Inglis' premium breeding stock auction, the Chairman's Sale at Riverside Stables May 6, has received a boost with the addition of group 1-producing mare Keysbrook, by So Secret to the select catalog.
The dam of the Anthony Cummings-trained Moet and Chandon Champagne Stakes (G1) and Cellarbrations Magic Night Stakes (G3) winner She's Extreme's, by Extreme Choice, Keysbrook is one of six supplementary entries for next month's elite evening sale mares offering in Sydney.
Keysbrook, who is not in foal, was a four-time stakes placegetter on the racetrack and was purchased last year by Randwick Bloodstock's Brett Howard for AU$60,000 (US$45,183) through the Inglis Digital June (Late) Online Sale.
Howard will offer Keysbrook alongside dual group 1 winner Shout The Bar, by Not A Single Doubt and group 2 winner Only Words, by Sweynesse in his Glenesk Thoroughbreds draft for the Chairman's Sale, which is preceded by Sunday's HTBA May Yearling Sale and the Australian Weanling Sale, while the Inglis Australian Broodmare Sale takes place May 8.
"Keysbrook was a 2-year-old winner herself and trained on to place in a (Western Australian) Derby and an Oaks and I'm extremely confident buyers will love her when they see her,'' Howard said.
"You can look at her and see why she was a good racehorse and she's throwing that into her produce as well, as is reflected by their results in the sale ring.
"She's a beautiful mare, everyone will see that when they pull her out of the box, she's medium-sized with nice strength and scope, a good shoulder, nice girth, just a quality type.''
Inglis has also confirmed last-start Albury Cup winner Harmony Rose, by Glass Harmonium , Perfect Persuasion, by Encosta de Lago, who is in foal to Extreme Choice, group 3-placed Don'Ttelltheboss, by Street Boss , and First Channel, by Hinchinbrook , who is in foal to Zoustar , as other supplementary entries for the Chairman's Sale.
A share in Newgate Farm's Extreme Choice, standing this year for a fee of AU$275,000 ($199,153)(inc GST), will also be auctioned at the Chairman's Sale, which attracted an initial 93-Lot catalog.
"It is rare that a mare can breed a 2-year-old of the quality of She's Extreme and this mare has gone out and done it. The success of She's Extreme is relatively consistent with the profile of the mare generally," Inglis Bloodstock chief executive Sebastian Hutch told ANZ Bloodstock News April 25.
"Each of her yearlings have demonstrated physical quality at the sales and have gone on to be good racehorses.
"She's an exciting mare to have in the catalog and hopefully people see the opportunity in her."
Keysbrook's yearling filly by Lean Mean Machine, meanwhile, was sold to prominent Western Australian trainer Dan Morton for AU$150,000 ($106,980) at this year's Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale.
Her first foal Ruru is a four-time winner who was sold for AU$250,000 ($178,200) at the 2019 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale while She's Extreme was an AU$275,000 ($210,774) Easter purchase by her trainer at last year's sale.
"She has had a little bit of bad luck with her breeding history, she aborted a pregnancy later on two seasons ago, then they managed her conservatively last season, stopping with her early and believing she'd benefit from a break," Hutch said.
"There's no suggestion that there's any long-term issues with her and I suspect she's a mare they're going to be able to prepare early in the spring (to be bred to)."
Howard said She's Extreme can only enhance Keysbrook's value when she returns as a 3-year-old.
"She's so adaptable, she won a 1,200-meter group 3 and a 1,600-meter group 1 and you'd like to think she'll train on in the spring and beyond," he said.
"She's likely to be targeted toward a Golden Rose and maybe a Flight Stakes and she could even end up in a race like the Cox Plate, her pedigree suggests she should run a strong 2,000 meters.
"It's one of those families that has been very versatile, they've been able to win at two and train on so I suspect this filly will as well.''
Hutch also expects the China Horse Club-owned rising 18-year-old Perfect Persuasion, a tax-eligible mare, to be popular with high-end commercial buyers.
A sister to champion filly Alinghi and the stakes-placed dam of the late but talented stallion Beneteau in Slice Of Paradise , Perfect Persuasion has had five foals to race, all of whom have won.
Among them are the stakes-placed Papillon and Lady Sharapova while her yearling filly by Russian Revolution sold to Gai Waterhouse, Adrian Bott, and Kestrel Thoroughbreds' Bruce Slade for AU$420,000 ($318,269) at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale earlier this month.
"Perfect Persuasion has had yearlings sell for in excess of AU$5 million. She had a beautiful yearling sell at the Easter Yearling Sale a few weeks ago. She looked very much like a fast 2-year-old model and we might be reflecting in 12 months time that the opportunity to buy Perfect Persuasion in foal to Extreme Choice was the opportunity of the year," Hutch said.
"He doesn't have a lot of pregnancies and we've already seen what he's been able to do with his early runners, and it's fair to say he wouldn't have covered many mares of the quality of Perfect Persuasion over the course of his first two seasons, so it is exciting what he might be able to do with a mare like that.
"I am sure she will be a mare people will be very interested in."
Syndicator Darby Racing's mare Harmony Rose, who was trained by Mark Newnham, is being placed on the market after an untimely injury resulted in a premature end to her racing career.
The rising 5-year-old, a winner of four of her 14 starts, was third in the 2021 Mostyn Copper Randwick Guineas (G1), which was taken out by Lion's Roar, and was runner-up to Hungry Heart in the Vinery Stud Stakes (G1) in the same 3-year-old autumn preparation.
"She had wonderful talent, some of her form is really outstanding around some fantastic horses. For a filly to run a place in a Randwick Guineas is quite something," Hutch said.
"Mark Newnham and the owners were most disappointed that they had to stop with her as they felt the best was still to come with her.
"She was a good race filly and she is the sort of filly people want to breed from as she has a bit of scope."
Inspections for the HTBA May Yearling Sale will start at Riverside Stables April 26.
"It's a wonderfully busy period for Inglis with the Digital sale closing out (tomorrow) with 85 Arrowfield mares to be sold," Hutch said.
"The interest in those mares has been really fantastic from domestic and international investors. We've had a lot of international interest with people registering to bid last week and over the weekend and I think there will be some excellent buying in that sale and then we roll into a busy week at Riverside."
The Chairman's Sale will begin at 4:30 p.m. (local time) May 6, while the Australian Broodmare Sale will be on Sunday, May 8.