Classic format set to stay after resurgent Inglis opener
Smaller catalogue achieves balance as Deep Field continues momentum at Riverside
The format of this year’s Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, a condensed three-day auction consisting of 613 Book 1 horses, is set to be replicated in 2021 after the company’s season opener was deemed a success by the management.
The sale’s “consolidation” this year, which resulted in an average increase of nearly 15 per cent compared to the expanded 2019 auction, came despite the coronavirus outbreak in China impacting a number of international buyers as well as heavy rain making it difficult for domestic owners to travel to Inglis’ Riverside Stables this week.
There were four yearlings who made $200,000 or more on the final day of the Classic sale, taking the total number to reach that mark to 33, helping the Book 1 aggregate hit $41,690,500 with a median of $75,000. The clearance rate had climbed to 84 per cent last night.
Inglis’ managing director Mark Webster is confident the company has got the balance right between buyer demand and vendors’ need for opportunities to sell stock at the Classic sale.
“Last year we had 2600 entries and we had 800 the year before, so it was difficult (not to increase the size of the 2019 catalogue),” Webster said.
“We put 200 more in last year than what we would have liked to have done to try and help clear their stock, but it didn’t quite work.
“I think this year’s results feel better and I think it is more workable for the buyers to get it done in three days, rather than five, which is what we did last year.”
Star Thoroughbreds and Randwick Bloodstock Agency were the leading buyers by aggregate and average (three or more lots), with a spend of $1,320,000 on six yearlings, while Darby Racing and Will Johnson Bloodstock combined for seven Book 1 yearlings.
Ciaron Maher Racing was active, buying 15 lots with various partners.
“There’s a good spread of buyers and I think that is healthy for the industry,” Webster said.
“The other big story is that, aside from the local trainers, there are a lot of people here from Hong Kong. Upper Bloodstock, Ricky Yiu and the Hong Kong Jockey Club were able to get on the sheet and they weren’t here last year, while George Moore was here buying, and they are the ones who are targeting the better types.
“If you go back five years you wouldn’t find anyone from Hong Kong at a Classic sale, so it has evolved.”
Hong Kong buyers or agents acting for clients from the region secured 39 yearlings, including the top-priced $380,000 Deep Field (Northern Meteor) colt and three others inside the top ten lots.
Webster said the presence of Asian buyers could have been even higher had the coronavirus emergency not occurred in recent weeks.
“Could the sale results have been better than they are? Yes, they could, there is no doubt that we were missing a bunch of buyers,” he said.
“I am estimating around 15 or so that we know of that didn’t come from either Singapore, Hong Kong or China and even some from New Zealand because they didn’t want to travel during the outbreak of this virus.
“Then, from a weather sense, there would be others, but I can’t quantify it at this point in time. There are people who normally drive in from the south coast (of NSW), the north coast and people who come in from over the mountains to buy one or two, and there is no doubt that some of those people didn’t come and that it has affected us.
“The results, particularly noting that, are very good and the format and everything else for next year is unlikely to change because under better circumstances it will be even better.”
Session-topping Deep Field set to return to sales ring
Meanwhile, the highest-priced yearling sold on day three was a son of Newgate Farm’s Deep Field after a consortium of buyers joined forces to secure the colt with the intention of trading him on as a two-year-old.
New Zealand’s Regal Farm Partnership, the Hong Kong-based Upper Bloodstock, Tang Long and McKeever Bloodstock all signed for the Canning Downs Stud-offered colt, who commanded a price tag of $230,000.
Shane Crawford of Regal Farm revealed the partnership of mates came together during the week as the desire to land a Deep Field colt grew.
“Deep Field is definitely a sire on the move, I’ve looked at a few and I am happy to finally get one. It hasn’t been easy,” Crawford said.
“He has a good scope, clean x-rays, so he ticked all those boxes. He looks like a real runner as he is a really nice mover.
“We weren’t confident of being able to get him, but we were hopeful, and we went quite hard on the horse. We went a little bit over budget.”
Crawford added: “He will go back to us (at Cambridge) and we will break him in, get him going and he could possibly come back here for the Ready 2 Race Sale.
“Karaka is also a possibility, but I think it is more likely that he will come back here.”
Catalogued as Lot 563, the colt is the second living foal out of the twice-winning sprinting mare Wind Shout (Exceed And Excel), who is from the Godolphin family that has produced this season’s MRC Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Flit (Medaglia d’Oro).
Deep Field was the leading sire by aggregate, with 20 yearlings selling for a combined $2,832,000 at an average of $141,600.
Snowdens in no doubt about colt’s credentials
The recent announcement that Not A SIngle Doubt (Redoute’s Choice) has covered his last mare and is living out his days in luxury at Arrowfield Stud was not lost on buyers at this week’s Classic sale, with the consistent Group 1-producing stallion’s stock highly sought after.
That trend continued yesterday, with leading trainers Peter and Paul Snowden securing a colt by the sire of 69 individual stakes winners for $200,000.
The Snowdens’ racing manager Colum McCullagh signed for the colt on behalf of the Stambe family, who also race seven-time winner Signore Fox (Exceed And Excel) with the stable.
“He is very typical of Not A Single Doubt who looks like he could go early and we loved him from when he first saw him,” McCullagh said.
“I think he is well bought at $200,000 and we were just reaching our limit and hopefully he will be up and running early this time next year.
“The sire can do no wrong and as we know he is finished up covering now, so hopefully this guy can continue his legacy.
“He’s a great mover, has a great body, great length and he handled everything really well throughout the inspections.”
Consigned by Aquis Farm on behalf of Emirates Park as Lot 551, the colt is the third foal out of the twice-winning sprinting mare Vivid (Eavesdropper).
The Snowdens have trained 15 individual winners by Not A Single Doubt, including high-class, Group 1-winning mare Miracles Of Life for the latter part of her career.
Given that, McCullagh was excited to be able to buy the colt for the price he did.
“It has been a fantastic sale and, as I said in the past, we have always had good luck at this sale,” he said.
“It is starting to increase in quality and it is getting better and better every year. If you are looking for an up-and-running type at a lower price, it’s definitely the sale to go to.”
Not A Single Doubt was the leading sire by average, with four yearlings selling for $206,250 apiece.
Meanwhile, the Highway Session, which was held two days after Book 1 finished last year, followed on yesterday, with the 195-lot catalogue averaging $38,178, significantly more than the corresponding sale in 2019.
The highest-priced yearling of the session was a Scissor Kick (Redoute’s Choice) colt, who made $160,000 to the bid of John Foote.
He was sold by Arrowfield Stud and is the fourth foal out of the Hussonet (Mr Prospector) mare Phaedra, whose two winners produced so far include successful Hong Kong gelding Invincible Missile (Smart Missile). He was catalogued as Lot 727.