Walmac Farm's Pappacap enjoyed a strong reception at the Ocala Breeders' Sales October Yearling Sale Oct. 6-7, with the young sire commanding the auction's top two highest-priced colts.
Hip 339, a colt from the Summerfield consignment, topped the second and final session, selling for $140,000 to Saffie Joseph Jr.
"Obviously Pappacap was precocious; he won at Del Mar (the Best Pal) and was second in the (Breeders' Cup) Juvenile and then he carried on to run in the Florida Derby against White Abarrio so we're very familiar with the horse," Joseph said. "He was a solid horse and you feel like he'll make a stallion. We're banking on it because we've bought a lot of them. We bought them because, to the eye, they fit the look that we want."
Hip 339 was bred in Florida by Summerfield Sales Agency out of the winning Uncaptured mare Bosworthy.
"We had to reach for this one. This one is the most expensive one I've bought this sale," Joseph said. "We liked him a lot, really wanted to get him and obviously there was competition to get him. Deservedly so because this horse is a really nice horse, very smooth, the way he carried himself. It seems like he's going to continue to get better."
"We knew that people liked him, but you never know what people are going to pay," Summerfield's Francis Vanlangendonck said of Hip 339. "Obviously, we're very happy with what he brought. There were a lot of people interested in him and he looked just like his mother, and she could really run. We were going to sell him as a weanling but decided to wait and put him here, hoping he would stand out and that they would like the Pappacaps.
"I've seen a lot of (the Pappacaps). I did the breeding and bought the mare for Rustlewood Farm (which owned and bred Pappacap). Very involved with him, went to all his races with his owners. But people really like Pappacaps because they're all really athletic. I thought he could sell well. He brought more than we thought, which is fabulous. We're thrilled."
In addition to the session topper, Pappacap had the day's third-highest-priced horse when Hip 272, a colt, sold to NdM Bloodstock for $80,000. Consigned by Potrero Stables, the colt is out of the winning Unbridled's Song mare True Love Is Yare and hails from the family of grade 1 winner and producer Tranquility Lake.
A colt by Pappacap and consigned by Colin Brennan Bloodstock at Highlander Training Center, agent, was the top-priced colt of the first session, selling for $120,000 to Willow Creek Ranch.
Pappacap stood the 2026 season at Walmac Farm near Lexington for an advertised fee of $12,500. The son of Gun Runner won the 2021 Best Pal Stakes (G2) at 2 and was multiple grade 1-placed throughout his career. He retired with earnings of $842,430.
The top-priced filly of the second session was Hip 311, a daughter of Oscar Performance. The filly sold for $100,000 to Gary Barber and was bred and consigned by Glen Hill Farm. She is out of the Candy Ride mare Aspening, making her a half sister to the graded stakes-placed and stakes winner Aspenite (Constitution).
The Oscar Performance filly consigned as Hip 311 in the ring at the OBS October Yearling Sale
At the end of the two sessions, a total of 267 horses sold for gross receipts of $6,775,500, including private sales, down from last year's total of $7,581,700 from 313 horses to change hands. The average and median both saw increases to $25,376 and $17,000, respectively. A total of 95 horse failed to meet their reserve, resulting in an RNA rate of 26.2%.
The leading buyer of the sale was Joseph, who purchased 12 horses for $522,000.
"We like those prices because you can never go wrong with those prices," he said. "I always feel like this October sale is a good sale for the buyer. I feel like you walk away like it's on the buyers' side."
Lisa McGreevy's Abbie Road Farm sold 42 from its draft for a total of $816,500 to top the consignors.
