Following a two-hour rain delay, the second session of the under-tack preview of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds got underway with the first two horses across the track skipping to matching :9 4/5 furlong bullet times. Through three sets on the day, 18 juveniles hit that mark, joining the 17 who shared that time during Monday's first session of the six-day preview.
Randy Miles, who had three of the furlong bullet workers from Monday's session, exceeded that number Tuesday when five horses from his consignment worked in :9 4/5. Leading off the group was a filly by Charlatan (hip 267), whose third dam, Serena's Cat (Storm Cat) produced champion Honor Code. Also reaching the bullet mark from Miles's consignment Tuesday: a filly by Kantharos (hip 386), a half-sister to stakes winner Leslie's Loot (Fast Anna); a filly by Munnings (hip 382) out of a half-sister to multiple Grade I winner Mind Control (Stay Thirsty); a colt by Uncle Mo (hip 261), out of stakes-placed Sweet as Pie (Tapit) and from the family of Streaming; and a colt by McKinzie out of Stonecoldfox (Bustin Stones) (hip 228).
A pair of juveniles from the first crop of multiple Grade I winner Life Is Good shared in the :9 4/5 co-bullet time Tuesday. Britton Peak consigns hip 312, a colt out of graded winner Tiz Breathtaking (Tiznow). He was purchased by Arroyo Bloodstock for $275,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.
“He did exactly what we expected,” said Nelson Arroyo. “I was just hoping that he actually came through. I have been a nervous wreck because I knew he could do what he did, and I was just hoping that he would.”
Arroyo admitted it was a case of love at first sight when he saw the bay colt at Keeneland last fall.
“The first time I saw him, I fell in love with him the second he walked out of the barn,” Arroyo said. “He looked like a big horse, but he had all the right angles. He checked every box. The way he walked and the way he moved. I fell in love.”
The colt has only continued to impress Arroyo, who is now into his third year as a pinhooker.
“He's always been real good-minded,” Arroyo said. “He's been real easy to work with. He's a very smart horse, super intelligent. When he's on the track, every day he's displayed the same thing, just very bright and very smart. Whatever you ask him for, he gives it to you.”
Life is Good, who had a colt (hip 15) from the de Meric Sales consignment work in :9 4/5 Monday, had a third bullet worker with a filly (hip 391) from the Global Thoroughbreds consignment.
Arroyo Bloodstock and Britton Peak will send out another colt by Life Is Good (hip 472) during Wednesday's third session of the under-tack show.
“They look like they are going to be fast and they are going to go the distance,” Arroyo said of his impression of Life is Good's first crop. “That's what I really liked about them. And they all had a real good mind, a real good presence to them. All very professional any time they walked out and showed themselves. I kept on seeing the same mentality, same presence. They caught our eye quick.”
Life is Good | Sarah Andrew
Arroyo is consigning horses with the Martin family's Britton Peak for the first time this year, but there was plenty to recommend him to the operation.
“We were buying more horses and I wanted to try Greg [Martin]'s operation just because he got recommended to me by my brother [jockey] Norberto. He won a lot of races for him in New York. They did real good together. My cousin Enrique Arroyo was his assistant trainer in Belmont Park when he was there training.”
Also Tuesday, Britton Peak sent out a colt by Game Winner (hip 376) to share the :9 4/5 bullet work.
Arroyo Bloodstock and Britton Peak got off to a bang-up start to their partnership at the OBS March sale last month. Through the consignment, Arroyo sold a filly by Blame, purchased for $25,000 for $400,000; a colt by Jackie's Warrior, purchased for $180,000 for $400,000; a colt by Munnings purchased for $190,000 for $400,000; and a filly by Corniche purchased for $250,000 for $500,000.
“We had a great March sale,” Arroyo said. “We had seven horses that we paid about $800,000 for and they brought back $1.9 million. We are more than pleased. We sold good horses and I believe they are going to do well at the races.”
With Britton Peak, Arroyo will offer seven horses at the April sale.
“This April group is super talented,” Arroyo said. “We brought these horses here because they are a little bit bigger in size. Depending on how these horses develop and progress, we are taking them to different sales and we want to separate the group that we have. We had seven in March, seven in April, seven or eight in May and three or four in June.”
Arroyo added with a laugh, “March set us up good, but I am still nervous. I still stress about the horses at every sale.”
Also working the furlong in :9 4/5 Tuesday: a colt by Khozan (hip 211) consigned by Journey Bloodstock; a colt by Dialed In (hip 263) consigned by Top Line Sales; a colt by Greatest Honour (hip 278) consigned by Navas Equine; a filly by Yaupon (hip 287) consigned by de Meric Sales; a filly by Win Win Win (hip 288) consigned by Grassroots Training and Sales; a colt by Epicenter (hip 289) consigned by Wavertree Stables; a filly by Instagrand (hip 306) consigned by Sweet River Thoroughbreds; a filly by Yaupon (hip 402) consigned by Omar Ramirez Bloodstock; a colt by Early Voting (hip 404) consigned by Top Line Sales, and a colt by Twirling Candy (hip 406) consigned by Scanlon Training and Sales.
Three juveniles shared Tuesday's fastest quarter-mile time of :20 4/5.
Consignor Tom McCrocklin, who sent out a filly by Omaha Beach to set the quarter-mile bullet Monday, sent out a filly by Oscar Performance (hip 262) to equal the mark Tuesday. Out of Sweet Assay (Consolidator), the dark bay is a half-sister to multiple graded winner Analyze It (Point of Entry) and was bred by Headley and Nancy Bell and NATO.
“She's a filly from a family that we do care a lot about,” Headley Bell said. “We were fortunate to breed Analyze It and he was just a nose from winning a Grade I. So, there has been some emotions there with the family. We think the world of Tom McCrocklin, and he says she's never shown him anything other than she's a lovely filly. We decided to go forward with her in this process, and then she goes and does what she did today.”
Headley Bell | Keeneland
The :20 4/5 bullet time was also matched by a colt by Jack Christopher (hip 246) consigned by Doble J Equine Sales and again late in the day by a colt by Bee Jersey (hip 280) from the Hoppel consignment.
The rainy conditions and cool temperatures seemed to impact the times Tuesday, according to Arroyo.
“It affected the track a lot,” he said. “It seems like it's a little sticky and a little deep. It seems like a lot of horses are not being able to adapt to it just because it is kind of deep right now. So, horses I think are going :10 flat, they are doing :10 1/5. I think it slowed down the track some, but it's a good track. Thank God we have this synthetic track here that handles all weather.”
The under-tack show continues through Saturday with sessions beginning daily at 8 a.m. The April sale will be held next Tuesday through Friday with bidding starting each day at 10:30 a.m.
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