OBS March 2-Year-Olds Sale Sets Record $72 Million Gross

The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale wrapped with a record $72,050,000 gross, including private sales, surpassing the previous benchmark set in 2023 and signaling one of the strongest juvenile markets in recent memory.

The headline transaction of the three-day sale came on Day 2 when Wavertree Stables consigned Hip 372, a Nyquist filly out of Smooth and Savvy, to Killora/Linton acting as agent for Boyd Racing at $2,000,000. The filly, bred by Cannon Thoroughbreds in Kentucky, had sold at the 2025 Keeneland September sale for $300,000, making her final price a stunning return on investment for Wavertree. She had earned it in the under-tack show, breezing a furlong in the co-fastest time of :09 3/5.

"That's beyond all expectations," said consignor Ciaran Dunne. "She's by probably one of the top five stallions in the country, if not the top three. She's a beautiful physical, she had an unbelievable work. She vetted clean, and if you can't sell her, you just need to quit selling."

It was Wavertree's second seven-figure Nyquist juvenile of the sale. On the opening session March 10, Dunne's operation sold Hip 88, a Nyquist colt, to Morplay Racing and Marquee Bloodstock for $1,200,000. That colt had worked a furlong in :09 4/5 during the under-tack show. Wavertree led all consignors on Day 2, with seven juveniles totaling $4,570,000.

The broader session numbers reinforced the sale's record trajectory. At the close of Day 2, 143 horses had changed hands for $28,012,000, including private sales, a 20% increase over the prior year's corresponding session, which produced $23,263,500 from 147 juveniles. The average climbed 24% to $195,888, and the median jumped 36% to $95,000 from $70,000. Forty-two horses failed to meet their reserve on Day 2, producing a 23% RNA rate.

Among the other notable transactions, Three Amigos purchased a colt by Yaupon for $1,000,000 during the sale. The under-tack show, held over four days, also produced a pair of record-tying performances from juveniles by Gainesway first-crop sire Drain the Clock. Hip 284, a chestnut consigned by Hoppel LLC, and Hip 748, a chestnut colt from Doble J Equine Sales, each breezed a quarter mile in :20 1/5, equaling the OBS track record.

Jesse Hoppel of Hoppel LLC, who consigned Hip 284, has become an unabashed advocate for the sire. "I haven't found one I didn't like yet," he said of the Drain the Clock juveniles. Hoppel offered a broader read on the market heading into the sale: "Every sale I go to, I'm having trouble buying horses because they're so expensive. I think we're on the verge of having a really great 2-year-old season."

The result builds on the momentum from last year's OBS March sale, which itself set a then-record for seven-figure transactions with seven horses clearing the million-dollar mark, headlined by future Grade 1 winner Brant selling from the Eddie Woods consignment for a record $3,000,000 to Zedan Racing. The 2026 renewal has now pushed the gross ceiling even higher, and with Drain the Clock generating genuine buzz and Nyquist continuing to produce elite two-year-old prospects, the pipeline of elite juvenile talent running through Ocala shows no sign of slowing.