Cover image courtesy of Inglis

Newgate/CHC go for Extreme colt

For the second day in succession, a colt by Extreme Choice broke the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale record when the Mane Lodge colt, Lot 313, by the star sire from Dubawi (Ire) mare To Dubawi Go was bought by a Newgate Farm-led syndicate for $825,000.

It eclipsed the $775,000 that James Harron Bloodstock paid for Bell River Thoroughbreds' Extreme Choice colt, Lot 100, on Sunday, an outcome the breeder and Mane Lodge owner Neil Osborne was confident of.

“I honestly thought he would beat the colt from yesterday," Osborne said. “So that didn’t really surprise me much."

Osborne, and wife Denise, said it was a sensational result for a colt that had been a star from the moment he was foaled down. While it was hard to say goodbye, it was time for the Extreme Choice Sale-topper to go to work for them in the very safe hands of Newgate and syndicate partners China Horse Club and Trilogy Racing.

Newgate’s Henry Field suggested the name of the horse had already been decided based on his startling resemblance to last year’s Golden Slipper winner Stay Inside and his Champion sire, who stands at Newgate.

"We are going to name him Doppelganger," said Field. "I have never seen a horse that has reminded me of Stay Inside more and he's similar to Extreme Choice as well.

“He's a gorgeous, athletic horse, with plenty of scope and in my opinion the best Extreme Choice I have seen at a yearling sale this year."

To Dubawi Go, a six-time winner on the track, has produced the winner Off To Moe's (Uncle Mo {USA}). She is a half-sister to stakes-placed Nisos (Excellent Art {GB}), with her own dam, Osprey (Flying Spur) a half-sister to Listed winner Little Pattie (Polish Patriot {USA}). To Dubawi Go produced a Unite And Conquer colt last year and then visited Cosmic Force.

The Dubawi factor

The fact the colt is out of a Dubawi (Ire) mare was a big tick in the box for Field and a big syndicate including China Horse Club and Trilogy Racing's Jason and Mel Stenning.

“I'd be amazed if he's not a runner and hopefully we can look forward to standing him in the stallion barn at Newgate in a couple of years' time."

He is one of just 14 colts foaled from Extreme Choice's third crop.

Field showcased Extreme Choice’s statistics that make him the best stallion in the country and reason for the Newgate-led syndicate surpassing the Sale record with its $825,000 outlay.

“He has the Champion 2-Year-Old colt, Stay Inside, in his first crop and probably the best 3-year-old filly in Espiona in that first crop. He only got 40 foals on the ground every year," Field said.

“As a stallion, he's as elite as they get. When you get a colt like this one walk out of his box and you say, that's the horse I want to buy for our group. The whole team were very positive on him, Michael Smith from China Horse Club, Stevie O'Connor, Gavin Murphy, the whole team, we were very bullish on him."

Sun shines for Burrows

It took all he had but Willow Park’s Glenn Burrows got the filly he wanted for valued New Zealand client, Gary Harding, buying what he rated as the filly of the Sale, Lot 288 by The Autumn Sun from the Lonhro mare Talimena for $550,000 from the Valiant Stud draft.

“To my eye, she was the filly of the Sale. She’s been bought for a very good client in New Zealand,’’ Burrows said.

“She’ll go to New Zealand and prove herself over there hopefully at two and then she’ll come across to Australia to a very good trainer here and hopefully further her career as a 3-year-old in Australia,’’ he said of the plan.

“I’m a big fan of The Autumn Sun, I think he’s a great chance. It’s a lovely old Woodlands family, being out of a Lonhro mare, with Bounding being by Lonhro, that ticked the box for Gary, but above everything else, regardless of pedigree, she’s just one of the fillies of the Sale.’’

Talimena ticks another box as the half-sister to G1 Golden Slipper winner Kiamichi (Sidestep) and three-quarter sister to Denman.

Harding and Burrows have combined for great success in the past, most notably at the Inglis Easter Sale in 2012 when Harding paid $425,000 for Lonhro filly Bounding from Burrows' Willow Park draft. She, of course, went on to Group 1 success taking $634,000 in prizemoney then made $1.9 million at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale, selling to US-based Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings.

Bounding’s first foal, Aussie Pride (USA) by Curlin (USA), made US$4.1 million (AU$5.8 million) at the Keeneland Yearling Sale in a sale to Godolphin. Aussie Pride ran second on debut at Tampa Bay Downs for William Mott just a week ago.

