OBS PRESIDENT TOM VENTURAThe Ocala Breeders= Sales Company=s President TomVentura recently sat down for a Q&A session with theTDN=s Steve Sherack to discuss the upcoming new-look
OBS March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. The two-day
auction--to be held at
11 a.m. Mar. 17 and18--has expanded its
format for 2015 with a
total of 610 juveniles
catalogued (up from411 in 2014). In 2014,
records were
established for gross($37,627,500),
average ($187,201)
and median($135,000). The coTom Ventura
topping >TDN Rising
Photos by Z
Star= Carpe Diem(Giant=s Causeway), winner of last term=s
GI Claiborne Breeders= Futurity, kicked off his
sophomore campaign in style with an impressive win in
the GII Tampa Bay Derby. He was one of three sevenfigure juveniles to go through the ring at OBSMAR in2014.
Q: Tell us a little bit about what led to the change of
expanding the format for this year=s OBS March sale.
What kind of response have you gotten fromconsignors and potential buyers so far?
A: It wasn=t an easy decision because we had such agood sale last year. But, after talking with the buyers
and consignors about opening it up a little more, it
seemed that the timing was right. We had the supportof the consignors and also interest from the buyers.
Some of the buyers may have become a little morehesitant, maybe, to come to the March Sale as theaverage kept creeping up. We thought that we could
get broader participation from the buyers [byexpanding] and they were very receptive as we wentaround and got feedback. The consignors felt that byputting in that next group of horses that were a little
more advanced in training, that if the buyers were here
for them, that it was good timing [for the expansion] aswell.
Q: Coming off a pair of record-breaking March sales,including a trio of million-dollar transactions in 2014,
how much more difficult was it to make this changenow?
A: Like I said, we were coming off some really strong
years. From our end, we wanted to make sure that wewere able to retain that top group of horses.

We didn=t want to expand the sale just for the sakeof expanding and then lose some of that upper-end
horse. We got commitments from the consignors thatthey were going to stick with us with those horses. We
thought we needed to make a gradual expansion andwe got about 200 more horses. We wanted to makesure that we still kept those top-end horses and justadded some other ones that were a little moreadvanced in their training that would stack up
physically here as well.
Q: Were you originally planning on making OBS March a
three-day sale this year?
A: We thought that three days would be the maximumthat we would have. When the numbers came in andthe cut- off was in the 600 range, we thought thatholding the breeze show over three days was the rightthing to do to give us some room to maneuver [in caseof bad weather]. We felt that selling 300 horses a day-by that time all the homework is done--that we could
get that amount sold each day and not tie up thebuyers any longer.
Q: Are 2-year-old select sales becoming a dying breed?
While things appeared to go well with a new venue for
the Fasig-Tipton Florida Sale at Gulfstream Park,
Keeneland April was eliminated from the calendar in2015, and of the 116 catalogued at Barretts, there
were 48 outs and 22 RNAs. What are your thoughts onboutique 2-year-old sales?
A: You need to have numbers to attract a wider groupof buyers. It=s difficult when you keep a sale for
150 horses or so, and we weren=t in that position by
any means with March being at 400-plus [in 2014]. It
certainly isn=t an easy task to hold a boutique-type saleanymore. Especially when you have people traveling along ways from either California to Florida or even fromJapan to anywhere in the U.S.
Q: Will the expansion of the March sale have any effecton your April and June 2-year-old sales?
A: We=ll have 1,200 horses again in April, that=s ourcapacity. June remains to be seen. That sale reallyexpanded in numbers last year. And I=m not sure if we=ll
have quite those numbers again this year. But April
certainly hasn=t been impacted by this at all.
Q: What are your expectations for OBSMAR and how
do you see the market for 2-year-olds playing out in2015?
A: At the end of the day, it=s how these horses do onthe racetrack. We=re certainly coming off not only agood year in the sales ring, but a tremendous year atthe track. You have six Grade I wins at Saratoga[Itsmyluckyday, Palace, Stopchargingmaria & V.E. Day],
you really don=t need to say more than that. That
doesn=t even count Carpe Diem, who is among theleaders on the Derby trail.

From that end, the horses have certainly been
performing at the highest levels.
In addition, when you=ve got the purse structure in
New York and a little bit more stability in South Florida,
I think that bodes well for the 2-year-old market thisyear, too.
Q: In early February, it was announced that beginningwith the March Sale=s under-tack show, OBS would
begin to implement the Association of Racing
Commissioners International guidelines for controlled
therapeutic medications. The first phase includes
adopting the ARCI medication schedule foradministration of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
and bronchodilators.
The policy regarding the use of a riding crop was alsorefined. At any time during a breeze, a rider may only
use the riding crop while both hands are holding thereins and they=re prohibited from striking the horse
beyond the finish line. Excessive whipping before thebeginning of the work or in preparation for a breeze isalso prohibited.
Can you discuss these changes?
A: We thought that it was important that we get on
board with the push toward uniformity of raceday
medication with the goal of by next year=s 2-year-old
season adopting the complete ARCI standards. It=s forthe longterm benefit of the sale as it will benefit thehorses as well and we think it=s the right direction togo. We do believe that this year it=s very likely that themedication guidelines of the ARCI will be part of a billthat will be passed in the Florida legislation. We
thought that we would get in front of that. We thought
it was important that we take this position and build
some additional buyer confidence.
Regarding the whip, there were always restrictions,
we just refined them a little by extending when theriders can/can=t use them.