Almost eight months after being struck down by a near-fatal stroke, Reg Inglis musters to meet for a coffee down at one of his favourite Double Bay haunts.

Walking into the cafe it’s hard to know what to expect. Punctual and looking dapper as always, he’s seated in the corner waiting patiently. Already one coffee down, he welcomes me with his famous charm.

Whilst nothing appears to have changed too much in his character, there’s evidence of paralysis down one side of his upper body. He tells me he cannot remember the five weeks of his life after the stroke that was spent lying flat on his back in a hospital.

“The doctors thought I would be a vegetable,” said Reg.

Through extraordinary determination, top medical assistance and the support of a tight and loyal network of friends and family, he’s defying that grim prognosis.

Daily speech therapy lessons have enabled him to regain his ability to communicate and next month he will take his biggest step yet on the journey towards recovery and embark on a trip to the US to visit his great friend Jon Kelly and attend the Breeders’ Cup.

“I have always been a positive person and continue to be that way. I never look back. Back’s history and forward is the future. I don’t dwell on things. I’m lucky.”

Reg has been a towering figure in Australian bloodstock for decades. In 1971 he first began working at his family’s sales company, William Inglis, and by 1989 he was appointed Managing Director.

“When I was about five or six years-old I used to notice Dad going to the yearling sales and I thought how wonderful it would be. It’s always been my great passion.

“I think the actual auctioneering and the theatre of it is what I love and seeing one fine thoroughbred after another going through the ring.”

The drama of auction

Reg got his auctioneering start selling calves at Camden.

“Dad said to me, OK you are having a go today, and I thought to myself well here goes.”

And, so began a journey that would see him take centre stage of the major sales rings. For many years his distinctive voice could be heard echoing through the auditoriums at Newmarket and Oaklands where he brought down the gavel on some of the best horseflesh in Australia.

“I was lucky enough to have a good voice. You can’t make an auctioneer.”

He says the support and encouragement of his late father Dick during that early period of his life and career had a significant impact.

“He was a marvellous man. He let me be myself. He always advised me of what I had done wrong but his greatest advice was to be fair.”

Reg took that sage advice on board and there was no greater test of exercising fairness than in 1989 when the late Bart Cummings and two accounting firms, Coopers & Lybrand and Peat Marwick, designed a horse syndication scheme based around a tax break for investment in racehorses that existed at the time.

Urged on by the success of a $6 million syndicate in 1988, Bart bought $22 million worth of yearlings at sales in the space of just a few months. At the Inglis Easter sales alone, he spent $13.6 million on 43 yearlings, including $1.5 million on a single horse.

Units in the syndicates were then offered at $49,446, plus $10,284 for the first year's running expenses – for an estimated tax saving of $7,462.

Prospectus documents for the scheme weren't ready until late June and Bart needed to settle with Inglis by June 30.

He overestimated how well the economy was breaking back from the 1987 Stockmarket crash and selling the units in the horses was not as easy as he’d hoped. With soaring interest rates the money had dried up everywhere.

Subsequently, Bart didn't get close to selling the 160 units he needed to, however, Inglis, which had extended credit to him, still had to pay the vendors of the yearlings.

“He got himself into a hole. We had the option to pursue bankruptcy and we didn’t. We didn't get the credit due to us. They (journalists) kept siding with Bart.

“He got let off with a five-year payment scheme to us. No more than $500,000 was paid back and he owed us $15 million. So, we had to bear a debt of close to $15 million and that was a bit in those days.”

Reg openly admits the biggest disappointment was Bart’s lack of gratitude after the whole saga.

“He never acknowledged us. Had he come to me and said, Reg, I’m sorry, I would have forgiven him but he never did.”

Impressionable men

At the time Reg had a number of very impressionable young men working in his team including Jonathan D’Arcy who is currently Inglis’ General Manager of Bloodstock Operations.

Jonathan vividly recalls what was a highly stressful period for Inglis.

“Reg showed a great deal of common sense. He had to find alternative banking arrangements and that solidified our position in the industry. A lot of people had no idea what was going on behind their backs and it’s made the company as strong as it is today.

“Some people are aware of how much he (Bart) paid us back and it was not very many cents in the dollar. Whilst the company has done well over the years, back then every dollar was important.

“To find money to pay out to breeders and not get that money back was a burden to the company and shareholders over the years,” said Jonathan.

Godolphin Managing Director, Vin Cox, who was also working closely with Reg at the time, speaks highly of his ability to navigate through challenging times.

