Written by Lydia Symonds
Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
A quartet of talented horses from the Chris Waller stable were the star attractions of the Inglis Digital May (Early) Online Sale on Wednesday, with the four geldings selling for an aggregate of $1.475 million.
The headline act of the group was Group 2-winning gelding Coastwatch (Fastnet Rock), who was purchased by A P Chan for $500,000 and will now continue his career in Asia.
The good results kept coming throughout the day, with O’President (Fastnet Rock) snapped up by A Value Consulting’s Dr Alan Lee for $435,000, while three-time winner Starman (Zoustar) was bought back by his trainer for $300,000 and fellow three-time scorer Cape Breton (Vancouver) was purchased by Willie Leung’s Magnus Equine for $240,000.
All four 3-year-olds were offered by Chris Waller in conjunction with Coolmore and partners.
Gallery: The quartet of talented horses from the Chris Waller stable which topped the Inglis May (Early) Online Sale
“On behalf of the ownership group we are extremely grateful to Inglis for the time and effort they put in to promoting these talented horses,’’ Coolmore’s Racing Manager Rob Archibald said.
“We had confidence in what we were offering to the market and it is such a great platform to showcase quality bloodstock to a diverse buying bench.
“We wish all the new owners the very best of luck with them and thank Chris Waller and his team for managing their careers so well.’’
Coastwatch has landed three of his 15 starts to date, including the G2 Autumn S. and G3 Ming Dynasty H. and he is one of five winners out of the dual-scoring Encosta De Lago mare Bullion Mansion, making him a three-quarter brother to Group 1 triumphant Mighty Boss (Not A Single Doubt).
The 3-year-old gelding was most recently seen finishing fourth in the G2 Queensland Guineas on April 30.
“Coastwatch will be a wonderful addition to the current population of horses in Macau and I would like to see him representing Macau to run in the Hong Kong Macau Cup and even The Dubai World Cup Carnival,’’ Chan said.
“Coastwatch will be a wonderful addition to the current population of horses in Macau and I would like to see him representing Macau to run in the Hong Kong Macau Cup and even The Dubai World Cup Carnival.’’ - A P Chan
“I enjoy my experience as a racehorse owner in Macau, the horsemen and operators there are doing a good job and they deserve to have a good horse of this quality to run for them on the international stage.
“My thanks go to Inglis for providing such a rare opportunity of buying a Group 2-winning and Group 1-placed 3-year-old gelding."
O’President, meanwhile, landed three races and the most high-profile of those triumphs coming when he took out last year’s G2 Skyline S. and he will likely join Coastwatch in Asia.
“O’President really impressed us with his second placing in The Coast last weekend, we expect he will have plenty of improvement to come and be challenging Group races again soon,’’ Dr Alan Lee said.
“O’President really impressed us with his second placing in The Coast last weekend, we expect he will have plenty of improvement to come and be challenging Group races again soon.’’ - Dr Alan Lee
“The owner in Hong Kong has not decided yet whether to race in Australia or ship the horse immediately to Hong Kong. Either way, we are sure O’President will perform in top-class races where ever he ends up next.
“The HKJC has just increased the special Class 3 winner prizemoney to HK$1 million (AU$181,500) for imported raced horses. This decision led to my client increasing his budget to be able to purchase a very good horse such as O’President.”
The well-bred gelding is out of New Zealand Group 1 winner O’Marilyn (O’Reilly {NZ}) and she is herself a half-sister to Group 1-winning duo Headturner (Anabaa {USA}) and Anacheeva (Anabaa {USA}) as well as stakes winner Kroner (NZ) (Viking Ruler).
O’President was unlucky not to add the $500,000 The Coast to his record last Saturday, with the 3-year-old just being denied the spoils when running second behind Rustic Steel (Deep Field) in the 1600-metre race at Gosford.
Chris Waller
Also heading to Asia is multiple Sydney metropolitan winner Cape Breton, who was purchased by Magnus Equine’s Willie Leung.
“I purchased him on behalf of a Hong Kong client,” Leung said. “He has good, solid form in Sydney as well as Queensland and looks to be a big, strong horse that moves well.
“I love the sire Vancouver, a son of Medaglia D’Oro who is the sire of Hong Kong champion Golden Sixty who I also purchased. I am very happy we were able to secure Cape Breton via an Inglis Digital Online Sale, which allows clients a variety of choice when it comes to sourcing quality horses.”
Starman will remain in the Chris Waller stable after they bought out Coolmore and partners to secure the son of Zoustar, who recently trialled impressively at Rosehill against O’President and dual Group 1 winner Home Affairs (I Am Invincible).
At the close of trade, Inglis reported that 275 lots sold at a clearance rate of 76 per cent, while the closing aggregate was $4,082,200.
