Trilogy hoping to unearth new Star after $280,000 purchase
Daughter of I Am Invincible stands out on day one of vibrant Great Southern Weanling Sale
The sole weanling on offer at the Great Southern Sale by Australia’s champion sire-elect I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit), a “dead ringer” for Group 1-winning filly I Am A Star, will join the fast-growing Trilogy Racing empire as a potential long-term investment, after being sold for $280,000 yesterday.
The most expensive of the 157 foals sold at Oaklands Junction on day one of Inglis’ Victorian auction, the filly was one of 27 weanlings to reach six figures in Melbourne and one of seven to sell for $200,000 or more.
After the slow start to the day’s trade, the clearance rate picked up markedly throughout the day, closing out last night at 71 per cent, with weanlings changing hands at an average of $47,561 and a median of $25,000.
Both measures – and the aggregate of $7,467,000 – were up significantly year on year.
Inglis Bloodstock chief executive Sebastian Hutch suggested there was plenty of competition from the buying bench for horses who had the credentials to make select yearling sales in 2023.
“We were delighted with the volume of foot traffic on the complex prior to the sale, so we were accepting of the fact that demand of quality weanlings was going to outstrip supply and, to an extent, I think that has been in evidence today,” he said last night.
“The horses that met the criteria of people looking for commercial weanlings seemed to make a massive premium compared to what vendors were expecting pre-sale.
“That is not to say buyers don’t think they’ve bought well, but certainly relative to the expectation of vendors, the nice horses seem to have consistently outsold expectations.”
However, Hutch acknowledged that the lower end of the market did struggle to attract the same appetite from buyers to participate.
“Predictably enough, the lower end of the market has been difficult. Buyers have a huge range of choice in that area of the market, whether it’s through live auctions or through digital sales, and the access to value stock has never been greater than what it is now, through a transparent market,” he said.
“I think that affects clearance a little bit, but that said, it has picked up throughout the day and I have no doubt that it will pick up through the evening and [into today] as people see where the market sits and see where the opportunities lie.”
As for the $280,000 session-topper, Trilogy Racing co-owner Sean Dingwall revealed he and his business partners had been attempting to buy a filly by I Am Invincible all year, but it took until June for the group to be able to land one who he believed had similarities to the former Shane Nichols-trained, Matthew Sandblom-owned mare I Am A Star.
The Rushton Park-consigned filly, who was catalogued as Lot 19, is the second foal out of Perth stakes winner Private Dancer (Oratorio), a mare owned by Yarraman Park Stud.
“Obviously, there were a few people on her, but I think she was still good value at that money. We are fortunate enough to be able to look at her as a dual purpose [proposition], so we can either retrade or race her. We really don’t mind either way, but I would say we’ll put her back through and see where we stand with her after that,” Dingwall said.
“She wasn’t, by any means, the best-looking I Am Invincible you’ll ever see, but the cross works. Steve Jostlear from Ampulla Lodge was with me and he said she was a dead ringer for I Am A Star at the same age, pedigree-wise it matched, so we decided to have a crack.”
Rushton Park’s David Johnson said his team had been run off their feet during inspections and that translated into yesterday’s results.
“Their thoughts were that with the weanling market being so strong that they’d try and get a result now and they absolutely did that,’’ Tatura-based breeder Johnson said.
“The reserve was well under the final price and we’re so very, very pleased to get $280,000 for her.
“She’s a lovely filly and you put an I Am Invincible into this sort of sale to make them really stand out and she certainly stood out.
“She’s had her legs walked off all week and even I could identify at least four bidders on her toward the end, from where I was watching in the vendor box.
“I did the most cards I’ve ever done at a sale, ever, anywhere, be it the Premier Yearling Sale, the Gold Coast, any weanling sale, anything – it was chaos. It’s been extraordinary and it’s great to see that now transfer into great results in the ring for us so far.’’
Trilogy Racing, which also bought the top-priced foal at the Inglis Australian Weanling Sale for $400,000 and $325,000 for a colt by Russian Revolution (Snitzel) at the Magic Millions equivalent three weeks ago, added to the depth of the group’s increasing bloodstock portfolio with the purchase of the I Am Invincible filly, a colt by Dundeel (High Chaparral) for $190,000, daughter of Toronado (High Chaparral) for $120,000 and a colt by Written By (Written Tycoon) for $60,000 yesterday.
