Six Of The Best
Here, in catalogue order, are six among many of the stand-out lots to be offered at Inglis Classic from Sunday.
Lot 22, Ch c Saxon Warrior – Anabandana (Anabaa)
This colt comes up early in the sale and should be early to the racetrack as well, according to Torryburn Stud’s Mel Copelin.
By Coolmore’s impeccably-bred English 2,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m) hero Saxon Warrior (Deep Impact), this chunky September colt is from a female family packed with black type.
Dam Anabandana (Anabaa) was New Zealand’s Champion 2YO of 2010-11. She won five races, all at stakes level, and four came in her juvenile season including top–level victories in the ARC Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) and the Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m).
Anabandana has been just as successful at stud, throwing four winners from four runners including two at stakes level – the Group 2 and Group 3-winning Packing Rockstar (Fastnet Rock) and Gosford Guineas (Listed, 1200m) heroine Anavinci (I Am Invincible).
“He’s a big, strong forward colt who should run early,” Copelin said. “He’s really well conformed with a good bone, has a great hindquarter and a great walk. There’s a lot of substance about him.
“Physically, it was a perfect match. Anabandana is a very neat mare and a perfect size to go to any stallion, aside from being a dual Group 1 winner. And Saxon Warrior is a magnificent animal himself.”
Lot 271, B c Ole Kirk – Hams Al Lail (Dream Ahead)
Ole Kirk (Written Tycoon) has made an explosive start to siring life, currently topping Australia’s two-year-old and first season sires’ tables thanks to Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) winner O’ Ole and Breeders’ Plate (Gr 3, 1000m) victor King Kirk.
And this colt – bred by the esteemed Gilgai Farm and offered in the draft of Ole Kirk’s stud Vinery – is a well-bred chip off the old block, according to his handlers.
“He’s a great quality colt who looks just like his dad,” Vinery’s bloodstock manager Adam White said. “He’s got really nice strength, is a great moving colt, and looks like he’ll run early.”
The second foal out of winning sprinter Hams Al Lail (Dream Ahead), the colt hails from a rich and diverse international family.
His US-bred fourth dam East Of The Moon (Private Account) won three French Group 1s and threw a Group winner there, as well as the dam of four-time Group 1 winner Alpha Centauri (Mastercraftsman).
And unraced third dam Moon’s Whisper (Storm Cat) threw a British stakes winner and the dam of a Japanese Group 1 victor.
And while Ole Kirk has already set tongues wagging, White is tipping his stocks are set to skyrocket.
“Given the stallion’s already got a Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner and a Breeders’ Plate winner, and is leading first season and two-year-old sire, he’s going to generate a bit of interest in this sale,” White said.
“But there’s been a few more of his who’ve trialled really well over the last week. That’s encouraging, and this is about the time Ole Kirk got going as a two-year-old himself, so you’d probably expect that a little bit.
“He’s had a few early ones but from now on you’ll see a lot more popping out, which is really exciting.”
Lot 362, B c Home Affairs – Lady Young (Fastnet Rock)
Offered from Twin Hills Stud’s draft, this well put together colt carries many attributes of his sire Home Affairs (I Am Invincible), who’s become the most exciting first–season stallion in many sale seasons after a scintillating, sale-topping Magic Millions Gold Coast debut.
And this colt has a pedigree that runs deep. He’s out of the dual–winning, stakes-placed Lady Young (Fastnet Rock), while third dam L’On Vite (Secretariat) was a fantastic producer, throwing no fewer than four stakes winners.
These included Holy Roman Emperor (Danehill) – the dual Group 1-winning French Champion 2YO colt of 2006, and later successful sire. They also include his full-sister Milanova, winner of an Adelaide Group 3 and second in what’s now Perth’s Northerly Classic (Gr 1, 1800m), who went to Ireland to throw a dual stakes winner herself.
Plus, L’On Vite’s mother – and this colt’s fourth dam – is the breed-shaping Canadian mare Fanfreluche (Northern Dancer), who appears rather recently in the pedigree despite being born in 1967.
“Lady Young is a lovely mare who was stakes-placed, and with Fanfreluche being her third dam, there’s plenty of pedigree there,” said Twin Hills’ owner Olly Tait.
“Like many of the Home Affairs, he’s a big horse like his father, but he’s a very good looking colt. He’s got size and scope, is very correct, moves along very well, and just has lots of quality for a big horse.
“The Home Affairs stock sold well at the Gold Coast, and I expect they’ll do well at Classic too.”
Lot 404, Ch f Palace Pier – Maid Of Heaven (Smart Missile)
This handsome, scopey filly from Arrowfield Stud not only boasts a pedigree dripping with class, but one which speaks volumes for the quality to be had at this sale.
“I’d call her Classic Sale royalty,” said Arrowfield’s bloodstock manager Jon Freyer.
