Article images by Sam D'Agostino (SDP Media) courtesy of Inglis

At A Glance

>> The top lot on Day 1 was a Snitzel colt from Jestajingle offered by Blue Gum Farm and purchased by Aquis for $725,000

>> Darley first-season sire Territories ended the day as leading sire by average (3 or more sold), with his filly from G3 winner Kaniana purchased by Star Thoroughbreds and Randwick Bloodstock for $350,000, the day's top filly

>> Leading buyer on Day 1 was Ciaron Maher Racing, who purchased eight yearlings for $1.38 million and an average price of $172,500, with a top price of $460,000 for Yulong's colt by Teofilo (Ire)

>> Blue Gum Farm leads the vendor averages and aggregate (3 or more sold) after Day 1, with seven yearlings sold for $1.45 million

>> The average jumped significantly on last year to $138,512, compared to a Day 1 average of $125,111 in 2019 . Aggregate was $23.2 million, with 24 more lots sold than day one last year

>> The median also jumped from $100,000 to $120,000 , with 113 lots of $100,000 or more, up from 101 last year and 33 lots of $200,000 or more, up from 28 last year

>> The clearance rate of 75 per cent was marginally down on the Day 1 clearance rate of 77 per cent last year , however will likely increase with passed in lots trading post-sale

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Snitzel colt lures Aquis

Aquis struck a decisive blow and doubled down on the family of one of its emerging young stallions, securing a Snitzel colt who is a three-quarter brother to Jukebox for the top price of $725,000 late on the first day.

The colt, offered by Blue Gum Farm on behalf of WA's Oakland Park Stud, was the centre of a spirited bidding duel, with Aquis' desire for sons of three-time Australian champion Snitzel again giving them the impetus to win the battle.

Managing Director Shane McGrath was pleased with the price they secured him for and said decisions on which trainer he goes to is yet to be made.

"We thought that was about where he was. He's a top level colt, by a champion sire. He is a super mover himself. He looks a real 2-year-old and he comes from great breeders as well," he said.

"We were glad to get him. You look at these top-quality colts, that's what they are going to make. They are expensive at the moment but if they can win a nice race, it’s a future stallion prospect for us."

The colt was out of Jestajingle (Lonhro), the half-sister to Group 3 winner Jukebox (Snitzel) from a family which has also produced stakes-winners Jestatune (Rory's Jester), Beethoven (Helmet), Umatune (Umatilla {NZ}) and Itsahymn (Ihtiram {Ire}), all of which were bred by the Duncan family.

McGrath had identified the similarities between the colt and Jukebox.

"He wasn't dissimilar to him. I thought looking at the horse from a Snitzel point of view, he had a great action as well and he looks like a horse that will get up and go early," he said.

The colt is the third highest-priced yearling ever sold in Victoria and the result is a new record for Blue Gum Farm, who have been selling at Oaklands Junction for nearly 40 years.

"We knew he was very special. We have had the privilege of selling some cracking colts here in the past and we knew this guy was right up there amongst them. To see the quality of people that were going after him and the amount of money they were prepared to pay for him, it’s very satisfying," Blue Gum principal Philip Campbell said.

Blue Gum, the leading vendor from last year, lead sales on aggregate for vendors with $1.45 million across seven lots and also leads averages at $207,143 for those who sold three or more.

It was the highlight of a very positive opening day, with a competitive buying market making for a record fast start, marked by an average of $138,047.

"You approach any sale day with a degree of apprehension. A lot of work goes into it and vendors invest an extraordinary amount of time and effort in preparing horses for sale. We take on a degree of responsibility for making sure they achieve a positive outcome," Inglis General Manager Bloodstock Sales and Marketing Sebastian Hutch said.

"It's rewarding to go through a day like today and see so many people so pleased with the results. It wasn't a perfect day and there are factors we will be looking to improve on through this evening, tomorrow and into Tuesday but there were a lot of very rewarding results out of the day and we take a lot of positives out of it."