“There were a number of crises over the years, none more so than the collapse of the market in the late 80s and the Botulism outbreak at the 1993 Easter Yearling sale.

“Not only did Reg lead Inglis through these delicate times, but the business flourished enormously afterwards,” said Vin.

The leadership shown by Reg through the Botulism outbreak also made a huge impression on Jonathan D’Arcy.

“The telling point was that Reg pulled everyone together the afternoon of the outbreak," recalled Jonathan. "All the breeders had attended the meeting and lots of people said the sale had to be stopped and cancelled."

“He was a very strong voice and said we have all the buyers from around the world we need breeders to stand behind their product. If a horse falls ill after it’s sold, they must agree to take it back at no risk to the purchaser. Many of the horses here are 100 per cent sound and healthy and we are not going to get these buyers back in two weeks-time or a month to re-run this sale."

“The only chance of the sale being a success is to keep going.

“It was an incredible show of leadership in what was a high-pressure situation. I always look back at how Reg took control when there were a lot of loud voices in the room that wanted to choose the more conservative route.

“The path he chose was very much the right path for everyone. The buyers stood up and the sale was strong and successful,” said Jonathan.

A mentor

Vin and Jonathan are just two shining examples of key people in the Australian racing and breeding industry today that have been mentored by Reg. Others include Magic Millions Managing Director Barry Bowditch, Sky Racing’s Richard Haynes and highly respected bloodstock advisor Trevor Lobb.

“That was one of my goals, to mentor people. I told them to own up to your mistakes and be honest. That’s the main thing.

“I was very lucky to have the staff around me that wanted to work hard and play hard. Work hard and play hard and don’t get them mixed up,” said Reg.

He’s proud of his proteges and what they have gone on to do since the days back at Inglis.

“Vin was always someone that stuck out. It was his manner. He could get on so well with people. He is a genuinely good guy and he’s not corruptible.”

Of Jonathan he says;

“He’s a remarkable bloke. Honesty seems to come up a lot in this but he’s absolutely honest and a great judge. He’s the driving force of William Inglis in my opinion. A person of the highest quality.”

After 36 years, including 18 as Managing Director, Reg was forced to resign from Inglis in 2006 following a change in shareholding control between different members of his family.

“That was very traumatic,” he summarises.

He explained how valiantly he tried to keep the business with the moral and financial support of his US friend and businessman Jon Kelly.

“He rang me and said I’m coming to help you. I said there’s little you can do and he said I’m on a plane tomorrow. I picked him up and he said have you considered this and considered that.

“I offered $110 million for the business and they knocked it back.”

With takeovers and serious health problems including a bout of cancer to contend with, it hasn’t been an easy 10 years for Reg but his spirit is as strong as ever.

“The Reg today is the same person I met years ago. Respect, integrity and honesty are the things he values in people and if you show him that he will return it in spades,” said Jonathan.

Vin Cox will be forever thankful for the influence he had on his career.

“Reg has a sixth sense around judging character, whether it be giving a new client some leeway or selecting staff, he rarely got it wrong.

“That served him enormously well over the years, where you will find many careers or businesses were started because Reg gave them a go, not least my own career,” said Vin.

Whilst still keeping in touch with and a close eye on the progress of the likes of Vin and Jonathan, Reg is now mainly focused on rebuilding his own physical health.

“It's been a battle. The plan is I am going to wait until after Christmas to determine what I want to do. I’m here to get better,” he said, with positivity and that trademark glint of excitement in his eye.

Mystic Journey's breeder Ralph Zito has described the loss of the Group 1 winner's dam White Gold (NZ) (Colombia {NZ}) as a devastating blow but he remains positive that the future of the family is in good hands.

White Gold, the reigning Tasmanian Broodmare Of The Year, died after breaking a leg following surgery for foaling complications at Armidale Stud last Tuesday.

With Mystic Journey preparing for the G1 Cox Plate on Saturday, Zito and Armidale Stud opted to keep White Gold's death quiet for a few days, with those connected to both the mare herself and her famous daughter flying to Melbourne for the big race. Zito informed connections of the news on Sunday.

"We're totally devastated and can't even believe that it would happen that a Group 1 producer like her would not fulfil her full potential," Zito told TDN AusNZ.

"It was a shocking set of circumstances. Armidale Stud did everything they could to save her. I got a call on 5am on Tuesday morning and it just got worse from there.

"We've been breeding for 20 years and we’ve never had any sort of obstetric complication.

"We hadn't really discussed it with anyone else until today when I called a few people to let them know. People noticed at the races that I wasn't quite as I should be, but I didn’t let them know until now."