The Toronado filly, who was also sold by Rushton Park, is the third living foal out of the stakes-placed nine-time winner Tidy Prophet (Keep The Faith), while the son of Written By is a three-quarter brother to the stakes-winning Plutocrat (Rich Enuff).
The Written By colt was sold by Yarran Thoroughbreds as Lot 14.
“He’s a trade horse, so we will definitely put him back through. He’s a lovely horse and we’ve got a couple of them in work, the trainers are very happy with them,” Dingwall said.
“They’ve been very forward, so we’re basically punting that Written By is going to get a couple of early two-year-old winners and away we go from there.”
The Dundeel colt – sold by Burnewang North Pastoral – is out of the five-time winning, stakes-placed mare Babel (Lonhro).
The Arrowfield sire also had a filly make $220,000 when sold by Rushton Park to Gordon Cunningham under his Suncroft Bloodstock banner.
Dingwall thought yesterday’s market was typical of what has transpired, not only at this year’s weanling sales, but what generally occurs at the Great Southern sale.
“I think this sale always sees the nice horses making their money and I think they are making very good money [yesterday] and then you’ve always got a tail. It’s no different to the Gold Coast a fortnight ago,” he said.
“Ultimately, the horses who are going to be traded, or will make nice racehorses, are making their money. It’s typical of the industry at the moment, no one’s sneaking one through.”
The early highlight of the session, which opened with nine pass-ins in the first 20 lots, was a $200,000 daughter of champion sire Written Tycoon (Iglesia), who was bought by Kiwi agents Bevan Smith and Andrew Williams.
Consigned by Shadowbrook Bloodstock as Lot 11 on behalf of Diamond Park Breeding and Racing, the filly is the first foal out of winning mare Paris Lights (Snitzel), herself a daughter of Listed winner City Of Song (Bel Esprit).
The syndicate who purchased the filly intend to reoffer her at next year’s yearling sales.
“She looked really sharp, the style of horse that the market likes to find at the yearling sales, and the second dam was a stakes winner as a spring three-year-old,” Smith said.
“She is a lovely, loose-walking, athletic filly who has all the attributes we look for.
“That [$200,000] was the value we had on her and I think she stacks up favourably, based on what we’ve seen at the other weanling sales so far this year.”
Fellow agent Justin Bahen was also active on day one, purchasing six weanlings on behalf of clients for a combined spend of $1.12 million.
The most expensive of the haul was the Shadowbrook Bloodstock-consigned $240,000 Toronado colt (Lot 89) who is the fifth living foal out of the stakes-winning two-year-old Spectrolite (Stratum), and a filly by the same Swettenham Stud sire for $230,000.
The Toronado filly, who was consigned by Gippsland Bloodstock, is the second foal out of the unraced Artielicious (Artie Schiller), who was purchased in foal to the stallion for $40,000 through the Inglis Digital Online Auction in February 2021. She was catalogued as Lot 168.
“My client wanted to make a beeline for the weanling market on the belief the yearling market will continue to be strong next year and he and I are both rapt with the quality of both colts and fillies we’ve been able to buy today,’’ Bahen said.
“He’s trying to buy the best horses at the sale, and was certainly very active because he liked what he saw there in the catalogue.
“We’re very happy with the results from today, he’s got a nice spread of horses.’’
Shadowbrook Bloodstock’s Carol Hassell was delighted with the $240,000 result.
“He’s a lovely horse, he’d been very popular here all week, had lots of x-ray hits and then lots of action in the ring. He’s been out of his box basically all week, all in all we’ve done at least 450 individual parades from our eight horses, it’s been fabulous,’’ Hassell said.
“It’s been a fabulous week, there’s been people everywhere, so many people here on the grounds, Inglis has done a wonderful job. The Great Southern Sale is getting stronger and stronger and the future looks bright.’’
Toronado, whose service fee has increased to $88,000 (inc GST) for the 2022 breeding season, averaged $113,000 from ten lots sold.
Rushton Park is the leading vendor by aggregate, selling 15 weanlings for a total of $1,185,500, while Burnewang North Pastoral is the current leading vendor by average (three or more lots sold), with three weanlings traded at an average price of $120,000.
Day two, which includes a broodmare session, starts at 10am.