The Gold Coast Magic Millions sale may be over but there are still many, many opportunities over the next few months to buy yearlings eligible for the rich series of BOBS bonuses applying to two- and three-year-olds racing in NSW.
For those intending to race in NSW it does not make economic sense to buy yearlings NOT eligible for the BOBS Scheme as the progeny of the majority of Australia’s leading sires are eligible as they stand in NSW and are paid up for the scheme which can add so much to normal prizemoney.
This impressive list of stallions includes the likes of Snitzel, I Am Invincible,Teofilo, Pierro, Sebring, Redoute’s Choice, Fastnet Rock, Lonhro, Not a Single Doubt, Smart Missile,the sensational Zoustar, Nicconi, Exceed and Excel, So You Think,Choisir and All Too Hard not to mention many more highly regarded younger stallions.
A greatly expanded Inglis Classic Yearling Sale in Sydney with more than 1000 lots catalogued kicks off on February 9 and runs for five days.
As last year, this sale features many youngsters with the pedigrees and conformation worthy of inclusion in the Australian Easter catalogue and to help country owners and trainers with limited budgets Inglis has added a Book 2 section called the Highway Session so there will be a horse to suit everyone wanting to buy.
First crop stallions with progeny entered for Classic include such exciting prospects as Exosphere (Lonhro), Headwater (Exceed and Excel), Kermadec (Teofilo), No Nay Never (leading first crop sire in Europe in 2018 and already sire of a Group 1 winner),Outreach (Exceed and Excel), Panzer Division (Redoute’s Choice), Press Statement (Hinchinbrook), Pride of Dubai (Street Cry), Real Impact (Deep Impact), Scissor Kick (Redoute’s Choice), I Am Invincible’s speedy son Super One and Golden Slipper winner Vancouver (Medaglia d’Oro), unbeaten as a two-year-old.
Promising young stallions Deep Field (Northern Meteor), Dissident (Sebring), Olympic Glory (Choisir), Rubick (Encosta de Lago) and Shooting to Win (Northern Meteor) are also well represented in the Classic lineup.
After the Classic, the sale caravan moves on to Melbourne for the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale on March 3, 4, 5 and 6 and then on to Adelaide for the Magic Millions Yearling Sale on March 12 and 13 before we get back to Sydney for the showpiece Australian Easter Yearling Sale on April 8, 9 and 10.
At each of these auctions there will be no shortage of BOBS-eligible youngsters, certainly enough to make an interstate trip well worthwhile.
In Melbourne, for example, more than 400 of the 786 lots are eligible for pay up to the BOBS Scheme and they will sell in a wide price range in a year when buyers may find some real bargains in the middle and lower sections of the market.
When we move on to the Australian Easter Yearling Sale in early April where the top-of-the-range youngsters are sold, bargain buys may be fewer but there will still be tremendous value outside of the very top lots.
If you do not have the ammunition to compete for the top priced yearlings by the elite sires often the way to go is to concentrate on the drafts by well credentialled new sires given the backing of high quality mares at major studs.Provided these yearlings look the part, they can be excellent buying.
The group of first crop stallions this year is certainly a diverse one featuring Group 1 winners such as Exosphere, Kermadec, No Nay Never (by deceased sire sensation Scat Daddy), Press Statement, Pride of Dubai, Real Impact (first son of great Japanese sire Deep Impact to stand in Australia) and Vancouver.
Don’t forget, too, to look at members of the second crops of young stallions like Deep Field, Dissident and Rubick whose early runners are showing real ability in early races and trials.
If you can’t afford to buy a yearling by the prolific I Am Invincible a worthwhile and far less expensive option may be a youngster from the first crop of his son Super One.
Super One was champion two-year-old in Singapore in 2015 when unbeaten in four starts.
As a three-year-old he had four starts in Australia, winning the SAJC D.C. Mc Kay Stakes (Gr. 3, 1100m) and his racing career has a number of similarities to that of his father.
Out of a Tale of the Cat (Storm Cat) mare and linebred to Danzig 4 x 4 , Super One should leave fast horses and may prove a surprise packet among the new sires.
Newgate Farm which stands Super One has given potential buyers of his first yearlings an added incentive by putting up a $250,000 bonus if one of them wins either the Magic Millions 2YO Classic or the Inglis 2YO Millennium races in 2020.
Of course, each of the two sales companies, Magic Millions and Inglis, also offer great incentives for buyers at their auctions with the Inglis raceday at Warwick Farm on February 9 featuring the inaugural $2 million Inglis Millennium for juvenile graduates of their auctions and the $1 million Inglis Sprint for three-year-old sale graduates.
