My Experience at the OBS sale

By Carl D'Angelo

After several failed attempts in past years, I was finally fortunate to attend the Ocala Breeders Sales last week in Florida.   This is the only part of the sport where I did not have personal experience.

Robb (Kenwood founder Robb Levinsky) and others had attempted to explain to me what occurs at the sales but being there in person is the only way to really know.   The process starts when OBS mails the catalog to prospective buyers.

Robb scans all 677 hips (each horse is assigned a number in the catalog which is put on the hip of the horse)  looking for horses he thinks we might want to buy.  The first days of the sales consists

of sitting in a grandstand that has bleacher seats  (great for the back) and is covered.  There is a track where each hip usually runs 1 furlong and is timed by the track.  This is called “under tack”.

There were about 150 people in the stands yet you could hear a pin drop.  It was like being in church.  These people watch the move movement of the horse and most of them time the

horse themselves, not only for the 1/8 of a mile but for the gallop out for the ¼ if a mile.   I saw people making copious notes in their catalogs.  My thought was this is a lot of work just to buy a horse.

WOW was I wrong!!.   The real work hadn’t started yet. 

The next day is when we went out and actually looked at the horses close up.   The main teams consisted of Robb, Ben Perkins, a trainer and Adam Parker who owns a farm in Ocala.  

 We looked at over 100 horses.  This consist of walking to each barn where the consignor will bring out the horse you want to see.

The team then carefully looks at the horse and watches it walk.  Comments are made among us and notes written in the catalog.  This was done for over 100 horses!!!  There are 14 barns, so you walk and walk and walk!!

By noon, I was hungry and tired but no lunch break.  I think we finally took a half hour around 2PM to eat something and then back to checking horses.  About 5:30PM, we called it quits.  Diner was at a non-descript restaurant

because we want to keep expenses down.

Next day the team whittled down the list of horses they like.  Then it’s back to see the horses for a second look.   More walking!!!   More discussion!!!

Then deciding which horses we want OUR vet to look at, each costing $250.   Finally we decide on which horses we want to bid on.  

The next day is the first day of the actual auction.   Starting with hip number 1 and continuing all day without a break, people are bidding on the horses they like. 

Meanwhile, the Kenwood teams is again checking the horses they plan to bid on.    More walking!!!    Finally, we are ready to bid on one of our choices.

The bidding starts around $10,000 and quickly escalates to $70,000, out of our price range.    Back to the barns  AGAIN to check the horses we plan to bid on.  WALKING!!!

Another one of our choices goes on the auction block and we win the bid at $52,000.    VERY EXCITING!!!     Once again back to checking the horses we want to bid on later in the day.

As the horses are ready to come to the auction ring,  they are staged behind in a paddock type setting.   The team looks at their choices and at the last minute one of them changes his mind.

He sees something he doesn’t like so we pass on this one almost at the last minute.    We bid on a few more but lost out to a higher bidder.   In my mind, we only got 1 horse.  

OH NO!!!.  Robb goes to the consignors after the auction and negotiates a deal for 2 of our most coveted horses.  We get them for MUCH less than the asking price.

I had no idea the amount of time and skills that the Kenwood team has in order to get the average guy into the racing game.