Louisiana Bred Colt Brings Top Bid of $1.5 Million in OBS Spring Sale of 2YOs In Training

The Highest Price Ever for a Louisiana Bred

Terry Finley of West Point Thoroughbreds figures his partnership has been doing business with Steven Venosa for the better part of three decades and credits the longtime consignor with helping prep some of the best horses to have carried his operation's gold and black silks.

The fruits of that relationship were magnified inside the Ocala Breeders' Sales pavilion during the final session of the OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training when West Point Thoroughbreds, in partnership with Spendthrift Farm and St. Elias Stable, secured what Finley hopes will be yet another success story as they went to $1.5 million to land a colt by Tiz the Law   (Hip 1094) and top the bellwether juvenile auction that produced year-over-year gains in gross and a record average.

Prior to selling Hip 1094, a dark bay or brown colt who worked in :10 during the under tack show, he led Hip 601 up during the April 15 session and watched the bay Gun Runner  colt sell for $1.45 million to Kerri Radcliffe, agent for Memo Racing. According to Venosa, this is the first time he has had two seven-figure offerings come out of his barn in the same week.

"Without my team we're not able to do this. So, they take just as much credit as I do," Venosa said. "We knew (the Tiz the Law colt) was one of the top horses in the sale. To reach that level, you just never know. You try to lead them up there and, like with the last one, you let the people evaluate them and that's what they are worth. The most important thing is I'm really excited about the home he's going to."

Hip 1094

Hip 1094 is out of the winning, stakes-placed Souper Speedy mare Georgian Dancer , a half sister to grade 2 winner and 2016 Canadian champion female sprinter River Maid . The colt was bred in Louisiana by Schwing Thoroughbreds. Venosa said the son of Tiz the Law has made an "amazing" transformation since he purchased him as a yearling for $125,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale from the Paramount Sales consignment. After opening with a bid of $100,000 Friday, the colt morphed into a sales topper with Finley prevailing as he bid alongside Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey and Monique Delk, executive director of racehorse development for St. Elias.

"Tiz the Law is a stallion where we've now bought three of them at the 2-year-old sales, and he's come forward like a whirlwind," Finley said. "I think he's going to make an impact on the breed for a lot of years to come. We've been doing business with Steven for about 30 years and bought our first really good horse, Awesome Gem, out of Steve's barn when he worked for J.J. Crupi in 2004. So, I have a lot of respect for the work that he does and this horse, he really was a horse all three of us wanted."

Venosa added, "It seems like (the colt) gets better and better. As he was showing here, several people would come and look at him every day and every day he just really blossomed. The (Tiz the Laws), they're running on dirt, they're running on turf. They're showing up at 2-year-old sales. And most importantly they are sound. To bring a horse of that size and work the way he did was very impressive."

The sale-topping colt fittingly closed out an OBS Spring sale that demonstrated market strength. The total gross of $88,761,500 from 637 sold marks a 7.7% increase over the $82,373,500 generated by the same number sold in 2024. The average of $139,343 was up from last year's mark of $129,315 and topped the previous Spring record of $129,577 in 2022. Overall median declined from $70,000 in 2024 to $65,000. 

A total of 128 horses failed to meet their reserve for an RNA rate of 16.7%, compared to 18.5% in 2024.

Libyan-based bloodstock agent Mahmud Mouni led all buyers by gross with 11 purchased for $4,855,000, including securing Hip 416, a son of Into Mischief  , for $1.4 million from the consignment of King's Equine, which sold two seven-figure horses during the week. 

"Very appreciative and glad, a lot of adjectives that you can ultimately apply to the week," said OBS director of sales Tod Wojciechowski. "The international buyers were here, and they were excited to buy horses, and it looks like they did. Certainly, we had a broad spectrum of buyers from all over the world."