Peters’ Queen makes $2.5 million at Chairman’s Sale as Coolmore backs Wootton Bassett
In Her Time also makes $2.2 million in stunning three hours of high-end mare trade
Coolmore has continued its extraordinary spending spree with a view of mirroring a strategy employed to support unbeaten US Triple Crown champion Justify (Scat Daddy) on another high-profile shuttler, European star sire Wootton Bassett (Iffraaj).
Tom Magnier, the principal of Coolmore’s Australian arm, signed for three of the seven million-dollar mares sold at yesterday’s Inglis Chairman’s Sale, billed as a night of nights, with Group 1 winners Celebrity Queen (Redoute’s Choice) ($2.5 million), El Dorado Dreaming (Ilovethiscity) ($1.35 million) and Savanna Amour (Love Conquers All) ($1.25 million), who is in foal to Fastnet Rock (Danehill), all destined for the stallion in the new season.
In Her Time (Time Thief), one of the other star attractions at the select Chairman’s sale, sold to Yulong for $2.2 million and another high-class sprinter, Pippie (Written Tycoon), was bought by Cressfield Stud for $1.8 million.
Widden Stud went to $1.2 million for Meuse (Snitzel), who is in foal to Dundeel (High Chaparral), while Ridgmont Farm, Boutique Thoroughbreds and agent Jim Clarke secured Group 3 winner Shoko (Sebring), who is in foal to I Am Invincible (Invincible) for $1 million during what was an extraordinary three hours of trade at Riverside Stables.
Magnier last night reiterated Coolmore’s belief that the Australian thoroughbred industry will arguably remain the envy of world racing.
“Where we see the Australian market, we feel it is extraordinary at the moment, you see what is happening at the yearling sales and we are trying to bring the best stallions in the world down here, with Justify, American Pharoah, etc,” Magnier said.
“We’ve gone along and acquired Wootton Bassett, and we think he is a stallion that is really going to suit Australia.
“We are taking the same approach we did to Justify. We’re going to go out and buy the best mares for him.”
A winner of the Oakleigh Plate (Gr 1, 1100m) in February, Celebrity Queen was offered as a breeding prospect only by owner Bob Peters through the Holbrook Thoroughbreds draft.
Celebrity Queen was also a Group 3 winner and a Winterbottom Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) placegetter in a 14-race career that yielded seven wins and over $825,000 in prize-money.
The rising five-year-old mare is a daughter of Peters’ Listed winner Celebrity Miss (More Than Ready), herself a sister to stakes-placed Rafferty, a three-quarter sister to stakes winner Dreamaway and a half-sister to Karrakatta Plate (Gr 2, 1200m) winner Confront (Bluebird).
Further back in the family, cultivated by leading Western Australian breeder Peters over many years, is Group 1 winner Miss Margaret (Marscay) and this season’s Listed winner Stageman (Written Tycoon). Her first four dams were all successful at stakes level.
Celebrity Queen’s price tag exceeded Peters’ expectations, who valued his mare at $2 million and he believes it is money well spent.
“You could just about say that if you were writing the history of breeding in Australia, you could use her as a prime example – you look at her page and there’s her sire Redoute’s Choice, which also gives you Danehill, there’s Sir Tristram, Marscay, More Than Ready, etc, all of them champions, just as she was,” Peters said from Perth.
“There’s a Group 1 winner on every level of the pedigree. It’s just outstanding and it’s a great result.
“Inglis has done a great job with the promotion of her which I’m grateful for and, while I’m not at the sale, I’m aware it’s a great night there tonight.”
Bidding on the most expensive of Coolmore’s haul, the sale-topping Celebrity Queen, opened at $800,000 before pushing through the million-dollar mark and, in typical Magnier fashion, did not make his move before required.
Celebrity Queen was soon in Coolmore’s possession with the $2.5 million price tag, the highest-priced mare sold through the Inglis Chairman’s Sale.
