G1G Racing and Breeding seeking Diamonds at Easter sale
Prominent owner believes colts syndicates will make their presence felt at virtual auction
One of the key backers of Australia’s most successful colts syndicates expects agent James Harron and the China Horse Club-Newgate operation to make the most of a potentially depressed Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale market this week.
Gary Diamond, still on a high after the ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) victory of the Harron-purchased King’s Legacy (Redoute’s Choice), yesterday said the economic uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic meant that “no one really knows what’s going to happen until the hammer starts to drop”.
But he predicted businesses and individuals already heavily invested in the thoroughbred industry would attempt to make the most of a likely narrow buying bench at the two-day virtual Easter auction which starts tomorrow.
“People like James (Harron) will still be buying and Henry (Field) will still be buying, so I just think potentially, if you’ve got a budget, you could end up with more numbers than normal,” Diamond told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday.
“They haven’t stopped (because of coronavirus) and they might end up with more numbers than normal.”
“The thing is, like all auctions, if you get a couple of people wanting the same horse, they can still bring good money because a good horse is still a good horse.”
Diamond’s G1G Racing and Breeding syndicate, which is managed by his daughter Tracy Vogel, has shares in numerous colts secured by Harron and the Field-led China Horse Club-Newgate Farm international alliance including King’s Legacy and the Newgate syndicate’s Aim (Star Witness) who ran fifth in the Inglis Sires at Randwick.
Diamond also previously raced Golden Slipper winner Capitalist (Written Tycoon) and bought into dual Group 1 winner Russian Revolution (Snitzel) when retiring to Newgate Farm as well as a number of other young stallions off the track.
While endorsing Harron and Field to go and buy at Easter, as for how many colts G1G Racing and Breeding ends up with this year, Diamond was unsure.
“It is a better question to ask me after Easter because what we will do is see what comes of Easter,” he said.
“Once it is over, we will sit back and look at what people have bought from other (sales) and do it that way as we don’t always buy in (straight away).
“We try and wait a bit longer and because horses this year might be harder to sell, and there might be a few more quality ones floating around that aren’t fully sold, we might be able to get into them later on.”
Diamond also owns horses in partnership with Aquis Farm, including Merchant Navy’s two-year-old brother Setanta (Fastnet Rock), but the major Hong Kong-owned operation is likely to be on the sidelines from a buying perspective at this week’s sale.
“We have been fairly aggressive in the market up to now and we’ve got an awful lot of promising young horses coming through as well,” Aquis Farm managing director Shane McGrath said.
“The reality is, we were serious participants on the buying front last year but I think we’d be more of an observer this time around, to be honest.”
McGrath has inspected a number of drafts in the Hunter Valley ahead of tomorrow’s opening session, while Aquis Farm is also a vendor this week,consigning nine yearlings.
“We have been around and getting the vibe and seeing what’s happening and there’s no doubt there’s going to be opportunity, that’s one thing for sure,” McGrath said.
“Everybody is interested to see who is right in terms of the speculation of what effect it has on our market. We’ll be a lot wiser after the sale.
“Inglis has got a job to do and that’s to put a sale on and they’ve been supported by their vendors, so I am wishing everyone the best of luck in what will be a very, very volatile market.”
In 2019, Aquis Farm was the leading buyer at the Easter sale, purchasing 13 yearlings for a combined spend of $8.375 million.
Orbis Bloodstock signed for eight lots, including Saturday’s Kindergarten Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) winner Doubtland (Not A Single Doubt), for a total of $7.4 million but they too are likely to scale back their investment at the 2020 sale due to the economic downturn.
While Aquis and Orbis Bloodstock are unlikely to feature on the buyers’ sheet, McGrath still expects competition for the yearlings deemed to be of elite quality despite the uncertainty around business and financial markets caused by the pandemic.
“I would imagine your bluechip colts and the high-end fillies (will sell well) as they’ve got a value in any market and you’re going to have people who (are willing to pay),” he said.
“It’s been good times in the industry for the last ten or 15 years, so for those that are in the medium-term game, I am sure there’s plenty of opportunity for them.”
McGrath added: “We sold the majority of our stock at the weanling sales last year, so we’re not in a vulnerable position by any stretch and we have some lovely stock there at Easter and we will offer them for sale.
“But at the end of the day, if we don’t make what we perceive to be fair value, then we are more than happy to race them, too, because we’ve got stallions to support now in the Pieratas and the Farnans, etc, and we’ve got some beautiful fillies there.
“There are some I Am Invincibles and a Medaglia d’Oro filly who won’t look out of place in any stable next year.”