News

Million Dollar Man – Black Caviar’s Half Brother Sells

6th Apr 2011

Great theatre unfolded at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale this afternoon as the half-brother to Black Caviar became the subject of a bidding dual that ended when he was knocked down to Hawkes Racing for $1,025,000.

The colt is from the first crop of Patinack Farm stallion Casino Prince and was prepared for sale on behalf of breeder Rick Jamieson’s Gilgai Farm by Tony Santic’s Makybe.

As bidding reached $540,000, underbidder Peter Moody upped the ante to $600,000 and then went head to head with ‘Team Hawkes’ in $25,000 increments until reaching his limit at $1million.

Another $25,000 bid was enough to secure the Casino Prince colt for the John, Wayne and Michael Hawkes combination, making him the top priced yearling of the sale to date.

“It seemed like $600,000 was going to do it, but the two boys obviously wanted him. I’m thrilled to bits,” Jamieson said in the moments following the sale.

Stable representative Wayne Hawkes described him as an outstanding colt.

“We saw him at Makybe six weeks ago and then when we saw him again last week, he’d just jumped out of the ground,” Hawkes said.

“We know the family obviously, having Moshe, and everyone knows Black Caviar.”

Hawkes also paid tribute to the growing success of Tony Santic’s Makybe operation.

“Everyone doing form looks at the strike rate of trainers and we do the same when we are looking at vendors,” he said.

Black Caviar, unbeaten in 11 starts and shooting for 12 straight in Saturday’s Group 1 T.J. Smith, and the Hawkes trained Moshe – winner of three from four – are the lone runners to race to date from the Desert Sun mare Helsinge.

It is also the family of Group 1 winner Magnus, with the colt’s second dam being the crack sprinting Snippets mare Scandinavia.