 |
|
| Staff Writer |
 |
A Gun Runner colt has broken the Ocala Breeders' Sales record when selling for US$3 million at the closing session of the OBS March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale on March 13. The previous sale record was US$2.45 million for the Tiznow colt Conquistador, established in 2017.
Bloodstock agent Donato Lanni signed the ticket on the colt, consigned as Hip 654, on behalf of owner Zedan Racing. The grey colt breezed the co-fastest eighth mile of the sale, recording a furlong in :09 3/5 during the under tack show.
Hip 654, bred in Kentucky by PTK, was purchased for US$200,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. He is the first foal out of the Liam's Map mare Tynan, a half-sister to graded stakes winners Pappacap and Boppy O.
"Gun Runner's a tremendous stallion," Lanni said. "He worked really good, he galloped out good, and he did everything you want one to do."
Zedan Racing also purchased last year's sale topper, Nooni, for US$1.8 million. The daughter of Win Win Win won the Gr.3 Sorrento Stakes at 2.
Marquee Bloodstock secured a filly by freshman sire Maxfield for US$1.25 million from the de Meric Sales consignment. The bay filly breezed an eighth of a mile in :09 4/5 at the under-tack show.
Hip 721 is out of the Quiet American mare All in With Aces, making her a half-sister to Group One winner Hard Aces and stakes-winning Astrollinthepark. She was purchased as a weanling for US$165,000 by Machmer Hall at the 2023 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.
"Her work was outstanding, not just in the time, but in the way she did it. It was very obvious that she was a talented filly," said Ramiro Restrepo, who signed the ticket for Marquee Bloodstock.
Hip 725, a colt by Nyquist and half-brother to multiple stakes winners Street Lute and Alottahope, brought US$1 million from Epic Horses. The colt was bred in Maryland by Bowman and Higgins Stable.
Epic Horses also purchased Hip 606, a filly by Vekoma for US$165,000 from the Kings Equine consignment, and a Tapit colt (Hip 419) in partnership with Spendthrift Farm for US$550,000 from de Meric Sales.
Amo Racing USA went to US$1.05 million for Hip 636, a daughter of Quality Road from the Wavertree Stables consignment. Hip 636 is out of the stakes-winning Congrats mare Toasting, who won US$565,035 on the track.
Ben McElroy, acting as agent for Amo Racing, signed the ticket for the filly who clocked an eighth of a mile in :09 4/5. The bay filly was purchased as a yearling for US$350,000 at Fasig-Tipton's The Saratoga Sale.
"Amo Racing is looking for some high-end fillies that can go two turns on the dirt and be a classic filly," said McElroy. "This filly fit the mold. She breezed very well; she's by a top sire of fillies."
The record-breaking Gun Runner colt was consigned by veteran seller Eddie Woods, who has announced that after the April 15-18 OBS Spring Sale, he will hang up the reins after more than 30 years in the business.
Woods has provided early training for dozens of graded stakes winners including champions Big Brown, Lady Eli, and Midnight Lute, becoming a familiar fixture in sales rings worldwide.
"It's like winning the Olympics," Woods said of the record sale. "Yeah, oh my God, the only way to go out is on top."
Woods finished the sale as leading consignor on Day 3 with five sold for US$3,277,000, and second for the entire sale with 19 head sold for a total of US$6,448,500.
Notable Woods graduates include 2008 Gr.1 Kentucky Derby and Gr.1 Preakness Stakes winner Big Brown, 2017 champion turf female Lady Eli, 2007 champion sprinter Midnight Lute, and Union Rags, winner of the 2012 Gr.1 Belmont Stakes .
When asked if he had a favourite, Woods said: "No, but I suppose in a way Big Brown, because we bought him and we owned him, and he won the Derby. The Derby is the race."
Woods bought Big Brown for US$60,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale in 2006, then sold him at the 2007 Keeneland April 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale for US$190,000 to Paul Pompa Jr.
For the next generation of juvenile sellers, Woods emphasised quality: "You just have to have quality. That's all you can deal with anymore. You can't make any money with lower horses, so you have to gamble and have the better horse."
A colt by first-crop sire Independence Hall from Woods' consignment sold for US$1 million to JPM Bloodstock on March 12. The colt is a second-generation Woods graduate, as his dam was also sold by Woods at the 2016 OBS April Sale.
Other notable graduates from Woods' program include Left Bank (2002 champion older horse), Spring in the Air (2012 champion 2YO filly in Canada), and Midnight Lute (back-to-back winner of the Gr.1 Breeder's Cup Sprint in 2007 and 2008).