“Bounding and Bonham and many other mares, (Harding) is a very successful owner,’’ said Burrows. “He only buys particular sorts so we were particularly careful as to what we suggested for him and hopefully he’ll be happy with her when she gets to New Zealand."

The selection of a trainer for the filly would be left to Harding but she would be going to one of two very good trainers in New Zealand, said Burrows.

“We’re not looking at her being an early 2-year-old stakes winner. Just bide our time with her in New Zealand, hopefully she’s a back-end 2-year-old thing then we’ll be looking at races like the Thousand Guineas and things like that, hopefully."

Valiant Stud’s Fergal Connolly said the colt's breeder Lloyd Walker, had stuck his neck out on an expensive stallion to breed the filly, making the result delightful.

“I couldn’t be more happy with the filly with how she coped with the Sale all week,’’ Connolly said. “She has been in and out of the box non-stop and she’s dealt with it all so well and the staff have looked after her brilliantly.”

Talimena did not produce a foal last year and then visited Newgate stallion, Capitalist. Walker was also a co-breeder of Extreme Choice, the stallion whose colts have twice broken the Classic Sale record this week.

Another Classic day for Inglis

Inglis CEO - Bloodstock Sales Sebastian Hutch said Day 2 had taken a little while to find its level, perhaps a product of the change in expectations of the value of horses from vendors based on the booming first day, but the results had been overwhelming positive.

“We’ve had another fantastic day,’’ he said. “We were pretty confident that it was a nice spread of horses through the catalogue so there was going to be no obvious bias across the three days.

“Obviously, there were a number of people who got disappointed trying to buy horses yesterday that appear to have got involved in them going into today and there are a number of people who weren’t on the sheet yesterday who are on the sheet today."

Highlights for Hutch include a clearance rate across the two days that now sits at 89 per cent, and the record-setting Extreme Choice colt from Mane Lodge to Newgate.

“I think noting some of those parties (bidding on the colt) had been beaten on the Bell River colt… there weren’t going to be any more Extreme Choice colts involved in the Sale, so it created a perfect storm effectively.’’

Wild about Harry

Another young stallion breaking records through the Riverside Complex sale ring on Monday was Darley shuttle stallion Harry Angel (Ire), who had his colt from Torryburn Stud's draft, Lot 459, sell to Roughwood Park for $460,000.

Harry Angel's first Australian crops have proven very popular already this year, but this colt, out of Commands mare Chicquita, broke into new territory later in the afternoon.

Chicquita, a winner on the track, is a daughter of G2 Tea Rose S. winner Prisoner Of Love (Canny Lad), who is a half-sister to Group-winning trio Sportsman (Supreme {USA}), Hoystar (Danzero) and King Of Prussia (Anabaa {USA}). That is also the family of Group 1 winner and sire Vanbrugh.

The Harry Angel colt was bred by Alan Osburg, who also bred Chicquita, having purchased Prisoner Of Love as a broodmare. A yearling Brutal (NZ) filly follows, while Chicquita went to Maurice (Jpn) last year.

Torryburn Stud's Mel Copelin said the farm felt it had pulled the right rein by taking him to Classic rather than another sale.

"We always knew he was a very nice horse and he could have gone to Magic Millions and they really wanted him but we highlighted him as a really standout type here at Classic and our game was to beat the top price at Magics and we have so that’s really good," she said.

"That’s a very high price for a first-season sire out of a young mare that’s only had a second foal. We’re absolutely delighted."

Copelin said the colt had done everything expected of him in the build up and had always tracked considerable attention.

"He prepped himself. A beautiful attitude. I think we had 30 x-ray hits, everyone was on him," she said. "We did expect a good result but $460,000 was all you could ask for," she said.

Osburg, who raced Group 1 winners Exceed And Excel and Dixie Blossoms (Street Sense {USA}), also sold Lot 368, a Dundeel (NZ) filly for $250,000 on Monday through Torryburn.

Vic Bates' Roughwood Park have emerged as a regular buyer at Inglis' sales in recent years, including the $1.05 million it paid for an I Am Invincible half-sister to Deep Field and Shooting To Win at last year's Inglis Easter Yearling Sale.

That filly is named Monte Invincible and recently trialled for Mark Newnham, who is Bates' trainer of choice. All of the Roughwood Park horses contain the name Monte.

Hedge on the Trapeze

The desire for the progeny of first-season stallions has driven much of the market boom in 2022 and a filly by Widden Stud's Trapeze Artist made her mark, when selling for $430,000 to Suman Hedge Bloodstock (FBAA).

