Written Tycoon Colt Tops Opening Day at Inglis Premier

The Written Tycoon  half brother and final sibling to group 1-winning sprinter The Quarterback, who sold for a day one high of AU$675,000 ($487,688) in the last half an hour of a record Inglis Premier Yearling Sale session yesterday, will be given the chance to add another chapter to the remarkable career of breeder Rick Jamieson.

The Gilgai Farm founder—best-known as the breeder of unbeaten champion Black Caviar  and fellow group 1 winners All Too Hard, Jameka, and more recently, Masked Crusader (AUS)—sold three of the 62 yearlings who made AU$200,000 ($144,500) or more Feb. 27, which was up on a then record of 42 achieved at a bumper 2021 Melbourne auction.

Trainer Wayne Hawkes, who trains in partnership with father John and brother Michael, was delighted that the top-priced Written Tycoon colt was joining the family's dual-state stable even if they had to pay a so-called "Gilgai premium" to get him.

"No one has ever walked out of this place and driven home with a bad one from the yearling sale," Hawkes said. "But I got here the other day and I saw on the wall that they had 149 yearlings sold for about 14 group 1 winners, It's a pretty fair old stat. 

"There is Black Caviar, there is Ole Kirk, All Too Hard, Masked Crusader. He is a proper breeder, this guy.

"Whenever you buy a horse off Gilgai, you know you are going to pay a premium. He's a premium breeder, it's as simple as that."

Anthony and Sam Freedman, who won the Feb. 26 Neds Blue Diamond Stakes (G1) with Daumier, were underbidders on the prized colt, the last of ten living foals for Soorena. He was cataloged as Lot 251.

"He is just a beautifully balanced colt with a big fat pedigree, and we've had some good luck with Written Tycoon in the last few years with Ole Kirk and Dirty Work," Hawkes said.

"This bloke has a stallion's pedigree, there is no doubt about that, and I know The Quarterback well. He beat Chautauqua  in the Newmarket H.. He was a very, very good horse because it was not easy to get past Chautauqua."

Day one's top-priced colt was raised on the same farm, is by the same sire, and will be trained by the stable as dual group 1-winning and now Vinery Stud-based sire Ole Kirk and he was also purchased for AU$675,000 ($477,765) at the 2019 edition of the Melbourne sale. 

He is also the final foal out of Jamieson's grand-producing homebred mare Soorena (by Encosta de Lago), whose eight foals to race are all winners; group 1 winner The Quarterback (by Street Boss  ), group 2 winner Vanilla  (by Host ) and stakes-placed trio Octane (by I Am Invincible ), Born A Warrior (by I Am Invincible), and The Rude Warrior (by Kempinsky).

Octane and Born A Warrior were both sold for AU$1.4 million ($1,074,080) each as yearlings and her last foal going through the ring yesterday brings an end to Jamieson's 20-year association with Soorena, although Gilgai Farm manager Kelly Skillecorn suggested Jamieson was likely to retain an interest in the colt who is set to be raced by similar connections as Masked Crusader.

"He's the last out of the mare and I always thought he was the best one, not a heavy colt like the last two she's thrown. He is just a real athlete and as good as we can breed that horse," Skillecorn said.

"I think they've bought him for Rupert Legh. My boss and Rupert are good friends, so hopefully, we will be in on him and hopefully, we can get a big check at the end of it (like we did with Ole Kirk)."

The opening Premier session began with solid trade, highlighted by the fact that after two and a half hours into day one, the average was AU$163,511 ($118,137) and the median was AU$160,000 ($115,600).

After the conclusion of the 265-lot opening day of trade, 198 horses changed hands at a record sale aggregate of AU$32,980,000 ($23,828,050), an increase year-on-year of 16%, while the average climbed to a new high of AU$162,980 ($117,753), up 13% on 2021.

The median also increased by AU$30,000 ($21,675) to AU$140,000 ($101,150). The clearance rate was 82%, a figure which is expected to climb.

"We were very conscious before the start of the sale that it was up 26% last year. It's a pretty significant jump. Obviously in the lead-up to the sale you just get excited with the series of sales that have been fantastic," Inglis Bloodstock chief executive Sebastian Hutch said.   

"We were expecting the sale to be up, but I think we were pleasantly surprised by the extent with which it was up."

Ciaron Maher and David Eustace were the leading buyers, having purchased eight yearlings for a total of AU$1.33 million ($960,925), while fellow training partnership Mick Price and Mick Kent Jr took home seven for AU$1.23 million ($888,675).

