The Ocala Breeders' Sales June 2-Year-Olds in Training and Horses of Racing Age Sale concluded June 18, capping off a record-setting juvenile sales season at OBS. The sale reached unprecedented heights, setting records for gross and average price and producing the highest-priced horse in the sale's history: a $1.4 million Justify filly purchased by Speedway Stables.
The filly breezed a speedy quarter-mile in a :20 4/5 during the under-tack show for consignor Jesse Hoppel. He purchased the filly as a yearling at the 2025 Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $100,000.
Hoppel, who had a very successful showing at the OBS June sale, led all consignors, selling 18 from his draft for $2,543,000. Speedway Stables' single purchase of Hip 428 put it atop all buyers by gross. D.J. Stable was the second-leading buyer, purchasing five hips for $980,000.
"I've done well here year after year. Hopefully, it will continue," Hoppel said.
In addition to the Justify filly, Hoppel also sold the highest-priced filly of the third session—Hip 876, a New York-bred daughter of Vekoma . The filly who breezed a co-fastest quarter-mile in :20 2/5 during the under-tack show brought $400,000 from Kimmel and Sallusto, agent for Miguel Clement.
At the end of the final session, 561 horses had changed hands for $28,551,500, including private sales. The average reached a record $50,894, and the median of $25,000 equaled the record mark set at last year's sale. A total of 146 horses failed to meet their reserve, resulting in an RNA rate of 21%.
The results are not directly comparable because of the shift from a two-day sale to a three-day sale this year. In 2025, 507 horses sold for a total of $25,473,000, including private sales. The average price was $50,243.
"I think it's been a banner year for us with the records that we've set through all three sales and ending up on a high note with the June sale," said Tod Wojciechowski, director of sales at OBS. "Very excited and very happy with the results on the year. I still think there were a lot of horses that got sold, period, and we sold a lot of horses at a lot of different price levels. I know sometimes you always want to see more at different levels, but there was plenty of trade of horses."
Two horses of racing age sold at the end of the juvenile session totaling $23,000.
Medaglia d'Oro Colt Tops Final Session at $650,000
Veteran consignor Marcial Galan sold the highest-priced colt of the sale when Hip 824, a colt by Medaglia d'Oro named Bulmaro, brought $650,000 from Donato Lanni, agent for Zedan Racing Stables. Not only was he the highest-priced colt of the sale, but it was also a personal milestone for Galan as the highest-priced horse to ever come out of his consignment.
The colt was bred in Kentucky by Jason Hall, Herschel Martindale, Joe Wheeler, and David Branch. He is out of the winning Desert Party mare Scarlet Emerald, making Bulmaro a half brother to the multiple stakes-placed Naughty Lottie.
"I've sold like 200 horses in my life, and this is the highest," Galan said. "Me and my wife are about to cry. We work really hard, and when something goes wrong we feel like, what did we do wrong? But as I told the owners, not everything goes the right way all the time. But we're really happy with this. He gave us the result we wanted. That was the last horse and ... we're ready for vacation now."
The colt lost three months of training over the winter because of a hematoma on his foreleg from a stall accident. Judging from his sharp breeze, you would not have guessed the flashy colt had missed a beat. He blazed a co-fastest furlong in :09 4/5 during the under-tack show.
"I have to pat the buying public on the back because they did a great job of taking (the missed training time) into account and seeing the horse for the athlete he is," Hall said. "Marcial has just done an incredible job for us for four to five years now. Even when we had a situation like this, he rolled his sleeves up and got the job done. The process is long and can be filled with some peaks and valleys, and we're just happy that it worked out."
The colt will head to trainer Bob Baffert, where he will be among a talented stable that includes Zedan, a colt by Flightline who brought a record $10.5 million at the OBS Spring 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale.
"He looks fast. He looks like one that will go on," Lanni said of Bulmaro. "All year for the good horses, there have been a lot of strong bidders. Every year seems to get stronger and stronger. I think there is a lot of money out there and people want to have fun."
