Led by a $975,000 Curlin filly who established a sale-record price, the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s June sale of 2-year-olds in training and horses of racing age brought the market to a close with a flourish Wednesday, setting records for average and median.
OBS reported that a total of 502 horses sold over the two-session sale for gross receipts of $25,688,500. At last year’s sale, which was held across three sessions, 606 horses brought $22,045,800.
The cumulative average price was $51,172 – not only spiking 41 percent from $36,379 at the 2024 renewal but easily besting the prior record mark of $43,433 set in 2021. The median price was $25,000, jumping 25 percent from $20,000 last year and eclipsing the prior mark of $23,500 from 2022.
The buyback rate was 17 percent, compared to 19 percent in 2024.
“We certainly saw the same pattern that we saw in the 2-year-old market all year, and I’m glad that it held all the way to June,” OBS director of sales Tod Wojciechowski said. “This time of year, you worry about buyer fatigue, but a lot of that was just worry. The market proved its resiliency again. Lots of records this year, it was an excellent season. We’re grateful to the buyers that came, grateful to the consignors who bring the quality horses they bring.”
The Curlin filly, who breezed a furlong in 10 seconds flat during the under-tack preview show on the Ocala Training Center’s all-weather Safetrack, was purchased by Randy Miles, on behalf of Gus King. The filly’s price eclipsed the $900,000 paid for an Into Mischief filly at the 2019 June sale for the auction’s record price.
This filly will be trained by Steve Asmussen, who trained her sire and who saddled Publisher in this year’s Kentucky Derby for King.
“Gus really just wants top quality,” Miles said. “He had Publisher in the Derby this year and really wants to continue that line with really top-quality horses, and we felt the Curlin was the best horse in the sale.
“We thought the horse could be bought for a little bit less, but we were not going to stop,” Miles said of bidding to the record mark. “We wanted to give it our all to get that horse bought. We didn’t want to spend that much money, but to get that kind of horse, you have to spend that money. And Gus was very willing.”
The filly is out of the Grade 3-winning Tapit mare Mufajaah, dam of stakes-placed Mejthaam. Mufajaah is out of graded stakes winner Carolyn’s Cat.
Consigned by Caliente Thoroughbreds, she was a successful pinhook after being picked up for $200,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall yearling sale last October. Caliente entered her in the OBS April sale, but ultimately withdrew her to wait for this later target.
“The first time we saw this filly we fell in love with her,” consignor Saul Marquez said. “She’s always done everything right. She’s been smart, loves what she does, she’s just a racehorse. We brought her in April but my whole idea was pointing her here in June. I was confident in her. But right now I don’t even have words.”
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