Candy Stripes Colt Brings $170,000 During OBS Sale's Third Session

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A dramatic pinhooking score with a colt that sold for only $1,500 as a weanling was the highlight of the third day of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's August yearling auction. The son of Candy Stripes brought $170,000 to top Wednesday's open session.

"I was shaking; I was crying," said Mary Harrison, a member of the partnership that owned the colt, who is a half-brother to recent Adirondack Stakes (gr. II) winner You (by You and I).

Harrison lives in Pasco County, Florida, and so do her partners: Drs. Rik and Cindy Daniels; Don, Pam, and Casey Mattox; and John and Cindy Ingram. They found the colt last year at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale. A May foal, he was small. But the partners liked his conformation and figured it was worth $1,500 to take a shot, so they bought him in the name of Pasco Bloodstock.

About four months ago, the partnership tried to sell the colt for $5,000 through a classified ad in the Ocala Star-Banner newspaper. There was only one inquiry, and it resulted in no serious discussions about a deal.

Consigned by Francis and Barbara Vanlangdendonck's Summerfield, as agent, to the OBS auction, the colt was purchased by Brent Fernung of Journeyman Bloodstock. Fernung, who also oversees the operations of Cloverleaf Farms II near Reddick, Fla., was acting on the behalf of John Santina's Savoy Stable.

"We broke his half-sister, You, at Cloverleaf and got her ready to go to the races," Fernung said. "This colt is actually a bigger and better-looking horse than what she was, and I just liked the way he moved. He just looked and acted like an athlete."

After being thanked by one of partners in the colt, Don Mattox, for making the purchase, Fernung told him: "You've made the pinhook to beat all pinhooks."

The $170,000 session topper was produced from the 8-year-old winning Homebuilder mare Our Dani, who is a half-sister to the stakes-placed Tammany Doll.

In all, 174 yearlings were sold during Wednesday's session. They grossed $1,775,900 and averaged $10,206. The gross was down by 7.3% from last year's comparable session, and the average was up by 5.5%. The median of $6,000 was the same as in 2000.

The buy-back rate was 27.5%, with 66 of the 240 horses offered failing to find new homes. Last year's rate was 28.2%.

The combined figures for the three sessions so far this year are 485 horses sold for a gross of $9,516,700 and an average of $19,622. Last year, 604 horses were sold in the sale's first three sessions. They grossed $12,398,200 and averaged $20,527. The 2001 figures included the last of the annual consignments from Mr. and Mrs. Harry T. Mangurian Jr.'s Mockingbird Farm, which grossed more than $3 million. Mockingbird has completed the dispersal of its horses and is no longer a commercial breeder.

The OBS August yearling sale continues through Friday, with each session beginning at 11 a.m. (EDT).

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