Yoshida’s Inglis Easter odyssey cements Australian love affair
Marie Yoshida is used to the idea that racing is a journey, having travelled from her parents’ farm in northern France, via Australia and Hong Kong to Winchester Farm in Kentucky.
But the unique circumstances of this year’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale have obliged her to really put her travelling boots on in order not to miss out on crucial yearling inspections.
First she took the decision not to leave a closing of borders to chance and headed for Sydney to complete her 14 days self-isolation.
And once it became clear that no buyers would be setting foot in the Riverside Stables complex, Yoshida resolved to get out and see the horses for herself.
“I did my two weeks quarantine and then I rented a car, drove to Scone and I’ve been here for several days now,” said Yoshida, whose Asian Bloodstock Services agency is one of the most reliable sources of success for the Hong Kong market.
“I’ve been ‘round all the farms and have just started my second looks, while I’ve already sent a list to the vet for screening with x-rays, scopes. Everything is very well organised.
“I moved here for the first time in 1991 and there are still the same breeders – they are all a bit older now! – and they are all united. I received the best welcome from them.
“They are ready, their gates are open and there are even some consignors that have accepted yearlings from other breeders who don’t have a farm in the Hunter Valley. Truly this is just the best experience.”
The way in which most consignors and breeders have pulled together in the face of what might seem overwhelming odds this year has struck a chord with Yoshida, who began a love affair with Australia when working alongside Phil Redden at Turannga Stud nearly 30 years ago, one which was cemented with a first visit to the Easter sale six years later.
“On Saturday morning I drove from Scone to Widden Stud, an hour across a beautiful valley,” she said. “It’s magical. You can really feel Australia. From Widden I could take a shortcut to Coolmore and it blows you away.
“From there I went to Edinglassie, which is a little breeder but I’ve known these people for 29 years. Australian breeders are tough and this is maybe the toughest place on earth to be a breeder.
“But year after year, Edinglassie deliver winners, they deliver good horses. It’s not a big place but Mick and Michelle (Talty) are true horse people.
“This experience gets you to believe in humanity, to believe in quality. Because I can tell you, the yearlings are amazing. It’s so hard to do a shortlist but you can easily have 20, 25, 30 top yearlings. How do you choose?”
Yoshida’s enthusiasm for the breeders has been nurtured down the years, helped in no small part by scoring a spectacular early success when securing a son of Danehill (Danzig) who went on to become the Hong Kong legend that is Fairy King Prawn on her first outing at Inglis Easter back in 1997.
“His mother was by Twig Moss – her name was Twiglet and she was a very good racemare – and back in 1991 I had gone to work with Dr Phil Redman, who stood a French stallion named Twig Moss,” Yoshida continued.
“He was a very good stallion and became an influential broodmare sire. So you had Danehill and Twiglet, I got very lucky and I carried on getting lucky, like with Syrius Lake, the first Fastnet Rock, that was very exciting too.
“I work on Australian racing every day because Hong Kong is obviously full of Australian horses. In Australia there are fantastic fillies and mares – everyone knows about Winx – it’s a treasure trove. So you need to know your female lines and they run very deep in this catalogue.”
Her road trip in the run up to this sale has been a departure from the normal routine at the sales grounds but Yoshida believes that, not only are the inspections essential, but the sense of community being engendered among vendors is unique in global bloodstock.
She said: “What was wonderful was that on Sunday morning, I was able to do six farms, one every half an hour. And they were all kind to one another and gave directions to the next farm, down all these back roads. We can be cynical but these people really help each other. I haven’t felt so happy in a while and I feel very humbled by this.”
And while other potential buyers are not always pleased to see the competition arrive, there is a mutual respect between those making the hard miles between farms.
“I met Adrian Bott at Kitchwin Hills on Sunday afternoon,” she said. “Kitchwin is not even on a paved road and I came across this iguana in the middle of the track! So Adrian and I were there at the same time and to begin with we were a bit wary of one another. But he kindly said I could lead with the instructions [as the horses were being shown].
“Adrian Bott could just have been relaxing in Sydney with all his Group 1 winners and Golden Slippers. But no, he was there, inspecting the horses. And they are a really nice bunch at Kitchwin. I left there and I’d forgotten about the sweat and the dust and the iguana because I didn’t feel I’d been wasting my time, I was happy.
“The competitors are there and the Hong Kong competition will be there.
“I admire the genuine Australian breeders, who are not going anywhere and will be here the next year and the years after. And my owners as well. We are going to invest, we want to support our trainers, our pre-trainers. It’s a huge industry.”
None of Yoshida’s optimism would be possible if not for the efforts of Inglis to reinvent the Easter sale as an online-only project, offering not only the technological platform but the human support in the days and weeks running up to selling
“William Inglis deserves all the credit and I don’t know if there is another sales company in the world that could have done what they have,” said Yoshida, a self-confessed Ebay junkie who hopes that the strategy learned over the years of using one online auction website might stand her in good stead for another.
“It’s exciting because we are moving to another dimension with the bidding online. And if several people are interested in a horse then the auction will start again and you can really have a fair chance. You will have no excuse to miss a horse.”
Only time will tell if this most crucial of marketplaces can satisfy all parties in what is a hugely unsettling time for the industry and the wider economy.
But Yoshida is impressed with what she has seen, both in terms of stock and the determination of all those involved to make a success of the sale.
“We are not vultures,” she said. “We are genuine horse people looking for quality horses and I hope many people can respect not only Hong Kong racing but Hong Kong owners, some of whom are not only very smart but very attached to the sport and the horses. And the Australians are resilient. I admire them so much.”