$625,000 Captivant Brother Tops Inglis Weanlings Day 1

Media Release - Monday May 1

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.

$625,000 Capitalist colt was the star of the show.

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 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.

Advertisement

“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.

$220,000 Zoustar filly from Lady Cartier.

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)

 

Advertisment
More Reading...
Pinhook Winners 2024 NZB Ready to Run – Churchill Colt the Star
A record breaking NZB Ready to Run Sale this week at Karaka delivered plenty of pinhook success with 18 two year-olds selling for $300,000 or more above their yearling purchase price, so let’s take a look at some of the best of them.
G1 Pedigree Watch - Plus Up and Comers
The spring carnival might be over, but the G1 action is now in Perth and a Queenslander took the top prize and we are also looking at a few other stakes-winners that hold the promise of more to come.
Halo Racing Reduction features in November (Late) catalogue
Shares in reigning G1 Caulfield Cup champion Duke de Sessa, G1 Toorak Hcp winner Attrition and tomorrow’s G1 Railway Stakes favourite Light Infantry Man headline an exciting Inglis Digital November (Late) Online Sale.
Catalogue Online for the Southern Hemisphere Session of the Tattersalls Online December Sale
The catalogue of initial entries for the Southern Hemisphere Session, an innovative collaboration between Tattersalls Online and Inglis Digital, has now been published on the Tattersalls Online website.
One to Watch – Canberra
At the 2023 Magic Millions Yearling Sale on the Gold Coast US investors Richard and Tammy Rigney of Rigney Racing purchased two yearling fillies by I Am Invincible for $2million and $1.2million and got a result with one of them in Canberra on Sunday.
Magic Millions 2025 Magazine Online
The 2025 Magic Millions magazine is now online with a great mix of gallery images, editorial and vendor profilies.
New French Stakes-Winner for Churchill
Currently finishing his seventh season of shuttling to Coolmore Australia, Churchill has had a productive year and sired his 16th stakes-winner of 2024 when progressive three year-old filly Some Skye landed the Listed Grand Prix de Fontainebleau (1900m) at Chantilly.
Sires With Winners - Sunday November 24
Here is the full list of 72 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
Yulong Announce Sad Passing of G1 Winning Mare
Yulong released a video Tweet last week recapping their sensational spring carnival results and also revealing the passing of their dual Group I winning Frankel mare Hungry Heart.
Winx Foals a Snitzel Colt
The owners of Winx have announced the champion mare has foaled a healthy colt by Snitzel early on Monday morning.