The first $1m horse to ever sell at a Southern Hemisphere 2YO auction was the star of today’s Inglis Ready2Race Sale which saw the top of the market explode and pinhookers enjoy any number of dream results.
The Written Tycoon x Soriano filly (lot 166) of Baystone Farm sold for $1m to Yulong, with opposition including Mick Malone, Annabel Neasham and, finally, a persistent Sheamus Mills for the catalogue’s star attraction.
Baystone initially purchased the filly off Yulong for $200,000 at this year’s Easter Yearling Sale before turning her into one of the best pinhook results in recent memory.
In a sign of just how strong today’s sale at Riverside was, the Soriano filly was one of eight to realise $500,000 or more, one of 11 to realise $400,000 or more and one of 18 to sell for $300,000 or more.
Today’s average currently sits at $167,065 – an increase of 58% from the corresponding time 12 months ago - while the gross ($15,370,000) was also up an incredible 39% to make it the second-highest grossing Inglis Ready2Race Sale ever.
Baystone’s Dean Harvey, who presented 13 horses at today’s sale, was stunned by the $1m result.
“I can’t believe it. I mean she was super popular all week, she was hard to fault and we knew how good she was talent wise but it’s just all come together, Written Tycoon has had an amazing few months and she’s just a queen of a filly but we didn’t think she’d make that sort of money,’’ Harvey said.
“At Easter she was a quality filly with a big pedigree and by a good stallion. Nothing’s gone wrong, she’s been perfect the whole way through and Troy Corstens has never been higher on a filly so I’ve told him to go and chase Mr Zhang to see if he can train her.
“Her reserve was much lower, way lower. I knew there’d be a lot of competition and you always hope that two heavy hitters want her and go head to head and that’s what happened. You’ve got to savour moments like this.
“This result gives you confidence that you can bring a filly like that to a sale like this and get well paid for it.’’
Yulong’s Vin Cox described the filly as “pretty special’’.
“We’ve got absolute faith in our product and this is a gorgeous filly,’’ Cox said.
“They bought it off us for $200,000 at Easter and turned her into a $1m filly so a huge congratulations to the Baystone team.
“She breezed up well, the team around her were talking a big game with her and that brought a big price tag but we’re thrilled to get her back.
“The boss (Mr Zhang) was very keen on her. I’ve been in Europe with him recently and this was the horse in the sale that he kept asking about so I think it’s fair to say he’s had his eyes on her for many weeks.’’
Today’s second top lot was a Deep Field x Sheer Pleasure colt of Shane McGrath Bloodstock, which sold to Clinton McDonald for $750,000.
McGrath was presenting his first ever draft at a 2YO sale.
“I’ve obviously been involved in this horse’s education and Ben Melham rides him at home and he said ‘you can’t let him go, he’s a star’ so I put together some clients and we think he’s a Group colt so we’re thrilled to have him,’’ McDonald said.
“Everything he does he does with style and class, he has a beautiful action, great temperament and he’s fast. With what he’s shown us at home we expect to see him in the autumn, hopefully in the Blue Diamond like Hayasugi won for us this year.
“The price we paid was over budget so I’ve got to go and explain to the new clients now why I went a touch over but the old saying is ‘go home with the one you love’ and that’s what we’ve done.’’
It was a dream result for McGrath, who finished the day as leading vendor by average at $463,333 for three or more sold.
He initially purchased the colt at this year’s Easter Yearling Sale for $260,000.
“It’s been a phenomenal day for us really. There’s a fair bit of risk involved in this caper but full credit to Inglis with the support they’ve given us and the sale they’ve put on and we’ll definitely be back again,’’ McGrath said.
“We’re absolutely delighted. We purchased him here at Easter and he’s just continued to develop, he’s by a sire we love and Clinton couldn’t be more effusive in his praise in the horse.
“At the end of the day $750,000 is a hell of a lot of money. It’s been a great week, we’ve learned a lot of things too but we thought we brought a quality draft here and the market has respected that and I couldn’t be happier.’’
The top lots were two of an incredible bunch of pinhook results today which also included $240,000 into $600,000, $115,000 into $550,000, $150,000 into $525,000, $90,000 into $500,000, $80,000 into $500,000, $10,000 into $440,000, $70,000 into $420,000 etc.
Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch was delighted with the strength of today’s sale.
“There are a hell of a lot of positives from the day and not for a second at the start of the day did I think we would be reflecting on a record-priced breezer and a $1m lot at the end of the day,’’ Hutch said.
“Competition for nice horses that breezed well and vetted well was ferocious and the volume of buyers at the top end was like nothing we have seen before at this sale.
“There was significant Hong Kong participation on the buyer list which was fantastic to see because it’s a jurisdiction we have worked really hard on for our vendors to ensure a positive spend but it was great to have that supplemented by buyers from China, Malaysia and Macau.
“As well as that, we had the likes of Waterhouse/Bott, Ciaron Maher, Chris Waller with the Hermitage team, Price/Kent Racing, Annabel Neasham, Clinton McDonald, OTI, Triple Crown, Lloyd Kennewell, Mitch Beer, Joe Pride, John McArdle etc, amongst a strong group of domestic buyers.
“Predictably there was a selectivity in the market – it’s an inevitable feature of a sale where the horses offered are subject to a timed gallop - but there has been a robust trade in passed in lots and we’ll be working to grow the clearance rate further over the next 24-48 hours.
“We’re hugely grateful for the support of vendors and buyers of the sale and we look forward to following graduates of this years sale into the future, as well as planning for the 2025 sale on the basis of this strong platform.’’
To enquire about a passed in lot from today’s sale, contact Inglis’ Will Gardner on 0480 515 694.
Buyers’ attention now switches to the online sphere with the Inglis Digital October (Late) Sale, for which entries close at midnight tomorrow.
To enter CLICK HERE.
2024 INGLIS READY2RACE SALE (2023 stats in brackets)
Sold: 92 (92)
Clearance: 62% (55%)
Average: $167,065 ($106,248)
Median: $110,000 ($90,000)
Gross: $15,370,000 ($10,943,500)
