Premier Conclusion to Record Inglis Yearling Sale

Demand has surged at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale in Melbourne, continuing the unprecedented spend on bloodstock in Australia this year, with trade up by nearly AU$13 million ($9,385,064) year-on-year at the conclusion of Victoria's main three-day market.

Two colts, by Zoustar (Lot 572) and Nicconi  (Lot 430) respectively, sold for AU$340,000 ($245,456) each in the final Premier Session at Oaklands Junction March 1 to close out another record-setting yearling sale, the fifth to do so in 2022.

The extraordinary appetite for horses can be illustrated by the fact that 150 yearlings sold for AU$200,000 ($144,386) or more, an increase of 63 compared to last year's Melbourne sale, and that the figures were not diluted by an array of million-dollar lots. 

An I Am Invincible  colt (Lot 522) sold for AU$950,000 ($681,151) to Coolmore on day two to top this year's Premier sale, while a further seven yearlings made between AU$520,000 ($375,403) and AU$675,000 ($487,301).

The depth of the market saw the average increase by 13% to AU$158,094 ($114,132) while the Book 1 aggregate jumped by 21% to AU$77.150 million ($55,696,745). The median was also up 33% to AU$140,000 ($101,070) and the clearance rate also steadily increased to 90% March 1.

The combined Premier and Showcase Session aggregate of AU$85,313,000 ($61,589,843) was also up 20%.

"The sale was up 26% last year and that's an extraordinary jump because we're talking about a sale with significant turnover," Inglis Bloodstock chief executive Sebastian Hutch said.

"The growth that has been achieved here is a massive number again. It's a great compliment to the support we've had from vendors, the confidence that buyers have in the market that we create here, and the horses that vendors offer here.

"The important thing for us is the success of this sale has been built on the success of graduates and the quality of stock fundamentally.

"We feel like there were really nice horses here and hopefully those horses can go on and win good races."

Last year's Premier sale has already produced five juvenile stakes winners; Neds Blue Diamond Preview (G3) winner Miss Roseiano, Inglis Millennium winner Xtravagant Star,  Inglis Banner winner Semillion, and the unbeaten Tasmanian juvenile Bello Beau.

Nicconi Colt Sells for $245,456 

Belmont Bloodstock's Damon Gabbedy was hoping to receive a discount for a powerfully built Nicconi colt (Lot 430), the final offering of the Premier Session, but buyers did not miss the brother to Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes (G1) runner-up Lankan Star.

The Melbourne agent went to AU$340,000 on day three for the Maluka Thoroughbreds-consigned colt, the fourth foal out of Clearwater Bay, a day later than the yearling was due to be offered for sale.

The 430-cataloged colt suffered a minor injury early on Monday which prevented him from going through the ring as scheduled, but it did not deter Gabbedy who purchased the September-born colt on behalf of an undisclosed long-time client."There was a bit of bad luck that happened with him being cast in the box but it certainly didn't seem to affect the price he brought, did it?" Gabbedy said. 

"We like the proven mares and she's had three to the races for three winners and Lankan Star is group 1-placed, a full-relation, of course, and Nicconi is a great sire. 

"He is a big, strong colt, much in the mold of Nature Strip , so we'll be dreaming of him, of course.

"He is a big horse, he'd be 15.3hh already and he is a beautiful mover, a really loose mover. I looked at him two or three times and he put his head down with a great attitude. He's a bigger, stronger type of Nicconi."

Vendor Luke Anderson was relieved to have the colt finally sold yesterday on behalf of Janahan Rajakulendran's Monsoon Bay Pty Ltd. 

"The team worked really hard to get him through the ring, so that was a great result," the Maluka Thoroughbreds principal said.

"We were asked by the owners to prepare him for the sale and he's been with us since October. He's just one of those beautiful bombproof colts that dealt with everything so well." 

Clearwater Bay has a Nov. 27-born Yes Yes Yes weanling colt but she was not covered in 2021.

There was also a sale ring drama with an Extreme Choice colt, another offered at the conclusion of the Premier Session after suffering a minor foot abscess Feb. 28.

The Musk Creek Farm-consigned colt by the boom Newgate Farm sire was eventually sold to Cranbourne trainer Lloyd Kennewell, agent Mathew Becker and H And H Bloodstock for AU$280,000 ($202,140) but not before he was knocked down for AU$300,000 ($216,578) to an unwitting bidder waving from afar.

Amid the confusion, and the bid held at AU$260,000 ($187,701), Kennewell finally came out on top in the prolonged auction process at the AU$280,000 figure.

"They're sought-after commodities, the Extreme Choices, there's not many of them and I think he's the last colt to go through a sale this year by that stallion and we liked him at a price," Kennewell said Tuesday. 

"We tried to bring the price back a little bit after the dilemma but it was good to get him. Our vet went over him and he's fine. 

"The farm's great, Musk Creek, they are guaranteeing him for 30 days, so they'll take him home and make sure he is right, then we'll get him broken in."

An AU$150,000 ($200,761) Inglis Great Southern Weanling Sale pinhook for Musk Creek Farm, who was cataloged as Lot 309, he is the first foal out of the Ocean Park mare Wahini Miss, herself a three-quarter sister to Wellington Guineas (G2) winner Sacred Park.

