Value Buy: Inglis Classic Day 3

Written by Bryan Littlely

Each day of the Sale, TDN AusNZ will find a 'value buy', where an opportunity has been spotted - even in this hot sale market.

Lees chooses right time for some hot buying

Kris Lees knows well the value of the filly that filled Lot 608 by Pariah from Hell It’s Hot (Zeditave), the half-sister to his G1 Lightning S. winner In Her Time (Time Thief). So the $280,000 purchase of the filly from the Toolooganvale Farm draft for Kanangra was no great shock, but a pleasing price for all parties.

“She’s a very sweet filly and so well-related,’’ Lees said. “It’s a real evolving family, I think there’s still a bit going on.

“I have a bit of a soft spot for the half-sister In Her Time, she was a wonderful race mare winning a Lightning and a Galaxy.

“This filly is by an exciting young stallion and she is a good type, had clean x-rays. She had a lot going for her and with that pedigree she’s got residual down the track as well.’’

Lees said residual value can’t be the sole focus, with horses needing to be athletic to get his attention, but if there’s an exit strategy along the way that was a bonus and the criteria of the person you were buying for also played a role in such decisions.

“We thought this was a really nice filly and one of the better fillies in the Sale and it was one of the better pedigrees in the Sale also,’’ said Lees.

“She wouldn’t have been out of place in any sale in Australia. It was pretty competitive when it got over $200,000, so it was pretty strong. I don’t know who the underbidder was but there were some keen judges who were quite interested so that’s always a bonus,’’ he added.

Lees acquired up to seven horses at the Inglis Classic Sale, with two headed his way from each of Australian Bloodstock and Prime Thoroughbreds.

“They are both great supporters of the stable and there’s a couple of others that we’ve bought in conjunction with Justin Bahen,’’ Lees said. “We’ve been pretty happy with the Sale, albeit all sales across Australia have been very strong with this being no exception.

“The average is up and there’s such confidence in our industry at the moment. We’re expecting another prizemoney increase tomorrow by all reports so it’s a good time to be in racing.’’

The Pariah filly will have a few weeks off to get over the sale process and then be educated with a bit more time before Lees gets to work with her.

“We’ll give her a little bit of a try early, but I don’t push the 2-year-olds too hard. If she’s good enough, we’ll push on, otherwise she’ll have more time,’’ he said.

“There’s a couple that have got up and run early in the family but also they’re a family that have really trained on. In Her Time, she kept improving herself and there’s a couple others in the family I’ve trained that kept improving.

The Everest winner Yes Yes Yes is down that page, Lees pointing out the strength of the family and that good horses just keep coming out of that family. They include Hot As Hell (County) with a Group 3 win and his full-brother Flaming Hot and Listed winner Harlem River by Fastnet Rock.

Toolooganvale Farm principal Geoff Harris said it was an unreal result for the yearling his farm prepared for Hell It’s Hot’s owners, Kanangra, but she is a lovely filly with a lot of residual and he could understand the reasons Lees bought her.

“Spend a bit of time with her and they’ll have a fair bit of fun,’’ Harris said. “She could happen to do something herself, she could be like her sister with $3.7 million to her name or whatever it was.’’

Hell It’s Hot has a Too Darn Hot (GB) filly on the ground and is back in foal to the same sire.

“So it should be a pretty easy name to come up with for those two,’’ Harris said.