News

Records smashed as Great Southern ends on a high

14th Jun 2024

The Great Southern Sale today produced the highest-priced weanling colt sold this year to cap off an Inglis Breeding Stock Sales Series which has ended as the second best in history.

Lot 499, a Snitzel x Members Joy colt, sold to Newgate Farm Stud Manager and astute pinhooker Jim Carey for a sale-topping $575,000, making him the highest-priced weanling colt ever sold at the Great Southern Sale.

In what has been a strong month of Inglis Breeding Stock sales:

*The Inglis Weanling Sales Series (Australian Weanling Sale and Great Southern Weanling Sale) grossed a record $28,186,000 – a 23% year-on-year increase and ensuring its place as the market-leading weanling sales series in Australia for the third consecutive year

*The Great Southern Weanling Sale gross of $11,906,000 is a 19% year-on-year increase and the second-best ever, just $200,000 shy of the record year of 2022

*A total of 34 weanlings realised $100,000 or more at the Great Southern Sale, up from 22 last year

*The combined gross of the Inglis Breeding Stock Sales Series - Australian Weanling Sale, Chairman’s Sale, Australian Broodmare Sale and Great Southern Sale - currently sits at $72,434,750, the second best ever

The Snitzel x Members Joy colt (pictured) was today offered by Bell River Thoroughbreds on behalf of Suman Hedge and Sheriff Iskander.

The result was not only a record price for a colt at Great Southern but also the best ever weanling result for Bell River, much to the delight of the farm’s James Ferguson.

“It’s a fantastic result, brilliant, it’s exceeded my expectations totally,’’ Ferguson said.

“He was a supplementary lot, he only came out of the paddock last week but that’s testament to the horse, he handled it with ease and testament to our staff back home who do such an amazing job.

“We’re really thrilled, to pull it off is a great result. This has been our biggest year ever, we seem to say that every year but it just keeps getting better and better.’’

Hedge described the result as “beyond all of our dreams’’ and it capped off a huge week for he and Iskander, whose Inglis Premier Yearling Sale filly Socks Nation won the G1 Queensland Oaks on Saturday.

“We all have a lot of difficult weeks in the industry so when you get a good week like this and things are rosy, you’ve just got to savour it and enjoy it,’’ Hedge said.

“It was a late decision to bring the colt here but the Fergusons did an amazing job with him, they’ve worked tirelessly, I mean the horse only had a four-day prep for the sale basically.

“I think this is an outstanding sale, an underrated sale. At the end of the day it’s the last opportunity for buyers to buy stock, they’re all here and they’re all aggressive to get what they can.
“I think it’s a great sale to target as a seller… it’s batted above its average this year again.’’

Carey believed the colt was “the best weanling that went through the market all year’’.

“Really exceptional Snitzel colts are hard to come by,’’ Carey said.

“We’ve had a huge amount of success producing Group 1 performers through the Newgate pinhooking system and we’re really hopeful this colt can be the next high level graduate raised on the farm.’’

Today’s second-top lot was an Acrobat x Spiced filly from Ponderosa Park, which was purchased by Hallmark Stud and Michael Kirwan for $170,000.

Kirwan was in the ownership group of Acrobat – a highly talented 2YO who won the Inglis Nursery on debut in emphatic fashion before injury ended his racing career – and “just loved’’ the Spiced filly.

“She’s an absolutely gorgeous filly, a queen, and I just really liked her profile and pedigree, by Acrobat out of an Exceed And Excel mare,’’ Kirwan said.

“I thought she was one of the best fillies in the sale. Was she good buying at $170,000? I’ll tell you next year after we’ve offered her as a yearling!’’

Following the completion of the weanling sale, attention moved to the broodmare section of the Great Southern catalogue, which was topped by the Stonehouse Thoroughbreds-offered Naiconi, selling to Mitchell Bloodstock for $160,000.

Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch reflected on what has been a successful month for the company.

“We’ve worked hard as a team over the past few years on our breeding stock sales series and to now have the Inglis Weanling Sales Series as comfortably the biggest and best in Australia and to have made a significant impression on the broodmare market, it’s really very pleasing and we are hugely grateful for the support from a huge cross section of vendors and breeders,’’ Hutch said.

“To sell more than $28m worth of weanlings – a market-leading figure for a third consecutive year – between Sydney and Melbourne is extremely satisfying but something we wouldn’t have been able to do without the backing of a huge proportion of the market.

“There is no disguising the challenges in the market, particularly in terms of its selective nature, but there have been a huge number of pleasing results that have seen a lot of clients well rewarded for both weanlings and broodmares.’’

To watch a review of the Great Southern Sale CLICK HERE.

To make an offer on a passed in lot from the Great Southern Sale, contact Inglis’ Britt Hussey on 0409 333 823.

Attention now reverts to the online space, with entries open for the Inglis Digital June (Late) Sale.

They will remain open until midnight on Wednesday (June 19).

To enter CLICK HERE.