Maher tops buyers' list

It was Jukebox's trainer Ciaron Maher who struck earlier in the day for the equal second highest-priced yearling, Lot 25, a colt by Teofilo (Ire) out of Andes (Street Cry {Ire}) for $460,000 from Yulong's draft.

His dam is a half-sister to Group 3 winner and Group 1-placed Aramayo (Poet's Voice {GB}).

"He's by a proven sire out of a young Street Cry mare and I loved him as a type. He ticked all the boxes in terms of what I look for in a yearling. Hopefully he's one for the future," Maher said.

"He's a very good sire, but it was more he was from a good farm, by a good stallion and he was a good type.

"You hope they are a Guineas type horse and then maybe those Classic races, but you always hope that maybe they are a bit sharper, we'll see."

Maher ended the day as the leading buyer, picking up eight yearlings and spending $1.38 million, just ahead of Hawkes Racing who spent $1.11 million across six horses.

Yulong Chief Operating Officer Sam Fairgray celebrated another big result after a week where they secured two stallions in Alabama Express (Redoute's Choice) and Tagaloa (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) and had Hungry Heart (Frankel {GB}) win the G2 Sweet Embrace S. impressively, the first Yulong-bred stakes winner.

"He was hugely popular - lovely horse with a great temperament. It was a great result for Mr Zhang and it’s great to be a Victorian farm and be able to bring a horse like that to Melbourne Premier and for him to sell so well," he said.

"We have a broodmare band of 180 and with the acquisition of the new stallions we have to build a reputation that we can sell good racehorses. Being a Victorian farm we want to support this sale, so it’s great to make that sort of money with a nice colt like that."

Medaglia D'Oro colt headed to Hong Kong

Also going for $460,000 was Lot 45, a Medaglia D'Oro (USA) colt offered by Vinery Stud, with Craig Rounsefell of Boomer Bloodstock winning the bidding war on behalf of the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

“This colt is a lovely athletic type, he’s a little immature but has an abundance of quality, is a great mover and will develop into beautiful 3-year-old. His dam has consistently thrown talented, sound racehorses that improve with time - that’s the profile we want for Hong Kong,” Rounsefell said.

The colt is out of Base Paradise (Choisir), who has already produced two stakes-winners Brazuca (Medaglia D'Oro {USA}) and Mr Utopia (Elusive Quality {USA}).

James Harron paid $380,000 for Lot 116, a colt by Dundeel (NZ) offered by Three Bridges Thoroughbreds and destined for the stables of Anthony Freedman.

“He’s very much in that physical mould to what we’ve seen to what Dundeels do well at the track with the likes of Super Seth and Castelvecchio,” Harron said. “He’s a very athletic type of horse, medium sized, has a lovely depth of girth and a wonderful walking action with really good purpose.

"We’ll get him broken in and he’s not a horse we’re going to push too early. He should be a lovely backend 2-year-old or 3-year-old type for us."

Derby winner's brother heads to O'Brien

The full brother to 2018 VRC Derby winner Extra Brut (Domesday), Lot 133, was picked up by Melbourne Cup winning trainer Danny O'Brien on behalf of his major supporter John Wheeler for $380,000 from Stonehouse Thoroughbreds.

"John looks at all the horses himself and this was his pick of the sale. When I looked at him, it was very hard not to like the horse," O'Brien said.

"He was a big beautiful, scopey, staying style of horse. We are always here trying to buy horses that can maybe win a Derby. His full brother won one and hopefully we can get this guy to win a nice race as well."

The result was a terrific one for Stonehouse Thoroughbreds, who had sold Extra Brut as a weanling for $50,000.

“A good client and our great mate Andrew McDonald bought the mare Dom Perion in foal to what became Extra Brut. Consequently, we sold the Domesday colt weanling for him for $50,000, which was a tremendous result given where he was then, and he went on to be sold at the Classic sale and became Extra Brut," Stonehouse's Ryan Arnel said.

“Andrew, on his own accord, did a full blood mating again and this is the foal that has come from that. He has come on in leaps and bounds."

