Griffiths and Ford swoop on classy Alpine Eagle filly
Daughter of Armidale Stud’s first season sire heads to Victoria with $95,000 price tag
Respected Victorian trainer Robbie Griffiths and his trusted ally, agent Peter Ford, have zeroed in on sons of the late top-class stallion High Chaparral (Sadler’s Wells) and yesterday they made their move for a filly by his new season sire Alpine Eagle at the Magic Millions Tasmanian Yearling Sale.
The combination parted with $95,000, the top price at yesterday’s Tasmanian auction, to secure the Armidale Stud-consigned filly, who is by the local farm’s Group 2-winning sire Alpine Eagle.
She was one of 22 yearlings at the record-breaking sale to make $50,000 or more, which helped Magic Millions break the $3 million barrier for the first time at this sale.
The average closed at $30,568, the median was also up year on year at $26,000, while the clearance rate was a healthy 81 per cent.
Ford yesterday revealed that he and Griffiths were unabashed fans of the High Chaparral sire line and that the pedigree of their top-priced filly also matched well genetically.
The agent said that sire line, along with I Am Invincible and his own sire Invincible Spirit (Green Desert), were the ones that he and Griffiths favoured.
“We love (High Chaparral’s son) Toronado – we’ve got a couple of great Toronados in the stable – and we love Dundeel as well, but we haven’t been able to get at him just yet,” Ford said.
“Any of these sons of High Chaparral, and Tivaci is another one…we are finding they might be the way and they will probably get a little bit further than some of the Invincible Spirit breed.
“We love that line as well such as Shalaa, Territories has a few nice ones and Cable Bay is really good, too.
“They are the sire lines that we seem to like in the stable. They are fairly durable types of horses and, more importantly, ones people want to buy into.”
Alpine Eagle, whose progeny averaged $35,000 with 21 lots sold yesterday, was trained by Tony McEvoy to win four races from 12 starts, including the MRC Autumn Classic (Gr 2, 1800m) during an injury interrupted career.
“If he had been a little bit better, we wouldn’t have been able to access him this easily, I would say,” Ford said.
“He was a horse that was just short of being great and if he had been a little bit better he probably would have ended up at Arrowfield or Coolmore or somewhere.”
Griffiths inspected the Alpine Eagle filly in Launceston on Sunday before returning to Melbourne and bidding over the phone.
Catalogued as Lot 37 https://catalogue.magicmillions.com.au/lot/20TSY/37, the filly is the first foal out of the four-time winner Must Be Mink (Musket), who in turn is out of the Tasmanian Guineas (Listed, 1600m) winner Di’s Angel (Racer’s Edge).
Must Be You started her career in Tasmania for Bill Ryan before proving successful at metropolitan level in Victoria for Darren Weir.
“As a type she is outstanding. She is beautiful, has a great head, and a great walk,” Griffiths said.
“Alpine Eagle was a great racehorse by High Chaparral who is turning out to be a great sire of sires. The Tornados are flying and so are the Dundeels.
“The filly is bred on the same cross as Dundeel and the mother of the filly is by a stallion who is a half-brother to the great mare Makybe Diva by Redoute’s Choice.
“When you start talking about Redoute’s Choice, Zabeel and High Chaparral and you get down to Group 1 performers in the family, it all works. She has got the best blood, athleticism and walk to be really good and I think this stallion will really make it.”
The sister to Scott Brunton’s dual stakes-winning four-year-old Mandela Effect (Turffontein) will also join the leading Tasmanian trainer’s stable after connections went to $80,000 to land the filly one lot earlier.
The Motree Thoroughbreds-consigned filly is the fourth foal, whose three to race have all won, out of the West Quest (Gone West) mare Morell. She was catalogued as Lot 36.https://catalogue.magicmillions.com.au/lot/20TSY/36
Andrew Scanlon, the managing owner of Mandela Effect, who will attempt to make it three wins in succession in tomorrow’s Mowbray Stakes (Listed, 1600m) at Launceston, signed for the youngster yesterday.
