Solid Start to Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale

The Melbourne premier yearling sale conducted by William Inglis and Son Limited began on a solid note March 4, with two colts topping the session for AUS$400,000 (US$310,560) each.

The Australia sales company reported Day 1 ended with 116 lots sold for total receipts of AU$14,648,000 ($11,372,707), an average of $126,276 ($98,041), a median of $110,000 ($85,404), and a clearance rate of 80%.

Inglis' Victorian bloodstock manager, Simon Vivian, was satisfied with the day's action.

"It was a largely predictable day, on par with this time last year, and there are still a lot of very good horses from very good stallions to enter the ring,'' Vivian said. "We would obviously like to see the clearance rate improve over the coming days, but I'm extremely confident that will be the case as there is a lot of great stock still to be offered."

The co-session toppers were Lot 63, a Pierro colt bought by James Harron Bloodstock from Supreme Thoroughbreds, and Lot 137, a Fastnet Rock colt bought by Paul Moroney Bloodstock.

The Pierro colt will be trained by Peter and Paul Snowden at Randwick, while the Fastnet Rock colt will join the stables of Mike Moroney.

"He's come into his own in the last month. He was so popular here this week, everybody wanted a piece of him,'' Brent Grayling of Supreme Thoroughbreds said of the Pierro colt. "The key to him was everyone who knew the mother knew this colt because he's just a dead-ringer for mum. And the way Pierro is going, he's potentially a stud horse of the future.''

Harron agreed.

"He's a cracking colt by the sire of the moment in Pierro out of a fantastic mare with one of the biggest pages in the book,'' Harron said. "He has a great attitude, lovely depth of girth, great strong hip, very powerful sort of colt. He looks very strong and speedy. He does tick boxes to be an early-type of horse.''