The top filly for the day was Lot 232 at $350,000. She is from the first Southern Hemisphere crop of Darley's Territories (Ire) and was offered by Millford Thoroughbreds and was purchased by Star Thoroughbreds and Randwick Bloodstock.

She is the first foal from Group 3 winner Kaniana (Canny Lad) from an extended family that includes international Group and Grade 1 winners Ashayer (USA) (Lomond {USA}), Aqaarid (USA) (Nashwan {USA}) and Alampur (Arg) (Catcher In the Rye {Ire}).

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Top sires by aggregate

Top sires by average (3 or more sold)

Top vendors by aggregate

Top vendors by average (3 or more sold)

There are few stallions in Australia more deserving of a first Group 1 winner than All Too Hard, who across his career at Vinery has built a reputation as a prolific producer of winners, with 201 from 326 runners to the track, including 15 stakes winners.

In G1 Australian Guineas winner Alligator Blood, he now has that headline horse to go with his tremendous consistency, and given the 3-year-old is a gelding, it is likely to be the first of several victories at the elite level for the David Vandyke-trained galloper.

That success was complemented by the victories of Dawn Dawn in the G2 Guy Walter S. at Randwick and the win of Hard Rock Girl in the Listed Cinderella S. at Morphettville in what was the most significant day in the stallion's career.

The combination of quality and variety of winners was the perfect recipe for Vinery Stud's General Manager Peter Orton to be bearing a broad smile at the Inglis Melbourne Premier Sale on Sunday.

"Over the last few months he's had a plethora of winners, which is good. But the market is always looking for that top horse, so to get a horse of the calibre of Alligator Blood is fantastic as a flag bearer," he said,.

"But we want to know there are others about and so to have two other stakes winners on the day was really important for us. And variety, he's had two 2-year-old stakes winners this year and the perception is they take a bit of time, which is true too, and to have a mare winning as well. The variety he puts into his stock is really good."

But for Orton, Saturday's results won’t alter the approach he takes with the stallion, with the intention that he will stand at a similar fee to the $27,500 (inc GST) he stood his eighth season at stud in 2020.

"It just underpins him. The market ebbs and flows and you have to adjust as you go along. He's a horse that will maintain his fee around where it is. He’ll get good support and he’ll get a balance of mares," he said.

"I think what happened yesterday, and what has happened the past few months, is not something that has just exploded, but it underpins what we feel about the horse. There's a lot of industry support for the horse, those that believe in him and he has franked that support."

Getting the mix right

All Too Hard, a four-time Group 1 winner on the track, has been very well patronised since his first season, with books over 150 in his first four years, and books of 146, 134 and 107 the past three seasons.

Orton feels breeders, trainers and the market are only now getting a proper handle of how to get the best out of his progeny.

"In this market, the approach to first-season sires has always been very aggressive. He picked up an amazing group of mares in his first year, he covered 50 Group winners and 15 Group 1 winners. But they aren't necessarily the ones that throw the good horses," he said.

"I actually believe he has come back into the better end of the middle market, that's where those mares with a depth of pedigree are. He has done very well from that.

"He's a lovely big horse. He helps a lot of mares physically and breeders know there is a lot of avenues and he can go in a lot of directions, and that's important.

"The industry is now understanding that he does get 2-year-old winners but they are better off being given time. It's an education process - we all work it out as we go."

Alligator propels sire to new heights

Alligator Blood's heroics this season have seen All Too Hard propelled to new heights and he is now inside the top 10 on the sires' list in Australia for both winners and prizemoney with 82 winners and his progeny earning over $7.3 million.

The momentum created from a headline horse can prove career-defining for a stallion.

"It’s good as All Too hard gets the benefit as he goes along. Alligator Blood is his own animal and he's obviously become a bit of a talking horse," Orton said.

"Breeders invest a lot in this industry, so to start with, you want to know that the stallion you go to has got the capability. Top stallions all have the capability to throw top horses themselves. Winners are good, but you have to get the top end, that's the nature of the business."

