Richard Kent isn’t one to lean on hyperbole when discussing the plethora of horses who have come through his care. But in the moments after a filly fittingly bearing the name of Expectations exited the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company ring during the opening session of the October Yearling Sale, the longtime consignor put some lofty hopes on the youngster who headlined his Kaizen Sales consignment Tuesday.

    “I sold Serena Song’s as a yearling and this filly has that kind of class,” Kent said. “That’s big words.”

    It remains to be seen if Hip 177 can come close to delivering in the manner of the Hall of Famer Kent sold during his tenure at Bridlewood Farm. During the first day of action at the two-day October exercise, however, the bay filly by Mo Donegal ended the day out front when she brought $240,000 from bloodstock agent Christophe Nouvellet on behalf of Dream With Me Florida to top the session.

    Bred by Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, the bay filly has the pedigree to back up her elegant looks as she is out of the Speightstown mare On the Good List, a half-sister to Gr. 1 winner Dunbar Road. The female family is rich in success with Gr. 1 winner Secret Status, multiple graded stakes-winner Private Mission, and graded winner Alumni Hall also on the page.

    Since arriving on the sale grounds, Kent stated the filly did nothing but signal a high level of quality in her own right.

  “The price was excellent. The filly justified the price,” Kent said. “She was just a super star all week. She’d been scoped eight times and showed herself just brilliantly over 100 times. She’s a very classy filly. We had all the players in town bidding on her.”

    Nouvellet, who recently purchased the 200-acre McKathan Brothers’ Farm in Citra, was the player who ultimately won out, saying the winning bid was above what he expected to pay, but nonetheless was willing to stretch to.

    “She’s a good physical and we’re going to hope for the best,” said Nouvellet. “She’s a good mover and I think on paper she has everything to succeed. We just like to buy good horses.”

    The Mo Donegal filly was one of four horses to reach the six-figure level during the opening session of the sale.

    The day’s trade ended on a high note as Hip 251, a bay colt by Jack Christopher, elicited a final bid of $200,000 from DiBello Racing Stables. Consigned by Beth Bayer, the colt is out of the Hard Spun mare Madelyn’s Magic, who is a half-sister to graded stakes-winners Totally Boss and Super Steed.

    “We had been waiting all day for him to come up,” Bayer said. “I love Jack Christopher as a new sire. All the ones we’ve seen have looked like athletes and (this colt) had a nice pedigree as well and a very good mind. He showed really well every single time.”

    Champion Corniche, a graduate of the 2021 OBS April Sale, and multiple graded stakes-winner Bucchero, who sold at the 2014 OBS June exercise, again made their mark in the pavilion as they were responsible for two of the six-figure lots.

    HIP 48, a bay colt by Corniche out of the Take Charge Indy mare Mollyball, sold to MJB Stable for $200,000 while Hip 1, a daughter of Bucchero, got the sale off to a quick start when she hammered for $110,000 to Thorostock’s Nick Sallusto.

    Named Mr. Predicted, the Corniche colt is a half-brother to stakes-placed Lawyer Mason and hails from the female family of graded stakes-winners Adriano and Strike Power. He was consigned by his breeder, Edisley Soler, who is selling for the first time under the Soler & Soler Thoroughbred Corp. banner.

    “I thought he was going to bring more, that’s a good horse,” Soler said. “I raised him, he’s been my baby. I liked everything about him, he’s just a really nice colt.”

    Like her sire, Hip 1 wasted little time making a strong impression as she kicked off the day’s selling and set the tone for her connections. Consigned by Kaizen Sales and bred by Rivermont Farm, the chestnut filly is out of the winning Greatness mare Dagney’s Revenge and hails from the female family of graded stakes-winners Seeking Slew and Canadian Frontier.

    “She was just a real quality filly. Many people told us she was the best filly on the grounds,” said Kent, who led all consignors on the day with 18 head sold for $605,000. “We were not coming in with that high of expectations but once we were here, she really sold herself and did all the work. She looked fabulous, behaved great. We showed her 100 times, and she did as well on the 100th time as she did on the first."

    Other top prices for the day included Hip 144, a bay filly by Vekoma consigned by Bobby Jones Equine, who sold for $95,000 to Dennis Campbell, and Hip 169, a bay colt by Epicenter consigned by Summerfield, who brought a final bid of $90,000 from Red Wings.

    Tuesday’s session produced year-over-year gains in gross, average, and median compared to 2024. A total of 146 head sold for gross receipts of $3,255,600, up from the $1,713,900 generated by 104 during the first session a year ago. The average improved from $16,480 in 2024 to $22,299 with the median coming in at $15,000 compared to $10,000 last year.



Last year’s OBS October Yearling Sale had its sale sessions adjusted due to Hurricane Milton.



The RNA rate for the session came in at 32.4 percent compared to 35.4 in 2024.

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