With the Keeneland September yearling sale behind him, Ric Waldman of Overbrook Farm is concentrating all his efforts on promoting the 157 mares, weanlings, racing, and stallion prospects that will go through the sale ring Nov. 10-11 as part the operation’s final dispersal at Keeneland’s November breeding stock auction.
As in September, there will be no reserves on any of the Overbrook horses, which will all be consigned by Eaton Sales for the Lexington-based farm, founded by William T. Young.
The Overbrook dispersal is comprised of 93 fillies or mares (including 12 racing or broodmare prospects), 54 weanlings, eight male racing prospects, and two stallion prospects.
Among the most prominent horses the farm will be offering are the great racemares Flanders (Hip No. 439) and Surfside (Hip No. 316). Flanders, who won the 1994 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (all gr. I) en route to being voted that year’s champion 2-year-old filly, produced 10 foals to race for Overbrook, eight of which were winners, including grade I victor Surfside.
A daughter of Seattle Slew, Surfside was voted champion 3-year-old filly in 2000, the year she won four graded stakes, including the Las Virgenes and Santa Anita Oaks (both gr. I). Her foals include the stakes-placed Danzig horse Shark.
“There’s also a filly named Honest Pursuit (Hip No. 471) who represents the rare opportunity to buy into arguably the most famous Juddmonte family of Toussaud,” said Waldman of the winning daughter of Storm Cat, whose second dam, Toussaud was named the 2002 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year. “The Juddmonte pedigrees don’t come on the market often, and we were fortunate enough to be able to select this filly when we did a multiple-year Storm Cat-Juddmonte family-sharing exercise,” he explained.
Waldman noted that another Overbrook standout that will go through the ring is the 4-year-old winning Storm Cat filly Dark Sky (Hip No. 418), who is out of the grade II-winning Lycius mare Media Nox and is a full sister to multiple group I winner Nebraska Tornado. A 3-year-old El Prado–Flanders filly named Wild Poppy (Hip No. 346), who has won or placed in three of five starts, is an additional attractive racing prospect.
“There are also some unraced 2-year-olds, a couple of Storm Cat colts (Hip Nos. 2879 and 2863) that one could say are miscast in a breeding stock sale, but this is where we’re selling our dispersal,” said Waldman. “They’re in training, and we’re providing updated information at the barn on their training status, as well as on our website.”
Waldman noted that interest from prospective buyers in Overbrook’s sale prospects has escalated as the sale draws near. “It’s really built up to where the phone is ringing all the time now at the office, in spite of it being Breeders’ Cup week,” he said. “We’re excited that the public’s interest is picking up.”
Overall, Waldman has an optimistic outlook about the upcoming sale in spite of the struggling state of the Thoroughbred market.
“Generally, September wasn’t a good market,” he said. “But given it was what it was, I think the Overbrook (yearling) consignment sold pretty well, and I think it was in part because of the dispersal environment. I see the same being true in this sale. Relative to what the November market is going to be, and the current market is going to be, I’m anticipating that we’re going to have a pretty good horse sale.”
Since Waldman has dealt with many of the well-known mares in Overbrook’s dispersal for a number of years, he admitted that when everything is said and done, the aftermath of the November sale will undoubtedly be even more bittersweet than selling the farm’s yearlings was in September.
“It is starting to hit the nostalgic nerve in my body, especially when I walk through the farm and I don’t see as many horses, or also when I do see the horses and realize they won’t be here in a week or two,” said Waldman. “It does allow me to think back on all the wonderful years and great times that I personally have had (with Overbrook), but I do have to get my focus back on what lies ahead, because we have a much larger number (selling) than what we had in September, and we still have plenty of work to do. It will be more difficult when I take my walk (around the farm) after the sale, and I won’t see any horses.”