“She was a quality mare who is a lovely physical. Obviously, Redoute’s Choice is a very good broodmare sire,” said Magnier.
“We are looking for mares for Wootton Bassett now and she’s a standout. We thought she was a queen. We are just very lucky to have her.
“Bob Peters is an unbelievable breeder, and anything that he is associated with is always of a very high calibre and we were just delighted to get her.”
El Dorado Dreaming was sold by Torryburn Stud for her owner Yvonne Pearce, who raced the ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) winner ,while B2B Thoroughbreds’ Ricky Surace parted with Savanna Amour for the seven-figure sum.
In recent years, Coolmore has acquired the likes of Sunlight (Zoustar) ($4.2 million), Global Glamour (Star Witness) ($1.55 million), Maastricht (Mastercraftsman) ($2.25 million) and Srikandi (Dubawi) ($2 million), all elite mares, to back their young sire Justify, whose first southern hemisphere-bred weanlings hit the market at Riverside Stables on Thursday, selling to $300,000.
Maastricht was the previous highest-priced mare sold at a Chairman’s Sale.
Wootton Bassett, who was purchased by Coolmore in a sensational play last year, will stand his first southern hemisphere season at $71,500 after transferring from France to Ireland in time for the 2021 northern hemisphere breeding season where he stands for €100,000.
Coolmore has already reported that the “house full” sign has been placed on the stallion’s southern hemisphere book.
In Her Time to be covered by Written Tycoon
Yulong Stud’s Yuesheng Zhang recently orchestrated the stunning deal to stand Written Tycoon (Iglesia) at his operation and the Victorian farm added to the Chinese businessman’s extensive elite broodmare band by buying In Her Time for the $2.2 million figure, 12 months after narrowly missing out on the mare.
She was bought with the intention of sending her to Written Tycoon
“Mr Zhang, obviously having Written Tycoon, wants to continue the process of buying these really nice mares to add to our broodmare band and he’s always loved In Her Time,” Yulong’s chief operating officer Sam Fairgray said.
“I think he tried to buy her last year and this year he had his mind set on buying her, being in foal to I Am Invincible.
“She’s a high-class sprinting mare. The industry is so strong at the moment and mares of this quality are certainly worth their value. “
Starting with a $1.5 million opening bid, which immediately put the Newgate Consignment-offered In Her Time on the market, the competition stepped up from there.
Offered on behalf of owner Orbis Bloodstock, which paid $2 million at last year’s Chairman’s Sale to buy out partner Peter Brown, she was sold at this year’s auction in foal to I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) with a September cover.
Catalogued as Lot 27, In Her Time is one of six winners for Hell It’s Hot (Zeditave), a half-sister to The Shorts (Gr 2, 1100m) winner Hot As Hell (County), Listed winners Flaming Hot (County), Craig’s Dragon (Catbird) and Sin Sin Sin (Fantastic Light), who is the dam of Coolmore’s Everest- (1200m) winning stallion Yes Yes Yes (Rubick).
Trained at Newcastle by Ben Smith and, later, Kris Lees, In Her Time won nine of her 31 starts and she was victorious in the 2018 The Galaxy (Gr 1, 1100m) and the 2019 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m).
Newgate Farm’s Henry Field said: “It’s a great result for Orbis Bloodstock, who decided about six weeks ago that they would change their strategy, away from those high-end mares.
“There were three or four on her and it was great to see Yulong get her at what was a fair price. It was a good result all around.”
Cressfield buys Pippie
Boutique Scone farm Cressfield, who bought Pippie to add to its collection of Group-winning or producing mares, is likely to send the daughter of Written Tycoon to champion Darley stallion Exceed And Excel (Danehill), a proven source of speed and precocity.
“She’s obviously one of the mares of the sales. She was well performed on the track and will certainly compliment the band of broodmares we have at Cressfield and are continuing to build. She really is perfect for us,” Cressfield’s Wayne Bedggood said.
