Montefilia Latest Star Added to Inglis Chairman Sale

Multiple group 1 winner Montefilia—one of the best mares of her generation—has been revealed as the latest star attraction cataloged for the Inglis Chairman's Sale. 

Inglis announced March 2 the four-time group 1-winning daughter of Kermadec  would be joining fellow group 1 winners Nimalee and Icebath at the auction, which will take place at Riverside Stables May 4. 

Leading Perth owner and breeder Bob Peters' Winterbottom Stakes (G1) winner Graceful Girl, his group 1-producing mare Celebrity Miss, and the three-time group 1-placed mare Swats That will also go under the hammer during the evening of action.

Trained by David Payne, Montefilia has so far won six of her 24 career outings. Her record is spearheaded by her four elite-level triumphs, the first of which came in the 2020 running of the Flight Stakes (G1), a victory she followed up with a win against the males in the Spring Champion Stakes (G1) seven days later. 

Her third group 1 triumph came in October 2021, when securing victory in a competitive running of the Metropolitan (G1). She once again added to her haul when taking out last year's edition of the Ranvet Stakes (G1). These exploits on the racetrack saw her international rating top 115, ranking her among the top 30 fillies and mares in the world on turf in 2022.

The 5-year-old mare showed talent most recently when running fifth, a little over two lengths adrift of winner Anamoe, in the Feb. 25 Chipping Norton Stakes (G1), signaling she could be set for another big autumn.

Further adding to the mare's allure, she is being offered as a racing and breeding prospect at the Chairman's Sale, giving people the opportunity to purchase a live contender for some of the best races next spring, including the Melbourne Cup (G1) and Caulfield Cup (G1), a race she has run fourth in for the past two renewals.  

With four group 1s already under her belt, Inglis' CEO Sebastian Hutch told ANZ Bloodstock News Montefilia is a mare with plenty of upside. 

"She's a fantastic mare and she is the most successful foal of her crop in terms of group 1 wins at this stage," said Hutch. "She has won four group 1s, which is more than any other Australian-bred horse from that year, which is quite a feather in the cap of any horse. She has the autumn to run through and she looks to be in as good a form as ever. 

"She looks ready to make her presence felt in weight-for-age races through the autumn before embarking on another spring campaign, which is an exciting prospect for anyone with an interest in acquiring her."

Bred by G. Russell, Montefilia was snapped up by Baystone Farm for AU$62,000 at the 2018 Inglis Great Southern Weanling and Bloodstock Sale before being purchased by her trainer for AU$130,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale the following year. 

The mare is out of the listed-placed mare Bana Wu , making her a half sister to Ottawa Stakes (G3) runner-up Nice For What, who was purchased by Dermot Farrington for AU$500,000 at the 2022 edition of the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale. 

Meanwhile, her other winning half sister, Wu Darl, was bought by Rathmore Bloodstock and Avesta Bloodstock for AU$220,000 at last year's Chairman's sale, while another of her winning sisters, Chaparral Belle, made AU$150,000 at the sale in 2021.

Hutch believes her pedigree, coupled with her racetrack record, makes her a truly attractive and rare prospect to be offered at public auction. 

"What I like about her pedigree, and what people like about her pedigree generally, is that she brings together some really influential sire lines in the world; Galileo, Sunday Silence, Monsun, Last Tycoon, through the second generation of her pedigree. I think that is exciting and shows there is genuine quality in her pedigree—I can't think of too many people who wouldn't be excited to buy a mare like her," he said. 

"She won first time out as a 2-year-old and won the Flight Stakes as a spring 3-year-old, beating a fantastic filly in Hungry Heart and then winning a Spring Champion Stakes a week later. 

"She is genuinely fantastic and mares like that don't come along that often. I think the fact that she had precocity and could combine that with stamina gives her the credentials to complement a lot of the stallions in this part of the world. The term 'world-class' is one that we get to use infrequently, but I think Montefilia deserves to be categorized as a world-class racehorse and world-class breeding prospect.''