Lot 352 was offered by Vinery Stud and is out of multiple stakes winner Zelady's Night Out (Myboycharlie {Ire}) and was bred by Phoenix Thoroughbreds. Zelady's Night Out, who won both a G3 BJ McLachlan S. and a Listed Calaway Gal S. for Tony Gollan, is a half-sister to Group 3 winner Excites Zelady (Excites).

Hedge, buying for an unnamed client, said the filly had been high on his list ever since he had conducted inspections ahead of the Sale.

"After we finished inspections, she was pretty much our top priority to buy her. We saw her as athletically she was one of the top, really elite athletes. She's a really attractive horse with a lot of quality and a lot of presence," he said.

"For the client that we were buying for, we were trying to find a filly to race and to have some residual value for later on. Being by Trapeze Artist who is a really well-credentialled son of Snitzel and has left really good types and a really favourable impression with buyers."

Hedge said the filly's pedigree also played in her favour, with a focus on her longer-term residual value. He said a decision is yet to be made on which stable she will go to.

“We’ve had a number of trainers that have reached out that were interested in her and asked if they could train her. We’re just going to get her broken in and we’ll make that decision a bit later on.’’

Vinery Stud's Adam White said the filly had proven popular ahead of the Sale, and it was good to see her find her right price in what is a hot market.

"Through Myboycharlie, she had that Vinery connection although she wasn't by one of our stallions. She sold very well and we were very pleased," he said.

"We bought her here to the Classic Sale because it’s such a strong sale and she had a bit of pedigree and we thought she might stand out a bit. She certainly did and she had a lot of interest, she had a lot of people on her and she sold well accordingly."

The Trapeze Artist filly is the lone live foal from Zelady's Night Out, who visited Coolmore's Triple Crown-winning stallion Justify (USA) last year.

Capitalist colt heads to Gai and Adrian

Capitalist dominated this Sale last year and while he wasn't grabbing headlines on Monday, he does lead all sires in aggregate sales ($3.855 million), including $390,000 for Lot 396, a colt offered by Silverdale Farm who was secured by Gai Waterhouse, Adrian Bott and Blueblood Thoroughbreds.

The colt, out of Listed winner Baby Corn (Exceed And Excel), was bred by Kitchwin Hills and purchased for $300,000 through the Magic Millions National Weanling Sale last year.

He had benefited since not only by the increased commerciality of his sire, but by the recent good form of his full sister Socialist, who won a Randwick race in December and was placed third in the R. Listed Magic Millions 3YO Guineas last month for Ciaron Maher and David Eustace in the Seymour Bloodstock colours.

Silverdale Farm manager Rob Petith was very much pleased with the result.

"He was a fantastic colt. We thought a lot of him as a weanling and we paid $300,000 for him. He has continued to develop into a beautiful colt," he said.

"He presented here in great order and we are thrilled to bits that Gai And Adrian were able to support him today. He'll get every opportunity."

Waterhouse and Bott, along with Kestrel Thoroughbreds, also paid $90,000 for Lot 290, a colt by Brazen Beau out of a Sepoy half-sister to Lot 396.

"He was a beautiful Brazen Beau colt. I think they shopped very well," Petith said.

The final day of the Classic Sale, which included the final 120 lots from Book 1 plus 150 lots as part of the Highway Session begins at 10am AEDT on Tuesday.

Top lots

Top buyers

Vendors by aggregate

Vendors by average (3 or more sold)

Sires by aggregate

Sires by average (3 or more sold)

Gus Roland is joined by leading bloodstock agent Suman Hedge and Silverdale Farm's Steve Grant and Rob Petith to discuss the second day of selling at the Inglis Classic Sale, with massive results for all involved.

The breathtaking Inglis Classic Sale record result served as confirmation of something Osborne believed strongly from the moment he paid $20,000 for To Dubawi Go at the 2009 Scone Yearling Sale to take home to train and retained to breed at his Sutton property.

“When I trained his mother, she was one of our favourites and I always knew she’d leave something that would make it worthwhile for me,’’ said Osborne after a Newgate-led syndicate, including China Horse Club and Trilogy Racing, secured the Extreme Choice colt at Lot 313.

That eclipsed, by $50,000, the Inglis Classic Sale record of $775,000 set on Sunday by another Extreme Choice colt from the draft of Bell River Thoroughbreds, an outcome Osborne expected.

“Henry (Field) had six or seven looks at him. I’m going to love to see him there, he’s an exciting Extremes horse,’’ said Osborne. “I’d love to keep a little bit of him if I can.’’

