Above: : Lot 321 Sebring filly purchased by Victorian Alliance
After more than 220 parades in front of potential buyers, a bay colt by champion Japanese stallion Lord Kanaloa was worth the wait for Ciaron Maher late into the second day of the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale.
The colt, offered by Victoria’s Kulani Park at Goulburn Weir, was the second day sale topper when Maher, inconjunction with Coolmore Stud, paid $900,000.
Smith said that after selling their Hunter Valley property, they bought their Goulburn Weir farm about 12 months ago ‘to get back into it’ and was delighted with their farm in Victoria.
The Victorian Alliance, headed by Rosemont Stud, was formed by a group of breeders and studs in an attempt to buy colts in the hope that they will develop into a valuable stallion.
And the group had to wait late into the second day to pay $520,000 for a colt by French stallion Siyouni, out of Bouquet de Flores (Street Cry x Floristry).
The colt, a first foal, was offered by Yulong.
They could be described as friendly rivals in the breeding industry, but it didn’t stop Rosemont Stud’s Anthony Mithen from paying $450,000 for a filly from Phil Campbell’s Blue Gum Farm draft.
Mithen said the team at Rosemont had rated the Sebring yearling as the best filly in the sale.
“They are not making any more of the Sebrings and she was, for us, the filly of the sale,” Mithen said.
“We just loved her. She is out of a Shamardal mare and she is a Sebring and an outcross filly and a great family and off a farm that do a magnificent job.
“They continue to produce great results at Blue Gum and we were more than happy to be pretty strong on her.”
Mithen agreed the flashy chestnut filly is not unlike in looks to Rosemont’s top sprinting mare Brooklyn Hustle.
“We had to be a little bit stronger on her than I wanted to be, anyway you come here to buy the ones you want, rather than the ones that are left as the auctioneers often tell you.’’
Mithen said hopefully the filly would be “flashing around” in a few stakes races.
“That’s the plan as we had a bit of luck here last year with Sneaky Five for $305,000 and I’m glad I didn’t have to go five more as I really didn’t have it,’’ he said.
Mithen said he threw in an extra, sneaky five thousand to secure the Fastnet Rock x Small Minds filly at last year’s yearling sale. Appropriately named Sneaky Five, the filly has had two starts for two wins and won $883,000 in prize money.
“Hopefully she is that two-year-old type that we can have a bit of fun with in 12 months.’’
Mithen said as Rosemont was also a breeding farm, they had to keep replenishing the stocks with similar fillies to the Sebring.
“And we like to think we breed a nice filly, but we don’t shut our eyes to what other people are producing,” he said.
“There’s plenty of people doing a good job breeding some nice horses and we’re happy to share the love and buy nice horses as well as breed them.”
Blue Gum, which combined with Robert Crabtree’s Dorrington Farm, to produce the opening day’s sale topper (Written Tycoon x Iglesia) of $1.1 million, had more success on the second day when they sold a Shalaa colt, out of Sistonic, to International Thoroughbred Solutions for $300,000. The colt is a close relationship to Black Caviar and the recently retired Ole Kirk.
Blue Gum Farm sold all 12/12 horses which Rob Crabtree’s Dorrington Farm had entered into the sale.
After an absence of three years of selling horses under their own name, Glentree Thoroughbreds returned to Melbourne Premier and had instant success on the second day of the sale.
Sydney trainer John O’Shea won a spirited bidding duel to pay $550,000 for Glentree’s Dundeel colt, out of Flying Spur mare Ruby Falls.
Glentree’s Bruce Wilson had sold his past three drafts at Melbourne Premier through Bhima Thoroughbreds but decided to return to the sale as vendors in their own right.
The result was a bit more than what was expected, according to Glentree’s stud manager Luke Simpson.
He said they had a full sister to the colt, but Ruby Falls was not in foal.
“We are excited to have a full sister to the colt that just sold,” he said.
Simpson said he heard some good things said during the sale about the yearlings offered by Glentree and described it as a testament to Wilson and his family and the commitment they’ve made to the farm and the investment in the thoroughbred industry.
“We made a bit of a plan and put a band of some nice horses together to target Melbourne Premier in our own backyard and so far it’s been paying off really well for us.”
O’Shea said the Dundeel colt would be raced with a syndicate, including Arrowfield Stud and Melbourne bloodstock agent Suman Hedge.
“It’s probably the best colt I’ve seen by him,” O’Shea said.
“And he had a big pedigree to match it. Bruce Wilson has put together a great quality of broodmares and this is a reflection of the horses they are producing at Glentree.
“So, we were really enthused by the horse with a syndicate headed by Arrowfield.
“They understand the stallion more than anyone and so consequently they were kind enough to join us in the syndicate.”
O’Shea said the colt made a bit more than what they thought but he was told to keep on bidding to buy it.
He said Hedge, who he described as a great young judge of bloodstock, would also be part of the colt.
Darren Dance’s Esker Lodge struck early on the second day with $160,000 for a black colt by Pierro, out of Fastnet Rock mare, Rockolicious.
Bigger money came for Esker Lodge’s Camelot (GB) filly out of Yours Ever (GB).
The filly was knocked down for $300,000.
The success for Victorian breeders continued when Noorilim Park at Arcadia sold an Exceed and Excel filly, out of Special Lover (Pins x Special Diamond), for $300,000 to Gelagotis Racing.
Balius Farm at Darnum promised that its third year at Melbourne Premier would be its best with an improved quality of yearling.
And they weren’t wrong.
A black filly, by Lonhro out of Singled Out, sold for $240,000. They then sold a Vancouver x Socialize filly to Moloney Racing for $160,000.
The second top price on the second day of the sale was an I Am Invincible colt, out of Risque, which sold to Cranbourne trainers Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young for $700,000.
Sun Stud stallion Thronum (Snitzel) had his first yearlings go through the sale.
His first lot offered, out of four-time winning Hinchinbrook mare Thorsborne sold for $200,000.
Hollylodge Thoroughbreds at Avenel had their best result of the sale when they got $400,000 for a Deep Field colt out of Charge Forward mare, Western Gem.
The filly was bought by McEvoy Racing.
Yulong achieved a $300,000 sale – the equal best price of its yearlings on the second day – for a Snitzel filly out of Zaina Rizeena (GB), a winner as a two-year-old over 1500m in Great Britain.
Flemington trainer Michael Moroney was the successful bidder for another Yulong yearling, a Written Tycoon colt out of Zabeel mare Zibello (NZ). Moroney paid $300,000 for the colt.
And he quickly followed up by paying $300,000 for a Redoute’s Choice colt out of Starcraft mare Ain’tnofallenstar which was offered by Glentree Thoroughbreds. Redoute’s Choice died in 2019.
Swettenham Stud stallion Toronado continued to achieve solid results with a bay colt out of three-time Choisir winning mare Anatomica. Gilgai Farm at Nagambie sold the colt for $220,000.
Merricks Station followed up a good opening day of the sale with a $150,000 (Pierro x Whistle Baby colt) and a $210,000 (Dundeel x Alamonteel colt) sale on the second day.
Pakenham trainer Peter Moody paid $210,000 for a Dundeel filly out of seven-time winning mare Avenue. The filly was offered by Three Bridges Thoroughbreds at Eddington.
On day 2 of the sale, the clearance was 86%, which is up from 79% from the 2020 sale, the average was $143,195, which was up 11% from $129,162 from the 2020 sale and the median remained the same at $110,000.