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 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 aWritten Tycoon x Best Feature coltfrom
the Chevaux Bloodstock draft and aSmart Missile x Asshewaqua coltfrom
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.