"I think the most extraordinary thing has been the variety of the buyers. We have good visibility on who is bidding during the day, not just buying but bidding, and you go through who bid today there is hardly a major participant in Australian racing that didn't either buy or bid on a horse," Hutch said.

"People are engaged and looking to buy horses at the sale and obviously a very broad cross-section of major players bought horses on day one. It's a great sign of the standing of the sale and we have plenty to look forward to (today)."

Ho Takes Shine to Burrows' Son of Snitzel 

The second highest-priced lot sold on day one will be trained in Victoria after Bon Ho continued his 2022 spending spree, purchasing a colt (Lot 185) by Snitzel  for AU$550,000 ($397,375).

The colt was initially slated to be offered at the Inglis Classic sale earlier this month, but Willow Park Stud's Glenn Burrows was convinced by the auction house's Victorian bloodstock manager, James Price, to wait for the Premier Sale.

"We came here thinking he might have been an AU$350,000 ($252,875) to AU$400,000 ($289,000) colt, so to get $550,000 is fantastic," Burrows said. 

"We were going to go to Classic with the colt, but the little bit of extra time did him the world of good and it certainly paid dividends today.

"Bon has had a lot of luck and I hope it continues for him."

Cranbourne-based Lloyd Kennewell will train the horse for Ho.

"I like Snitzel as a stallion, he has been very good for a long time and I think this horse will be very good for me," Ho said from Hong Kong yesterday.

"He was a standout on conformation for me, arguably one of the best colts in the sale I believe. A lot of people, including Jonathan (D'Arcy) recommended this colt for me but Lloyd really liked him, so he will train him and hopefully be another great horse for Legend Racing."

The colt is the fourth foal out of Reply Churlish, a five-time winner who was sourced by Willow Park Stud's Glenn Burrows upon her racetrack retirement.

Burrows then sold Reply Churlish, who is herself a half sister to group 3 winners Darci Be Good and Babylon Berlin, to long-time client, New Zealand's Alan Galbraith, a successful owner and breeder who is also a shareholder in Rich Hill Stud at Matamata.

"We've already had one out of her, the full sister to this guy, and she made AU$1 million ($769,600) at Easter. She has been very good in that regard and now we keep our fingers crossed that this guy can win a group race," Burrows said.

Willow Park completed a clean sheet on day one, selling all three yearlings they offered for an average of AU$230,000 ($166,175).

"I keep the stats, as everyone knows, and they have just been fantastic," the studmaster said. 

"We thought the Classic sale was unbelievable with inspections, but pound for pound, we've actually had a lot more traffic through here and we've sold three out of three so far. We've got a few good ones (today) and I am feeling pretty confident."

Another colt (Lot 163) by four-time champion sire Snitzel also proved popular on day one, with Hong Kong owner Tony Fung parting with AU$520,000 ($375,700) for the Sun Stud-bred youngster from the Widden Stud draft. 

While the appeal of Snitzel is obvious, the colt's dam line made Fung's Australian operatives, chiefly Sally Williams, pay closer attention.

He is the eighth foal out of Prairie Star, a five-time winner and stakes-placed mare, who has so far produced the stakes-placed Fortress Command and Leotie.

Purchased last year from the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale by Belmont Bloodstock's Damon Gabbedy for AU$300,000 ($232,258) on behalf of Dorrington Farm's Robert Crabtree, Prairie Star is also a half sister to listed winner and group 2-placed mare Marianne, herself the dam of group 2 winner Yaletown.

"He was a standout physically. He is a really athletic colt, we loved the way he moved and there wasn't much to fault about him," Williams said.

"Prairie Star is a High Chaparral mare and (the Fung-owned) Best Of Bordeaux, who is one of the favorites for the Slipper, is bred on the same cross. 

"We had another winner through the week, Williamsburg, with Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou, who was out of a High Chaparral mare by Snitzel as well. Hopefully, it can be another good one for the cross."

Prairie Star has an Exceed And Excel  weanling colt and was covered by Yulong's first season sire Tagaloa.

The colt, who was cataloged as Lot 163, will be sent to Hinterland Thoroughbreds near Canungra in Queensland to be broken in before a trainer is decided. 

Widden Stud's Antony Thompson described the day one's trade as "solid".

"Like all the auctions we've been to this year, they start slowly while people find their feet but once you get an hour into selling, they really kick on," he said. 

"From the buyers' point of view, if you've bought early, you should be happy with yourself and that's just a pattern throughout the sales. 

"There's a really solid buying bench for a sale where the (upward) trend continues."

Fung bought three yearlings on day one for total receipts of AU$1.19 million ($859,775).