Written by Trent Masenhelder
Cover image courtesy of Inglis
Each day of the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, TDN AusNZ will find a 'value buy', where an opportunity has been spotted - even in this hot sale market.
Confidence in a young sire
Leading South Australian trainer Chris Bieg could hardly believe his luck when he parted with $90,000 for Lot 16 - a Trapeze Artist filly with great residual value.
Lot 16 - Trapeze Artist x Waltzing Wodka (filly) | Image courtesy of Inglis
The chestnut is the first foal out of Waltzing Wodka (Sebring), a two-time Adelaide winner for Tony McEvoy and sister to Group 2 winner Catch A Fire and dual Group 1-placed and Group 2 winner Seaburge.
Catch A Fire has two named progeny – Flying Zamboni (a 3-year-old gelding by Snitzel that is trained on the Sunshine Coast by Melissa Taylor), as well as a Burnt Orange (an unraced 2-year-old filly by Snitzel, trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott). She has also left a colt by I Am Invincible, which was offered by Coolmore Stud and knocked down to Chris Waller / Guy Mulcaster for $310,000 on Tuesday as Lot 100, and a Justify (USA) colt.
Waltzing Wodka when racing | Image courtesy of McEvoy Mitchell Racing
The filly’s third dam is La Volta (Laranto), which amassed more than $400,000 in earnings in a three-win career that included Group 1 triumphs in 1998 in the Australasian Oaks and Auraria S.
“She is a really well-put-together filly with a good page, and I really liked her from early on,” Bieg told TDN AusNZ.
“Given we don’t race for as much prizemoney in Adelaide as Melbourne and Sydney, we need to look for value, and I believe this filly is tremendous value.”
“Given we don’t race for as much prizemoney in Adelaide as Melbourne and Sydney, we need to look for value, and I believe this filly (Lot 16) is tremendous value.” - Chris Bieg
Bieg is a big fan of the Widden-based Trapeze Artist, which, after running third in the G1 Sires’ S. as a 2-year-old, won the G1 Golden Rose in 2017, before returning to claim the G1 TJ Smith S. and G1 All Aged S. the following year, plus the G1 Canterbury S. in 2019.
“I really like Trapeze Artist as an emerging sire, so I’m rapt to get my hands on this one,” he added.
“He was a very good young horse and I reckon he will make a name for himself as a sire.”
Chris Bieg
Bieg, the trainer of Free Of Debt (Unencumbered), which ran third in the 2019 G1 Blue Diamond S. won by Lyre (Lonhro), was runner-up to Super Seth in the 2020 G3 Manfred S. before winning the Listed Wylie H. in 2021, said the filly was beautifully presented by Antony Thompson and his team.
“She’s from a proven vendor in Widden. They have the runs on the board, so you know you’re buying a yearling that’s had every chance,” Bieg said
“We already have some owners for her, so we’ll take her back to Adelaide and look after her.”
“She’s (Lot 16) from a proven vendor in Widden. They have the runs on the board, so you know you’re buying a yearling that’s had every chance.” - Chris Bieg
Deep pedigree
Thompson, Widden’s highly regarded owner-proprietor, concurs with Bieg’s faith in Trapeze Artist, believing the stallion is destined for big things.
“Trapeze Artist has a lovely first crop of yearlings that have sold very well and gone to some terrific judges and leading trainers,” Thompson told TDN AusNZ.
And like Bieg, he insists the filly is “great value for money”.
Trapeze Artist | Standing at Widden Stud
“She’s a very big, strong filly. She’s got great depth of girth and great power,” said Thompson.
“I think Chris has got himself a really nice filly here that’s well-bought.
“We were obviously hoping for a bit more money, but we were happy just to put her up for sale and see where it went.
“We’re a bit surprised she only made $90,000.”
Antony Thompson | Image courtesy of Inglis
Thompson added that the filly’s impressive pedigree means she has good residual value.
“She’s bred on the same Snitzel-More Than Ready cross that we’ve seen seven stakes winners bred on, including the Group 1 winner Media Award. The cross has worked in reverse with Sebring over Snitzel in our good filly Daisies, that’s heading to the Australasian Oaks,” Thompson explained.
