Justify Filly Brings Record $1.4 Million at OBS June

Marette Farrell, acting on behalf of Speedway Stables, outbid Donato Lanni to secure Hip 428—a filly by 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify—for a record-setting $1.4 million during the June 17 second session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales June 2-Year-Olds in Training and Horses of Racing Age Sale. Hip 428 surpassed the previous record set at last year's sale when Caliente Thoroughbreds sold a filly by Curlin for $975,000 to Gus King. "Oh, my God. As soon as I saw the breeze, all I wanted to do was go to the barn to see her," Farrell said. "And so many times you're disappointed when you see a phenomenal breeze like that. When I went to the barn, she was everything I could have hoped for. She had size, muscle, presence, great sense of mind. "She's by a phenomenal stallion, Justify. We're real believers in (him). That was an added plus. Then of course she's a half to a grade 1-placed (gelding), and it's Mindframe's extended family, and Speedway Stable has a broodmare band now, and these are the fillies we want to add to the band, the ones who have brilliance. "You can't walk away from a filly as phenomenal as her." Consignor Jesse Hoppel, who purchased the filly for $100,000 as a yearling at the 2025 Keeneland September Yearling Sale from the Vinery Sales consignment, was thrilled with the result. Known for his tremendous eye for pinhooking prospects, Hip 428 marks the second seven-figure sale for Hoppel. His first came earlier this year when a colt by Mo Town brought $1.05 million at the OBS March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale from Donato Lanni, agent for Baoma Corp. He purchased that colt as a weanling at the 2024 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale for $40,000. "We got really fortunate," Hoppel said. "I'm just grateful everyone believed in us enough to bid on our horses like that. She exceeded our expectations by far. She's a really nice filly; she's got a really nice family. Hopefully she's really successful on the racetrack and goes on to become a really nice broodmare. All those things are a possibility with that filly." The daughter of Justify breezed a quarter-mile in :20 4/5, the co-fastest at the distance for the third session of the under-tack show. Hip 428 was bred in Kentucky by Big Aut Farms and is out of the stakes-winning and graded-stakes-producing mare Harbingerofthings. The daughter of Justify is a half sister to grade 1-placed, graded stakes winner Tell Your Daddy—by Justify's sire Scat Daddy—and grade 3 winner Dynadrive. Harbingerofthings shares a tail-female connection to multiple grade 1 winner and sire Mindframe through The Big Boss daughter Ran's Chick, who is Harbingerofthings' third dam and Mindframe's fourth dam. Hoppel said offering the filly at the June sale ended up being a blessing in disguise. Though she would have been popular in March or April, the daughter of Justify required more time to get to the sales because of a paddock accident. "She was turned out with a bunch of fillies in a big field just being a horse," Hoppel explained. "We raise our horses natural... just let them be themselves. And she got a big old lump on her shin. What happened, I don't know. But she got kicked or hit it on something... and it set me back. She would have been here in April or March, but that set us back a little ways. "Like so many things, it was definitely a blessing in disguise. Sometimes you feel like you're being dealt a blow, but you're just setting up for a better outcome. It was good for me and the team and the investors; we had a great day." The highest-priced colt of the day was Hip 433, a son of Jackie's Warrior who sold to Greg Compton, agent for MAG Racing Stables, from Tom McCrocklin's consignment. The colt also breezed a quarter-mile in :20 4/5 during the under-tack show. He was bred in Florida by Angela Ingenito and is out of the multiple graded stakes-placed City Zip mare Heavenly Hill. Compton, bidding on behalf of MAG Racing Stables, also purchased yesterday's session topper—Hip 168, a colt by Early Voting for $410,000. At the end of the second session, 173 horses had changed hands for a total of $9,285,000, including private sales. The average price for Day 2 was $53,671, with a median of $27,000. The RNA rate of 29% reflected the 70 horses who failed to meet their reserve. With one day left to go, a total of 353 horses have sold for gross receipts of $18,898,000. Last year's two-day sale saw 507 horses change hands for a total of $25,473,000. "Before the sale started, they asked me what I thought about June, and I said, 'We've had a great March and April and I don't see that changing.' Obviously, it didn't change," said Tod Wojciechowski, director of sales at OBS. "I said it last year, 'This isn't your father's June sale.' It has become a sale in its own right and a number of consignors have said that they point horses to this sale. "Would I have predicted (the seven-figure horse)? I don't know that I'd have predicted it, but I'm not surprised by it. The quality of horses these guys are bringing to the market... it keeps stepping up, so it's not surprising to me."