Gun Runner colt goes for $1.45 million . . .
The quiet confidence consignor Steven Venosa had as he watched Hip 601 head up to the OBS sales ring Wednesday was due in large part to his belief that when individuals are that special, the market will respond accordingly.
“It’s hard to hide a good horse,” said Venosa, who consigns as S G V Thoroughbreds. “And he’s a great horse.”
Despite the bay Gun Runner colt taking his turn in the sales pavilion at the end of the second session of the OBS Spring Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training, the demand was indeed there as he sold for $1.45 million to Kerri Radcliffe, agent for Memo Racing, to headline a day that saw a record number of seven-figure horses sell at the OBS April sale.
The Gun Runner colt was one of six horses to sell for $1 million or more during Day 2 of the OBS Spring sale and the seventh horse overall to reach that level during the first two days. The previous record for most million-dollar babies sold at OBS April came when five reached that threshold in 2022.
“Wow, great day,” said Tod Wojciechowski, OBS Director of Sales. “I said before the sale started that I’m always amazed how the consignors continually up the quality of the horses they bring, and I think that was evidenced today by having six horses bring a million or more.
"I think as an industry we’re a glass half full kind of industry. We’re always waiting for the next big horse or we’re always waiting for the next big win. So, I would never say that we never thought it could happen. We’re always hoping."
Similar to the OBS March sale when a son of Gun Runner established a record price for an OBS sale when he sold for $3 million, the bay colt by the Three Chimneys stallion that lit up the board Wednesday became part of the history books. The colt breezed in :10 flat during the under tack show and boasts a pedigree bred in the purple.
He is out of the winning Empire Maker mare Vanquished and is a half-brother to multiple graded stakes winner Takeover Target and stakes winner Ladies’ Privilege, dam of Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) winner More Than Looks.
“A horse like that with a stallion’s pedigree and a Breeders’ Cup horse under the first dam… he came up here and did everything he needed to do,” Venosa said. “He showed well all week, and I had a great team behind me that was able to help me get him here. I was never worried. You can’t hide horses like that, and people come, and he was rewarded. And he went to a person with a great eye for a horse.”
When asked what made the colt a standout, Radcliffe stated the obvious.
“He’s a Gun Runner,” Radcliffe said. “It’s a little hard to get away from that. He was gorgeous horse, he breezed really well. Physically he’s lovely and he’s probably going to take a bit more time. We came here to buy nice colts and we got two.”
Earlier in the session, Radcliffe had gone to $1.05 million to land Hip 378, a dark bay or brown colt by Nyquist also for Memo Racing. Consigned by Harris Training Center, the Nyquist colt is out of the winning Distorted Humor mare Saucy Dame and breezed in :10 flat during the under tack show.
“He was just gorgeous. Pure class by a stallion like Nyquist out of a Distorted Humor mare and bred by Stonestreet, which doesn’t get much better than that,” said Radcliffe, who added they have not decided which trainer the colt would go to. “Not surprised at the price.”
The colt is out of a half-sister to graded stakes winner Buffum and well surpassed the conservative reserve put on him by consignor and co-owner Robbie Harris.
“I had a $249,000 reserve on him, but I knew he was going to sell well,” Harris said. “People were telling me there was a lot of chatter about him that he was one of the top end colts. We loved him. I break 100 head every year and you always knew where he was any time he was on the track.”
In addition to being a record-setter for OBS, Wednesday’s session was also a banner one for consignor Raul Reyes of Kings Equine. Reyes sold two of the seven-figure horses on the day – both to Libyan based bloodstock agent Mahmud Mouni – including the day’s second highest priced horse, a $1.4 million son of six-time leading sire and OBS grad Into Mischief.
Consigned as Hip 416, the Into Mischief colt is a full brother to undefeated multiple stakes winner Taraz and showed his talent during the under-tack show when he breezed in :9 4/5, tying for the fastest time at the distance. The colt is out of the winning Empire Maker mare Silk Route.
“I liked this colt. I specifically came for this colt,” said Mouni, who added that the colt will remain stateside and that a trainer has not yet been decided. “We are lucky to get him at $1.4 million, it’s a fair price. I was unlucky in March for the horse who sold for $3 million, the Gun Runner colt. I tried to bid on him. This sale, we specifically came for this one and we got him. He’s a really, really nice horse.”
