Tiznow Colt Tops Day 1 of OBS Winter Mixed Sale

The final results for the Jan. 26 opening day of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Winter Mixed Sale saw similar figures to those achieved during the 2020 renewal with the help of some late six-figure sales in the horses of racing age section. Opening the sale was the consignor preferred session which consisted of Hips 1-183. From those, 96 of 142 offered were sold for receipts of $1,869,300. The latter half of the day (Hips 251-371) consisted of the horses of racing age section, which saw 73 of 83 horses offered sell for receipts of $1,676,500. Total receipts for all 169 horses sold on Tuesday came to $3,545,800. The average was $20,981 and the median was $10,500. The 56 that went unsold represented an RNA rate of 24.9%. Topping the sale for the day was Hip 368, a colt by Tiznow named Bear Brian. Consigned by Summerfield (Francis and Barbara Vanlangendonck), agent, the 3-year-old was purchased by Kerri Raven for $150,000. "We were thrilled with that," said Francis Vanlangendonck."It was more than we thought. We just got lucky and it worked out." Bred in Kentucky by the Tiznow Syndicate and Jerry Dixon out of the Super Saver mare Lil Super Bear, Bear Brian galloped only during the Jan. 25 under tack show. Summerfield also consigned the day's highest-priced short yearling when they sold Hip 182 for $130,000 to Ronald Clark Shepherd. The Practical Joke colt was bred in Kentucky by Hartley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds out of the Uncle Mo mare Mobeautiful. "We had people on all our horses," said Vanlangendonck, who said he was pleasantly surprised by the strength of the market on Tuesday. "We had all level of quality and we had people bidding all along. We ended up buying only one horse back out of the whole group but the rest of them brought around what we thought or more. It was good. There were plenty of people and plenty of money there on the grounds to buy anything that was of any quality." Taking advantage of the horses of racing age section on Tuesday was Richard Kent of Kaizen Sales. His top seller on the day was Hip 321, a 3-year-old Ghostzapper colt named Polterer bred in Ontario by Adena Springs. Polterer was purchased for $110,000 by Danny W. Brown. The colt was one of a handful of racehorses that Kent had received from Adena which he described as well-rested and race-ready. "A lot of them came from Adena in excellent shape and they were extremely well cared for," said Kent. "We were very open with people in terms of what they had been doing. We had all their X-rays taken and it worked out very well. "There were lots of people that wanted racing prospects to take to the racetrack. These horses had not been overused. Of course, Woodbine closed early so some had been shut down since November and they had had a good rest. They had been in training at Adena Springs South." Rounding out the six-figure purchases for the day was Hip 360, a 3-year-old filly named Pledge who is by Candy Ride (ARG) and out of Faithful (by Vindication). Consigned by Six K's Training & Sales, agent, the filly was bred in Kentucky by Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds and was purchased for $100,000 by D. J. Stable. While many buyers were still unable to travel to the Florida sales grounds because of extenuating circumstances and travel restrictions surrounding COVID-19, Kent said he was happy to get horses moved at the start of the year and thankful that remote bidding was available to all buyers. "We had to create ways to get horses sold," said Kent. "OBS did a great job helping people bid over the internet and over the phone and we were sending out photos and emails and X-ray reports to people who couldn't travel. But the racehorses I was selling exceeded our expectations. It was very good. "You're always wondering how a January sale will go. It was a little lighter traffic than usual and some faces were not here from Kentucky and out of state that we might have expected, but again, that was compensated for by the internet and the phone bidding." The second and final day begins Jan. 27 at 10:30 a.m. ET.