OBS Spring Sale Notebook: Day 3

Benjamin Gase Nabs $675K Uncle Mo Colt A colt by perennial leading sire Uncle Mo paced the early proceedings in the third session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training on April 27, selling to Benjamin Gase for $675,000. Trainer Keith Desormeaux signed the ticket on the bay colt (Hip 682) who breezed an eighth in :10 1/5 at the under tack preview. Bred in Kentucky by Breed First and consigned by Gene Recio, agent, the colt is out of the unraced Bodemeister mare Mezinka, a half sister to multiple grade 1 winner and sire Pioneerof the Nile and multiple graded stakes-placed Forefathers. The Recio family's Lynwood Stable (Bill and Lynn Recio) acquired the colt for $250,000 at last year's Keeneland September Sale out of the Runnymede Farm consignment. "That horse has (a) classic pedigree, great lines, awesome conformation, and a good foot," said Desormeaux. "He was about as good as you get from head to toe. "What added to his value is the fact that he has great sire value being by Uncle Mo and out of an Empire Maker/Pioneerof the Nile (female) line. You know he has got the speed, and then the classic distance on the bottom. I hate to use the same old cliché, but he just ticks every box." Recio shared that the colt has been forward from the get-go. "I fell in love with him when I saw him at the yearling sale," Recio said. "I was very fortunate to be able to buy him. I thought he was going to sell for a lot more money than that; right place at the right time. I'm very happy for them (the breeder) as they stayed in for a piece. The horse did everything the right way. Good horses make good horsemen." All smiles after signing the ticket, Desormeaux is confident the precocious colt has a bright future. "He didn't have as much of a quick cadence as most of these eighth-of-a-mile breezers, but his movement was fluid and he still went in :10 1/5 (with) a great gallop out, so again, that's what we're looking for—a horse with speed but most importantly, efficiency. He is going to California to prepare for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1)." Coastal Equine's Hoppel Hits Home Run with Blame Pinhook West Bloodstock, agent for Repole Stable, purchased a son of Blame, named I'lltaketheblame, for $700,000 Thursday. Jesse Hoppel picked up the Florida-bred for $70,000 last year during the OBS Select and Open Sale of Yearlings from consignor Kim Harrison. "He was a sleek horse that looked like he needed to grow up," Hoppel said. "I still think he has growing up to do. There is no telling how good he will be when he's finally there because he's not there yet and will keep coming." The bay consigned as Hip 786 breezed a quarter-mile in :21 during last week's preview show. "I thought we were good in the $400,000-$500,000 range, but this market is very polarized," Hoppel said. "I had so many people on this horse; they just had to have him. But if you don't have the flavor of the week, they don't want anything to do with you." Woodslane Farm Strikes for $550K Omaha Beach Colt Buyers continued to flock to the progeny of freshman sire Omaha Beach during the third session of the Spring Sale. Spendthrift Farm's multiple grade 1-winning son of War Front was represented Thursday by Hip 617, a colt purchased by Woodslane Farm for $550,000 as a private sale, the highest-priced lot of the day for a first-crop sire. Consigned by Wavertree Stables (Ciaran Dunne), agent, the bay colt breezed a quarter-mile in a swift :20 3/5 at the under tack preview. Bred in Kentucky by Dr. Hartmut Malluche and Silesia Farm, Hard Knox was purchased as a yearling for $185,000 by Bregman Family Racing out of the Warrendale Sales consignment at last year's Fasig-Tipton July Sale. He is produced from the stakes-placed Tizway mare Lantiz. Omaha Beach's top-selling juvenile over the sale's first three days is Hip 532, a filly out of the winning Smart Strike mare Intelyhente purchased by agent Clay Scherer for $700,000 late in the second session on Wednesday.