Traders make their mark on day one of HTBA May Yearling Sale
The “Scone sale”, held in Sydney last year by necessity but by choice 12 months later, yesterday continued the now predictable surge in yearling prices, as demand for ready to run stock came to the fore at Inglis’ Riverside Stables.
The HTBA May Yearling Sale, the Hunter Valley auction rebranded by Inglis which traditionally is held in the thoroughbred breeding heartland to coincide with the Scone Cup carnival, had one six-figure lot sold late in the opening session, a breeze-up bound Capitalist (Written Tycoon) colt who made $140,000.
The Huntworth Stud and Redbank North-consigned colt, the first foal out of Exceed And Excel (Danehill) mare Glistening Light, was bought by Peter Moffatt and Mitchell Williams Bloodstock.
“Peter Moffatt will be taking him to the (Inglis Ready2Race) breeze-up sales up here in October,” said Williams, the son of popular industry identity Tony “Tubba” Williams.
“Peter used to work with me at Tal Nolen’s but he’s doing his own thing now in Wangaratta, so hopefully he gets a good result with this horse.”
Williams revealed two-year-old ready to run traders had found it “pretty tough” to buy yearlings this year given the buoyant market but he and Moffatt were happy to extend the budget for the son of current leading first season sire Capitalist.
“Peter’s been trying to buy a few, but he’s only got a couple so far, but he’ll try and go to a couple more sales and see how he goes,” he said.
“He’s the right horse if you want to get a hit-out of one and make big money, as Capitalist is the flavour of the month.
“He’s a good-bodied and good-moving horse who has done everything right, so I think he will be a good breeze-up horse.”
Agent Paul Moroney was the under bidder.
Huntworth Stud’s Peter Stewart and Bridget Woodford-Smith bought Glistening Light in foal to Capitalist for $45,000 at the 2019 Inglis Australian Broodmare Sale and gained an immediate return yesterday with the Lot 165-catalogued yearling.
“He was really busy all week and there have been some very good people look at him, people I really respect in the industry. He’s a lovely horse, his X-rays are perfect, he’s got a beautiful temperament, he’s just a lovely colt,” Stewart said.
“When I went up into the box I put an $80,000 reserve on him and it just went up from there.”
Stewart deliberately held back the November 9-born colt to the later sale, rather than targeting Inglis’ season opener in February.
“I’m not at all surprised by how busy it’s been here all week and how well the sale is going because the yearling market has been so strong and there’s some lovely-bred horses in the catalogue,” Stewart said.
“We knew before we left home that he was a nice colt and we were just hoping but, once we saw all the people here for inspections, our hopes and confidence certainly increased.
“On pedigree he could have got into Classic but being a November foal, he was just a little bit behind, so on the advice of Inglis, we decided to keep him until this sale, particularly because this sale was here at Riverside instead of Scone, and it did him heaps of good because he’s just matured so much.’’
The expanded two-day format, comprising 358 lots, is so far averaging $21,171 after 123 yearlings were sold yesterday. The median was $14,000 and the clearance rate was 75 per cent.
Last year’s HTBA sale was held in July, also at Riverside Stables due to restrictions induced by Covid-19 when it followed on from the Easter Round 2 auction, and it averaged $17,566 with a median of $10,000 after 136 horses were traded.
In 2019, when held at White Park in Scone, 170 horses were sold for an average of $15,797 with a median price of $12,000.
Ocean Park colt head to Ready2Race Sale
Meanwhile, NSW provincial trainer Kim Waugh was also active on day one of the May sale, purchasing an Ocean Park (Thorn Park) colt with strong Asia appeal for Merchant Bloodstock from the Riversdale draft.
The second highest-priced lot of the day, who was catalogued as Lot 81, was offered by Riversdale as agent for Joe and Max Smithies of New Zealand’s Monovale Farm.
He, too, will be offered at the October 5 Inglis Ready2Race Sale.
The colt was also originally entered for the Classic Sale in February, but had to be withdrawn after suffering a slight setback in the lead-up.
“But the extra time has allowed him to mature and, being by Ocean Park, they need a bit more time and it’s absolutely worked in his favour, his improvement has been dramatic since Classic,’’ Riversdale’s Nick Hodges said.
“He’s been really popular here all week, he’s done a lot of work which has been great to have that foot traffic here.
“We were hoping he’d get his $50,000 to $60,000, so to reach $85,000 was a great result. We’re very happy with the price.’’
The son of Waikato Stud’s Ocean Park is the fifth foal out of six-time winner Brooklyn Roads (Bertolini), making him a half-brother to four-time Singapore winner Fireworks (Ekraar) and Hong Kong winner Fame And Fortune (Street Boss).
Waugh also bought a Super One (I Am Invincible) filly for $32,000 from Ashleigh Thoroughbreds earlier in the day.
International buyers were also active, with Hong Kong-based Upper Bloodstock’s Ross Lao and Andy Lau buying a Pariah (Redoute’s Choice) colt for $70,000 early in the session from the draft of Murrulla Stud.
Prominent agent John Foote, who acts for a range of Australian and international clients, was also active yesterday, buying five lots, including a Star Witness (Starcraft) colt for $80,000 and a Russian Revolution (Snitzel) filly in conjunction with Warwick Farm trainer Matthew Smith for $75,000.
Trainer Tim Martin bought six yearlings while Taree-based Glen Milligan bought three yearlings, as did the training partnership of Barb Joseph and sons Paul and Mark Jones. Victorian trainer George Osborne also bought three lots on day one.
Inglis general manager of bloodstock sales and marketing Sebastian Hutch was pleased with yesterday’s trade but also acknowledged the changing dynamic of the Scone sale, and not just its location.
“If your horse met the criteria of the buying bench generally they sold very well. Obviously there were periods through the day where clearance wasn’t as strong as we would have liked but this is an ever-evolving market and we’ve had a fantastic range of yearling sales throughout the year,” Hutch said.
“But the nature of the people who participate in this yearling sale traditionally, they have a broader spectrum of horses they have access to through digital sales now. It’s just changed the way people participate.
“Their access to horses has broadened significantly, so it doesn’t quite create the same pressure to buy as there may have been at this sale but, all things considered, to have the nature of the people involved and to get some of the prices we did is pleasing.”
Day two of the Inglis HTBA May Yearling Sale starts at 10am today before the action moves on to Thursday’s Australian Weanling Sale and Friday’s Chairman’s Sale. The Australian Broodmare Sale will be conducted on Sunday.
Sale statistics – day one
2021
Catalogued 178
Offered 165
Sold 123 (75%)
Aggregate $2,604,000
Average $21,171
Median $14,000
Top Lot $140,000