While flipping through the Ocala Breeders' Sales catalog, it will not be frequent that one turns to the page of a horse consigned by J & R Thoroughbreds. However, Jesse Aviles and his fiancé Rylee Thomas hope that the name will soon carry a guarantee of quality.
On March 12 during the OBS March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale's final session, the couple will send their third and final horse of the year through the ring and just their eighth individual horse overall since forming their consignment ahead of the 2023 2-year-old sales season. The Drain the Clock filly, consigned as Hip 595, could be their best yet.
"We've stayed very small," Aviles said. "We haven't had a lot of chances, but everything we trained have all won and hit the board in their own class and have done really well. We're definitely starting to get it dialed down to know what horses work for us, and not just us, but for the buyers. At the end of the day, that's who we're shopping for when we're at Keeneland."
Aviles had been around horses throughout his life, but had never worked with Thoroughbreds until he joined Q Bar J Thoroughbreds about a decade ago. Learning from the late Quincy Adams, he started by cleaning out stalls and gradually worked his way up to handling the horses, riding them, and eventually showing them at sales.
"I started all the way at the bottom and worked my way all the way to the top of there," Aviles said. "That's where I got a lot of my knowledge base from. I'd say 75% of what we do day in and day out all goes back to that."
Like Aviles, Thomas spent a lot of time around horses as a barrel racer but never worked closely with Thoroughbreds until she began riding at Payson Park Training Center. The two met and started dating, and in 2022 the opportunity came for them to create their own consignment.
"It was a big step, but we felt like we were ready," Aviles said. "You always hear people say you're never really ready, you just have to do it. That's how I've lived my life. When opportunity arises, that's when I jump on it. The opportunity came our way, so we just took it and we've been running ever since."
The couple have made the most of their opportunities so far; the third horse they ever sent through the ring becoming a stakes winner in White Rocks.
J & R Thoroughbreds purchased last year's Cincinnati Trophy Stakes winner for $35,000 at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale before pinhooking her for $180,000 at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale.
"When we look at them, first thing is they need to have a really nice top line and a good hip," Aviles explained of what they look for in pinhooking prospects.
A filly who met their criteria with ease was the Drain the Colt filly they offer Thursday, purchasing her for $55,000 in September at Keeneland from the Buckland Sales consignment.
"She checked that box off as soon as we looked at her," Aviles said. "From there on, she just kind of developed piece by piece. It's just important when we're looking that they have the pieces to start with, and she checked all the boxes."
With a small number of horses and just Aviles and Thomas as staff, the gray or roan filly has received plenty of personal care. Early in the breaking and training process, she showed them she could be something special.
"It didn't take very long to see how much talent she really had," Aviles said. "She's been very precocious the whole time. There was never really a question where we were taking her, it seemed like from the start we could have her ready for March. She's just been very easygoing, full of talent, and full of class. We've been very excited."
That excitement skyrocketed even further during the March 6 under-tack show when the filly breezed an eighth in :09 4/5.
"You can't really ever expect :09 and 4, but if one could do it, we were pretty sure she would be the one," Aviles said. "She's got a very nice walk, a lot of muscle, a lot of shape. But with that, she's still very classy and elegant. She covers ground really well. When she moves, it's with meaning."
Bred in Kentucky by Bellary Bay Bloodstock, Hip 595 is out of the unraced Street Boss mare Bettyfromtheblock, who is out of a full sister to 2000 Horse of the Year and the lone dual Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner Tiznow.
In addition to Tiznow, Hip 595's immediate family includes grade 2 winners Budroyale and Tizdubai, who herself is the granddam of graded winners Tarifa and Cabo Spirit.
Further, Gainesway's first-crop stallion Drain the Clock entered the sale as the "buzz horse" after several of his offspring lit up the track during the under-tack show. In addition to a sharp time from this filly, his filly out of Windsail (Hip 508) tied for the sale's fastest eighth in :09 3/5. He also sired the only two horses in the sale to equal the OBS track record for a quarter-mile in :20 1/5.
Through the first two days of the sale, 15 sons or daughters of Drain the Clock cleared the ring to the tune of $4.38 million, led by a son out of the Freud mare Making a Point (Hip 132) consigned by de Meric Sales selling for $1.1 million to Pedro Lanz, as agent for KAS Stables.
Aviles can only see that added attention to the sire as being beneficial come his filly's turn in the ring.
"Everybody wants to come see the Drain the Clocks," he said. "They're all very fast, pretty, good-looking horses. We've only got the one, but from everything I've seen from everybody else's and all the breeze times, they're definitely stepping up and handling everything that's thrown at them."
The J & R Thoroughbreds operation might be small now, but sometimes all it takes is one special horse to provide a breakthrough.
