Written by Lydia Symonds
Cover image courtesy of Western Racepix
Dual Group 3-winning filly Flirtini (Artie Schiller {USA}) was the highlight offering of the Inglis Digital July (Late) Sale after she was snapped up by Gordon and Janise Shannon of Procyon Services for $385,000, making her one of six mares to realise $200,000 or more on the online platform on Wednesday.
Flirtini was trained by Simon Miller for the duration of her career, in which she landed six races, spearheaded by triumphs in the G3 WATC Prince of Wales S. and G3 Colonel Reeves S., which saw her earn $612,350 in career prizemoney.
Dual Group 3 winner Flirtini was the highest-priced lot of the Inglis Digital July (Late) Sale when realising $385,000 | Image courtesy of Inglis Digital
By Artie Schiller (USA), the rising 7-year-old mare is out of placed mare Ajaweed (Hennessy {USA}) making her a half-sister to Turson (Al Maher), a prolific stakes winner in Malaysia.
The mare was offered by her owner Barrie McRostie, who purchased her for $150,000 at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale in 2017, and he was delighted with Wednesday’s result.
“We’re so happy with the result, you guys (Inglis) did a great job marketing her and I think that played a big role in the result,’’ McRostie said. “I’ve sold online before but nothing special like her. When we came up with the idea, we thought $300,000 was her price so to get nearly $400,000 was a real bonus."
Gordon Shannon said he had to go slightly above his budget, but believed she was worth the stretch.
“We paid more than we expected but that’s the way the market is for these good mares at the moment,’’ Gordon said. “She’ll stay at Widden and visit one of the Widden stallions, I’m just not sure which one yet.
“She was a terrifically fast mare with a very impressive record and a nice pedigree. All in all I’m very happy to have her – I paid a bit too much for her from what I was planning, but I’m very happy.
"She (Flirtini) was a terrifically fast mare with a very impressive record and a nice pedigree. All in all I’m very happy to have her..." - Gordon Shannon
Kenmore secure Zing for $310,000
Meanwhile, Group 3-placed mare Zing (Zoustar) also proved popular during the sale with Kenmore Lodge eventually securing the mare for $310,000.
The daughter of Zoustar was offered by Chris Waller on behalf of Ollie Koolman and the ownership group for whom she landed four of 28 starts and pocketed $406,460 in career prizemoney.
“We’re thrilled with the price, it was a last-minute decision to even sell her and only really came about when she got black type on her page a couple of weeks ago and we’re just really lucky as sellers that there are twice-monthly sales with Inglis Digital to capitalise on the market effectively instantly with mares like this and take advantage of that,” said Koolman.
Group 3-placed mare Zing was knocked down to Kenmore Lodge for $310,000 | Image courtesy of Inglis Digital
It was another brilliant result for Koolman on the platform with the owner having sold Group 1-winning mare Funstar (Adelaide {Ire}) to Katsumi Yoshida for a record $2.7 million last July and he was delighted with another good result on Wednesday.
“We’ve sold the likes of Funstar, Lucicello and now Zing through Inglis Digital and when horses managed by me are offered online with Inglis, they are offered for unreserved sale and we get spirited bidding as a result because people know the product and know it’s an unreserved sale.’’
Zing is out of New Zealand Group 1 winner Zirna (NZ) (Deputy Governor {USA}) and she is also the dam of G3 Adrian Knox S. winner Crafty Irina (Starcraft {NZ}), who in turn produced Listed winner Snickerdoodledandy (Snitzel).
“We’ve sold the likes of Funstar, Lucicello and now Zing through Inglis Digital and when horses managed by me are offered online with Inglis, they are offered for unreserved sale and we get spirited bidding as a result because people know the product and know it’s an unreserved sale.’’ - Ollie Koolman
Meanwhile, Kellie Bond of Kenmore Lodge confirmed Zing would more than likely begin her breeding career this spring and would make a decision on the stallion in the coming weeks.
“We’ve bought a lot of mares over the past couple of years on Inglis Digital, she’s the dearest one we’ve bought but we’re really happy to have got her,’’ Bond said.
“The platform is great for us, we’re close friends with (Inglis’ NSW Bloodstock Manager) Chris Russell and he guides us with these mares, as he did again today with Zing. We certainly had to pay enough for her but that’s what the market does.’’
Kellie and Cameron Bond | Image courtesy of Kenmore Lodge
Yulong add more to broodmare band
Three-time winner Derive (Redoute’s Choice) will join Yulong’s powerful broodmare band as they went to $290,000, under the guise of the Lucky Vega Syndicate, for the mare who was offered by Ellerton Racing on behalf of owners Barrie and Midge Griffiths.
The daughter of Redoute's Choice is out of unplaced mare Malala (Jpn) (Zenno Rob Roy {Jpn}) and is herself a half-sister to dual Japanese Grade 1 scorer World Premiere (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Grade 2 scorer World Ace (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}).
“I would have been happy to race her on with my son-in-law if she didn’t sell and just leave her with Mathew (Ellerton) but she obviously made way above what we thought she would so you really need to take advantage of results like this when you can,’’ Barrie Griffiths said.
Derive will join Yulong's broodmare band as they went to $290,000 to secure the mare
While she was purchased under the 'Lucky Vega Syndicate' banner, Yulong’s Chief Operating Officer Sam Fairgray said she would either be covered by Lucky Vega (Ire), but they would also consider sending the mare to Tagaloa for her first cover.
“We’ll get her back to the farm and make a decision soon enough but she’ll go to either Lucky Vega or Tagaloa,” said Fairgray.
“Mr Zhang was very excited by the Redoute’s Choice factor, he’s obviously a fantastic broodmare sire, they’re not making any more of them so if you can get your hands on them, you may as well try.’’
“Mr Zhang was very excited by the Redoute’s Choice factor, he’s obviously a fantastic broodmare sire, they’re not making any more of them so if you can get your hands on them, you may as well try.’’ - Sam Fairgray
During the sale, Yulong also snapped up Miss Albania (Magnus) for $270,000 and she will likely be covered by their G1 Blue Diamond S. winner Tagaloa.
The sale finished with an aggregate of $4,379,450 making it the fourth consecutive Inglis Digital Sale to gross in excess of $4 million.
