BY BROCK SHERIDAN
OCALA, FL—The Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company kicks the 2-year-old in training sales season in North American Tuesday with their annual March Sale set to run three days through Thursday, March 14.
All three session will begin at 11:00 a.m. with Tuesday action offering Hips 1 – 284. Hips 285 – 568 will sell Wednesday and Hips 569 – 853 are set for Thursday.
The March Sale is the first of three prestigious auctions for 2-year-olds in training held each year at OBS. The OBS Spring Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training will be conducted four days from April 16-19 followed by the June Sale of Two-Year-Olds and Horse of Racing Age on June 11-13.
White Abarrio, winner of the 2023 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (Grade 1) and an earner of $5,146,350 graces the cover of the March Sale catalog. Recently purchased by Prince Faisal Bin Khaled Bin A/Aziz, White Abarrio is trained by Richard E. Dutrow and last year also won the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga. As a 3-year-old in 2022, the son of Race Day won the Grade 1 Curlin Florida Derby and the Grade 3 Holy Bull, both at Gulfstream Park.
White Abarrio is a two-time graduate of OBS having first sold for $7,500 to Jose Ordonez out of the Summerfield consignment at the 2020 Winter Mixed Sale. He then sold to Carlos L. Perez for $40,000 out of Ruben Sanchez’s Really and Truly Thoroughbreds consignment at the 2021 OBS March Sale.
Other OBS March graduates with Grade 1 victories in 2023 to their credit include Florida-bred Speed Boat Beach and Muth, both from the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert.
Last year, Speed Boat Beach won the Grade 1 Malibu at Santa Anita for owners Mike Peagram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman and was named the year’s champion Florida-bred 3-year-old colt or gelding and champion Florida-bred male sprinter by the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association.
Bred by Richard Heysek’s Caperlane Farm, Speed Boat Beach is a multiple graded-stakes winner with career earnings of $498,000.
Speed Boat Beach also passed through OBS twice. He was first purchased by Rubin M. Sanchez for $12,000 out of the Stuart Morris consignment at the 2021 OBS October Yearling Sale. Sanchez then consigned the son of Bayern at the 2022 OBS March Sale where Three Amigos bought him for $200,000.
The accomplished Muth won the Grade 1 American Pharoah at Santa Anita last year and was second to Fierceness in the Grade 1 FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile presented by TAA at Santa Anita to finish his 2-year-old campaign. The son of Good Magic has started 2024 strong with a two-and-three-quarter-lengths score in the Grade 2 San Vincente at Santa Anita on Jan. 6 in his only start this year.
Muth was a $2 million purchase by bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, who selected him out of Jimbo and Torie Gladwell’s Top Line Sales consignment at last year’s OBS March Sale.
So far, Much has banked $716,600 in three wins from five starts.
OBS assigned a third cover spot for Jasper Krone, a multiple graded-stakes winner in Japan with victories in the Grade 3 CBC Sho at Chukyo in July and the Grade 3 TV Nishinippon Corp. sho Kitakyushu Kinen in August.
Jasper Krone has banked $1,305,427 for owner Kazuo Kato and trainer Hideyuki Mori, who took him out of the Kings Equine consignment for $90,000 at last year’s OBS March Sale.