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Day 1 top lot heads to Hong Kong as Classic starts strongly

11th Feb 2024

Hong Kong trainer Ricky Yiu hopes a Street Boss colt he bought for a Day 1-topping $375,000 is his next Voyage Bubble, the HK Derby winner Yiu also sourced from the Classic Yearling Sale.

Today’s colt (ex Dance Card) topped Sunday’s action at Riverside, selling out of the Bhima Thoroughbreds draft on behalf of his breeder GSA Thoroughbreds.

The Classic Sale has proven a cove of riches for Hong Kong buyers recently, with the auction providing every winning leg of the prestigious Hong Kong Classic Series last year (HK Mile, HK Cup and HK Derby).

Yiu conceded the recent success was a primary motivator behind today’s purchase (pictured).

“I always make a point to come back to this sale, I’ve had lots of luck out of Inglis Classic, it’s a very good sale for Hong Kong success as we saw last year with all the winners of the [Hong Kong] 4YO Series coming out of this sale,’’ Yiu said.

“This colt, I saw his video back home and thought ‘gee, he’s a lovely athletic colt’ and when I saw him in the flesh, I liked him even more. He’s very correct, walks well and I believe in time he will do very well in Hong Kong as a sprinter/miler.

“The price was a lot higher than I wanted to go but I had no choice. Somebody else wanted him too.’’

For Mike Fleming of Bhima Thoroughbreds – who ended Day 1 as leading vendor by average (for three or more sold) and second best on aggregate – the result came as a pleasant surprise.

“The reserve was quite a bit under the final price. I thought he was a $200,000-$250,000 colt but obviously there was plenty of competition on him, as there has been on all the right horses today,’’ Fleming said.

“It’s always a great sale, Classic. You bring a nice horse here, they scope well, are clean, there’s always plenty of competition on them.

“It’s been a busy week. I think the decision to combine the two books and move away from the Highway Session has focused everyone on coming in and looking at all the horses, you haven’t got that separation of people only wanting to look at Book 1 horses etc so I think that’s a real positive going forward.’’

Today’s second-top lot was an Extreme Choice x Brisk colt from The Chase, which sold to Mick Price and Michael Kent Jr along with Upper Bloodstock for $320,000.

It capped a fantastic day for The Chase, who sold both of their offered lots for an average of $185,000.

“This is obviously our first year selling at Classic under our own name and to start it off like that, it couldn’t be any better,’’ The Chase’s Michael Smith said.

“We try to be very transparent sellers and get the horses on the market and I think the buying bench has responded to that, they know they can come and buy our best stock off us and we were happy to offer a colt of his quality here at Inglis.

“It was a fantastic result and great to see him go to such a good home in Mick Price, who obviously knows the stallion so well. For him to end up in his stable, for us, is huge.’’

Price added: “He’s one colt I just wanted to buy and train, he’s a late November foal and I think he’s really going to furnish into a lovely horse.

“When you see him move, that’s what really got me, he’s a beautiful mover, he’s got a long extended stride in front and behind, very athletic, not too heavy, he seems to have a good brain and as you know we love our colts and we love keeping them as colts so hopefully he’s the next one.

“We’ve been here since Tuesday, we did all our work, the sale has the right horses that we want to buy, I have my own valuations on them and five of them that we’ve bought have come in on the money so I have to say, it’s a very, very good value sale.’’

At the conclusion of Day 1, the sale average sat at $94,929 with an 83% clearance rate and median of $80,000.

“It has been a pleasing day,’’ Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch said.

“The tweak in the format of the sale means that year-on-year comparisons are meaningless but the turnover, average and median figures are healthy relative to the whole sale 12 months ago.

“We have plenty of nice horses to sell through the next two days and on the evidence today, there is good value to be found by buyers who do their work and bid accordingly.

“There are going to be top-class racehorses of the future come out of this sale, make no mistake, and if that is something people want to be a part of, they need to be involved in the sale over the next two days.’’

To make an offer on a passed in lot from today, contact Harry Bailey on 0420 997 417.

The remaining two days of the 2024 Classic Yearling Sale will begin at 10am and will again be broadcast live on the Inglis website and Facebook page via our Sale Day Live coverage.

Coverage begins daily at 9.30am with the Preview Show.

To view the catalogue, CLICK HERE.