BY BROCK SHERIDAN

A bay colt by first crop sire Maxfield topped the first day of action at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company March Sale of 2-year-olds in training when Japanese trainer Mitsu Nakauchida went to $1 million to purchase the handsome juvenile. Selling as Hip 119 and by first crop sire Maxfield, winner of the Grade 1 Clark and Grade 1 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity, the colt is out of the Sky Mesa mare Eyeinthesky, winner of the Galway at Saratoga Race Course and Mizdirection at Aqueduct. Eyeinthesky was also second in the Grade 2 Royal North at Woodbine. Consigned by Ciaran Dunne’s Wavertree Stables Inc. as agent, the colt worked a :9.80 eighth mile into a headwind during the first under tack program held Thursday.

“He worked sensational on a day when horses were struggling to work and he showed himself well all week,” Dunne said. “It’s not rocket science. He jumped through all the hoops and as cliché as it is, he vetted well, and he worked great. When they do that, it’s easy.”

Nakauchida said the colt will begin his racing career in Japan.

“He breezed really good. Physically he looks really strong,” Nakauchida said. “His movement was really smooth and nice, and I just liked everything about him. Hopefully we get lucky with him.”

 

For the day, 116 head sold for an average of $136,957, a 4.6% increase compared to the average of $130,892 a year ago on the first day of the March Sale. There was a 41.7% jump in the median price from $60,000 on the first day last year to $85,000 Tuesday. Gross Sales Tuesday were $15,887,000 compared to last year when 167 juveniles generated $21,859,000.

There were 10 Florida-breds that brought $1,108,00 for an average of $110,800 Tuesday, a $33.9% jump compared to the first day last year when 14 Florida-breds sold for an average of $82,786 from 14 Sunshine State juveniles grossing $1,159,000.

Hip 81 brought a final bid of $950,000 from Vincent and Teresa Viola’s St. Elias Stable LLC.  The dark by or brown colt was consigned by de Meric Sales as agent and is by Army Mule out of Diplomatic Miss, by Violence. His second dam is multiple Grade 2-winner Miraculous Miss and he worked a :10 flat eighth mile at the under tack show.

“He’s a lovely colt, beautiful horse, and we love Army Mule,” said Monique Delk, who signed the ticket on behalf of St. Elias Stable, which owned and campaigned Army Mule. “To be able to support this stallion and to buy a horse that we love, we’re very honored. He’ll get some time off from here, he’ll go to the farm for a bit and regroup and then we’ll make decisions (on who will train him) from there.

“It was pricey, but I think he’s a quality horse and we were willing to go that extra for him to make sure we obtained him.”

Tristan de Meric of de Meric Sales said they were optimistic the colt would be popular.

“We knew he would probably do very well, everyone on the grounds wanted him I believe,” de Meric said. “He was just one of those horses that is really fun to lead up there because you really don’t have a clue how much he was going to bring; you just knew he was going to do well. He did everything right all year, we were just lucky to have him in the barn. You can’t teach the mind that he has. And he has all the angles, he has the leg, he had all the parts to be a really nice horse. Everyone here saw it, and he showed it on the track.”

Hip 212 sold for $650,000 to Japan’s Katsumi Yoshida and his Northern Farm. Consigned by Hartley / DeRenzo Thoroughbreds LLC as agent, the colt is by Not This Time out of the stakes-winning Saintly Look mare In a Jif. The colt is a half-brother to multiple graded stakes-winner Cogburn, winner of the Grade 1 Jaipur at Saratoga Race Course. The colt worked a :21.20 quarter mile during the breeze show.

“The way he worked was very nice and when we inspected him, the way he walked was very nice. So, we really liked him,” said Shingo Hashimoto, manager of internal affairs for Northern Farm. “We’re going to take him back to Japan and hopefully he’ll do well. He looked pretty fast – like his brother.”

Added consignor Randy Hartley, “He’s a beautiful horse who did everything he was supposed to do. He’s the dream horse to train. He’s so light on his feet.”

Hip 65 sold for $425,000 to Leland Ackerley from the consignment of Ciaran Dunne’s Wavertree Stables Inc. as agent. The bay filly is by Vekoma out of the Grade 3-winning Florida-bred mare Daring Kathy, by Wildcat Heir. The filly is a half-sister to stakes-placed How’s Ur Attitude and worked a :10.20 at the under tack show.

 

Four juveniles brought $400,000 including the first of which was Hip 4, a bay colt by Into Mischief out of Candy Drawer, by Candy Ride (Arg). Consigned by Hartley / DeRenzo Thoroughbreds LLC as agent, the colt is a half-brother to graded stakes-winner Into Chocolate and graded stakes-placed runners Secret Keeper and Mischief River. Purchased by Terry Stephens Racing, the colt worked an eighth mile in :10.20 at the breeze show.

Leland Ackerley also went to $400,000 to purchase Hip 40 out of Katie Miranda’s White Lilac consignment as agent. By freshman sire Charlatan, winner of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby and Grade 1 Runhappy Malibu, the bay filly is out of Confidently, by War Front, a half-sister to multiple Grade 1 winner and successful sire Uncle Mo, Group 1 and multiple Group 3-placed and multiple group-producer Could It Be Love and stakes-producer Grosse Pointe Anne. The filly worked a furlong in :10.40 at the under tack show.

Hip 131 sold to $400,000 to Marquee Bloodstock as agent out of the Niall Brennan Stables as agent consignment. The bay filly is by Constitution out of Fashion Mo, by Uncle Mo and and her second dam is Group 3-winner and multiple group-placed Theyskens’ Theory, a half-sister Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1)-winner Stevie Wonderboy. She produced a :10.40 eighth mile at the under tack show.

Terry Stephens put in the final bid of $400,000 for Hip 133, a filly by Uncle Mo out of the stakes-winning mare Feel That Fire, by Lightnin N Thunder. Feel That Fire is a full sister to stakes-winner Ima Jersey Girl. Consigned by Hartley / DeRenzo LLC as agent the filly is a half-sister to multiple Grade 1-winner Mind Control and Grade 2-placed Goddess of Fire and worked a quarter mile in :21.40.

The top selling Florida-bred on day was Hip 70, a dark bay or brown colt by Tiz the Law out of Deep Trouble, by Into Mischief that was purchased by West Point Thoroughbreds and Lane’s End Bloodstock as agent for $325,000. From the family of Grade 1-winners Stephen Got Even and Artemis Agrotera, the colt was consigned by Steven Venosa’s S G V Thoroughbreds as agent and worked an eighth mile in :10.20. The colt was bred in Florida by Nancy Stone.

 

The leading consignor was de Meric Sales with nine head bringing $1,920,000 followed by Wavertree, who marketed five 2-year-olds for $1,845,000. Hartley / DeRenzo sold four juveniles for $1,650,000.

Leland Ackerley led all buyers, spending $1,175,000 on four 2-year-olds while Katsumi Yoshida wrote a check for $1,025,000 for two head.

Return to the March 11 issue of Wire to Wire