Mixed sale has featured a horses of racing age section. This January, that aspect of sale was made digital and became an online sale only with 24 horses catalogued. Bidding in the OBSOnline January sale began at noon on Jan. 23 and runs until noon on Jan. 30.
“We made it different from other online sales in that we did have an optional under tack show on Jan. 17,” Wojciechowski said. He notes that some of the 2-year-olds and horses of racing age entered in the OBSOnline January Sale will be on the grounds for viewing on Jan. 27 and 28.
Buyers can view the horses’ media at obsonline.com, including under tack videos, walking videos and conformation photos. Create an account or register to bid for the sale at the same website.
The OBSOnline January sale is held in conjunction with the Winter Mixed Sale that takes place live on the OBS sale grounds on Jan. 28 starting at 11 a.m.
Return to the January 27 issue of Wire to Wire