Frosted Filly the Top Lot at Inglis Melbourne Sale

Bel Esprit , pensioned from stud duties last week by his custodians Widden Stud in Victoria, will always be known as the sire of one of Australia's greatest racehorses in the unbeaten 15-time group 1 winner Black Caviar . However, it is his emergence as a notable broodmare sire that led to Ash Richards of Intel Bloodstock striking late in the day for a filly by Frosted  , going to a sale-topping AU$150,000 (US108,174) at the April 22 Inglis Melbourne Gold Yearling Sale. 

The auction, reduced in numbers from the 339 lots on offer in 2021, was altered to a one-day sale format this year from its traditional two, a fact which led to a year-on-year decrease in the aggregate revenue to AU$3,419,500 ($2,464,310) from AU$4,970,250, however the average rose slightly to AU$20,476 ($14,766) from AU$19,043, while the median also increased to AU$12,000 ($8,646) from AU$11,000 in 2021.

The clearance rate of 78%, although expected to climb over the next few days, is down from the 85% of lots sold last year.

Cataloged as Lot 223 in the 232-lot line up, Richards had to wait patiently for the Supreme Thoroughbreds-consigned filly, who was one of four lots to reach six figures, one fewer than last year, in an indication that the higher end quality on offer was maintained, despite the fewer lots offered for sale.

The Frosted filly is out of the unraced True Priority, a sister to Sportingbet Manikato Stakes (G1) runner-up True Persuasion, while deriving from her group 3-winning fourth dam Sister Shirley is the group 1-placed Vanquished.

Damsire to Vinery Stud's Caulfield Guineas (G1) winner Ole Kirk, as well as group 2 winners Swats That, Gimmie Par, and Semillon, in addition to Hong Kong star Beauty Generation, Bel Esprit plays the role of broodmare sire in 28 stakes wins over the last four years.

"I just loved that she was out of a Bel Esprit mare. He's an emerging broodmare sire, just look at the likes of Beauty Generation, Ole Kirk, Swats That, just a few examples of quality animals with Bel Esprit as their broodmare sire," Richards, who purchased the filly in conjunction with trainer Dean Binaisse's 888 Racing and Brian Hall, said.

"She had all that Bel Esprit in her, she's strong, good shoulder, had the Bel Esprit walk, a lot of push power to her, just a filly that oozed strength and speed and had the symmetrical balance that I like.

"I've been searching for a filly for a good client out of a Bel Esprit mare; she had a good presence and we just had to have her. She was the best filly in the sale for me."

Frosted, who had two of his four lots on offer sell yesterday, will be represented by the Matt Laurie-trained Riverina Cyclone in the $500,000 VOBIS Sires Guineas at Caulfield tomorrow, as well as the unbeaten Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained Ice Pick Nick in the VOBIS Gold Dash.

"Frosted is an underrated stallion for mine, so we're thrilled to have her," said Richards, who set up Intel Bloodstock earlier this year and also purchased a colt by first season sire Grunt (O'Reilly) for AU$60,000 ($43,239) with the same clients and a colt by Pride Of Dubai  for AU$34,000 ($24,505).

"I'm really interested to see Ice Pick Nick for Maher and Eustace in the Vobis Dash on Saturday. He looks an outstanding Frosted 3-year-old and Laurie's Frosted filly Riverina Cyclone in the VOBIS Sires' Guineas as well. It could be a big day for Frosted on Saturday."

James Price, Inglis's Victorian bloodstock manager, was satisfied with the day's results, which saw a continued high demand for quality.

"I thought it was a tremendous day of trade," Price said. "The average and the median are up, which were to be expected, and with the stock, I feel we could have sold (more of) those horses that tick the criteria of pedigree, physique, and vetting; we just didn't have enough of those horses.

"Demand well outweighed supply, so for the stock that ticked all of that criteria, vendors were very well rewarded. As with every sale, we just need to be providing better quality of horses."

The clearance rate of 78% at the end of the day's trade sits below the same metric last year, and with the yearling market posting record figures throughout the year, Price suggested vendors needed to be realistic in their expectations when setting reserves in order to meet the market.

"There were certain horses today that the vendor just clearly wanted too much money for and was clearly unachievable. This idea of testing the market, it's a very strong market across the board, but the buying bench are not a group of people that can be fooled, they know when a horse is on the market and is there for genuine sale.

"That smudges the figures slightly, but we're confident we'll get a number of horses sold in the coming days."