Media Advisory: Photos for editorial use from the OBS January Winter Mixed sale are available here.
For Immediate Release:
Last Leaf made her third trip through the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company ring her best outing yet.
Before setting foot in the pavilion for the 2025 OBS January Winter Mixed Sale Jan. 28, the multiple stakes-winning daughter of Not This Time was already well acquainted with the grounds having previously sold for $10,000 at the 2020 OBS Winter Mixed Sale and $23,500 at the 2020 October exercise.
In her latest turn before the bidders, the 6-year-old mare delivered her most memorable performance when she elicited a final bid of $140,000 from agent Marette Farrell to top the single-day sale.
The 2024 January sale was held over two days with a consignor preferred session and Horses of Racing Age comprising the first day and an open session taking place the second day. This year saw the 2-year-olds and Horses of Racing Age being sold in the OBSOnline January auction, which began Jan. 23 and runs through noon ET Jan. 30. Visit obsonline.com to view the sale.
Consigned as Hip 56 by Gilberto Martinez of G. Martinez Training, agent, Last Leaf is out of the Paddy O’Prado mare My Miss Kallie and earned $622,580 in 30 career starts. The dark bay mare was purchased by Farrell on behalf of owner Joey Peacock, who is buying mares to support his newly retired Grade 1 winner Senor Buscador in his first season at stud at Lane’s End Farm.
“He really wants to support the stallion with good mares,” Farrell, who signed the ticket as Senor’s Senorita’s, said of Peacock. “The mares we’ve already accumulated have all run good numbers, have good form. This filly ran in some of the top stakes races and was a graded stakes level filly. (Her pedigree) goes back to (champion) Soul of an Angel, who won the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, and (Grade 1 winner) Homeboykris. It’s exactly what he needs. And she’s beautiful, just a gorgeous upper body.”
For Martinez, Last Leaf was the only horse his consignment sent through the ring at the Winter Mixed Sale, giving him a homerun of a result.
“I think she’s going to be a nice broodmare,” Martinez said. “She’s the only one (we sold) so it feels good to sell one like that. We were expecting a bit more but that’s okay.”
Offerings by proven sires were most sought after throughout the sale. The day’s highest priced short yearling was a daughter of McKinzie consigned by Summerfield who sold to Lambholm, agent for $97,000.
Catalogued as Hip 70, the dark bay filly is out of the winning Bellamy Road mare Picolata and hails from the female family of multiple graded stakes winner North East Bound. Her sire McKinzie was represented by a pair of Grade 1 winners last year in OBS graduates Chancer McPatrick and Scottish Lassie.
“We thought we would be in the $75-80,000 range, but there were so many people on her I thought we might get close to $100,000,” said Francis Vanlangendonck of Summerfield. “We’re thrilled. She’s a pretty filly. Being by (McKinzie), there aren’t many like that here. And she was correct and vetted perfectly, so she was one of the better ones on the sales grounds.
“She got shown like 50 times two days in a row, she never stopped. She showed lots of class.”
Richard Kent of Kaizen Sales said one of his consignment’s most popular offerings was Hip 233, a yearling son of OBS graduate Yaupon. The bay youngster showed why he commanded such attention when he sold to Sea Warrior Stables, LLC for $95,000, the highest priced yearling colt in the sale.
A registered Florida bred, the colt is out of the winning Discreet Cat mare Catsoutofthebag, who is a full sister to stakes placed Fly At Dawn.
“We showed him over 100 times and he never wavered,” Kent said of the colt. “He was ready to go each time we brought him out. It’s a little easier to sell really nice horses. He had the advantage of having a sire that is a real talking horse right now, especially here in Ocala. I loved his balance and the way that he walked, he had a really smooth walk to him. So, we were pretty confident.”
Other notable prices included Hip 192, a yearling colt by Vekoma who sold for $80,000 to John Kimmel and Nick Sallusto, agent from the consignment of Boutte Sales, and Hip 269, a yearling son of Candy Ride (ARG) that got a final bid of $75,000 from Eduardo Soto from the consignment of Abbie Road Farm (Lisa McGreevy).
Hip 116, a yearling filly by Frosted from the consignment of Afleet Equine Services, sold to Gray A Day for $72,000 while Hip 26, a bay colt by Army Mule from the consignment of Silver Oaks Farm (Danielle Loya), brought a final bid of $70,000 from SB Consulting.
At the close of business on Jan. 28, the January Winter Mixed Sale saw 213 head sold for total gross receipts of $3,108,700. The average came in at $14,595 while the median was $7,500. A total of 57 horses failed to meet their reserve for an RNA percentage of 23.1.
Due to the change in format from the 2024 auction, final figures are not completely comparable. Last year’s sale figures without the horses of racing age included in the final numbers were 251 horses sold for gross receipts of $3,946,800. The average was $15,724 with a median of $7,000 as 64 horses failed to meet their reserve for an RNA percentage of 20.3.
“(The market) is a little sticky,” Kent said. “The good horses they sell but it’s difficult on the middle of the road horses. That hasn’t changed for a long time.”
Lisa McGreevy of Abbie Road led all consignors with 25 head sold for $528,200 this year.
Next on the 2025 OBS auction calendar is the March Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale, set for March 11-13 with the under-tack show taking place March 5-8.
Current information about OBS sales, consignors and graduates is also available via social media sites Facebook and Twitter.