Despite losing the mare and her foal, Zito retains three half-sisters to Mystic Journey from White Gold in Oh So Gold (Savoire Vivre {GB}), Gold Phoenix (Jayemzed) and an unnamed yearling filly by Sun Stud's Fighting Sun.

"On the positive side, Oh So Gold has just delivered a beautiful Fighting Sun filly and she is booked in to be covered by Shooting To Win and both those matings are fabulous matings," he said.

Oh So Gold has already produced the stakes winner and last season's Tasmanian 2YO Of The Year, Mystical Pursuit (Needs Further), who like Mystic Journey is in the ownership of Wayne Roser and is trained by Adam Trinder, and Zito has retained Mystical Pursuit's now 2-year-old full sister Oh So Far.

Gold Phoenix won one of her 12 starts in Tasmania where she was trained first by Scott Brunton and then Royston Carr. She is now also in foal to Needs Further with what will be another three-quarter sibling to Mystic Journey.

"White Gold's final filly has been entered for the Melbourne Premier Sale and she is a magnificent type, but we may wait and see on her. We have to be a bit careful not to give away the whole family," Zito said.

While there appears to be plenty of opportunity for the family which Zito has planned so carefully to continue its successful run, the loss of the matriarch is keenly felt.

"She's been pretty precious to us. I actually picked her mother out of a catalogue when she was a weanling," he said. "We thought she'd never race because she had one bad leg but with those bloodlines, I knew she would do well as a broodmare."

"Her second dam, L'Anno D'Oro, was the dam of Lacryma Cristi, and I thought even if she never races, we’ll do an Eight Carat linebred, which is what we did with White Gold."

Among those who travelled to Melbourne to watch Mystic Journey were Cambridge vet Murray Brightwell and his wife Kathy, who delivered White Gold when she was foaled in New Zealand in 2001.

"They were very upset as well, because they have raised the whole family for us," Zito said.

After an emotional week, Zito said he was very proud of how Mystic Journey acquitted herself with her fifth place in the Cox Plate, beaten 4l by Japanese mare Lys Gracieux (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}).

"It would have been wonderful if Mystic Journey had won the race, but I thought it was a fabulous run. All of us, the breeders and the owners are very, very proud. I thought it was a fantastic effort," he said.

It was a winning day for Armidale Stud at Moonee Valley, who bred and sold G2 Drummond Golf Vase winner Soul Patch (Shamus Award) and it will get another Group 1 opportunity next weekend when that colt tackles the G1 Victoria Derby,

Meanwhile, Trinder has confirmed Mystic Journey would again target the All-Star Mile in the autumn.

"We'd love to give her the opportunity to defend her crown in the All-Star Mile in the autumn and that's where I’m hopeful of heading,” he said.

Celebrating a treble of stakes winners on one of Australia's biggest racedays, Blue Gum Farm owner Philip Campbell attributes the run of successful results on Cox Plate day at Moonee Valley to the people and processes that the Farm has in place to breed, raise and sell quality racehorses.

Ideas Man (Brazen Beau), bred by long-term Blue Gum clients the Pope family and raised and sold by the farm, kicked things off in the R. Listed Inglis Banner before La Falaise (Canford Cliffs {Ire}) claimed a dead-heat win in the G2 Antler Luggage Fillies Classic and Sartorial Splendor (Brazen Beau) led all-the-way in the G3 1300 Australia S.

Campbell, who bred both La Falaise and Sartorial Splendor with his wife Patti, said it was an immensely satisfying day.

"It’s all well and good to sell these high-priced horses but it’s important you see them go to the races and perform. I think we’ve got a really, really good framework in place here at the farm for raising the horses and taking them through, prepping them and selling them," Campbell told TDN AusNZ .

"The end piece of the puzzle is seeing them perform and when you look at those three yesterday, one was $5000 and the highest priced was $575,000. Every one of them that wins is just fantastic for us and what we are trying to do. That's what was so satisfying about the whole day."

What was particularly gratifying for Campbell was the joy such a run of successes on such a big day gave those who work on the farm, in particular Yearling Manager Wendy Smith and Horse Operations Manager Chris Kent.

"These horses, you are working on them from conception onwards. Those guys and the team they assemble here at the farm do a wonderful job and I know they got a lot of satisfaction out of the day as well."

Ideas Man win a tribute to 'sweet' mare

The most poignant win of the day came from 2-year-old Ideas Man, whose dam Innovation Girl (Rubiton), a long-term resident on the Euroa property, died only last week.

