Record 9.3-Second Breeze Stuns Bidders at Ocala OBS Under-Tack

Who will pay like Zedan Racing did for Brant after a :9 3/5 breeze? The Army Mule colt listed as Hip 139 produced the fastest eighth-mile on the first day of OBS under-tack shows, recorded as :9 3/5 by OBSSales and TDN and described as leading all workers at that distance, immediately raising questions about bidding patterns for the upcoming OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training and prompting consignors and buyers to insist on official timing confirmation.

Hip 139 is described in the under-tack coverage as a bay colt by Army Mule and was Cesar Loya’s lone representative on the day, a fact noted in OBSSales copy that framed the work as a session-closer. OBSSales included the remark, “And especially for him to be the last horse of the session, that to me was like closing with style. That was really special to me.” An earlier summary also lists the colt as out of a Midnight Lute mare and records the breeze as 9.3 seconds; those details appear only in the original report and remain to be reconciled with the OBSSales and TDN timing and catalog entries.

While the Army Mule colt drew comparisons to last year’s high-water mark, Ocala Stud produced the most concrete commercial headline: Hip 788, a filly by Win Win Win from the farm’s homebred Unanimity (by Union Rags), equaled the SafeTrack quarter-mile record at OBS with a :20 1/5 work during the fourth and final preview for next week’s March sale. Ocala Stud’s David O’Farrell framed the performance as validation of farm preparation: “It wasn't a real surprise. She prepped very well last week, did it very easily and she's just a really, really good filly. She's got 'it'–she's got that 'it' factor. You really don't know exactly what you have until the final prep. [...] She's powerful, very classy and very good-minded. She came back to the barn after her breeze and just cooled out beautifully. She never turned a hair, she's very quiet and just great to be around. Every time you ask her for work, she lays it down for you. We were high on her at the farm, but when we got over here it completely translated. She's the real deal, she's fast.”

The under-tack week also produced a biomechanics note that could alter pre-sale valuation: an Authentic son was reported by a bloodstock expert to have a potential stride angle measured at 123 to 126 degrees, a figure presented as an indicator of physical projection even though the colt carries no hip number or consignor details in the supplied reports.

Market context sharpens the stakes. Brant breezed :9 3/5 at the 2025 OBS March Sale, sold for an OBS-record $3 million to Zedan Racing via the Eddie Woods consignment, and went on to capture the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity while earning Eclipse Award finalist honors. That trajectory is the template buyers will weigh as the March sale opens next week and as consignors like Ocala Stud present horses such as Hip 788.

Photos of the under-tack activity carry credits listed as “Photos By Z” and “OBS/Photos by Z.” Official OBS timing sheets, catalog annotations for Hip 139’s dam, and confirmation of the bloodstock expert’s stride-angle data will determine whether these under-tack flashes translate into blockbuster bids or cautious market skepticism when the ring opens.