News

Frankel filly tops Day 1 of Great Southern Sale

13th Jun 2024

The sole progeny of Frankel in this year’s Great Southern Sale topped today’s Day 1 action at Oaklands, selling to New Zealander Gary Harding for $525,000.

Offered by Rosemont Stud, the filly (ex Abby Hatcher) entered the ring early in the day as lot 7 and was the subject of some intense bidding before finally being knocked down to Harding.

In realising $525,000, she became the third most expensive weanling sold in Australia this year.

On a day where the top of the market shone brightly, the Frankel filly was one of 22 weanlings to sell for $100,000 or more today, a significant achievement given the figure equalled the tally for the entirety of last year’s sale.

Harding, who was bidding on the phone via Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch, had long been searching for a Frankel youngster to race and was thrilled to have finally secured one.

“Sebastian called me and suggested a couple of weanlings he thought might suit me and I’ve got a lot of confidence in him, he’s very straight forward to deal with, there’s no bullshit which is what I like,’’ Harding said.

“We liked the pedigree, the crosses looked good and she vetted out very well so we thought we’d try to buy her. I thought she’d make between $400,000 and $500,000, I let someone else bid $500,000 and then thought I’d have one more bid at the $525,000 and that was enough thankfully.

“It’s a lot of money but you’ve got to pay for the good ones and we’re happy we’ve bought her.

“We’ve bought her to race. She’ll come back to New Zealand, we’ll put her on our good Waikato pastures and hopefully she grows into a good horse for us. She’ll start out racing here in New Zealand and hopefully she’s good enough to run in Australia before too long.’’

The result was significant for Rosemont, who targeted the filly (pictured) at their home weanling sale.

“It was a great result. We didn’t want to send a draft here that was just considered horses who might not make a yearling sale, we wanted to stack the draft with some quality and she’s a good example of that,’’ Rosemont’s Ryan McEvoy said.

“You’re not sure one way or the other on what to do with a filly like her, whether to take her through to a yearling sale or not but she just was a filly who stood out to us, we thought she’d be a really good highlight lot in a draft that we were really conscious of sending some quality here and she certainly was that, a beautiful moving filly, great shape for a Frankel, not too big but neat and strong and really intelligent.

“We’ve had good success out of this sale and Inglis have done a great job, big buying bench, we’ve been really busy the past few days, it’s all good.’’

Today’s second-top lot honours were shared between a Toronado x Gig colt of Blue Gum Farm and an I Am Invincible x Diablotine colt of Three Bridges, both selling for $300,000.

Nick and Nikky White of Kaha Nui Farm purchased both colts and will likely re-offer them at a yearling sale in 2025.

“It’s nice to have nice stock in the paddock, we’re really happy with what we’ve been able to buy this year so far and today is no different,’’ Nikky White said.

“On the Vinnie, he’s a lovely colt, we’re really happy, we’ll take our time with him, get him back home and look to sell him next year, possibly back here [at Inglis Premier] if he’s good enough.

“Inglis are fantastic, they’ve given us a really fun run. I’m in this game to have some fun and hopefully we can have some success as well along the way but Inglis has been amazing.

“I always enjoy it with Inglis, that’s why I’m back. If I can’t have fun I’m not doing it!’’

Three Bridges’ Toby Liston added: “He’s gone to a great home, it’s a good price for a good horse.

“He was popular, he’s the first foal from a good international mare and I hope Nick and Nikky can get a good return out of him. It’s been a good sale.’’

On the Toronado colt, Blue Gum’s Sean Dingwall said: “We were absolutely thrilled to get that result for our client. The horse paraded enormously over the past week, he just kept going better and better the whole week.

“He sold above expectations, everyone hopes you get at least two spirited bidders on their horse and we were fortunate enough to have that. We thought he’d make a couple of hundred thousand so to get $300,000 was great.’’

Inglis’ Victorian Bloodstock Manager James Price felt the top end of the market had been stronger than anticipated, while acknowledging the difficulties in the bottom third of the market.

“Pre-sale we expected that demand at the top of the market would be very strong, but I think it’s fair to say that it was even stronger than what we had anticipated,’’ Price said.

“This sale, and our weanling sale series as a whole, has real momentum and it is reflected in the fact that we have been supported by good vendors with plenty of nice weanlings, which in turn attracted a broad cross section of buyers to the sale.

“There is no disguising that there is a selectivity to the market, which is primarily pinhooker driven.

“Horses that don’t meet what are deemed to be the necessary criteria are treated harshly, while end users have no shortage of options to acquire stock, so don’t quite have the urgency of demand that exists amongst the pinhookers.

“We will be working hard with vendors to place as many horses from today as we can and see the clearance rate lift as much as possible.

“There was some great buying today and there are many more quality opportunities tomorrow, firstly with the remaining weanlings and then the broodmares.

“This is the buyers’ last chance to buy a weanling or broodmare at a live auction on the eastern seaboard this year so I strongly encourage vendors to meet the market and buyers to continue their spirited bidding.’’

To make an offer on a passed in lot from today’s action, contact Inglis’ Brittany Hussey on 0409 333 283.

The second and final day of the Great Southern Sale will commence at Oaklands at 10am tomorrow, Friday June 14, with 156 remaining weanlings catalogued before the 72 catalogued broodmares take centre stage.

Among the broodmare offerings are Naiconi (Nicconi) - a three-time winner from just nine starts and finished 2^nd to Vienna Princess in the Listed Twilight Glow Stakes - and Reo (Rubick) - also a three-time winner and G1 placed in last year’s Queensland Oaks - as well as mares in foal on enticing covers to stallions such as Alabama Express, Blue Point, Grunt, Harry Angel, Jacquinot, Ole Kirk, Pierata, Pierro, Pinatubo, Royal Meeting, Shamus Award, Spirit of Boom, Tassort, The Autumn Sun, Toronado, Wootton Bassett, Zousain etc.

If you are unable to attend Oaklands but wish to participate in the sale, Inglis’ online bidding platform will again be available, or you can contact a member of the Inglis bloodstock team.

To view the catalogue, CLICK HERE.