As for comparisons between the sire and his star, Orton sees a couple of significant similarities.

"There's a champion factor in there. What he did yesterday was amazing. If you go back to All Too Hard and think about what he was, he was a 3-year-old who got up and did things as a 2-year-old," he said.

"When we bought him, we won three Group 1s with him and he had a virus on the morning of the Australian Guineas. He would have won that by six lengths.

"He could have gone on for another year, but we paid a lot of money for him and that's always difficult. He would have won another five or six Group 1s, he was that calibre of horse. The attitude is what you see. All Too Hard's will to win as a colt was spectacular and that is what I see in Alligator Blood as well."

Most European breeders first clapped eyes on Zoustar as he paraded among the clinking champagne glasses of the inaugural Goffs London Sale in 2014. It was a stepping out into London Society, of sorts, for the Australian sprinter, but it wasn’t meant to be that way.

When Sheikh Fahad Al Thani bought into Zoustar, after he skipped to victory in the G1 Coolmore Stud S. at Flemington, he had Royal Ascot in mind and the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. was put firmly to the top of the agenda.

Alas, a minor setback before the Royal meeting meant that the dual Group 1 winning sprinter never got to showcase his ability on the Ascot turf and it would be five years until he’d be seen again in the UK; the next time as a stallion, taking up duties at Tweenhills Stud in 2019.

Returning to the Northern Hemisphere as the hottest young sire in Australia, Zoustar had a CV that was as jam-packed with credentials as his current book of mares and, as Qatar Racing’s David Redvers explains, it was more than worth the wait.

“I felt very strongly that as he’d failed to get the opportunity to showcase his talents (in England) on the racecourse due to a last minute setback before he was meant to run in the Diamond Jubilee, rather than get him off to a half-cock start here it would be better to let him sink or swim on his own merits as a stallion first.

“In our wildest dreams,” continues Redvers, “we couldn’t really have expected him to make such an immediate impression with his first runners and it was when he sired the first three home in the Coolmore (Stud S. in 2018) that it became an absolute no brainer for him to come up here and get established.”

Getting established

Success in the G1 Coolmore Stud S. at Flemington appears to run in the family. Zoustar won the race in 2013 - as his ill-fated sire Northern Meteor and grandsire Encosta De Lago had done before him – and in 2018 he sired the trifecta, with only his first 3-year-olds. An unprecedented achievement by any freshman sire.

News travels fast in the bloodstock world and with Zoustar’s ever growing list of high achievers on the racecourse and results in the sales ring to match, it didn’t take long for European breeders to want in on the action.

“The Australian racing and breeding program, in the last 50 odd years, has almost entirely been slanted towards speed and sprinters,” explains Redvers. “Therefore, the very best young stallion in Australia who also happened to be Champion 3-year-old sprinter himself was always going to capture the imagination up here, where our own breeding program is also becoming more and more speed oriented.”

Beginning his career at Tweenhills on a covering fee of £25,000 (AU$49,112), the son of Northern Meteor has been increased to £30,000 (AU$58,934) for his second season and with no Northern Hemisphere runners to speak of yet, it’s a sure sign of his popularity.

“He was completely oversubscribed last year at £25,000,” explains Redvers, “and he’d done nothing but further enhance his reputation since we set that fee the year before, in fact, his fee had more than doubled in Australia in the same period and gone up to $154,000. So even at £30,000 he represents outstanding value and the fee increase has proven to be a wise decision because this year he’s once again completely fully booked.”

Outstanding value

It might be tempting then to increase the book size of the young stallion who has kept the phone ringing off the hook, but in the interests of longevity, Redvers is keen not to.

“Because he’s hugely popular in Australia and here,” he says, “we’ve limited his book because we want the horse to be around for the next 15 years plus, so we don’t want to be covering vast books anymore. We want to be covering a really good, strong, commercial book of mares and by limiting his numbers it will hopefully increase his longevity. He covers 125 here and he covers 200 at Widden Stud in Australia. At some point in the future that may flip, but for now wherever he’s standing at the greater fee, he’ll be covering the greater book.”