“We know the market is strong, quality horses make big money and she’s a quality horse. We knew we were going to have to be strong to get her.
“She was one of our top three mares of the sale and we missed out on a couple of others so it was nice to take her home.”
Pippie went on to win six races, including her first start as a two-year-old, and used her blistering speed to take out the 2020 Oakleigh Plate and the A J Moir Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m) at Moonee Valley in September. She was offered by Sledmere Stud as Lot 47.
Bought by trainers John and Chris Meagher for $60,000 at the 2017 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale for owner Glenn Heran, she is out of six-time winner Coupe Express (Ne Coupez Pas), a half-sister to three-time Listed-placed juvenile Timely Truce (Brief Truce).
Interestingly, the Meaghers also trained Savanna Amour, a Group 2-winning, Group 1-performed mare, who already has a Fastnet Rock weanling filly on the ground and was sold in foal to the Coolmore stallion.
Sledmere’s Treen Murphy was “over the moon” about the price received for Pippie.
“She’s a dual Group 1 winner with an unflappable temperament. You can do anything with her, so she’s got the ability to go anywhere in the breeding barn, that’s for sure,” Murphy said.
“She’s one of the most high-quality physicals I’ve ever come across and she’s been extremely popular.
“Any time she came out of the box, everybody fell in love with her. There wasn’t one person who was disappointed with her – you could stare at her for hours.”
Murphy said the Pippie story typified what racing participants were trying to achieve.
“It’s been an incredible journey for (the Herans),” she said.
“To buy her through the ring as a yearling and then to have two Group 1s and now to have her make $1.8 million, that’s what everybody strives to do when they enter the racing and breeding game.”
Thompson stumps up for Meuse
Widden Stud’s Antony Thompson, who has become accustomed to buying million-dollar mares in recent years, with a good deal of success with their progeny, acquired a mare from the potent Shantha’s Choice (Canny Lad) family for $1.2 million.
Trained by Anthony Freedman, Meuse won four of her nine starts, including twice at two and an all-important Listed win at three. She was sold in foal to Dundeel (High Chaparral).
“She’s an obvious mare for Zoustar. She’s just a rare jewel. There’s champion sire after champion sire when you look down the page, from Snitzel to Encosta to Danehill,” Thompson said.
“For mine, she is blue chip all the way and it’s hard to get into those families. She’s a beautiful mare.
“She’s just a gorgeous mare and I think she will do a really nice job for us.”
Widden Stud sold a Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) colt for $1.9 million after buying Bonny O’Reilly (O’Reilly) for $1.2 million in 2019 and Vezalay (Shamardal) for $1 million the same year. The resulting I Am Invincible filly made $1.25 million at the recent Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
“We have had a bit of luck buying these really nice fillies. She’s got the runs on the board on the track and she’s got a super pedigree,” Thompson said.
“It’s a long-term investment to have a position in that family, but we have got some really good clients who back us in these nice mares and we have had some luck, so we will keep going.”
Owner Nick Wakim of Hilldene Farm paid $500,000 for the stakes-winning Meuse, twice successful as a juvenile, at the 2018 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
Carrying a double cross of Danehill (Danzig), Meuse is a daughter of Group 3 winner Precious Lorraine (Encosta De Lago), a sister to Black Opal Stakes (Listed, 1200m) winner Lucky Raquie, and a three-quarter sister to Manhattan Rain (Encosta De Lago) and Rubick.
Newgate offered Meuse on Wakim’s behalf.
“She has been a great mare for us and we think she is a very high quality broodmare, and I’m very, very pleased with the result,” Wakim said.
“She’s developed into a lovely mare. She had a great pedigree. She’s a stakes winner, Group placed.
“We really think she’s an excellent package. I’m very happy she has gone to Widden and hopefully they can enjoy her and do very well with her.”
