An I Am Invincible colt of Yarraman Park’s topped the final day of the Classic Yearling Sale, which ended with strong trade across all levels of the market.
At the close of the auction, more than $61m had been traded, making it the second strongest ever renewal of Classic.
Day 3 was headed by an I Am Invincible x Navajo Dreamer colt, which Newcastle trainer Kris Lees and bloodstock agent Justin Bahen teamed up to buy off Yarraman for $400,000.
It topped off a fabulous sale for Yarraman, which ended with a 100% clearance.
“It’s been a great sale overall for us, 22 sold from 22 offered and this lovely Vinnie colt to end the sale for us,’’ Yarraman’s Matt Scown said.
“We always try to target a really lovely colt for this sale because, like we’ve shown, you can sell them really well and this colt was no exception.
“We always like to bring a strong draft here, the buyers are always here, Inglis have done a great job in getting everyone here and the inspection process was as good as usual.’’
Bahen said the decision to target the colt was an easy one for he and Lees.
“He is off a good farm, so that makes life easy, the stallion’s doing everything in front of him, I mean you only have to look back to Saturday at the races, he was pretty much in the finish of every race there (at Randwick),’’ Bahen said.
“He’s sharp but he might take a little bit longer than normal, but I am happy to have a good horse at any age.’’
On the sale overall, Bahen added: “I think it’s been strong…I’ve found it difficult on the ones I’ve tried to buy.’’
The top lot of the Highway Session – which followed the completion of Book 1 this afternoon – was a Smart Missile x Adagirl colt of Tyreel Stud.
The colt will head to Japan to race after being purchased by prominent Japanese owner Mr Suzuki for $200,000.
Mr Suzuki’s agent Mr Onizuka was at Riverside for his first ever Classic Sale and fell in love with the colt early.
“It’s not about the pedigree but I loved how he moved and how softly he moved. Every time I saw the horse, I knew this was the one I really wanted to buy,’’ Mr Onizuka said.
“A long time ago I purchased a horse called Shinko Forest who became a Group 1 winner and successful stallion and this horse reminded me a lot of Shinko Forest.’’
Linda Monds of Tyreel – who ended the sale as leading vendor by average (for three or more sold) – was delighted with the result.
“He was a beautiful colt, very popular and a lot of people had several looks at him so we were very hopeful he would sell well,’’ Monds said.
“We’ve had a wonderful sale, to be leading vendor by average is such a great result for the farm and all the staff and we couldn’t be happier.’’
The overall leading vendor for Classic was Newgate Farm, who sold all 33 of their offerings across Book 1 and the Highway Session for $3,898,000.
“It’s been an excellent sale. We’ve been really pleased with our results, we’ve sold all the horses and we’re really satisfied to be leading vendor here again,’’ Newgate’s Henry Field said.
“We definitely target this sale with a proportion of really nice horses. It’s a sale we’ve sold a lot of good racehorses in and it’s a really important sale for Newgate. We always have a draft we’re proud of to parade and sell here and it’s nice the buyers have rewarded us with a very good clearance rate.
“We were very busy, parades were very busy, we had good competition on most or all of the horses in the ring. We’re very satisfied with the results.’’
Inglis Bloodstock chief executive Sebastian Hutch described the results at Classic as “very satisfying’’.
“It has certainly been stronger that what we anticipated pre-sale and I think the volume and variety of buyers has been the major driver of that,’’ Hutch said.
“We’ve had over 380 individual listed buyers across the sale which is incredible and it’s a figure that is only going to increase as new buyers get drawn into the market through the opportunities that the passed in lots represent.
“There is no disputing that there were selective elements to the market, but if you had a horse that presented well, vetted well and you were prepared to meet the market, you were very well rewarded and an overwhelming majority of vendors and breeders are going home really very happy.
“The gross of the sale is going to exceed $61,500,000, meaning this has been the second most successful Classic Sale ever held.
“The top of the market especially was very strong, on par with last year’s record renewal in terms of horses to sell for $300,000 and above.
“When you look at the buying bench, there is such an enormous spread, with buyers from every state in Australia to Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, UAE, there’s been interest from far and wide which is testament to the regard in which the sale is held by the market.
“I would like to thank the vendors and their staff for the excellent presentation of the horses, as well as the buyers for their diligence in working through the catalogue and ultimately, for their support of the sale as purchasers.
To enquire about any passed in lot from this year’s Classic Sale, contact Harry Bailey on 0420 997 417
2023 CLASSIC YEARLING SALE STATISTICS – BOOK 1
(2022 figures in brackets)
Lots catalogued: 690 (660)
Lots Sold: 550 (545)
Clearance Rate: 85% (90%)
Average Price: $103,363 ($122,612)
Median Price: $80,000 ($100,000)
Top Price: $550,000 ($825,000)
Gross: $56,849,500 ($66,823,500)
HIGHWAY SESSION
Lots catalogued: 140 (150)
Lots Sold: 98 (116)
Clearance Rate: 80% (85%)
Average Price: $46,255 ($49,858)
Median Price: $38,000 ($40,000)
Top Price: $200,000 ($200,000)
Gross: $4,533,000 ($5,783,500)