"We lost her ten days ago, which was terribly sad. She was starting to get up in age a little bit, but I know how special she was for Des Pope and his family and she had been here for some years and was very special to us. She was a sweet old girl and it all happened very quickly," he said.

"We were able to gain something from the wreck yesterday and hopefully this boy, who was her last foal, will be able to keep her name up in lights for a few years to come."

The expectations were always strong for Ideas Man, being from the second crop of Darley's Brazen Beau out of a multiple stakes-winner who had already produced the Listed winner Chloe In Paris (Exceed And Excel).

It was Ciaron Maher who went to $575,000 for the colt on behalf of his major backer Colin McKenna at this year's Inglis Melbourne Premier Sale, hardly a surprise given he had trained the half-sister.

Des Pope stayed in the colt and was there to celebrate with McKenna and Maher and his co-trainer David Eustace at Moonee Valley on Saturday.

Campbell thinks the narrow debut win is a sign of bigger and better things to come from Ideas Man.

"He didn’t quite look like he knew what he was doing to me. He was very casual behind the barriers and he missed the kick. He's obviously got natural ability and that's no surprise because he's such a good looking horse," he said.

"He's got great strength, he's from a good family and the stallion is getting runners. It was fun to watch him go to the races and do what he did first-up.

"Listening to Ciaron interviewed after the race yesterday, I got that impression that he feels the same way. Innovation Girl was able to train on as a 3-year-old and this colt looks like he will as well."

Splendor for Beau and Sadler

It was also a banner day for Darley's Northwood Park-based stallion Brazen Beau, who took his stakes winner count from three to five in the space of a couple of hours when Sartorial Splendor showed supreme speed over the 1200 metres to win the G3 1300 Australia S. for trainer John Sadler, who paid $130,000 for him at the 2018 Melbourne Premier Sale.

"Sads has always said that if he could get the horse to be a racehorse, he knows he's got untold ability," Campbell said. "Once the penny drops and he does what he's out there to do full time and becomes more professional, he could be a very exciting prospect."

Campbell remembers as a yearling, he was a colt who had all the quality to fetch a significant price, only to have a couple of small x-ray issues.

"I'm just glad that John Sadler bit the bullet and said I like the horse too much to pass up on him. I know he and his connections are having a lot of fun with that colt," he said.

Sartorial Splendor certainly doesn’t want on the pedigree page, being out of stakes-winning mare Personal Ensign (Rubiton), making him a half-brother to multiple Group winning filly Fontiton (Turffontein), who won the Inglis Banner on the same day five years ago.

Personal Ensign's yearling filly by resident stallion Manhattan Rain will go through the Inglis Melbourne Premier Sale next year while she has just had a colt to that stallion and will head back to Brazen Beau in the next couple of weeks.

$5000 filly now a Group 2 winner

La Falaise (Canford Cliffs {Ire}) cost Darren Weir just $5000 at the 2018 Inglis Melbourne Vobis Gold Sale and has proven a terrific filly for her trainer Henry Dwyer and her connections headed by Roll The Dice Racing, taking her prizemoney to $220,000 with two wins from six starts.

She also has significant residual value as a possible broodmare having now won a Group 2 race, albeit in a dead-heat with Fascino (NZ) (Charm Spirit {Ire}), and being out of a stakes-winning Exceed And Excel mare in Exceedingly French.

"I bought that mare carrying La Falaise off a client of ours, she was about $24,000," Campbell said.

"I took that filly to the VOBIS Gold Yearling Sale and Canford Cliffs wasn't so in fashion and this filly was back at the knee. She could definitely move, but she didn’t give us any great feeling at the sale of having much competition on her.

"I remember seeing Darren Weir watching her walk around in the back ring and when she left to go into the sale ring, he followed her in. I remember saying to Simon Vivian from Inglis, I hope Weiry has followed this thing in to buy it and he did.

"It's a shame because of everything that has happened with him, but the guy deserves credit for his eye for a horse. Henry (Dwyer) has been the benefactor of that since then and the Roll The Dice group is a great group."

Blue Gum Farm sold La Falaise's half-sister by Street Boss (USA) to Shane Nichols earlier this year for $100,000, while Campbell intends to retain the yearling filly half-sister by Manhattan Rain.

"When La Falaise won the Elvstroem Classic impressively at Swan Hill, I had it in my head, if she can become a stakes winner, that filly would be worth keeping, so we will keep her," he said.

Exceedingly French missed to Manhattan Rain last year but is in foal to him again this season.