Extreme Result for Bell River as Filly Breaks Record

The rapid evolution of the Inglis HTBA May Yearling Sale took another step forward yesterday with a daughter of sire sensation Extreme Choice selling for a record AU$300,000 (US$211,713) to prominent Sydney trainer Michael Freedman during a fast-paced session.

The most expensive yearling ever sold at an HTBA sale—and one of six to sell for AU$100,000 ($70,571) or more yesterday—also helped push the third "Scone sale" held at Inglis' Riverside Stables complex in Sydney to a record aggregate of AU$5,379,250 (3,796,191), an average of AU$25,374 ($17,906), up 33% and a median of AU$17,000 ($11,997), up 48%. With 212 horses changing hands, the clearance rate last night was at 82%.

The benchmark aggregate, which was up 6% year on year, was achieved despite a smaller catalog of 287 horses offered compared to last year's two-day 358-lot catalog, which continues the trend of buyer demand increasing across the board at this year's Australasian sales series to date, with few exceptions. 

The previous highest-priced yearling sold at HTBA was AU$180,000 ($124,978) for a son of Toronado  who was offered at the joint July 2020 auction conducted in Sydney alongside the Easter Round 2 sale during the early stages of the pandemic.

Freedman, who trained Extreme Choice colts Stay Inside and Tiger Of Malay to win the Longines Golden Slipper (G1) and the James Squire BRC Sires Produce Stakes (G2) respectively, made the most of the rare opportunity to add a filly to his stable by Newgate Farm's roster leader. 

The trainer was not surprised at what he had to pay to take her home despite the filly not being offered at a more select yearling sale.

"He recently won a group 1 with a filly two weeks ago—She's Extreme in the Moet & Chandon Champagne Stakes (G1) and Espiona looks pretty promising as well, so he seems to be doing it whether it's a filly or a colt," Freedman said of Extreme Choice, who this year will cover another restricted book of mares at an advertised fee of AU$275,000 ($194,070). 

"When they're doing as well as he is, at the strike-rate he is, you're happy to launch into them. Under normal circumstances she would have gone through another sale ring, the fact that she was in this sale didn't really play any part in whether I came to bid on her or not. 

"Once I'd looked at her I was quite happy to try and buy her."

The Bell River Thoroughbreds-bred and sold filly was to be offered at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale in February, but minor surgery led to her withdrawal and her appearance at Riverside Stables yesterday.

Cataloged as Lot 57, the filly is the ninth foal out of two-time winner Dashie Diva, who has had seven foals to race for seven winners including listed winner East Indiaman.

"I tend to think looking at her that she's got a fair bit of leg under her and that she might not be a pre-Christmas 2-year-old and she is more likely to be hopefully (racing) in the autumn," the Randwick-based trainer said.

"She's a mid-October foal, so she's one you'd have a look at in the spring, but she is one you'd probably be more likely to do something more serious with in the autumn."

Bell River's Andrew Ferguson said the $300,000 yearling had "always been a lovely filly".

"We had her set to go to Classic in February but she had a tiny chip in the hind fetlock which I was never going to remove until a couple of prominent and well-known vets told me that it needed to be removed as it was in an awkward spot," he said. 

"So, we did and she ended up here, and as it turned out, it hasn't deterred the result that we were going to get for her."

The filly's presence in the sale saw the likes of Darby Racing, trainer Annabel Neasham's bloodstock manager Brian McGuire and Danny O'Brien's racing manager Luke Wilkinson show interest in the filly.

"I thought she'd make between AU$200,000 and AU$300,000. There were quite a few big names on her. For someone like Michael Freedman to pick her up, it's pretty exciting," said Ferguson, whose Bell River Thoroughbreds also bred Extreme Choice and sold him at the Inglis Classic sale as a yearling.

"It was a bit like the (AU$800,000 Extreme Choice) colt we sold at Classic this year, I was apprehensive then too, but Sebastian (Hutch) and the Inglis team, they're getting the buyers here, it's a great buying bench and, as we saw at Classic, he made beyond my expectations and this filly has done the same. 

"We're getting rewarded as vendors by bringing them here and this is just another result we've been rewarded with.''

Freedman also bought a colt (Lot 48) by Merchant Navy  for AU$45,000 ($31,756).

"We had international buyers participating in the sale; we had investors from interstate, we had some New Zealand buyers trying to buy at the sale," Inglis Bloodstock chief executive Sebastian Hutch told ANZ Bloodstock News May 1. 

"There's nothing parochial about this sale and you (as a vendor) can be confident that you can come here and be exposed to a deep and broad buying bench. 

"Inevitably, people who are looking to spend significant money on a horse are going to heavily scrutinize things like x-rays and vet reports, but that's the case at every sale and that was the case again today, but if you had a horse who jumped through the necessary hoops you landed in a good spot."

Matthew Sandblom's Kingstar Farm was the leading vendor by aggregate, selling 16 yearlings for AU$703,500 ($496,467) and Vinery Stud sold 21 horses for a total of $653,500 ($461,181) while Bell River Thoroughbreds sold all three yearlings offered at an average of AU$109,333 ($77,157). 

"The May sale provides a necessary service to not just breeders in NSW but in Australasia as a whole. It provides a very credible market," Hutch said. 

"The HTBA does a lot of good work, so generating a good result is satisfying on a number of levels, particularly given the relationship we have with them and president Cameron Collins and treasurer Paddy Power and their committee.

"To turnover what we've turned over today, on the back of a reduced catalog in terms of volume, is very pleasing."

Inglis now turns its attention to the two-day Australian Weanling Sale, which begins Thursday, May 5.