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| Staff Writer |
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Gun Runner progeny continues to command premium prices at the second day of a record-breaking Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of 2YOs in Training yesterday, with Kerri Radcliffe signing for the current sale topper at US$1.45m.
Radcliffe, purchasing on behalf of Memo Racing, secured Hip 601, a colt from the immediate family of 2024 Gr.1 Breeders' Cup Mile winner More Than Looks. The Kentucky-bred bay colt, consigned by S G V Thoroughbreds, breezed an eighth of a mile in :10 during the under-tack show.
"He's a Gun Runner, it's kind of hard to get away from that," Radcliffe said. "He breezed really well. Physically, he's lovely. He's going to take a bit more time, probably than the Nyquist (Hip 378). But we came here to buy nice colts, we got two."
The colts were bought for Memo Racing, an American-based partnership that also has a filly in the United Kingdom. A trainer has not yet been decided, with Radcliffe confirming they plan to expand their stable further.
"We're doing colts and fillies," Radcliffe said. "It just so happened that the colts were here. I've seen a lot of fillies that are going to Maryland, and also that are going to Arqana in France that have American pedigrees."
The consignor, Steven Venosa of S G V Thoroughbreds, was delighted with the result: "You never know. Anytime you lead one up here, I mean a horse with a stallion's pedigree and a Breeders' Cup horse under the first dam, he came up here, did everything he needed to do on the racetrack, and showed well all week. I have a great team behind me that was able to help me get here.
"It's hard to hide a good horse, and he's a great horse."
Radcliffe's shopping spree continued with Hip 378, a Nyquist colt from the Harris Training Center consignment, secured for US$1.05m. The Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings-bred colt was previously purchased as a yearling for US$135,000 at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton October Yearling Sale by HTC Voric Stables.
By 2015 champion 2YO male and 2016 Gr.1 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist, Hip 378 is the fourth foal of the Distorted Humor mare Saucy Dame. He breezed an eighth of a mile in :10 during the second day of the under-tack show on 7 April.
"He was just gorgeous," Radcliffe said. "Pure class by a great stallion in Nyquist, out of a Distorted Humor mare, bred by Stonestreet, which doesn't get much better than that. As they say, he ticked all the boxes."
"He (Hip 378) was just a man amongst boys at my farm," Robbie Harris said. "I break over 100 head every year, and you knew where he was at any time on the track. I'm wishing them the best of luck, and I'll be the biggest fan. People were telling me, there's a lot of chatter about him, he's one of the top-end colts. I'm so glad it worked out."
Among the day's other highlights, Kaleem Shah purchased Hip 585, a colt by first-crop sire Yaupon, for US$1.3m from the de Meric Sales consignment. The colt, who worked a furlong in :09 4/5, will join trainer Steve Asmussen, who trained Yaupon to win six of eight starts including the 2021 Gr.1 Forego Stakes.
"And then you walk up on him and he has so many characteristics of his dad temperament-wise," Asmussen said. "I went back and looked at him multiple times, liked him more every time I saw him. Obviously, (Shah) paid more than retail for him but just loved who he is compared to a lot of other good horses."
The Yaupon colt represented a substantial profit for de Meric Sales, having been purchased for US$285,000 from Fasig-Tipton's The July Sale last year. "(Hip 585) is a special horse and definitely one that we had high expectations for," said Tristan de Meric.
Day 2 of the OBS Spring sale set a record with seven horses selling for US$1 million or more, with two days remaining. The previous record was five seven-figure horses, set in 2022.
Notable sales included Zedan Racing paying US$1.15m for Hip 508, a chestnut son of second-crop sire Tiz the Law, consigned by Tom McCrocklin.
"He's the horse we wanted to go home with," said bloodstock agent Donato Lanni. "He was one of the top colts. It's hard to separate them all, but this is the one we gravitated to. He comes from a deep family. He's just a cool dude, really cool, really quiet, really, really, fast."
"Wow, great day," OBS director of sales Tod Wojciechowski said. "I said before the sale started that I'm always amazed how the consignors continually up the quality of the horses they bring, and I think that was evidenced today by having six horses bring a million or more."
A total of 164 horses changed hands for US$26,128,500, including post-ring sales. The average was US$159,320, with a median of US$67,500. Forty-three horses failed to meet their reserve for a 20.8% RNA rate.
King's Equine led the consignors with two sales bringing US$2.45 million, while Mahmud Mouni topped buyers with three purchases totaling US$2.69 million, including a US$1.05m Tiz the Law filly and a US$1.4m Into Mischief colt.
"I think as an industry, we are a glass-half-full industry, right?" Wojciechowski said. "We're always waiting for the next big horse, and we're always waiting for the next big win. So I would never say that we never thought it could happen, but we're always hoping."