The Osbornes said it would be a little hard to see the colt leave as he had been sensational from the moment he foaled down right to when the hammer fell on Monday. But Newgate was the right place for their star to get every chance.

“You’ve got to let them go and he can go out and work for me now,’’ said Osborne.

A farm-favourite mare

The Dubawi dam To Dubawi Go may have cost Osborne just $20,000 at the Inglis Scone Yearling Sale in what he suggested was, at the time, 'a bit of a dumping ground’, but her sire was definitely a contributor to the record result.

Newgate principal Field said the fact the colt is out of a Dubawi mare was a big tick in the box for him, and Osborne bought the yearling filly based on the sire.

“I bought her at the Scone Yearling Sale, she was quite small and underdone," Osborne said. “Dubawi, well I had always been a fan of Dubawi and I thought here’s a chance to pick up a Dubawi mare and the old semi-coloured tints back in the family, I’ve always believed in that bud.’’

A mate, Dean Crowe, who Osborne says is not really into the breeding game or even the racing game but just loved going along for the ride, bought into the cheap filly with the Osbornes in 2009 and had retained his share, even when Osborne jokingly tried to trick him out of the mare.

“I said I could get him $50,000 for his share in that horse and he said: ‘Is that good?’,’’ said Osborne. “I said it would be very good for me… he didn’t fall for it.’’

To Dubawi Go won six races for $120,000 in prizemoney and the cheapie from the Scone Sale did plenty of good work for both the Osbornes and Crowe along the way. Osborne enlightened with a story about a long-odds win by the mare where he had told his mate Crowe to put his house on her.

“I think he must have because he soon had two houses,’’ he laughed.

“She loved a wet track and she performed from 1000 metres to 2000 metres,’’ he added. “She’s always been a special mare to us. She was just such an easygoing mare and wanted to work for you and wanted to be with you.

“Dean loves the mare too and he’s going to be very happy with this.’’

To Dubawi Go has three foals to race, with her first, Off To Moe’s (Uncle Mo {USA}) her only winner. She has one by Smart Missile, named Smartawi, sold at last year’s Inglis Classic for $90,000 to Hickman Racing and Ettamogah (Foxwedge), and her most recent foal on the ground is by Unite And Conquer.

Dubawi seals the deal

Henry Field said Newgate and syndicate partners China Horse Club and Trilogy Racing's Jason and Mel Stenning had been buoyed by the fact their top lot Extreme Choice colt was from a Dubawi mare.

“You have an incredibly good physical specimen, by statistically the best stallion in the Southern Hemisphere out of a broodmare sire, who is his counterpart in that regard in the Northern Hemisphere,’’ said Field.

The desire for the progeny of Dubawi's daughters in Australia is evidenced in a string of strong auction results in recent years.

The Extreme Choice colt is the highest-priced yearling colt sold in Australia out of a Dubawi mare but Dubawi's daughters have had two $1 million-plus fillies sell through a yearling sale in Australia, highlighted by the $1.1 million paid for Arousal (Snitzel) in 2018.

There have been five daughters of Dubawi that have sold for $500,000 or more through the Australian breeding sales in the past four years, with $2 million paid for Group 1 winner Srikandi and $1 million paid for Shamal Wind being the highlights.

On the track, Dubawi has five stakes winners in Australia as a broodmare sire, a list highlighted by Group 3 winners Dance Music (War Chant {USA}) and Danawi (Exceed And Excel).

The sale of Spendthrift Australia's 602-acre Romsey Farm plus associated bloodstock, plant and equipment is currently being co-ordinated by Magic Millions after confirmation from Spendthrift head office in Kentucky in December that it would wind up its Australian operation.

While the superb facilities built up at the Victorian farm over the past seven years have attracted strong interest from both local and overseas suitors, the upside for any investor could be in the breeding stock and racehorses offered as part of a walk-in/walk-out basis.

Spendthrift Australia has invested significantly in quality colts over the past few years and at last year's Inglis Easter Yearling Sale purchased a Capitalist colt from Sledmere Stud's draft for $260,000.

On Saturday, on debut for Team Hawkes in the Spendthrift colours, that colt, Sebonack, won the G3 Chairman's S. on debut, a race won in the past by future Champion stallions such as Extreme Choice and Redoute's Choice.

"When you buy these good-looking colts as yearlings and they turn up and put in a performance like that on debut, I think we can't ask for much more," Spendthrift Australia's General Manager, Garry Cuddy, said.

