‘This could easily be the biggest Easter we’ve ever had’
With a vintage crop of yearlings and traffic up markedly on last year, Segenhoe Stud is preparing for what it hopes could be its strongest Inglis Easter sale yet.
The historic farm offers ten colts and five fillies at Riverside, in what general manager Peter O’Brien said is perhaps the finest draft Segenhoe has assembled for a sale.
O’Brien said that was a reflection not only of the pedigrees of the 15 yearlings presented, but also the climactic conditions after they were born, something he believes helped make this year’s wider Hunter Valley crop one of the strongest the veteran breeder has seen.
“Winemakers talk about years that produce a very good vintage, and I think it’s the same for horses. I think the yearlings this year are a particularly good crop,” O’Brien told ANZ Bloodstock News. “I’ve been around to a lot of the farms in the Hunter, and a lot of the horses match their page this year.
“Climate has a lot to do with it. We had good rain in the spring when this crop was born, and that gives foals a far better start off in life. Plus all breeders learn every year how to do things better.
“Our group of yearlings are definitely the best group overall, for all sales, that we’ve ever had. And for this sale, it’s the most even bunch of horses we’ve brought to an Easter sale.
“And with this draft, we’ve got some very, very good animals here. Our team, as ever, has done a great job with them – they couldn’t be presented in better shape. This could easily be the biggest Easter we’ve ever had.”
With traffic at Riverside busy this week, O’Brien said all vendors had high hopes for a particularly robust sale.
“On Wednesday, we had the busiest day we’ve ever had at an Easter sale. Our footfall was up 15 per cent on the same day last year,” he said.
“Everybody’s hopeful it’ll be a strong sale. The catalogue is sensational when you go through it. Definitely all the right people are here, the quality of horse is here, and there’s no reason why it can’t be a great sale.”
Segenhoe has a proud history at Easter and its recent graduates include Group 1 winners Joliestar (Zoustar), Merchant Navy (Fastnet Rock) and Eagle Way (More Than Ready).
O’Brien said this fits with the stud’s standing as “the number one farm in Australia for producing stakes performers by percentage”, with one in six of its yearling sale products earning black type.
Two horses off the farm will race in Saturday’s ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) in Inglis Millennium (RL, 1100m) winner Rivellino (Too Darn Hot), and favourite Wodeton (Wootton Bassett) – a $1.6 million buy for Tom Magnier from Segenhoe’s Magic Millions Gold Coast draft last year.
O’Brien hopes that race can prove a fitting springboard into a huge two days for Segenhoe when the Easter sale begins on Sunday.
One of the most keenly anticipated offerings in Segenhoe’s draft is the first one – Lot 16 – a colt by Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) who’s the first foal of La Mexicana (I Am Invincible), winner of six races up to 1200 metres including at Melbourne Group 3 and Listed contest.
The colt’s second dam Cailin Miss (Domesday) was also a stakes winner, while the Snitzel – I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) cross has seven winners from 12 runners including one stakes victor.
“This colt is just an Adonis,” O’Brien said. “He’s just got a beautiful physique. He’s a sharp, mature, great moving, precocious looking horse.
“Snitzels can sometimes be a bit coarse, but this colt has got beautiful quality. His forte would be his action – he’s very light on his feet – and he’s got a great mind. Nothing bothers him.
“Snitzel is having a year of years, La Mexican was a very fast mare, and this colt has been very well received.”
Segenhoe’s Lot 333, a colt by I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) is also sure to command attention.
A year on from the dizzying $10 million Easter sale when the first live foal of Winx (Street Cry) sold, this colt is the first foal out of a half-sister to that great mare in Covent Garden (Exceed And Excel), who was a winner over 1400 metres.
The colt, like Winx and Covent Garden, was bred by long-time Segenhoe associate John Camilleri’s Fairway Thoroughbreds. He’s also had a timely page update, with three-year-old three-quarter brother Enriched (I Am Invincible) winning last month’s Fireball Stakes (Listed, 1100m) at Randwick for Michael Freedman.
