Cash keeps coming for Capitalists as another new record is set at Classic
Life-changing result for Scone veterinarian Richard McClenahan after sale of $625,000 colt
Champion trainer John Moore is noted for his patience with horses but he is in no mood to play the waiting game now that he is domiciled in Sydney, with his agent-son George yesterday helping young sire Capitalist (Written Tycoon) to set a new Inglis Classic Yearling Sale record in as many days.
The Team Moore operation of John, Gary, George and James, backed by prominent Hong Kong and Australian clients, has made its mark during the opening two days at Riverside Stables and they upped the ante early in the afternoon of yesterday’s session, going to $625,000 for a colt by the Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m)-winning young stallion.
Another family training partnership, the powerful Michael, Wayne and John Hawkes team, was the underbidder on the Kitchwin Hills-consigned colt, who hails from the family of Group 1-winning sprinter Pierata (Pierro).
Capitalist also had a colt realise $600,000 on Sunday, which surpassed the previous record high price for the Classic auction, held by a $550,000 son of Brazen Beau (I Am Invincible) who was sold in 2019.
“In my opinion he is the right size for a Capitalist. He is not overly big, he is just a powerhouse and he’s got a great temperament,” said George Moore, who signed for a $375,000 Invader (Snitzel) colt and a $140,000 son of Maurice (Screen Hero) on day one and a $220,000 Merchant Navy (Fastnet Rock) colt late yesterday.
“As James Harron said the other day, the Capitalists have got the right head mindwise for racing in Hong Kong and every time I saw him he was professional. He has a great hip on him and he is a correct horse.
“He had all the right attributes but we paid quite a lot for him.”
The colt, catalogued as Lot 374, is the first foal out of the twice-winning Theatric (Casino Prince), who is from the same family as Aquis Farm sire Pierata, Group 3 winner Ashokan (More Than Ready) and this season’s Stan Fox Stakes (Gr 2, 1500m) placegetter Jet Propulsion (Rubick).
“We have noticed right now that we have got a lot of late two-year-olds in the stable and I said to dad, ‘let’s go to the sales and buy those early, precocious two-year-old types, so we can race them early next season, rather than constantly waiting to try and win races with our older horses right now’,” George Moore said.
“We are just buying the best types in the sales, like we usually do. We look at pedigrees but it is mainly a type thing.
“We are going to buy a lot more at Easter, too. We will probably buy six or seven at Easter, so we are going to have a good string of two-year-olds to target the races in October and November.”
The Classic expenditure by the Moores coincides with the arrival in Sydney of John, a 39-time Group 1 winning trainer, who has gone into partnership with his brother, Gary.
“Everything is coming together for the stable. Dad’s been in town for about a week now and I came in about two weeks ago,” George Moore said.
“I was dad’s travelling assistant trainer for about eight years, so I know his attention to detail and exactly what he wants, so we have changed quite a lot in the stable to dad’s standards, which are very, very high.”
The record-holding colt was consigned by Kitchwin Hills on behalf of Scone veterinarian Richard McClenahan who, along with his wife Kim, oversaw the preparation of the youngster.
The victory of Profiteer (Capitalist) in Saturday’s Inglis Millennium (RL, 1100m) has helped to boost the profile of Capitalist’s second crop of yearlings, according to Kitchwin’s Mick Malone.
“It is a perfect storm, isn’t it? The horse wins the Millennium and here we are – Profiteer just added so much value to the colt,” Malone said.
“It would be interesting to know what that horse was worth if that horse hadn’t won. It probably added $200,000 to $300,000 to his price.
“The other thing about him was, he never put a foot wrong. He just walked up and down and every parade was the same and there were huge numbers, there were massive X-ray numbers, so he was always going to make a lot of money.
“The reserve played no role because we knew it wouldn’t, it was just wherever it ended up.”
Irishman McClenahan was in disbelief following the massive result after buying Theatric from agent Damon Gabbedy.
“It’s been stressful getting him here, we knew he would be a popular horse and everybody that looked at him seemed to like him, but I never in my wildest dreams believed we could get a result like that,” he said.
“That’s life-changing for us. It literally is life-changing. I liked (Theatric’s) family and know it well through Kitchwin Hills and we bred her to Capitalist.
“He’s always been an outstanding colt from the day he was born. Sorry, I’m just speechless, I can’t believe this has really happened. It’s unbelievable.”
Breeders have held Capitalist in high esteem from the time he retired to stud in 2017, covering in excess of 200 mares each season. However, mare owners paid heed to the whispers surrounding the early talent of his first crop, sending him 237 mares in 2020 – his biggest book to date.
Capitalist, who has had 15 yearlings sell for an average of $226,000 after two days, also had a filly make $380,000 yesterday to Woodpark Stud’s Jean Dubois.