Mouni, who was buying for the newly formed Tagermeen Racing syndicate, also purchased Hip 578, a bay daughter of Tiz the Law, for $1.05 million from the Kings Equine consignment. The filly, who breezed in :9 4/5, is out of the stakes winning graded stakes place mare Tulsa Queen, by Cactus Ridge.
“It feels great, I’ve had worse feelings than this,” Reyes said of his consignment’s outing. “I had a bad year last year and I really worked hard this year to be where I am. It’s very easy in this business to go up and down, and it’s hard to get up. I put a lot of effort this year into my business.
“(The Into Mischief colt) we had high expectations all year for him,” Reyes added. “He proved that he was a nice horse, and we knew he was going to be special. He did everything right and just has a really good mind. He’s a very serious horse and…the rest is history.”
The day’s third highest price came when owner Kaleem Shah, seated alongside Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, went to $1.3 million to land Hip 585, a bay colt by OBS grad Yaupon consigned by de Meric Sales. The colt, who worked in :9 4/5, is out of the Stormy Atlantic mare Twitterpated, who is a full sister to Grade 1 winner Stormy Lucy.
Asmussen, who trained Yaupon, sees a lot of the same qualities in his future trainee as he did his sire.
“You walk up on him, and he has so many characteristics of his dad temperament wise,” Asmussen said. “We went back and looked at him multiple times and I liked him more every time I saw him. Obviously, we paid more than retail for him, but we loved who he is compared to a lot of other good horses.
“Of course you would have been more comfortable getting him for less but the question was, do you think he’s the right horse. And I believe that he is.”
Another million-dollar baby was born when Donato Lanni, agent for Zedan Racing, stretched to $1.15 million to land Hip 508, a chestnut colt by Tiz the Law consigned by Tom McCrocklin. The colt, who worked in :20 3/5, is out of the winning Forestry mare Taboo, an OBS grad who is out of Grade 1 winner and producer Dream of Summer and is a half-sister to Grade 1 winners Creative Cause and Vexatious and Grade 2 winner Destin.
The colt is also a half-brother to stakes winner Let My People Go.
“He had a great work and came back really good,” Lanni said of the colt. “He’s a horse we wanted to go home with. He was one of the top colts in the sale and we just hope he’s a runner. It’s a deep family and he was just a cool dude. It’s hard to separate them all but this is the colt we gravitated to.”
Other top prices on the day included:
Hip 322, a bay colt by Omaha Beach consigned by Eddie Woods, who sold to Three Amigos for $700,000 early in the session. The colt, who breezed in :10 flat, is out of the Quiet American mare Reason, who hails from the female family of Grade 1 winner Switch, and is a half-brother to stakes placed winners Bedard and Barilko.
Hip 518, a gray or roan filly by Munnings consigned by Thorostock who sold for $700,000 to William K. Werner. The filly, who worked in :21 flat, is out of the winning Tapit mare Tapping Pearl, who is a half sister to Grade 1 winner Drill.
Hip 373, a gray or roan colt by Knicks Go consigned by Hidden Brook, Agent, who sold for $585,000 to D. J. Stable LLC & West Point Thoroughbreds. The colt, who breezed in :10 1/5, is out of the Indian Charlie mare Sassy Ali Joy and is a half-brother to stakes placed Tuscan Queen, an OBS April grad.
Hip 424, a chestnut colt by Gun Runner consigned by Six K’s Training & Sales who sold for $550,000 to Spendthrift Farm. The colt, who breezed in :21 1/5, is out of the winning graded stakes placed Sky Mesa mare Sky Dreamer and is a half-brother to Group 2 winner Kimbear.
Total gross for the session came in at $26,128,500 from 164 head sold, an improvement over last year’s second session that posted a gross of $25,894,500 from 177 sold. The session average of $159,320 improved from $146,297 in 2024 with the median down slightly, from $68,000 last year to $67,500 this session.
Overall, for the first two days, a total of 325 horses have sold for $46,393,500, just off last year’s total of $46,853,000 from 336 sold. Total average is up from $139,443 in 2024 to $142,749 this year with the median coming in at $60,000, down from $75,000 a year ago.
De Meric Sales leads all consignors through two days with 16 head sold for $4,190,000. Mouni leads all buyers with three purchased for $2,690,000. A total of 81 horses have failed to meet their reserve through the first two sessions for an RNA rate of 19.9%.