A colt out of a half sister to champion mare Winx topped today’s Easter Round Two sale at Riverside.
On what was a unique day of selling top-level southern hemisphere yearlings in July, almost 75% of all stock offered was sold to a diverse range of buyers from around the world.
Lot 95, by record-breaking stallion I Am Invincible out of the unraced Miss Atom Bomb, sold to Rosehill trainer Gerald Ryan for $700,000 as the day’s No.1 seller.
“He’s a nice horse who is by a great stallion out of a mare who was unraced but I knew what she could do (when she was trained at Rosehill by Tim Martin). She had a stack of ability and she was very fast and she is a half sister to none other than Winx, so you wouldn’t get a better page,’’ Ryan said of the Bhima Thoroughbreds-consigned colt.
“He’s an athlete this colt. He’s a big, strong horse. You wouldn’t say he’d be a pre-Christmas two-year-old but he’d definitely be ready to run in the autumn.
“The $700,000 was a bit more than what I was hoping (to pay).’’
The colt (pictured) was offered on behalf of Peter and Terry Board, who purchased Miss Atom Bomb in 2012 as the first foal out of Vegas Showgirl.
“The next foal out of the mare was Winx so we might not have got the best one to race but we’re certainly having some fun breeding with this mare,’’ Terry Board said.
“She always had a lot of ability and speed and Tim Martin who trained her always liked her but she never made it to the races.
“So we went on the breeding journey with her and while this year has been a little stressful at times to be honest given everything that’s been happening, we’re so very happy with this result today to get the $700,000 for the colt.’’
Yulong offered today’s equal-second top lots, a Frankel x Lake Hamana filly (lot 6) and an I Am Invincible x Gypsy Diamond colt (lot 85), both selling for $500,000.
Satomi Oka Bloodstock, Inglis’ Japanese representative, purchased the Frankel filly on behalf of client Dr Yamazumi.
The filly will head to Champions Farm in Japan.
“There’s a very strong Japanese influence through the first three dams especially, the likes of Sobetsu and Sixth Sense and Tower Of London so it’s fantastic to be able to buy this filly,’’ Dr Yamazumi said.
“I tried to buy one from the family a couple of years ago but missed out so it’s a great relief and very exciting to be able to secure this beautiful filly. It’s a world-class pedigree being by the great Frankel and we liked everything about her.’’
Yulong’s Sam Fairgray was pleased with the result.
“She’s a lovely filly who had been popular all week and even prior to that and to get $500,000 for her in this market, we’re really happy with that,’’ Fairgray said.
“She’s a belter of a filly, she had the size and strength about her and is such a good-moving filly. She’s just a horse who everything was easy for her from the outset.’’
The Gypsy Diamond colt sold to Colm Santry Bloodstock.
He will be trained by Chris Waller as part of the Coolmore Stallion Syndicate arrangement.
“He was highly recommended by all the team, we all liked him so we’re very happy to be taking him home,’’ Santry said.
“He’s a high-quality horse, a strong and mature horse who really should be highly effective as a 2YO. Fingers crossed!
“It’s great to be able to buy a lovely colt from Yulong, they have been great supporters of our stallions and Mr Zhang and his team continues to invest heavily in our industry. Yulong had an extremely high-quality draft at this sale and it’s a credit to their team.’’
Of the colt, Fairgray said: “It’s another great result under the circumstances and he’ll get every opportunity with Chris Waller. We’ve got the mare as well so it’s positives all round.
“This colt was from day one the perfect article and he just kept progressing in the right direction. Nothing was ever a problem for him, he’s strong and everyone who saw him fell in love with him.
“He’s a beautiful animal and I’m sure the Waller team will get the best out of him.’’
Easter Round Two was immediately followed by a successful renewal of the Scone Yearling Sale, in which six yearlings equalled or bettered the 2019 top price of $60,000.
Lot 223, a Toronado x Settecento colt from Jazcom Thoroughbreds, set a new Scone record, selling to Hawkes Racing for $180,000.
The colt was a successful pinhook, with Jazcom purchasing him as a weanling from last year’s Great Southern Sale for just $10,000.
“I’d made it quite clear to people close to us that I thought he could top the sale, I thought he’d bring $60,000 but wouldn’t be surprised if he bought $100,000 so to get that great result, it really pays off for what Meagan and I do with the pinhooking investment,’’ Jazcom’s Colin Branthwaite said.
“He’s a quality horse, he’s got a lot of presence, an aura and demeanour that good judges like.’’
Today’s sales were the first live yearling auctions conducted in the southern hemisphere since the COVID-19 restrictions commenced and Inglis’ Managing Director Mark Webster was pleased with the day’s trade.
“It’s been a tough few months for a lot of people in our industry and I’m just glad we’ve been able to provide a marketplace for a live sale to take place,’’ Webster said.
“The clearance for the day is climbing all the time and will be over 75% by the morning which is very satisfying, selling a broad range of yearlings to a diverse domestic and international buying bench, including top end yearlings to Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong.
“We are very grateful for the patience of our vendors through this challenging period, while also recognising the tremendous support shown by our buyers today and over the past number of months.
“The Scone Sale was particularly pleasing, the sale held up very well setting a new record price for a top lot.’’
To view all the statistics from today’s Easter Round 2 and Scone Yearling Sale, CLICK HERE.
Action remains at Riverside this week for the two-day Australian Weanling Sale, to be held on Wednesday and Thursday from 10am.
A total of 385 weanlings have been catalogued for the sale, all of which will be available for inspection at Riverside from tomorrow.
To view the catalogue, CLICK HERE.
