Player sees profit in Classic steal
Victorian syndicators Mark Player and Rob Roulston may have come away with an old-fashioned Inglis Classic “steal” in buying a filly from Newgate Farm’s draft yesterday.
Lot 392 looked one of the choice offerings of the sale, a bay by the all-conquering I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) out of stakes-placed two-year-old winner Athena Lass (Snitzel).
That makes her a half-sister to a Capitalist (Written Tycoon) colt who’s literally a poster boy for this sale – his image adorns the Wall of Fame at Riverside this week – in Profiteer, who fetched $165,000 before winning last year’s Inglis Millennium.
Still, Player and Roulston’s PR Funds team came away with the filly for a comparatively low $220,000.
“We thought she might make a bit more,” Player said. “The market’s been so strong. We were firing the bids in pretty quickly, that’s for sure.
“So we’re delighted to get a horse bred in conjunction with Yarraman and Newgate, two fantastic farms, and from what we thought was a great family.”
Player said the “lovely big scopey filly”, a late October drop, might take more time to hit the ground than August foal Profiteer had, which could explain the relatively small pricetag.
“She doesn’t look like Profiteer, but she looked a horse to us with a lot of quality,” he said. “She certainly had all the substance and style we wanted. Vinnie fillies with a page are wonderful things to have.
“She might take a little bit more time, but that’s OK. There’s no rush with quality fillies. There are great programmes for two-year-olds but there are also great programmes for three-year-olds. And as we all know, Saturday racing is very strong as well. There’s lots of options for her.
“She had a grade one scope and the x-rays were clear. She ticked all of our boxes. She’s got a great nature, a wonderful attitude. We went back and saw her at Newgate four or five times and she did everything right. She’s a great athletic filly with a lot of upside.”
Player was also excited to acquire a Capitalist colt out of the winning mare Terrifying (Stratum) presented by renowned breeder Stuart Ramsey of Turangga Farm earlier in the day for $180,000.
“There’s a page there, it’s a little further back. It’s in-bred to Vain which I’ve had a bit of success with, with Ole Kirk being in-bred to Vain,” said the man who bought that Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner, as agent, from Inglis Premier.
“There’s plenty of speed in the pedigree, and it was a Capitalist colt with lots of stretch and scope and we thought he was a colt we’d be able to race and do things with for two or three seasons.
“Stuart’s a great breeder. I always like to buy from good farms and his is certainly one of the very good farms in Australia, so to get this colt for that price, we thought he was undervalued.”
Player also completed some canny Magic Millions buying last month – given the dizzying prices there – in buying the Zoustar-Sin Sin Sin half-brother to Yes Yes Yes for $800,000.
He said Classic was a sale that could richly reward the diligent buyer.
“You’ve got to do your work, because there’s a lot you come in for and you’re not placed, and then occasionally you get stuff that meets your criteria and is at a price where you see value,” said Player, agreeing to comparisons with punting, in reverse.
“It’s exactly like getting overs as a punter. But like punting, you have to do your work. And there’s a lot of horses to get through at this sale, as at others, but you have to just keep trying to find the ones that for you give you perceived value.”