The first of four sessions of the Ocala Breeders' Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training concluded April 16 with a $775,000 filly (Hip 199) from the first crop of the Uncle Mo stallion Caracaro topping proceedings. Donato Lanni signed the ticket for Three Amigos, and Bob Baffert will train the filly in Southern California.
Consigned by Global Thoroughbreds, agent, the bay filly is out of the winning Medaglia d'Oro mare Key D'Oro and she is a half sister to stakes-placed Twirled. The filly descends from an accomplished female family that includes third dam Key Phrase, a grade 1 winner; graded stakes winner Half Ours, and stakes winner Yankee Gentleman.
The filly represented her young sire well at the under tack preview, breezing an impressive eighth-mile in :20 2/5. Caracaro, who stands for $6,500 at Crestwood Farm, kept good company on the track. He finished second to Country Grammer in the 2020 Peter Pan Stakes (G3) and was runner-up to Tiz the Law in the Travers Stakes (G1). Caracaro is out of the War Front mare Peace Time. He was a $95,000 acquisition by Global Thoroughbreds out of the Buckland Sales consignment at the 2017 Keeneland November Sale. Caracaro finished first or second in all four lifetime starts for Global Thoroughbreds and Top Racing and trainer Gustavo Delgado. He was bred in Kentucky by SF Racing.
"We're happy to get her," said Lanni. "(Caracaro) is a son of Uncle Mo. I thought overall, (the Caracaros) look pretty good. He is throwing a beautiful, athletic horse. You see a lot of Uncle Mo influence.
"She did everything she was asked to do," Lanni added of the filly. "She went fast, galloped out fast, came back great. We're happy."
The top-priced colt and the second-highest priced horse of the session was Hip 291, a colt from the first crop of WinStar Farm stallion Global Campaign , who fetched $650,000 from Pedro Lanz, agent for Saudi Arabia-based KAS Stable. Consigned by Eddie Woods, agent, the bay colt is out of the winning Yes It's True mare Maid in Heaven, a full sister to graded stakes winner Yesbyjimminy and multiple stakes-placed Qureall and a half sister to multiple stakes winner Magic Mecke and stakes winner A.J. Melini.
Bred in Florida by Katherine Nielsen and Gem Racing, the colt was a $150,000 pinhook for Quarter Pole Enterprises out of the Kaizen Sales consignment at last year's OBS October Yearling Sale. He breezed a fast furlong in :10 flat at the under tack preview.
"I know this horse. I saw this horse in the yearling sale at OBS October and even tried to buy this horse," said Lanz. "(But) he was purchased by Eddie Woods. I saw the breeze. Spectacular action, very fluid, smooth stride. Ten flat, nice gallop-out. Beautiful horse, the same horse I saw in October but more powerful. And I got the horse.
"I think he is going to race in Saudi Arabia," Lanz continued, "but I have to ask them because they are starting some operations here. I will try to keep the horse here because I love the horse. I was expecting (to pay) $400,000, maybe $500,000. Everyone is on the same horses, so I told them to be prepared for a fight because the horse breezed good and vetted clean. This sale is tough."
Millionaire Global Campaign is a grade 1 winner by two-time Horse of the Year Curlin . Global Campaign won the 2020 Woodward Handicap (G1) at 4 as well as that year's Monmouth Cup Stakes (G3). The previous year at 3, he captured the Peter Pan Stakes (G3). Trained by Stanley Hough, Global Campaign won six of 10 starts in his career for WinStar Farm and Sagamore Farm, banking $1,321,080.
Lanz, as agent for KAS Stable, also signed the $250,000 ticket for Hip 195, a Nyquist colt consigned by Woods. Lanz topped all buyers Tuesday, spending $900,000 on the two juveniles.
The workmanlike opening session, which had a delayed start time of noon ET to allow prospective buyers more time for inspections following the alteration of the under tack schedule, saw 145 head change hands for gross sales of $19,725,000. Tuesday's average price was $136,034, and the median came in at $87,000. Sixty horses failed to meet their reserve, accounting for a buy-back rate of 29.3%. In comparison, a total of 175 horses sold in last year's opening session for gross sales of $22,746,000. Last year's average in the corresponding session was $129,977 with a median price of $70,000.
"I thought it was good," said Tod Wojciechowski, OBS director of sales, commenting on the sale's first day. "A lot of the things hold true. A good horse sells well, and I thought we had a lot of nice horses today. Holding true to last year is a great start to the week. Obviously, a lot of good horses left to come, and I look forward to the next three days."
The first session was a little slow into stride, but trading picked up as the afternoon progressed.
"I think it might be some of the sale just getting started," Wojciechowski said. "I wouldn't be surprised to see a number of those horses done in the post-sale setting. I think a little bit of that is buyers getting their feet wet, getting their sea legs. April (Spring Sale) started as a middle-market sale and has grown into a top-end and middle-market (sale). It is fair to say in March, we've done a good job of including middle-market horses into that time frame.
"It's still the first sale of the year, and it's easier for a buyer to say, 'I'm going to wait and see what comes up over the next couple of months.' Again, this is the go-to sale of 2-year-olds, a little bit of everything for everyone."
The Spring Sale continues April 17 with hips 303-604 slated to go through the ring beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET. As of Monday evening, 73 horses had been withdrawn from Wednesday's second session.
