Amo Racing snaps up $1.95 million Epicenter colt in Ocala

Cover image courtesy of OBS Sales

The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale had its first million-dollar juvenile for 2026 when bloodstock agent Justin Casse bid US$1.95 million (AU$2.73 million) for a colt by Epicenter late in the day and Tuesday's first session of the four-day auction concluded with an average price well ahead of last year's record-setting figure.

Casse's US$1.95 million (AU$2.73 million) bid was the fourth highest ever at an OBS Spring sale and the auction's highest price since a colt by Gun Runner sold for US$2.2 million (AU$3 million) in 2023. Casse's father Norman was a founding member of the sales company and the bloodstock agent found the moment emotional.

“I am happy for OBS,” he said. “My dad started the place and all that we've been able to accomplish here is very exciting. And I am very proud for the sales company to get a horse of that caliber and to fetch a price like that.”

Amo Racing splashes out for Epicenter colt

Bloodstock agent Justin Casse, standing out back alongside Amo Racing's Kia Joorabchian, signed the ticket at US$1.95 million (AU$2.73 million) to acquire a colt from the first crop of GI Travers Stakes winner Epicenter (hip 289) late in the first session of the OBS Spring sale Tuesday. Consigned by Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables, the bay worked a furlong in :9 4/5 during last week's under-tack preview.

“His performance was exceptional,” Casse said. “We could look back through the years of being here and you'd say, 'Remember when that Epicenter breezed?' It was that kind of a move.”

Casse confirmed the purchase was on behalf of Amo Racing and undisclosed partners.

The juvenile is out of Spanx Legacy (Animal Kingdom), a full-sister to multiple graded-placed Delta's Kingdom. He was bred by Wynnstay and H. Allen Poindexter and was purchased by a pinhooking partnership for US$275,000 (AU$385,000) at last year's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale.

“I have great respect for Ciaran Dunne and he has been very fond of this horse since January when I was first on his farm,” Casse said. “He's beautiful. He was beautiful in Saratoga when Ciaran bought him. He was right there next to the ring at Wynnstay.”

The colt looked to be a handful, rearing several times in the back walking ring, and he continued his antics in the sales ring. “I'd say he is a playful colt,” Casse said. “But you know, in fairness, when these horses train every day and they have to show for six days, it's asking a lot.”

Hip 289 was the first seven-figure sale for Coolmore's Epicenter, who won the 2022 Travers and was second in that year's GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness Stakes. The stallion was trained by Steve Asmussen on behalf of WInchell Thoroughbreds and Asmussen was one of many lined up at the rear of the pavilion watching the colt go through the ring.

“He's been good to me personally as a breeder and I am hearing good things,” Casse said of Epicenter. As for a trainer for the colt, Casse said, “I don't know. I will talk to the partners and we will see.”

Spendthrift Farm buy Omaha Beach filly for 900k

A filly (hip 74) by the Spendthrift Farm-based stallion Omaha Beach will return to her father's base after the farm's general manager Ned Toffey went to US$900,000 (AU$1.2 million) to secure her from the Tom McCrocklin consignment at OBS Tuesday after she worked a quarter-mile in :20 4/5 last week.

“We generally don't partner on fillies so she's just for us,” Toffey said. “She's a really nice filly. We've had good luck buying off of Tom (McCrocklin) and she did things the right way. Really nothing not to like about her. Excited to have her.”

McCrocklin purchased the filly as a yearling at Fasig-Tipton's October Yearling Sale last fall for US$400,000 (AU$560,000). She's the second foal out of a mare who is herself a half-sister to the dam of recent GI Central Bank Ashland Stakes winner Percy's Bar (Upstart). That filly spent must of 2025 trading blows with the Spendthrift-owned Tommy Jo (Into Mischief). Toffey also acknowledged some connection to another Spendthrift-owned daughter of Omaha Beach in Grade 1 winner Kopion.

Spendthrift's prior success with McCrocklin-consigned horses includes GI Stephen Foster Stakes winner Kingsbarns (Uncle Mo) and graded winner Ruby Nell (Bolt d'Oro).

“I can't say she looks like Kopion but I did keep thinking about Kopion when we were looking at her,” Toffey said. “She's got a little bit more of that More Than Ready hind leg on her. She's a big, impressive filly. I thought the way she breezed, she did it pretty effortlessly and handled everything really well. Good mind on her and a big, strong, classy filly. We've had our share of run-ins with Percy's Bar. It's a wonderful pedigree and she'll be a nice addition to the broodmare band no matter what she does.”

Spendthrift and partners buy Curlin colt

Spendthrift Farm, solidly on this year's Road to the Kentucky Derby with GI Toyota Blue Grass winner Further Ado (Gun Runner), struck early just four hips into Tuesday's opening session, partnering with the newly-formed Delta Squad Racing (Josh Isner) on an US$850,000 (AU$1.19 million) son of Curlin (hip 11) who they hope is a Derby contender in one year's time.

“It was a partnership that we put together,” said bloodstock agent Liz Crow who handled ticket duties on behalf of the pair. “We signed the ticket (on behalf of) Spendthrift and Delta Squad. Spendthrift liked him individually, and then we liked him, and so we decided to partner up. Delta Squad is Josh Isner. He's kind of a newer owner, but he's excited about the game.”

