The Ocala Breeders June 2YO Sale closed the North American juvenile sale season on a high note in Florida on Tuesday.  A total of 238 horses changed hands for turnover of $4.95 million.  Average price was up 31% to $20,817 and the clearance rate dropped four points to 69%.

“The juvenile sales seem to have bounced back or at least stabilized,” Ocala Director Tom Ventura said.  “The April sale was good and the June sale followed suit. We had a pretty solid group of buyers in different price ranges.”

Trainer Bob Baffert bought the sale-topping Rockport Harbor filly for $220,000.  She is from the unraced Pine Bluff mare May Day Bluff and is a half sister to stakes winner May Day Vow (Broken Vow).  She had breezed 600m in 33.60s on Sunday.

Second on the leader-board was a Sharp Humor – Antoinette filly that made $170,000.  She was originally sold at the 2009 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July yearling sale for $45,000.  Patrice Miller of EQB Inc. signed the ticket for the daughter of Distorted Humor’s freshman sire Sharp Humor.  He was a G2 winner of the Swale Stakes and stands at WinStar Farm in Kentucky for $7,500.

The sale included 25 late-entry lots from Stonewall Farm in Kentucky.  Top price was $130,000 for a 2yo Medaglia d’Oro filly out of G1 winner Jostle (Brocco) bought by Ronald Nicholson.

The lower levels of the market were boosted by Korean buyers who have been an increasingly strong presence at the American 2yo sales over the last few years, particularly at Ocala.  “The Koreans have been important players for several years,” Ventura said. “They’ve had a lot of success with the horses they’ve bought here and certainly gotten good value for their money.”

Dongbanui Gangja (Broken Vow) was a $20,000 buy from Ocala’s April Sale in 2007 and he was named South Korea’s 2009 Horse of the Year.  He has won 17 times in 24 starts.

Tough Win (Yonaguska) was a $12,000 graduate from Ocala’s June Sale last year and he was named South Korea’s 2009 Champion 2YO colt after an unbeaten run of 7 victories.