Four Ontario-bred Juveniles Sell for $1.425 Million at OBS

Four Ontario-bred two-year-olds in training sold for big money on the final day of the Ocala Breeders’ Sales March auction on Thursday.

A colt by NASHVILLE from the mare CLOSET SHOPPER, by Tapit, bred by Apricot Valley Farm, sold as a pinhook for $525,000 at the OBS sale to St. Elias Racing. The handsome bay with a white stripe was originally bought in utero by Colin Davis’ Apricot Valley in Cold Springs for $70,000 from the 2023 Keeneland November sale.

Davis sold the Nashville colt for $90,000 last fall at Keeneland September to Robert Lambe. The colt was consigned to the OBS sale by Twelve Ties, agent.

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Davis reported on Facebook after the big sale that Closet Shopper, who is from the immediate family of Grade 1 Test Stakes winner Sweet Lulu, has an Army Mule yearling filly, is in foal to Yaupon, and is being bred to Life Is Good.

D.J. Stables, which races a lot of its horses at Woodbine, bought an Ontario-bred with partners for $400,000 from Top Line Sales LLC, agent XV. The colt is by McKinzie from the Ghostzapper mare Boo and was bred by Jim Dandy Stables. This colt was originally a $155,000 short yearling sale at the 2025 Keeneland January sale and a $285,000 Keeneland September yearling last fall.

Two Ontario-breds sold for $250,000 each. A Violence colt from Ellan Vannin, originally a $170,000 yearling purchase last fall at Keeneland, sold to Hideyuki Mori.

And Ryan and Larisa Kamp of Kamp Racing purchased a Golden Pal colt out of Grace and Dignity for $250,000 and this colt sold at Keeneland September last fall for just $10,000. Last year’s buyer is listed as BNUE and the consignor of the Ontario-bred was Doble J Equine Sales.

From OBS

When the dust settled on the OBS March Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale a year ago, a new milestone for top-end success had been established as a total of seven horses sold for seven figures during the 2025 auction, the most ever for an OBS March sale. When the 2026 edition of the sale concluded its three-day run March 12, another illustrious chapter had been added to the annals as it delivered a record March gross and equaled the OBS March record with seven horses crossing the million-dollar threshold.

After having six horses reach the seven-figure stratosphere during the first two days of the sale, Hip 576, a bay colt by Yaupon consigned by King’s Equine, became the final horse to bust through that lofty barrier when he was purchased for $1 million by agent Donato Lanni on behalf of the “Three Amigos”, also known as the ownership trio of Michael Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman.

That final exclamation point put a stamp on a sale that continues to build upon the breadth and depth of buying power showcased a year ago. The overall gross of $72,050,000 from 443 head sold at the close of business Thursday surpassed the previous March record gross of $71,473,500 from 464 sold established in 2023. In addition to hitting that mark and besting the total gross of $65,660,500 generated by 432 sold in 2025, the cumulative average of $162,641 surpassed the 2025 figure of $151,992 with the median improving from $70,000 last year to $85,000 this season.

Sale Topper

Wednesday’s session saw Hip 372, a bay filly by Nyquist consigned by Wavertree Stables (Ciaran Dunne), top the auction when she sold for $2 million to representatives of Boyd Racing. That final bid put the filly, who breezed in :9 3/5, in a three-way tie for the honour of being the second-highest priced horse to sell at an OBS March sale – second only to Brant, who brought a record $3 million last year – joining Muth (2023) and Chestertown (2019).