News

Records reached on strong opening day of Australian Weanling Sale

1st May 2023

The most expensive colt ever sold at the Australian Weanling Sale topped today’s Day 1 action at Riverside as buyers’ thirst for quality young stock reached new heights.

A Capitalist x Speedboat colt (lot 271) – a brother to G1 winner Captivant offered as part of the Ashleigh Thoroughbreds dispersal – sold for $625,000 to the partnership of Newgate Farm, China Horse Club, Go Bloodstock and Trilogy Racing.

He became the equal highest-priced weanling ever sold at this sale, joining a More Than Ready x Milanova filly back in 2008.

Ashleigh Thoroughbreds’ Senga Bissett was thrilled with the outcome.

“That was a really great result, I couldn’t be happier. I didn’t expect that much, it’s just so exciting,’’ Bissett said.

“The horse has just been an absolute superstar all week, he’s a beautiful colt and I just hope he goes on and does a good job for Henry and the team.

“I wasn’t expecting that price, I really was hoping for $450,000, possibly $500,000 but nothing like that.’’

When asked if it had been an emotional week as she and her partner Ivan Woodford Smith enter retirement, Bissett said: “Yes but I’ve been so busy, it makes you not dwell on those things.

“I’ve never been busier. I’ve been doing sales for a long, long time and I’ve never been this busy, ever.

“Parades, it was about 130 per horse over the few days.’’

Newgate Farm’s Henry Field confirmed the colt (pictured) had been purchased to race for the partnership, describing him as a “very special colt’’.

“It’s not something we do that often, to buy a weanling colt for our racing syndicates, very rarely, but when a special one comes up you’ve got to look at them and take them seriously and he was very special,’’ Field said.

“They’ve got to be really out of the box to buy them as a weanling…but with this particular colt, we obviously had a lot of luck with Captivant, who we’re still in partnership in with our great friends at Kia Ora and he was a really good horse for our partnership.

“When they come up, these special ones, it doesn’t really matter [about the price]. We’re end users buying for a racing partnership that’s producing G1-winning colts to stand at stud. It’s a dispersal, you very rarely see colts of that calibre at public auction at a weanling market, and he was that horse.’’

Today’s second top lot was a Zoustar x Lady Cartier filly (lot 97) of Tyreel Stud, which sold to NZ nursery Kaha Nui Farm for $220,000.

Tyreel’s Linda Monds described the result as “very pleasing’’.

“She did have a reserve on her but she did exceed our expectations and I must say the final price was quite well above the reserve,’’ Monds said.

“She’s been strong and robust from the time she hit the ground, she’s a very powerful filly. She is an out-and-out racehorse, she just has that power and strength and I’ve no doubt she’ll reach success on the track.

“We have brought everything here to sell, we don’t want to be taking them home, we’ve not done this exercise to waste our time. We want to be known as sellers and every sale I go to, I just want to sell.

Kaha Nui Farm’s Nick White added: “She is a lovely filly and I think she’ll come up really well for whichever yearling sale she goes to. She has got a good pedigree.

“The stallion’s got a bit of power behind him so hopefully there’ll be people interested come [next year].

“She is a big, strong filly, she walks well, she is typical of the really nice Zoustar’s.”

At the end of the Day 1 trade today, the figures effectively mirrored last year’s strong opening day – an average of $50,827, median of $30,000 and clearance of 71%.

“The market was extremely strong for foals that met the criteria of buyers and there were some fantastic results through the day,’’ Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch said.

“As predicted pre-sale, demand significantly outstripped supply at the top end and buyers were really keen to get their hands on stock by proven stallions especially, you just look at the top lots and they were by the likes of Capitalist, Zoustar, So You Think, Russian Revolution, Deep Field and Written Tycoon so the right horses sold really, really well.

“There were also some great results for the first crop stallions like Ole Kirk, Bivouac, Farnan, King’s Legacy and Prague etc.

“There will again be plenty of great buying opportunities tomorrow as the sale concludes, be it for end users or pinhookers, both of which there were plenty on the grounds trying to buy today.’’

To enquire about a passed in lot from Day 1, contact Harry Bailey on 0420 997 417.

The second and final day of the Australian Weanling Sale will begin at 10am tomorrow at Riverside, where 163 weanlings have been catalogued.

To view the catalogue CLICK HERE.

The Inglis Breeding Stock Sales Series then continues on Thursday evening with The Chairman’s Sale from 4.30pm, where 109 elite fillies and mares are catalogued in what is one of the nights of the year at Riverside.

The action then concludes on Friday with the Australian Broodmare Sale, which includes Peters Investments Unreserved Broodmare Reduction Sale comprising of 12 lots.

To view The Chairman’s Sale or Australia Broodmare Sale catalogues, CLICK HERE.

2023 AUSTRALIAN WEANLING SALE DAY 1 STATISTICS (2022 in brackets)

Offered: 221 (230)

Sold: 156 (170)

Clearance: 71% (74%)

Average: $50,827 ($50,882)

Median: $30,000 ($30,000)

Gross: $7,929,000 ($8,650,000)