Purchased as a yearling at Keeneland September for US$200,000 (AU$280,000) last year, the colt, who worked a furlong in :10 1/5, is a half-brother to the Spendthrift-co-owned Saratoga maiden special weight winner Tapit's Legacy (Tapit) who brought US$550,000 (AU$779,000) as an OBS March grad in 2025.

“(He's focused on) the (Kentucky) Derby,” Crow said of Delta Squad Racing. “He wants two-turn dirt colts. And this colt obviously had that profile and pedigree. Spendthrift has his half-brother (Tapit's Legacy) and they like him quite a bit. And I thought his breeze was very good. He moved well and galloped out well. We just thought he had the profile of that two-turn dirt colt that everyone's looking for. We'll decide (a trainer) a little bit down the road, in a couple of weeks or so.”

Consigned by Top Line Sales on behalf of Lugamo Racing, the colt is out of a winning Violence half-sister to Grade 1 winner Her Smile (Include), a mare who became a graded-stakes producer with Pink Sands (Tapit) and stakes-placed Wharton (Candy Ride {Arg}).

“This is a breeze show, so we're obviously looking a lot at the breeze and how he did it, his gallop out and the way he moved,” Crow said. “That was what really got us on him. He's a big, leggy colt. He has the look of a two-turn horse.”

Patel’s pinhooking business is a lesson in racing

Last October, Sandeep Patel purchased a well-bred Into Mischief colt (hip 139) for what he thought then was a steal, bringing the son of GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf winner Shared Account home for just US$80,000 (AU$112,000) at the Fasig-Tipton October Yearling Sale. The colt, a half-brother to Breeders' Cup heroine Sharing (Speightstown), was one of two Patel purchased as his first pinhooking experience and that venture was rewarded Tuesday when the Kings Equine consignee sold for US$250,000 (AU$350,000) to Case Clay Thoroughbred Management. Patel indicated that this was just the beginning of looks to be a busy year of buying and selling for his Texas-based Naukabena Farms.

“I didn't expect to get the horse for what I paid at the Fasig-Tipton sale,” Patel said. “I bought him for less than the stud fee and I was able to sell him for $250,000. I made money and that's encouraging because I'm trying to make money from the pinhooking business because racing can be tough. I started [pinhooking] last year and this year I have 28 horses. I've sold 12. I have six more in this sale. Then six in the (Fasig-Tipton Timonium) sale and three in the OBS June sale.”

Founded in 2024, Naukabena Farms currently advertises no fewer than 83 horses on its site ranging from yearlings to race horses to broodmares and stallions. That kind of variety is what Patel say will help him be successful in a game where a profit can be hard to come by.

“When I got into the horse racing business, (I came) to buy a horse and realize that all these people that are selling, they're not (me),” Patel said. “They don't race. They buy a horse, let him grow a little bit, give him some exercise, help him build his body up, and that's the play. I'm an engineer and the (math) tells me that, if I can buy a horse for X and then sell him for 3X, I will make good money. So I got into it.

“I spent a lot of money of horses. I'm learning, and you do make mistakes. I'm doing a little bit of everything. I'm breeding, I'm racing, I'm pinhooking yearlings to 2-year-olds and weanlings to yearlings. Every horse that I buy for pinhooking [versus racing], I have trainers that help me. They look for certain things on the horse. They'll ask me whether I want a pinhook or I want a race horse. And if you say you want a race horse, they're a little more forgiving on things like the conformation. But if I want a pinhook, they want to make sure that the horse is correct.”

An entrepreneur in the construction industry, Patel says that while he understands this industry's financial difficulties, he feels he can overcome them.

“I'm a businessman and this is the sport of kings,” Patel said. “That means, unless you have unlimited money, you will die. You have to have money. But God bless I do. So I'm having fun. Most people will tell you that the fastest way to make $10-million on the horse business is to start with $20-million.

“I'm going to prove them wrong. I think I can make a reasonable living. I go through the data and figure out which is the best possible value (for the horse). And then we go after them. We get them vetted, we get them checked out, and then you get to the ring and hopefully, you get one for the price point that you have. (Trainer) David Ingordo is helping me a lot. He's taking me on as a student and teaching me lots of things. He spends a lot of time and educates me on which ones to buy, which ones not to buy. That doesn't mean anything in terms of racing, but he knows what to buy.”

Now two years into racing, Patel has his eyes on the long-term prize while also recognizing the associated risks with the game he's playing.

“I want to win,” Patel said. “I just started this two years ago. I told my trainers that I want a graded stakes winner. Enough with the black-type, let's move it up. So you have to spend a little bit more money and take your risk to support that habit. I'm enjoying it. People my age, most people, they're afraid to get into the business. They shouldn't be. Yes, we're gambling, but every time I get into my car and start driving,

“I'm gambling. But it's so much fun. The animals are absolutely the work of God. These horses don't want anything. Just give them good grass and they'll do what you want them to do. When a horse crosses the finish line, it's all worth it. I have been blessed with a lot of people in this business. I'm really enjoying this and I'm going to continue to do this.”