A giant success for Kitchwin Hills
Another imposing specimen from the regal Legally Bay (Snippets) family rolled off the production line at Inglis Easter yesterday, a full sister by Savabeel (Zabeel) to Melbourne stakes-winner Hindaam.
And while it might be tempting to call her the next big thing, in fact she already is.
Lot 71, sold from Kitchwin Hills’ draft for New Zealand’s Windsor Park Stud, built a reputation at Riverside this past week as almost certainly the largest horse in the sale.
She’s a hulking big thing for a yearling, standing 16.1 hands, showing the sort of dimensions so often imparted by the similarly immense Fastnet Rock (Danehill), sire of her dam Bayrock.
This can of course put buyers off, and it did, among those fearful of the chance of her growing still bigger and being more prone to injury.
But for many others it was no deterrent. And while half a million dollars was roughly hoped for, the bay fell to leading agent Andy Williams for $600,000.
Large but beautifully balanced, and with an impressive nostril suggesting pipes to suit her size, the filly is the fourth foal of Bayrock, a full sister out of stakes-winner Legally Bay to dual hemisphere Group 1-winning sprinter Merchant Navy, Group 2 winner Jolie Bay, and Listed-winning Setanta.
“She’s big but she’s built in proportion, and she carries herself very well,” said Kitchwin stud master Mick Malone.
“If you stood off her a bit, she was so well put together, you wouldn’t tell she was that big. It’s only when you get close to her you realise how big she is.
“At a sale, 16.1 could mean they’ll end up a lot bigger, but I don’t think she will. I think she’s pretty set. She looks like a ready-made three-year-old now. Her wither’s caught up to her hindquarter.
“And the size might put people off if she wasn’t out of a Fastnet Rock mare, but she is, and she’s from a family that can often be big as well.
“Plus, you’re at Easter – the yearlings are going to be bigger here than at some of the earlier sales, because we’re about three or four months later of course. And she was an August 15 foal.”
Importantly, because of her size, the filly was also blessed with what Kitchwin staff described as a “sensational” temperament.
A second major success for one of the richest families in the stud book came late in the day, when Lot 236, a not-quite-as-large Zoustar-Jolie Bay filly, sold for $950,000 from the Segenhoe draft to New Zealand’s Cambridge Stud.