Capitalist Colt Set to Headline Inglis HTBA Sale

Kingstar Farm is poised to emerge with top lot honors from a second Inglis HTBA Yearling Sale in three years April 23, via a highly regarded Capitalist colt which will keep many buyers present until well after dark.

Added to the catalog as a supplementary offering, the chestnut will go off as the last of 300 yearlings listed in this edition of the former Scone sale, and will enter the Riverside ring possibly around 8 p.m. local time.

The first foal of placed Sebring  mare Princess Joy Joy—a blood relative of quadruple group 1 winner Criterion —the colt has already fetched a price far above what's usually seen at this sale.

He was offered in the Segenhoe draft at Inglis' Melbourne Premier sale early last month, and was purchased by Hong Kong buyer Ricky Yiu for AU$260,000. That sale, however, ultimately did not proceed, leading the colt to go through a second time Sunday, with Kingstar predicting big things after handling him through this brief second preparation.

"He's one of the best colts you'd ever see at a HTBA sale," said Kingstar's nominations manager Conor Phelan. "He'll be a proper star. He's a very nice horse.

"He hasn't put a foot wrong, he's from a great family, and he's a fantastic mover. He's what people want to see when they see a Capitalist yearling.

"He's the last lot and he's well worth the wait. He'll probably be in the zone for Hong Kong bidders again, since he'll go through on their time zone. As a vendor, it's usually a long and hard wait when you've got the last lot at the sale, but this wait will be an easy one."

The colt's second dam Joleur has left three stakes winners in Upon This Rock, Gaze On, and Bhutane Dane , and is a full sister to Mica's Pride, the group 3-winning dam of Criterion.

Established in 2016, Matthew Sandblom's Kingstar Farm has built a strong record at HTBA sales. In 2021, their Russian Revolution colt from American mare Lucinda's Moon was top lot at AU$145,000, sold to Singapore interests. Last year, Kingstar was comfortably the sale's leading vendor via an aggregate of AU$540,500 for 13 lots sold.

The sale's record price, however, would seem unlikely to be broken this time around. It was set last year when Michael Freedman paid AU$300,000 for an Extreme Choice filly from stakes producer Dashie Diva, which shattered the previous best of AU$180,000 for a Toronado colt in 2020.

Kingstar presents a 10-horse draft this year, including four yearlings by their first-season sire Unite And Conquer. These include a colt from Golden Pedigree, a stakes-winning mare by the brilliant but short-lived sire Gold Brose, and a colt from Zabeel mare Sukhar, a three-quarter sister to Melbourne Cup (G1) winner Efficient.

"We're really happy with the first crop of Unite And Conquer," Phelan said. "They're good, mature, get up and go type horses, who've had a lot of interest at the farm. They're probably ready-to-run style horses."

Brutal, with a sale-high 13 yearlings on offer, is also well represented by Lot 273, a colt from Vinery Stud's draft out of a half sister to Fangirl, a top-tier victor and a star again this autumn, including with two group 1 seconds to Anamoe in the Chipping Norton Stakes (G1) and George Ryder Stakes (G1). Second dam was the triple stakes winner Little Surfer Girl, daughter of exceptional triple group 1-winning mare Special Harmony.

Vinery presents a strong 14-horse draft also featuring Lot 39, a colt by their stallion Star Turn out of Encosta De Lago mare Granados, whose dam Larrocha won the South Australian Oaks (G1). Also likely to add more spice to a lively finish at the sale is their Lot 284, a filly by Vinery's first-season sire Exceedance out of a half sister to group 1 winner and Golden Slipper (G1) runner-up, Oohood.

Last year's HTBA sale moved 223 lots for a gross of AU$5.58 million, an average of AU$25,033, a median of AU$17,000, and a clearance rate of 87%.

All lots are eligible, with a reduced nomination fee, for the AU$12.55 million Inglis Race Series, including the AU$1 million Pink Bonus Series and the recently-announced AU$5 million Xtra Bonus Series.

"This sale represents a good opportunity to get involved in the yearling market at one of the last opportunities of the year," said Inglis CEO Sebastian Hutch.

"It's obviously been a very competitive year in terms of people trying to buy horses, and there are still a lot of people, particularly at the value end of the scale, who are in the market for horses."

Hutch highlighted that since 2018, the average earnings per runner among the sale's graduates have been AU$40,043, more than double the sale's average price in that time.

The most represented vendor is Widden Stud, with a 23-lot draft, ahead of Riversdale with 19 and Murulla Stud with 18.