The Newgate Farm-offered youngster, catalogued as Lot 396, is the first foal out of the US stakes-winning mare Tricky Zippy (City Zip), who was bought by SF Bloodstock for US$135,000 at the 2017 Keeneland November Breeding Sale.
“She’s by the right stallion at the moment, I guess, that’s why I have had to pay that price and she is out of a very fast American family,” Dubois said.
“She is crossed four ways with Mr Prospector, so I like it. She looks precocious, you never know if they are going to be fast. City Zip bloodlines are full of speed and speed-on-speed was the idea.”
Almanzor craze continues on day two
Trainer Liam Howley believes a colt by boom Cambridge Stud shuttle sire Almanzor (Wootton Bassett) is the complete package and the best of the European champion’s first southern hemisphere crop, which has left an enormous impression on buyers this year.
Following a drawn-out bidding process, which started at $40,000 early on day two, an online buyer and Howley – with the support agents Andrew Williams and Bevan Smith – went head-to-head before the tripartite eventually landed the colt for $360,000.
“The boys thought he was the standout of the crop to be honest. We talked about him a couple of weeks ago and as soon as I saw him walk out of the box here, I was blown away by how good an athlete he is,” said Howley, who later bought an Ilovethiscity (Magic Albert) colt for $140,000 ten minutes before training Almighty Will (Medaglia D’Oro) to score at Wodonga.
“He certainly stacks up with the best of them, so It was a matter of coming here and having a good look at him. As soon as he walked out of the box, we were going after him.”
Almanzor yearlings have sold up to $800,000 for far in 2021, including a $400,000 colt here on Sunday, while he was also the most sought-after stallion at last month’s New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale.
Last year, Coolmore bought Almanzor’s sire Wootton Bassett (Iffraaj) from Haras d’Etreham in France to stand him in Ireland and the global powerhouse is considering him for shuttling duties to Australia later this year. That development is one reason why Howley is far from shocked about the hype surrounding his sire-son’s yearlings.
“Wootton Bassett is firing in Europe and he was a star racehorse himself and when you see them, I am not surprised (by how well they are selling),” he said.
“Some look like they are going to run early, some look like they are going to be three-year-olds, but what people are struck by is the fact that they are athletes.
“We tried to buy a couple on the Gold Coast and we couldn’t get near them and (yesterday’s purchase) probably impressed us a bit more than those on the Gold Coast.”
Bred and consigned by New Zealand farm Wentwood Grange as Lot 309, the colt is the second foal out of the stakes-placed New Zealand mare She Is Stryking (Stryker), while his third dam is the Maribyrnong Trial Stakes (Listed, 900m) winner Fashion Victim (Rory’s Jester).
She Is Stryking was purchased by agent Guy Mulcaster for NZ$70,000 at the 2018 NZB Karaka May Sale when in foal to Astern (Medaglia D’Oro).
Wentwood Grange’s Dean Hawkins was delighted with the “massive result”.
“We watched the ‘sale day live’ coverage on our phones and it was just amazing to see it all unfold,” Hawkins said.
“It’s been a team effort by everybody given the circumstances. The horses travelled on Sunday and we’ve had Brad Molamber and Mitch Roach looking after them for us and they’ve done a marvellous job.
“He was a lovely colt from the day he was born. He’s never missed a beat, always so relaxed and he has this great mental capacity that not all yearlings have.
“He hasn’t stopped all week with parades but he hasn’t put a hair wrong. Every parade he’s been a superstar.”
Victorian Howley won two Group 1s with Homesman (War Front) and Almandin (Monsun) when he was the private trainer to owner Lloyd Williams at Macedon Lodge, but for the past 12 months he has been building up his own stable on a property near Kyneton.
He currently has 15 horses in work, including an unraced Frankel (Galileo) two-year-old half-sister to Villiers Stakes (Gr 2, 1600m) winner All Legal (Al Maher), who was a $300,000 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale graduate last year.
“I’ve got a good young team. Some guys have come across from Macedon with me and I’ve got a couple of great riders, so I am slowly building the stable. Start small and dream big.” he said.
The unnamed Frankel filly is scheduled to have a jump out at Kyneton tomorrow.
Written Tycoon’s fillies also do the talking
James Harron had already made his mark on the Classic sale, buying the $600,000 Capitalist colt on Sunday, but he also targeted a filly by the the stallion’s own sire Written Tycoon (Iglesia) yesterday, going to $380,000 for the yearling who is to be trained by Richard and Michael Freedman.
Written Tycoon is the sire of this season’s MRC Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Odeum as well as fellow exciting three-year-old filly Written Beauty and Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) favourite Enthaar.
