'He had ridiculous speed' - $900,000 Frosted colt heads to Zedan Racing Stables on second day of OBS

The second session of the Spring 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale took place on Wednesday at Ocala Breeders' Sales, seeing steady trade. A son of Darley sire Frosted claimed top honours after selling for $900,000 to Donato Lanni, agent for Zedan Racing Stables.

The Longoria Training & Sales-consigned colt breezed a freakish :09 3/5 eighth-mile last week during the under tack show to be the co-fastest time clocked at the distance for the entire seven days of previews. Turning a healthy profit on Wednesday, Paul Neatherlin pinhooked the bay from the Keeneland September Yearling Sale last year for $50,000.

The juvenile is out of the Indian Charlie mare Handwoven, a full-sister to stakes-placed Auspicious and a half-sibling to Bashford Manor Stakes-placed Flatter Than Me. Vision Racing & Sales bred the colt in Kentucky. Lanni remains the sales leading buyer spending $2,350,000 on two horses, both for client Zedan Racing Stables for the past two sessions. 

Lanni said:  "We got him because we loved him. He looked really fast, and he was fast. That's about where we expected him to be [on price]. This horse was one of the best horses in the sale, I thought, and he deserved to bring that much money." 

"He had ridiculous speed, freaky," noted Bob Baffert. "He worked beautifully and came out of it well, which is half the battle."

Lanni continued: "I think last year everyone looked at the Frosteds as not having done what they thought he would have done. "But it was too early to think about Frosted not being a good sire. 

"I think he will be a good sire; he's still young and doesn't have that many crops out there. Being by Frosted isn't holding buyers back at the two-year-old sales."

OBS reported 180 horses sold of the 227 on offer on Wednesday for gross receipts of $23,468,000. The average price was $130,378 and the median $65,000, down 13.3 per cent from last year. A buy-back rate of 20.7 per cent accounts for the 47 horses that remained unsold.

During the second session last year, 194 horses changed hands of the 219 through the ring, for gross receipts of $26,634,500. An average price of $137,291 and a median of $75,000 was recorded. A low buy-back rate of 11.4 per cent accounted for the 25 horses that remained unsold.

Frosted: a colt by the Darley America sire topped the second day of the saleCredit: Edward Whitaker

Reflecting on the market during day two, consignor Paul Sharp commented: "I think the top is very healthy. It feels like there is more of a second tier right now. There are many good horses here, which is really helping the sale company and the sale at the top. We need good horses; that is the key."

Wednesday's session saw seven horses sell for $500,000 or more and included sires Bolt D'Oro (hip 320 - $700,000), Frosted (hip 449 - $900,000), Ghostzapper (hip 450 - $575,000), Omaha Beach (hip 466 - $650,000 and hip 532 - $700,000), Justify (hip 510 - $750,000), and Lookin At Lucky (hip 570 - $700,000).

"It's a little lighter today on anything that is not perceived as special," said consignor Nick de Meric. "A little lighter in the middle to lower range; as it happens, we had several that fell in that category today. 

"It's been a bit lonely for some of those horses, but there is plenty of activity at the top end and demand for the elite offerings. We have some more for later in the sale, but for the lesser likes, it's been tougher."

Cumulatively over the past two days of selling, 353 horses have sold of the 433 to go under the hammer for gross receipts of $46,186,000, down 6.8 per cent year-on-year. An average price of $130,839 and a median of $70,000 was recorded. The buy-back rate of 18.5 per cent represents the 80 horses that have not sold.

Nick de Meric: "It's a little lighter today on anything that is not perceived as special"Credit: Joe DiOrio

At this point in 2022, OBS reported 375 sold of the 431 through the ring for gross receipts of $49,549,500. That equated to an average price of $132,132 and a median of $70,000. The RNA rate was 13 per cent to account for the 56 horses that had not sold.

Wavertree's Ciaran Dunne said: "It's good and bad; maybe our expectations were slightly high. There have been a couple of disappointing spots and a couple of bright spots. 

"They are either on or off; there is no middle ground. It's a little strange, and probably we got a little excited with our activity in the barn; our expectations were a little high."

Jacob West of West Bloodstock, agent for Repole Stable, made two purchases for gross receipts of $960,000 to be the leading buyer by gross for the second session. Wavertree Stables sold eight horses for $2,400,000 to be the leading consignor by gross for the session.

Over the past two days, de Meric Sales have sold 21 head for $3,984,000 to be the leading consignor by gross.

"We had some fireworks on Tuesday, and maybe there was a little disappointment that we didn't have similar fireworks today, but you can't pick how the catalogue goes," said OBS director of sales Tod Wojciechowski. "I thought it was steady all day; we got a lot of horses traded."

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