March 13 may be the final day of the Ocala Breeders' March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, but there are still plenty of options to acquire a top-quality juvenile, including several siblings of grade 1 winners.
It won't take long for one of those pedigrees to arrive in the ring as Hip 558 will be among the first 14 offerings.
The gray or roan filly bred in Kentucky by Machmer Hall and Carrie and Craig Brogden is consigned by de Meric Sales, who got out of the OBS gate fast by selling an Army Mule colt (Hip 81) for $950,000 March 11, the second-highest purchase of the day.
This filly offered by de Meric has the pedigree to be something special. By the fantastic Lane's End stallion Twirling Candy , the filly is out of the Unbridled's Song mare Special Me. That is the same mating that produced Gift Box , winner of the 2019 Santa Anita Handicap (G1) among three graded triumphs, who has joined his sire in the Lane's End stallion ranks.
Furthermore, this filly is a half sister to three-time grade 1 winner on turf Gina Romantica (Into Mischief ), two-time grade 2 winner and grade 1-placed on dirt Stonetastic (Mizzen Mast), and two-time graded stakes winner on synthetic Special Forces (Candy Ride ).
"The pedigree and the filly, I think she could go anywhere and she can run on anything," said de Meric Sales' Tristan de Meric. "There's not very many pedigrees like this that get offered at a 2-year-old sale, so she's an exciting one to have at the barn. She's definitely been well received."
According to de Meric, the filly's physical and mind matches the pedigree.
"She has a great body, great strength, really covers a lot of ground," de Meric said. "She's always had a great mind and been nice to work with all year. She was an easy one to get started and ready for this sale. We've been happy to have the filly. She's been beautiful on the shank and on paper."
During the under tack show March 8, the filly breezed a furlong in a :10 2/5.
"She's never been a filly that we put a ton of pressure on, we don't put much on any of our horses to be honest," de Meric said. "She's one we've always taken our time with. On paper, she wasn't a filly that had to have a lights-out bullet breeze to catch people's attention."
That interest has been high, according to de Meric, who said the "right people" have been keeping an eye on the filly.
Also catching plenty of interest is Hip 729, a colt bred in Kentucky by B Flay Thoroughbreds. Consigned by Paul Sharp, the chestnut is by Munnings out of the unraced Tapit mare Amagansett, making him a half brother to grade 1 winner Tenma.
"He's beautifully made. Very well-balanced, correct colt," Sharp said. "He's just on the verge of maturing. He's a horse where there's a lot more coming for sure. He's got a great head, great eye on him. A very attractive horse."
An $850,000 purchase herself at the OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training last year, the 3-year-old Tenma, by Nyquist , is 4-for-5 so far in her career. Counted among those victories is the 2024 Del Mar Debutante Stakes (G1), 2024 Starlet Stakes (G2), and Feb. 2 Las Virgenes Stakes (G3), as well as a runner-up performance in the 2024 Oak Leaf Stakes (G2). She is considered one of the top contenders for the May 2 Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs, currently sitting sixth on the points leaderboard to qualify.
Sharp said he's followed Tenma's career closely following her appearance in the Wavertree Stables consignment at OBS last year, noting how precocious she was at that time. With the half brother he consigns a May foal, and Sharp sees his development likely to come a bit later than Tenma but to the same level of quality.
"This horse is gonna be a little later developing, I think, but he's got all the right attributes to follow in her footsteps at that level," Sharp said. "He's a little better mover than the average Munnings—not to knock Munnings because he's been very good to us. He's got a lot of good things about him and I think he could be a very top-quality horse without much problem. He just needs to grow up and find his people, find his trainer. He's an easy horse to be around."
The colt flashed some of that expected talent during the March 8 under tack show, breezing a furlong in :10 1/5 under light urging.
"I loved the way he went. He broke off very professionally, carried himself well," Sharp said. "He worked :10 1/5 under a nice, quiet ride—not a lot of urging or anything, that's just his natural way of going. He's very enthusiastic about his work, and we're very happy about that."
Sharp envisions the colt as a versatile addition to a buyer's stable, believing the horse can handle both dirt and turf surfaces. Being by Munnings, he is eligible to run well at distances from six to nine furlongs, but the Tapit influence on the dam side could lengthen him even further.
"All I know from what we've seen is that he trains very well, trains with good rhythm and a good stride, and he's handled everything we've asked of him very classically. He's a good horse," Sharp said.
There is also quite a bit of potential in the pedigree and under tack performance of Hip 757, a colt bred in Kentucky by Fred Hertrich III and John Fielding. Consigned by Navas Equine, the chestnut is by More Than Ready out of Autumnal, making him a full brother to 2020 Eclipse champion turf female Rushing Fall.
"He comes from a very strong family, and he's also presenting himself like this family has thrown those (same) genes (as Rushing Fall) on him," said consignor Jonathan Navas. "He's a very athletic horse. When you pull it apart, he checks a lot of the boxes for a good racehorse. He's got good shoulders, good conformation, good top line, good hindquarters."
Rushing Fall earned nearly $3 million in an 11-for-15 career, triumphing in grade 1 company six times, including in the 2017 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T), with three placings. In total, she won 10 graded stakes on the turf.
Navas broke and trained the colt over a dirt surface at Nelson Jones Farm and Training Center near Ocala, Fla., and says the colt performed very well on the dirt despite his full sister's prowess on the grass. The colt does have some dirt success in the immediate family with his Street Sense half sister, Milam, being a stakes winner and three-time graded stakes-placed on the surface.
"When he was at the farm, he was training just as good as he performed at OBS (on synthetic) and I train on a dirt surface," Navas said. "When you have talent, you have talent."
That OBS performance on the synthetic was eye-catching, posting a furlong in :09 4/5 during the March 8 under tack show, making him a promising pinhook prospect for Arroyo Bloodstock after they spent $80,000 to acquire him at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. According to Navas, the breeze time has made the colt a "popular boy" among inspecting potential buyers.
"I believe the horses that actually have the ability to do that (:09 4/5), they're really talented," Navas said. "Based off what I've seen in the past, the ones who have the ability to do it here, they're also going to perform at the track. They have the talent. He was able to go :09 4/5, and close the half mile in :45 4/5—which breaking the :46 at OBS is a very, very strong gallop out. It's standing out."
