News

Weir thrilled with Ready2Race results

4th Oct 2016

There were plenty of smiles when a Street Cry half-brother to Thousand Guineas contender Leotie exited the Inglis sale ring today, but none bigger than champion trainer Darren Weir.

Weir was the lucky beneficiary of Yulong Investments boss Mr Zhang being the winning bidder on the colt, an impressive son of Prairie Star, for $300,000 at the Inglis Ready2Race Sale.

“I looked at him a couple of times and really liked the horse, liked his pedigree, he’s a great type, well built and I’m really excited that he’s coming into the stable,’’ Weir said.

“I don’t think he’s going to be an early-going type of horse. We’ll probably just take him home, poke around with him for a few weeks and then let him tell us but at this stage I’d think he’d be more of a later two-year-old, into a three-year-old.’’

For Mr Zhang, the theory was simple.

“I like to shop where the fish are already biting,’’ he said.

“I believe that when a mare shows she can get a nice horse, it tends to come out in not just one of their foals, but several. Lightning strikes twice as far as good broodmares go in my opinion, and I see Prairie Star as a very good broodmare.’’

While international buyers were strong in purchasing juveniles to race around the world, the domestic market was also very active.

Among the domestic buyers who bought multiple Lots were Belmont Bloodstock, Bjorn Baker, Lindsay Park Racing, Joseph And Jones Racing, Sheamus Mills Bloodstock and Darby Racing, whose first purchase was a Foxwedge colt from the 26-strong Lauriston Park draft.

“We were actually going to buy him at Scone but we had a lot of horses at the time,’’ Scott Darby said of the Foxwedge x Pinocchio colt, which he paid $100,000 for.

“He’s a sharp colt, the Foxwedge’s are really starting to kick some goals and this horse looks like a very nice horse.’’

Baystone Farm was the leading vendor with a 100% clearance rate from their draft of five, with an aggregate of $845,000.

They were one of 14 vendors to enjoy a 100% clearance rate.

The leading sire was Helmet, whose four Lots all sold, with an average price of $115,250.

With private sales still occurring, the sale average at this stage is $66,342.

The equal sale-toppers at $310,000 were a Written Tycoon x Best Feature colt from the Chevaux Bloodstock draft and a Smart Missile x Asshewaqua colt from Baystone Farm.

Inglis National Bloodstock Director Jonathan D’Arcy described the sale as a “tough day at the office, but it was pleasing to see several vendors achieving some excellent results for the time and effort they have put in to getting horses ready for this sale.

“We’re hopeful some late sales will get the clearance rate to around 70%, and the 29 Lots to sell for $100,000 or more was almost double that of last year, so that’s very positive too.

“This is a sale we are committed to and look forward to working with our clients to ensure it has a permanent place on our sales calendar.’’

For more information or to make an offer on any horses passed in at today’s sale, contact Peter Twomey on 0408 603 967.

For a full breakdown of statistics from today’s sale, click here.