Kennewell also combined with Trilogy Racing to buy an AU$250,000 ($180,482) Lonhro half sister (Lot 561) to Lindsey Smith's four-time winner Tuvalu Tuesday, while Hong Kong owner Bon Ho bought an AU$550,000 ($397,519) Snitzel (AUS) colt (Lot 185) on day one.

"We've been limited with the horses we've got at this sale but we've got three really nice horses now, so we're really happy," he said.

"It has been really strong and every sale's been like it. We did some shopping at the Gold Coast, then Classic and now we're here. The show just keeps rolling on and you've got to buy them when you can get them."

During the 60-lot final Premier Session Tuesday, which preceded the Showcase Session, Boomer Bloodstock's Craig Rounsefell was also active, buying a Zoustar colt (Lot 572) on behalf of the Hong Kong Jockey Club for AU$340,000.

The third colt acquired by Rounsefell for the HKJC at this week's sale, to go with an AU$550,000 son of I Am Invincible (Lot 78) and a colt by Magnus , the Widden Stud-offered colt is the third foal out of Pins mare Honey Rider, a group 3 winner of four races in New Zealand. He was cataloged as Lot 572.

"Melbourne always has quality horses here. We were focusing on the good farms, Widden has brought some nice horses down, particularly. Some nice horses come out of this sale, especially for Hong Kong," Rounsefell said.

"A lot of people are out here doing their homework and getting choosy on the good ones so you have to pay a bit more for those better types, but I think it continues on from what has been happening in Victoria. 

"There's a lot of big farms supporting this sale, but there are these other stallion farms and boutique broodmare farms that are investing heavily. It's good to see stallions like Written Tycoon  standing down here now. I think it's going to mean that for years to come this sale is going to only get better."

Widden Stud crowned its expansion into Victoria by taking out the Premier Session's leading vendor title, selling 27 yearlings for AU$5,322,500 ($3,842,462) at an average of AU$197,130 ($142,314), in its first Melbourne sale with a southern base.

"It's a great honor to be the leading vendor. We did have a large draft of horses and while it's not something we specifically target, it's definitely a great thrill for the farm and for the staff who have done a lot of hard work to get these yearlings here in the way that they have," Widden Stud's Antony Thompson said. 

"The job that the Inglis team has done assembling a buying bench of the highest order has been fantastic. They've really upped the ante with the vibe and the feel of the Oaklands complex, it's been a lot of fun."

Rick Jamieson's Gilgai Farm sold eight yearlings for an average price of AU$317,500 ($229,212) to be the leading vendor by average.

Ciaron Maher Racing bought 17 yearlings outright or in conjunction with partners in the Premier Session, Lindsay Park Bloodstock took home 14 yearlings, and Mick Price and Mick Kent Jr. bought 13. 

The training partnership of Robbie Griffiths and Mathew de Kock bought 13 yearlings with Peter Ford Thoroughbreds either outright or in partnership, including an AU$300,000 ($216,578) Lean Mean Machine colt (Lot 585) late in the Book 1 session.

The leading first season sire by average at the Premier Session, a feat the Aquis Farm stallion also achieved at the recent Inglis Classic sale, Lean Mean Machine had three Book 1 yearlings sell at an average of AU$198,333 ($143,182), largely thanks to the strongly built Blue Gum Farm-offered colt.

Cataloged as Lot 585, he is the second foal out of Innocent I Am, a twice-winning half sister to stakes winners Innocent Gamble and Viking Legend .  

"He looked like a group 1 horse. Mat and I and Mat's dad, Mike De Kock, and Peter Ford loved him all week, so we had to have him," Griffiths enthused.

"He looks like a fast horse, he's from a fast family, and he's got the bone and muscle and presence, he has a big, strong overstep, well balanced, well-grown, and he looks like he will run straight away."

The big investment at the Premier sale by the Griffiths and De Kock operation was a deliberate one, according to the senior member in the partnership.

"We are serious about having a crack, that is what we have been doing since the partnership started," Griffiths said. 

"We are fair dinkum about getting the right horses to get into the big races and that is what it is all about."

Cranbourne trainer Clinton McDonald, who bought a Snitzel filly (Lot 353) on Monday to go with the six other Book 1 yearlings he purchased, was responsible for buying the Showcase Session's highest-priced yearling, a colt (Lot 669) by young New Zealand stallion Preferment for AU$270,000 ($194,921).

The most expensive yearling ever sold in Melbourne's second session, the Rushton Park-consigned colt, who was bred by Francis and Christine Cook's Mystery Downs out of their stakes-placed mare Sea Spray, is a brother to Legatus, a 3-year-old gelding who has been placed at his only two starts for trainer John Moloney.

The Showcase Session also reached a new high, averaging AU$51,340 ($37,063) from 159 horses sold, with the aggregate reaching AU$8,163,000 ($5,893,098), eclipsing last year's AU$7,550,500 ($5,450,917).

The Inglis Classic and Magic Millions Gold Coast, Perth, and Tasmanian yearling sales have all been record sales so far this year.

The New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale starts on Monday while the Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale will be held on March 15 and 16.