Wakim admitted that it was a difficult decision to sell Meuse but he still retains ownership of a number of valuable mares.
“I’m an owner-breeder, but sometimes you have to move the mares you have. We invest in high quality mares, like Aloisia, Dream In Colour and Sweet Sister,” he said.
“We made a decision to test the market with a young mare, and we can take that and reinvest back into the market.
“With a pedigree like that, the kind of buyer that wants her, they are not just limited to Australia. You can go to a Kingman, or horses like that.
“Sure, she is a little bit limited because of that Shantha’s Choice factor, but there are so many options for a stallion outside of Australia for a mare like that.
“She’s a high-quality mare and I wish them all the best with her.”
Courchevel has date with Dundeel
Arrowfield Stud also took advantage of the rare opportunity to buy the first sibling to champion mare Winx (Street Cry) to be offered to the market in seven years.
The John Camilleri-bred and owned Courchevel (Snitzel), an unraced younger half-sister to the 25-time Group 1 winner, was sold for $900,000.
Consigned by Segenhoe Stud, Courchevel is in foal leading first season sire Capitalist (Written Tycoon).
“Very few have been sold out of this family and she’s by our champion stallion and is a half-sister to one of the best horses we’ve seen in decades. It’s a great opportunity and the rest is up to us,” Arrowfield Stud’s John Messara said.
“We have to mate her correctly and she’s carrying a very commercial mating to Capitalist, so I can see that we could recoup part of our outlay from the first foal, all being equal, and the rest is up to us.”
Messara is confident that Dundeel, already the sire of Group 1-winning colts Castelvecchio and Super Seth, is the right mating for the blueblood mare.
“She is a big mare and she’s not overly athletic, but Dundeel is an incredibly athletic animal with a fine head and I think he’ll be a good counter for her,” he said.
‘It was everything we hoped it would be and more’
Last night’s Chairman’s Sale left Inglis staff elated with what was achieved after 53 lots were traded at a remarkable average of $532,736 while turnover was $28,235,000.
The fact that there was strong demand did not come as a surprise given what has occurred at the yearling sales in the preceding four months, but even so, Inglis general manager of bloodstock sales and marketing Sebastian Hutch could scarcely believe what had transpired.
“It was everything we hoped it would be and probably more,” Hutch said.
“We were excited by the opportunities we had to sell the calibre of mares we had in the catalogue, but by the same token, conscious of the responsibility of their quality. When you get mares that good, you have to make it work
“The depth in competition all the way through, to have so many people involved, in what was almost frenzied bidding at various stages. I just think there were so many mares that sold tonight that far exceeded what anybody reasonably expected them to make. It was great.
“That felt really strong and we are very grateful for the support we got and it’s something we will look to build on heading into next year and future years.”
While Coolmore spent $5.1 million on three mares, Rosemont Stud was also a strong member of the buying bench, taking home three mares for $1.38 million to support new stallion Hanseatic (Street Boss).
Fernrigg Farm also bought three mares for $1.025 million including New Zealand Group 1 winner Danzdanzdance (Mastercraftsman) for $475,000. Springmount also purchased three mares.
The Newgate Consignment was the leading vendor, selling eight mares for a total of $6.055 million while Segenhoe Stud sold six for $3.06 million.
Inglis has previously tried to expand the Chairman’s Sale, notably in 2018 which was an error admitted at the time, but Hutch believes there is room to grow the boutique sale while maintaining the focus on high-end breeding stock.
“We are very good at keeping an open mind on these things. If the last 18 months have taught us anything, you have to allow yourself to be fluid in your thinking in terms of how you plan for anything,” he said.
“There’s a capacity to grow the sale a little bit, but we are sensitive to the fact that it is a boutique Sale and it works well that way, but I certainly think we had the capacity to sell more mares tonight.”
The Inglis Australian Broodmare Sale will be held at Riverside Stables tomorrow, bringing to an end the eight-day Inglis May Sale series.