Blaxland forecasting Blue Skies on the Gold Coast

Cover image courtesy of Julian Blaxland Bloodstock

And while the Queensland-based agent isn’t getting ahead of himself he is ‘quietly optimistic’ his clients can capitalise on a buoyant bloodstock market.

“Support from all the big agents, big farms and buyers has been here and it’s probably the most interest we’ve had in the last five or six years,” Blaxland told TDN AusNZ.

“But I’m a bit like one of those politicians going into the election, I’m quietly optimistic that the market will be good but I’m also telling my vendors to put reasonable reserves on their horses to get these mares on the market.”

Blue Sky’s star offering Nudge (Fastnet Rock) (Lot 703), who was set to have her final start for current connections in Saturday’s G3 Magic Millions Pam O’Neill S. at Doomben, is now likely to be sold in the supplementaries part of the Sale on Thursday.

Blaxland has high expectations for what the Group 2 winner and dual Group 1 placegetter can realise in the ring, saying that she is certainly the best mare in his draft.

“She’s one of the marquee mares in the Sale, she was a beautiful yearling and has gone on to win Group races and be Group 1-performed a number of times, she’d certainly be the best mare in our draft and I think she will be very popular when she arrives for inspections on Thursday morning,” Blaxland said.

Gallery: Some standouts amongst the Blue Sky Premium Consignment of mares. Images courtesy of Magic Millions.

A $380,000 2018 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale purchase by Waller Racing and Mulcaster Bloodstock from the draft of Lime Country Thoroughbreds, Nudge is out of Stravinsky (USA) mare Julinsky’s Princess (NZ), making her a half-sister to New Zealand Group 1 winner Julinsky Prince (NZ) (Darci Brahma {NZ}) and the G3 Summer Cup-placed Foreign Prince (NZ) (High Chaparral {Ire}).

Another standout among the Blue Sky draft is the G2 Angus Armanasco S.-placed Hussonet (USA) mare Members Joy (Lot 1290), the dam of the dual Group 2-wining Pure Elation (I Am Invincible), who herself was retired after just six career starts due to bleeding attacks.

Members Joy’s weanling filly by Zoustar from the draft of Segenhoe Stud topped last week’s Magic Millions National Weanling Sale when knocked down to Cloverfield Bloodstock for $750,000 while her yearling colt by Zoustar sold to China Horse Club, Newgate Farm and Trilogy Racing for $550,000 at this year’s Inglis Easter Sale.

She is also responsible for an unraced juvenile colt called Ten Trinity Square (I Am Invincible) that is currently in the care of Annabel Neasham.

“I’ve been asked a lot about this mare (Members Joy), she’s a proven producer and isn’t in foal which sort of opens the door for a lot of people as she can get in for an early cover and being by Hussonet she’s very easy to mate,” Blaxland said.

“Her weanling made a lot of money during the week, and not only does she throw a Group winner like you’ve seen with Pure Elation but also throws a very good-looking horse, which was reflected with her Zoustar filly topping the Sale during the week.”

Blaxand is also excited about the opportunity to offer the Group 3 and R. Listed Inglis Nursery-placed Ashema (I Am Invincible) (Lot 582) along with young American mare Blue Sky Baby (USA) (Pioneerof The Nile {USA}) (Lot 593).

“Ashema is a gorgeous type, she’s by I Am Invincible, is Group performed and has been in hot demand during inspections,” Blaxland said.

“Another mare I like is Blue Sky Baby, she’s imported from America, she’s a 2-year-old winner, Group performed and beat Lighthouse twice in California which shows the quality of her form.

“Blue Sky Baby is as good a physical that we have in our draft and has been well-found by all the big stud farm’s and agents, so I think she will prove really popular.”

Ashema was passed in after failing to meet a reserve of $800,000 at the 2020 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale and hails from the family of Group 3 winner Skytrain (Lonhro) while Blue Sky Baby’s pedigree is enriched with American stakes performers.

Bolstering the Blaxland brand

After building strong relationships through his bloodstock agency, which was founded in 2006, Blaxland identified the need for a high-quality broodmare consignment, which led to the Blue Sky Premium Consignment being founded just over five years ago.

“The interest in these mares has been really good this year and that was one of the reasons why I started the Blue Sky Premium Consignment five or six years ago because stud farms love these maiden mares off the track,” Blaxland said.

“Maiden mares are like a blank canvas, you can send them to any stallion you like and there’s always a lot of stallions that retire each year so these stud farms have to stock up with mares to support those stallions.”

Blue Sky has held its own from the outset, having maintained the mantle of leading Australian consignor of race fillies and mares in 2020 and 2021 while grossing a combined $13.5 million at the past two Magic Millions National Broodmare Sales.

In 2020 Blue Sky was the second-highest vendor by aggregate, finishing $612,000 shy of Widden Stud, whose draft was bolstered by the $4.2 million sale of Blaxand and McEvoy Mitchell Racing’s $300,000 yearling purchase Sunlight (Zoustar).

Last year Blue Sky was responsible for consigning Melody Belle (NZ) (Commands), who realised $2.6 million to the bid of Yulong and held the highest-priced lot title until Arcadia Queen (Pierro), who didn’t meet her $4 million reserve in the ring, sold to Arrowfield Stud for $3.2 million in the days following the Sale.

Blaxland has conceded that Blue Sky are unlikely to top the National Broodmare Sale by aggregate or be the leading consignor of race fillies and mares in 2022 due to the strength of Newgate Farm’s draft and its high-profile offerings, which include Tofane (NZ) (Ocean Park {NZ}) and Away Game (Snitzel).

“Henry Field has done an incredible job marketing some amazing mares so I think we will be knocked off for aggregate this year, but we will be there doing the best job for our clients and trying to ensure they get the most money they can,” Blaxland said.

“We have good mares with plenty of racing upside in the $20,000 to $100,000 price range and have got mares that could make over $1 million, so it’s important to have a spread so we can cover all of the buying bench which allows everyone to be able to buy from the Blue Sky Consignment.”

Newington Farm helps set them apart

Blaxand believes his Newington Farm property, which is located in close proximity to the Magic Millions sales complex, helps set them apart from Hunter Valley and Victorian-based operations.

He described Newington Farm as an extension of the Blaxland Bloodstock business and made note of the region's track record with nurturing Group 1-winning juveniles, such as Farnan, Stay Inside and Artorius (Flying Artie).

“It certainly doesn’t hurt (being located close to the Sales complex), in a usual year the weather is good up here when these fillies and mares finish racing and at the end of the autumn they can come; up it’s still warm, they can keep their coat and it’s more comfortable for them,” Blaxland said.

“Newington Farm is very popular for yearlings straight from the Magic Millions and that area of the scenic rim which has Kolora Lodge, Fenwick Farm and Hinterland Thoroughbreds has seen a lot of good 2-year-olds come through in recent years."

Fogden flying

Blaxland is extremely proud of what his wife Kacy Fogden has achieved since taking out her training license in 2019, saying the success this season is a testament to her skill and work ethic.

The horsewoman has been entrusted with some of Aquis’ top-tier stock and saddled up G1 Golden Slipper S. runner-up Best Of Bordeaux (Snitzel) for the Tony Fung-owned outfit.

“Kacy is an incredible horsewoman,” Blaxland said. “She grew up with horses in New Zealand, has a lot of talent and is the second-hardest working trainer I know as I used to work for Gai Waterhouse and Kacey is a close second.

"She works hard; she’s got a great opportunity to get some great stock from Tony Fung and has made the most of it as her record especially with 2-year-olds is unbelievable and I’m so proud of her.”