It might be restricted but Zoustar’s current book of 125 mares makes for a very good read, half of which are either stakes performers or the dams of stakes performers. Naturally, Qatar Racing are heavily supporting their sire and among the 18 black type performers they are sending to him are Group 1 winning sprinter Mabs Cross (GB), Royal Ascot winning 2-year-old Kiyoshi (GB), Group 2 winning sister to Fairyland (Ire), Now Or Never (Ire) and Lightening Pearl’s (Ire) Group 3 winning daughter, Lightening Quick (GB), to name only a few.

A commonality among the group, aside from performing at the highest level, is speed; a trait which Redvers believes works best with the young sire. Given Qatar Racing’s involvement with two of Zoustar’s best progeny in Australia to date, namely triple Group 1 winning filly Sunlight and the G2 Champagne Classic winner Zousain, we might do well to take note.

“I’ve always been a great believer in breeding type to type,” says Redvers. “We bred Sunlight who is one of the best sprinters in the world and will be coming up to Royal Ascot this summer. She’s out of exactly that type of fast mare. We bought Zousain as a yearling, but incidentally he is out of a Group 3 winning sprinting filly that I’d previously raced up here myself. So Zoustar’s first two in the Coolmore were both out of mares that we’ve had something to do with in the past or currently and both are very much sprinting types.

“We’ve been targeting and buying that type of mare,” he continues. “This year we’ve gone out and bought mares like Mabs Cross to go to him because that’s the sort of mare we’re convinced he will do best with and the type of quality race mare that he could be breeding stallions out of.”

Last year’s book of mares reads just as well as the one he has ahead of him and with several foals on the ground already, including Group 1 winner La Collina’s (Ire) chestnut colt, the word is very good.

“The thing about Zoustar’s foals is that he really stamps them,” says Redvers. “You can tell a Zoustar from fifty paces away because they all have his stunning head and impressive ears. Like his foals in Australia, they all have the most wonderful outlook and his long leopard-like walk.”

“We’ve had quite a few (Zoustar foals) here,” he continues. “We’ve had the best part of a dozen already, out of some of our very nicest young speed mares. Mares like La Rioja who was fourth in the G1 Commonwealth Cup and Wind Fire who was third in the G2 Norfolk S. and was a Stakes winning two and 3-year-old sprinter. Also, Beldale Memory, who won the Marygate S., had a gorgeous foal the other day.

"As I said before, we’ve purposefully gone out to cover him with the sort of mares that he’s done particularly well with in Australia which are the precocious speedy mares and those are three good examples who have already produced outstanding foals this year. We’re in a lovely position, having been in a very bad position, that we’ve now got a lot of very nice Zoustar and Roaring Lion foals outside.”

The “very bad position” that Redvers refers to is the loss of their four-time Group 1 winner and Horse of the Year, Roaring Lion (USA). Following his arrival in New Zealand for the Southern Hemisphere breeding season, the son of Kitten’s Joy (USA) had to be put down after a severe bout of colic. Covering just one book of mares in the UK, the ill-fated sire, also has his first foals on the ground this year.

“Roaring Lion has been an emotional rollercoaster from the start,” says Redvers, “and we’re not finished yet. He’s had the most extraordinary bunch of foals, very much the stamp, a lot with his head and most of them will end up being his colour. Already you can really see him in his foals so that’s meant that it’s been a very bittersweet Spring so far.”

Tweenhills Stud are due a bit of luck and with a strong hope that Zoustar can go some way towards filling the void left by Roaring Lion, things are looking up for the future. We might have a while to wait until his first Northern Hemisphere-bred offspring hit the racecourse, but in the meantime, Europeans can look forward to seeing the best of Zoustar’s Australian progeny when Sunlight lines up at Royal Ascot this summer; fulfilling a date that her Champion sire sadly never got to.