“He’s been a revelation, hasn’t he? He just keeps on lifting the bar and to have the quality of two-year-old he’s producing has been outstanding,” Harron enthused of Written Tycoon.
“Enthaar has been a flagbearer for him in terms of the fillies, but there are some very good sprinting fillies by Written Tycoon. He’s a stallion that everyone wants to get behind.”
As for the yearling herself, she joins a growing fillies partnership between Harron’s syndicate and the Sydney-based Freedmans, with the first group of now two-year-olds set to race in the coming months.
“She looks to have great strength and a great mind. She has got growing and developing to do but she looks like a really good, strong sprinting type,” Harron said.
“She is out of a Charge Forward mare, and he’s done very well as a broodmare sire, and she’s from a good-running, fast family and is a fast-looking filly.”
The sale of the filly by Woodside Park Stud capped a successful Classic auction for the Victorian farm, which was last night the second leading vendor by average, having sold its four lots for an average of $220,000 each.
The highest-priced of Woodside’s quartet, the Written Tycoon filly is the second foal out of the juvenile-winning, Group 3-placed mare Ariaz (Charge Forward). She was catalogued as Lot 461.
Outgoing Woodside Park Stud chief executive James Price admitted pre-sale expectations were ramped up the more the filly was paraded at Riverside this week.
“Two weeks ago, I most definitely would have been surprised, but she arrived at the sale and didn’t put a foot wrong,” he said.
“She walked beautifully and when you get the judges like James Harron mentioning that she was perfect (on Sunday), it puts a good feeling in your stomach.
“When he is standing out the back nodding away behind a post, you are thinking, ‘oh gosh, I just hope there’s someone there to go with him’.
“The $380,000 is a lot more than what we could have hoped for.”
Zoustar colt joins Newgate-China Horse Club partnership
One of the major colts syndicates, the international China Horse Club-led operation, backed its judgment on a colt by Zoustar (Northern Meteor) who major partner Newgate Farm knows closely.
The youngster, who made $425,000, was bred by Lightning Thoroughbreds’ Greg and Donna Kolivos with Newgate selling him on their behalf as Lot 492.
“He was a lovely, good-moving colt out of a fast Snitzel mare and he looks like he’ll be a pretty precocious sort and we were delighted to be able to buy him,” China Horse Club’s Michael Smith said.
“We haven’t had too many Zoustars, but obviously he’s a proven stallion that is on the rise. He’s had plenty of good horses and we are keen to find that next good one.”
The colt is the fifth foal out of the winning Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) mare Blazing Snitzel, herself a half-sister to Listed winner Excuse My French (French Deputy).
“I think he looks like one of the more precocious Zoustars, but you have to take into account that they seem to come into their own as autumn two-year-olds as he did himself, and then into the spring as three-year-olds,” Smith said.
The sale of Kolivos’ colt helped Newgate Farm to the top of the leading vendors table by aggregate, having sold 25 yearlings for a total of $3.61 million at an average of $144,400.
Market holds up on day two
After a record opening day, the appetite for horses continued yesterday. This was fuelled by a deep spread of buyers seeking new stock, led by the Moore family, while Melbourne trainer Mark Kavanagh has attempted to rejuvenate his career with the addition of 12 horses to his stable thus far.
Agent John Foote has bought a total of 16 yearlings for clients, while Warwick Farm trainer Matthew Smith has secured eight lots, syndicator Darby Racing with agent Will Johnson have bought seven, as have Inglis Millennium-winning trainers Mick Price and Mick Kent jnr.
Overall, there have already been 22 yearlings sold for $250,000 or more, up on the 12 who reached the mark last year with a session still to go, helping the aggregate to $43,974,500.
With a clearance rate of 89 per cent, the average was sitting at $103,959 and the median price was $80,000.
“As was the case on Sunday, there were a number of pleasant surprises throughout the day and it has led to another very positive day’s trade,” Inglis general manager of bloodstock sales and marketing, Sebastian Hutch, surmised last night.
“The clearance rate has actually increased from Sunday, today’s grossed more than the day before and the average is still very strong.
“All the metrics are important. Turnover is a very important figure to us as an auction house to stay attuned to and the turnover is very strong.”
The Classic sale, which is on track to set a record, will conclude today and Hutch reinforced the importance of buyers not to let an opportunity pass.
“We are really looking forward to (today) because there are some really nice horses to sell, with the remaining 80 lots of the main session, while the Highway Session is a really popular part of the sale,” he said.
“There are people looking for value and likely to find it in that sale – I think there will be some real gems there. Such has been the level competition through the first two days, there are still plenty of people looking to fill orders at a variety of different levels. (Today) is a good opportunity to fill those.”