Written by Jessica Owers
Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
The last of the Classic Sale yearlings had hardly left the complex at Warwick Farm on Wednesday when Inglis had to turn its attention to the first of its February digital sales.
The 225-horse catalogue for the 2022 Inglis Digital February (Early) Online Sale had been live since last Friday, and it wrapped up on Wednesday afternoon with the Sale-topping Aquis Farm gelding Equation (Press Statement) selling for $205,000.
Equation | Image courtesy of Inglis Digital
The buyer was Annabel Neasham and Brian McGuire and, as such, the 4-year-old horse won’t need new accommodation. He’s been in Neasham’s yard for almost the entirety of his 11-start, four-race winning career, transferring with her when she branched out solo from Ciaron Maher and David Eustace in 2020.
Equation showed brilliant early promise.
He won four straight as a 3-year-old, including the Listed Canberra Guineas last season. He was sixth to Aim (Star Witness) in the Silver Eagle, and has since stayed in benchmark company for Neasham.
The gelding was popular in late bidding on Wednesday, overtaking fellow Aquis horse Tidal Creek (Snitzel) in the last half-hour. He was one of three tried horses that fetched six figures across the Sale.
Part of the Equation
Equation was an initial weanling purchase for Aquis Farm, picked up for $110,000 at the 2018 Magic Millions National Weanling Sale. He was consigned by Sledmere Stud.
Equation as a weanling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
His dam, Purcentage (Onemorenomore), is well-bred as a daughter of the Listed AJC Gimcrack S. winner Spurcent (Flying Spur), and Spurcent was also third in the G1 Thousand Guineas.
This family packs some punch when it comes to Asian form.
Spurcent was a half-sister to Glorious Days, who was a Group 1, Group 2 and Listed winner in Hong Kong, as well as Group 1-placed on several occasions. Spurcent was additionally a half-sister to the dam of the G2 Villiers S. winner All Legal (Al Maher).
Brian McGuire, Neasham’s bloodstock consultant, said Equation had been bought to syndicate to stable clients.
“There’s still some shares available in him, so anyone interested should get in contact with the stable,” McGuire said. “He’s a lightly raced proven stakes performer that Annabel knows inside out now, and he’ll be aimed at the Sydney autumn and even the Brisbane winter carnival.”
“He’s (Equation) a lightly raced proven stakes performer that Annabel knows inside out now, and he’ll be aimed at the Sydney autumn and even the Brisbane winter carnival.” - Brian McGuire
McGuire said the Inglis Digital platform continued to be a huge resource for buyers like Neasham Racing.
“It’s so transparent and everything is super easy,” he said. “We’ve bought and sold on Inglis Digital and we’ll continue to do so in the future because all the hard work is taken away from you.”
Tidal Creek for Parsons Creek
Fellow Aquis horse Tidal Creek proved almost as popular in the final few hours of Wednesday’s Sale, reaching a final price of $175,000.
The 3-year-old colt is from the exceptional dam One Funny Honey (Distorted Humor {USA}), making him a half-brother to the Group 1 winner Vega One (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and G2 Sweet Embrace S. winner One More Honey (Onemorenomore).
Tidal Creek as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
As a yearling, Tidal Creek cost $800,000 at the 2020 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, selling to Aquis Farm in partnership with Dermot Farrington Bloodstock and Brae Sokolski.
He’s the highest-selling of One Funny Honey’s progeny to date, and he has a half-brother by Fastnet Rock in the catalogue for the upcoming Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale this month. He will appear in the draft of Merricks Station.
Tidal Creek was snapped up on Wednesday by the De Stoop family’s Parsons Creek.
Yulong Code
The third of the six-figure horses in Wednesday’s Sale was Yulong Code (Zoustar), who sold for $155,000 to buyer Horse Feng Bloodstock.
Yulong Code | Image courtesy of Inglis Digital
This 4-year-old gelding is exceptionally bred also, a son of the prolific breeder Acouplamas (Al Maher) and, as such, a half-brother to the stakes winners Quick Thinker (So You Think {NZ}) and Seasons (Sebring).
Yulong Code was a hefty purchase as a yearling, costing Yulong Investments and Rifa Mustang $1.075 million at the 2019 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
He raced 13 times for four wins over the sprint courses, and he has plenty of racing left in him.
Country Cups on the Digital radar
The February (Early) Online Sale wrapped up as yet another satisfying result for Inglis Digital. Nick Melmeth, the platform’s business manager, said it was another successful Sale this week.
“It’s been another strong start to the new year for Inglis Digital with $8.5 million grossed already from just three sales,” he said. “That’s $1 million more than the same period last year, and what that does is highlight to both buyers and vendors that the confidence in the platform continues to grow.”
“It’s been another strong start to the new year for Inglis Digital with $8.5 million grossed already from just three sales. That’s $1 million more than the same period last year...” - Nick Melmeth
Wednesday’s Sale grossed $2,992,550, with a clearance rate of just over 80 per cent. It saw 225 horses catalogued 177 sold, and an average price of $16,907.
The top three-selling tried horses were particularly prescient on the day that Racing NSW announced its prizemoney increases across its spring program, which were in addition to the new $2 million The Big Dance in support of Country Cups participants.
“There is no better place to buy a Country Cups contender than Inglis Digital,” Melmeth said. “Every sale, there are more and more of these types of horses making their way into our online catalogues.
"And with these new incentives that Racing NSW is offering to owners, there really is no better time than now to purchase a share in a Country Cups-bound horse through Inglis Digital.”