Spendthrift co-owns Sebonack with Rupert Legh, Glentree Racing and Gary Lechte and that group now have quite a valuable colt on their hands, who is now second favourite for the upcoming G1 Blue Diamond S.

Cuddy recalls both he and John Hawkes had separately identified Sebonack at the Inglis Easter Sale.

"We are big on the movement of a horse and he moved perfectly for what Grant (Burrill - Farm Manager) and I like," Cuddy said.

"We were wandering around looking at our list and I saw from a distance that Team Hawkes had him out. It was getting down to the point where they would have a very short list and they were still looking at him. We went over and I stood next to John and I said, 'Do you like this guy as much as me?' He said, 'I definitely do!'"

"From that minute on, we formed a partnership and I think we were very fortunate in what was a very strong Sale to walk away with a colt for minimal spend. To sit here and have him as a stakes winner after one start is a fantastic achievement."

Sebonack, who is out of Al Samer mare Profound Wisdom, the half-sister to Aquis stallion Santos and Group 3 winner Melagrana (Fastnet Rock), is the first Group winner from the 2021 Inglis Easter Sale and just the second stakes winner after Cythera (I Am Invincible), who won the Listed Lonhro Plate earlier on Saturday.

The colt could further frank his value in Victoria's richest and most prestigious 2-year-old race on February 26 at Caulfield, but Cuddy is not getting too far ahead of himself.

"You can't complain having second favourites in Group 1s. He has put in the performance. Obviously, there is plenty of time between now and Blue Diamond Day and who knows what happens because we are dealing with 2-year-olds," he said.

"We will wait and see what comes of the next three weeks and hopefully we are standing there at Caulfield with a runner on the day."

Magic result sets the Standard

The value of Spendthrift Australia's emerging stallion contingent also looks to be on the up.

Gold Standard got his first stakes winner on Sunday, with Sheeza Belter's win in the R. Listed Magic Millions WA 2YO Classic at Pinjarra, while Lady Laguna, by Overshare, gave her sire a black-type bonus when she was narrowly beaten in the aforementioned Lonhro Plate by Cythera.

Sheeza Belter, trained by Luke Fernie, is one of just two runners for Gold Standard to date and took her record to two wins from three starts with her fast-finishing success.

"She should be three from three. She had no luck in her second start, and when she came around the turn on Sunday, the jockey had a lot of horse underneath him," Cuddy said.

"That acceleration, you’d love to have a barnful of horses that hit the line the way she did.

"His progeny have had five starts for two wins and two seconds, so you can't complain with how the horse has started out."

Lady Laguna suffered the first defeat in her three-start career but lost no admirers with her brave effort and the Annabel Neasham-trained filly is set to figure in the major 2-year-old races in the coming months.

"You can't go wrong with having two stallions with their first crop of 2-year-olds racing and both have got black-type performers from their first or second runner," Cuddy said.

"Lady Laguna is just going to continue to stand up and reading what Annabel has had to say about her, she's got very high hopes for her. When Annabel says she is one of the most forward horses in her stable, it’s a very good sign."

The upside

So what does a big weekend of results do for the overall value of the Spendthrift Australia business?

Clint Donovan is co-ordinating the Spendthrift Australia sale through his business Donovan + Co. in conjunction with Magic Millions and said the run of good results speak to the opportunity on offer to potential investors.

"The bloodstock portfolio is in its relative infancy at Spendthrift and they have done a great job of selecting broodmares and race fillies for the broodmare band, but also those colts that they are racing," Donovan said.

"Sebonack on Saturday is a reflection of the potential that is there. There is such an opportunity here, they have laid a wonderful foundation.

"On top of that, we have Lady Laguna and Sheeza Belter perform so well, both by first-season sires and both showing huge promise.

"It’s exciting, and again it reiterate and highlights the opportunity that is there for someone that wants to pick up the keys and take over and enjoy the success that is undeniably coming."

Donovan said the interest had been strong in the Spendthrift Australia business over the past few weeks, both from overseas investors and those within Australia.

"There's a lot of money around and there has been international interest and local interest and we have been very encouraged by that," he said.

"It's still open to all comers and we'd welcome any further interest."

Donovan emphasised the rare opportunity on offer for a buyer to come in and capitalise on the momentum built by Spendthrift in Australia.

"You may not find a better equipped and presented farm on this scale, with the dedicated equine infrastructure, it's world-class," he said.

"You couple that with the bloodstock portfolio in its infancy, it's unheard of. It’s really a turn-key stallion station and breeding farm and there is incredible upside to be had as a new owner."