Brown buys brother to his Firstclass Dreamer
Young Cranbourne trainer Matthew Brown also stuck to a family he knows well by going to $75,000 to secure the Dream Ahead (Diktat) brother his stakes-placed sprinter Firstclass Dreamer.
Brown bought Firstclass Dreamer for $35,000 at the 2018 Magic Millions Gold Coast 2YOs in Training Sale, with the now four-year-old gelding going on to win three races and $131,445 in prize-money, but he was prepared to pay more than double that for his sibling.
“He was one of the picks of the sale of the colts. The brother is a good horse – he has got little issues that hold him back from showing his true ability, but he has shown that he is well above average,” Brown said.
“(The yearling) is probably a bit scopier with a similar body type, but he probably has a bit more going for him than his brother.
“The family’s gone on a little bit (since I bought Firstclass Dreamer) with Silverhawk winning in town and my bloke got a little bit of black-type. I am still confident that I can win another one in town with him. He was a bit unlucky the other night at Moonee Valley.
“On his ability he is a Saturday horse every day of the week, Firstclass Dreamer.”
Catalogued as Lot 26https://catalogue.magicmillions.com.au/lot/20TSY/26 and consigned by the Mahoneys, the colt, who is by former Aquis Farm/Emirates Park shuttler Dream Ahead, is the fifth living foal out of the winning mare Luloah (Al Maher), making him a brother to Firstclass Dreamer and two other winners, including the successful Melbourne miler Silverhawk (Artie Schiller).
Brown has been a regular buyer at the Tasmanian sale in recent years and had no hesitation in making the trip across Bass Strait for yesterday’s auction.
“We’ve been here for the past five years and done well buying some nice horses out of here,” he said.
“They look after you down here, so we are happy to come back and hopefully we can find another couple of nice ones out of here.”
Other interstate buyers included Simon Zahra of Ellerton Zahra Racing, who paid $75,000 for a Star Turn (Starcraft) colt, Brisbane trainer Kelly Schweida, who went to $66,000 for a son of Dissident (Sebring), and Queensland-based agent John Foote, who took home a colt by first season sire Lionhearted (Fastnet Rock) for $65,000 as well as three other lots.
John Blacker led the way for the local trainers, purchasing 11 lots from $6,000 to $57,500 for a total spend of $320,500, while David Brunton secured five lots and syndicator Star Thoroughbreds and Randwick Bloodstock Agency combined to take home four yearlings.
Mark Ganderton, another Tasmanian trainer, also bought four yearlings yesterday as did Spreyton trainer Leon Wells, who purchased the Manhattan Rain (Encosta De Lago) half-sister to Sunday’s impressive Tasmanian Oaks (Listed, 2100m) winner Still A Star (Toronado) for $42,500 among his haul.
Armidale Stud was the leading vendor, selling all but three of their 38-strong draft for an average of $41,114, while Grenville Stud sold 26 of their 40 lots at an average of $28,519.
The Mahoneys were the leading vendors by average (three or more lots sold), averaging $45,667 for the three horses they traded yesterday.
Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch was delighted with how the sale panned out, particularly with the way the local buying bench stepped in with the support of the mainlanders.
“It’s obviously a record sale for the state. To be able to gross more than ten per cent up on last year, when that was a record, is fantastic.
“All the key indicators are great, the average is a record, the clearance rate is 81 per cent, but what I thought was pleasing was the evenness of the buying bench.
“Both the mainlanders and the locals got in and supported the sale really well. You can see that key buyers were here who went away with nothing and leaving money on the table.
“That just indicates how strong the market was.”
Graduate success in recent years, which includes Mandela Effect, Mystic Journey (Needs Further) and Bold Star (Needs Further), has become hard for buyers to ignore, according to Bowditch.
“It is a fantastic place to come, Launceston, but the graduates have put a bit of a beacon on this market and it has become a must-attend for buyers back on the mainland,” he said.
“We’re getting a stronger buying bench each year and the quality of horses indicate that that should be the case.”
The Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale will start on Sunday while Magic Millions is preparing for the Adelaide Yearling Sale the following week.