“He’s a beautifully conformed horse – a stunning individual,” O’Brien said. “He’s got that quality through Exceed And Excel, a beautiful head, and the biggest nostril I’ve ever seen.
“Most I Am Invincibles aren’t great, loose movers, but this guy is. He’s got a big hindquarter, beautiful balance, and a quality action. He’s very correct and with a great mind; he’s very willing.”
Exceed And Excel is one of I Am Invincible’s stronger nicks and has yielded 23 winners from 28 runners including three stakes winners.
Lot 160 is another I Am Invincible colt who’s the third foal of Sia (Fastnet Rock). That mare was a winner at two at 1100 metres and fetched $1.6 million as a broodmare at the 2022 Inglis Chairman’s Sale, a price reflecting her renowned family.
She’s a daughter of Hips Don’t Lie (Stravinsky), a triple stakes-winning two-year-old and producer of three black type victors: Ennis Hill (Fastnet Rock) – the dam of Australia’s Champion 2YO Filly of 2022-23 Learning To Fly (Justify); Lake Geneva (Fastnet Rock), who was third in the Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) and Blue Diamond (Gr 1, 1200m), and Acrobat (Fastnet Rock).
“This Hips Don’t Lie family continues to produce black type horses,” O’Brien said, “and this fella is just a dead set two-year-old. He’s short-coupled, strong, has a great head and a massive hip on him, and he’s another Vinnie who has a particularly good action.”
Fastnet Rock ranks as I Am Invincible’s second-finest cross, with seven stakes winners from 60 runners at 11.66 per cent.
Segenhoe also offers a filly and a colt by the great Frankel (Galileo), with Lot 243 an international blue blood filly bred by Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Maktoum.
Born in Britain – on July 31 – and brought to Australia three months ago, the filly is the third foal of the outstanding South American Vale Dori (Asiatic Boy). That mare won a 1500-metre Grade 1 in Argentina before running second in Dubai’s UAE Oaks (Gr 3, 1900m).
Taken to the US, she became a superstar, with six straight wins culminating in Santa Anita’s Santa Margarita Stakes (Gr 1, 9f). She later added the Zenyatta Stakes (Gr 1, 8.5), when it was run at Grade 1 level, at the same track at her last start in 2018 before throwing Mizzyaan (Justify), who emulated her dam by running second in the UAE Oaks.
“She was really an outstanding mare, Vale Dori,” O’Brien said, “and this filly has great quality about her.
“Frankels can be hard to assess. He’s a champion stallion, but they do come in all shapes and sizes. She’s a lovely, scopey filly with a beautiful action. She’s probably more of a three-year-old type than a two-year-old type, but she’s been very popular this week.”
Segenhoe’s other Frankel is Lot 313. Also bred by Camilleri, he’s the first foal of California Zimbol (I Am Invincible), winner of four Australian stakes races including two Group 3s, in Sydney and Melbourne, who was raced by Segenhoe client Howard Liang.
“I’ve known the mare all her life, and she’s the best looking mare I’ve seen in my life, and so when I heard there was an opportunity to buy her – John [Camilleri] bought her privately,” O’Brien said. “She was a very fast, brilliant racehorse, and John sent her up to Frankel and she had this colt.
“He’s a stunning type. [Bloodstock agent] Johnny McKeever, who’s obviously based in England, said to me this horse is the most like Frankel as a yearling that he’s seen.”
Another highlight of Segenhoe’s draft is Lot 336, a filly by Zoustar (Northern Meteor) hailing from an esteemed Segenhoe family, with the dam and second dam bred by the farm.
The filly is out of the Listed-winning Custard (Lonhro), who’s produced three stakes winners and two more stakes placed horses from just seven foals to race. Her black type winners are Serene Majesty (Fastnet Rock), who won at Group 3 and Listed level and has thrown two stakes performers; the Group 3-winning Ducasse (Trapeze Artist); and Listed winner Curdled (All Too Hard).
Second dam Serene Look (Seattle Dancer) has left two stakes winners plus the dam of two Group victors.
“Custard has been an incredible producer, and this filly is a very neat filly with a great head and a really good action,” O’Brien said.
Click here to view the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale catalogue.