That’s because she’s out of Danehill (Danzig)-line mare Maid Of Heaven, who sold for just $60,000 at this sale in 2017 and won the ATC Spring Champion Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m), and whose half-brother Castelvecchio (Dundeel) fetched $150,000 at Classic before becoming a dual top–tier winner and a Group 1-producing sire.
This filly’s female family has abundant depth elsewhere as well. Second dam St. Therese (Dehere) – a dual stakes winner herself – also threw a third stakes victor in Mirrasalo (Redoute’s Choice), whose offspring includes two more black type winners in Mirra Vision (Lonhro) and Mirra View (More Than Ready).
And two more of St. Therese’s daughters have left stakes winners as well.
“It’s obviously a top–class family, and it’ll only get better,” Freyer said. “Maid Of Heaven now has an I Am Invincible filly and is in-foal to Snitzel, so there’s a bit more to come through.
“Maid Of Heaven was a big rangy filly who showed a bit as a two-year-old but was obviously a top-class three-year-old. This filly appeals as the same sort of filly; she’s built like her mother.”
Arrowfield sent “a bunch of Danehill line mares” to Darley’s Palace Pier (Kingman) in his one shuttle season of 2022, Freyer said, and their faith has so far been backed by the stallion having 11 lots sold at the Magic Millions Gold Coast last month for a robust average of $182,000.
“He was an outstanding racehorse and very well bred, and we thought he was a pretty good prospect,” Freyer said. “We’ve been very happy with his stock. He’s a horse you’d have to give a good chance to.”
Lot 474, B f Home Affairs – Nechita (Fastnet Rock)
When you put one Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner to another you might achieve an explosive result, such as when you sell the daughter of Home Affairs and Sunlight (Zoustar) for a record $3.2 million at the Magic Millions Gold Coast last month.
This filly – also from the draft of her breeders Coolmore – won’t fetch quite that much, this being Inglis Classic, but could give her vendors two-from-two for Australian sale toppers this year with Coolmore Stud Stakes–winning parents.
She’s a powerfully built, exquisitely bred filly by Home Affairs, out of the brilliant Nechita, a daughter of the equally speedy Fastnet Rock (Danehill).
Aside from the Coolmore, Nechita claimed the Silver Shadow Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) amid three wins from just four starts, before becoming a dual hemisphere success as a broodmare.
Sent to Ireland for five–straight matings with the great Galileo (Sadler’s Wells), before one from his son Frankel, she’s produced four winners from six foals to race.
These include two stakes–winning Galileo full siblings in the Group 3 and Listed-winning Forbearance and her brother Harpo Marx, who came to Australia to claim a Group 3 for Bjorn Baker. Another full–brother, Artistic Star, was Royal Ascot placed at Group 2 level, while full–sister Awesome Wonder was imported to Australia for five wins and more than $300,000 in earnings so far.
“Nechita is a Coolmore Stud Stakes winner by Fastnet Rock, so she was obviously a very fast filly, and this is the first time she’s been bred to a speed horse,” said Coolmore’s marketing and nominations manager Tom Moore.
“Being by Home Affairs this is speed on speed, and the filly has a pedigree that would stand up anywhere in the world. She’s bred to go fast and she looks sharp. She’s got plenty of size and scope and strength.
“She’s an early foal, very well made and mature, and the type of filly you could get stuck into straight away and she’d be able to cop the work. She’ll always be an extremely well–bred filly, so she’ll represent a good opportunity for someone.”
Lot 625, B/br f Farnan – Shady Hustle (Hussonet)
From the draft of Sledmere Stud – who’ve sold Group 1 winners at Classic in Veight (Grunt), Icebath (Sacred Falls) and Communist (Russian Revolution) – comes this imposing-looking filly who brings a blend of her Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m)-winning father’s speed and her mother’s stamina.
Farnan (Not A Single Doubt) is making impressive early strides, sitting third among first season sires and sixth on the two-year-old table, with his son North England taking the $1 million Golden Gift (EDS NON BLACK TYPE 1100m).
And this filly is the second foal out of Shady Hustle (Hussonet), who won six races including the Tasmanian Oaks (Listed, 2100m) as well as running second in the Hobart Cup (Gr 3, 2400m).
This filly brings a 3m x 4m duplication of the great Redoute’s Choice (Danehill), and has the physical attributes to suggest the mating has worked a treat.
“She’s a very attractive filly with plenty of quality about her,” said Sledmere’s Catriona Murphy. “She’s beautifully balanced, has a really good action and a very nice pedigree.
“She also just looks like a real professional. Every time she’s brought out of her box, she just gets on with it without any fuss. She’s just got a bit of class about her.
“Farnan had the speed and Shady Hustle the stamina, but she’s an early looking filly, and I think she’ll be very well received.”