Australian Bloodstock’s Wandabaa makes $800,000 on Inglis Digital

Written by Lydia Symonds

Cover image courtesy of Sportpix

Group 3 winner Wandabaa (Wandjina) proved the top-billing among the trio of Australian Bloodstock mares that were offered via the Inglis Digital Online platform on Wednesday after Yulong’s Tagaloa Syndicate parted with $800,000 for the 6-year-old.

At the close of trade, the aggregate finished at $1.21 million, with eight-time winner Enchanted Heart (NZ) (Shamus Award) also selling to Yulong - this time the Lucky Vega Syndicate - for $295,000, while Three Bridges Thoroughbreds – working on behalf of client Pete Murray - took home Lunakorn (Puissance De Lune {Ire}) for $115,000.

Since purchasing her for a mere $36,000 from the Ascot Park draft at the 2018 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, Wandabaa has proved a revelation for Australian Bloodstock.

In a career that spanned 38 starts, the now 6-year-old mare landed eight races, spearheaded by a victory in the G3 Newmarket H. at Newcastle last March and to date she has just shy of $1 million in career prizemoney.

However, her win record does not tell the whole story, and her CV also includes placed efforts in the G3 Birthday Card S., G2 Sapphire S. and the $1 million The Hunter when she was second to Lost And Running (NZ) (Per Incanto {USA}), while she also placed second in the G3 Dark Jewel Classic and G2 Moreton Cup.

The daughter of Wandjina came agonisingly close to signing off her career with Australian Bloodstock with a second stakes win in the G2 Missile S. at Randwick 10 days ago, but she was narrowly denied victory when beaten 0.5l by Hard Empire (Hard Spun {USA}).

Australian Bloodstock’s Jamie Lovett told TDN AusNZ the mare was deserving of the price-tag she realised on Wednesday and he was confident she would make a lovely broodmare in the future.

“She demanded a good price with her race record. She was a lovely filly as a yearling and she has developed into a lovely mare, so we had high expectations for her and that was a brilliant result for her,” he said.

“From being a $36,000 yearling, it has been some ride with her winning nearly $1 million and now selling her for $800,000. She repaid our faith in her very early and the rest of it has been a bonus. I think she will develop into a lovely broodmare.

“We always held her in very high regard and she went through the grades fairly quickly as a young horse, winning her first three starts and by virtue of that she climbed the benchmark system fairly quickly and has always been competing at a high level most of her career.

“She was very unlucky a few times and could have certainly won a Group 2 race, she is certainly a high-quality mare.”

Racing on an option

Wandabaa was the fifth foal from the Anabaa (USA) mare Mabkhara and, as such, a half-sister to this year's Listed Bob Hoysted H. winner Malkovich.

She’s also a half-sister to the Sebring filly Seewhatshebrings, who fetched $800,000 at this year’s Inglis Chairman’s Sale when offered by Twin Hills Stud and sold to Fernrigg Farm and Avesta Bloodstock.

Yulong’s Chief Operating Officer Sam Fairgray said the mare could continue racing, before being mated to their G1 Blue Diamond S. winner Tagaloa later this spring.

“We had to pay a bit more than I thought we might have had to but with good mares like this, everybody wants to have them in their broodmare band so we’re pleased we got her,” he said.

“I think she’ll be a nice mating for Tagaloa. She’s a very consistent mare and her half-sister Seewhatshebrings made $800,000 also at the Inglis Chairman’s Sale so it’s a nice family.

“She may have another run or two, I’ll talk to (trainer) Kris (Lees) about that but both she and Enchanted Heart ran so well in the Missile S. last week so maybe they could have another farewell run.’’

Enchanted Heart for Lucky Vega

Meanwhile, Lovett was also pleased with the result for eight-time winner Enchanted Heart, who, like Wandabaa, will continue her career at Yulong after the Victorian-based operation, working as the ‘Lucky Vega Syndicate’ outlaid $295,000 for the daughter of Shamus Award.

The 6-year-old has $400,000 in prizemoney across 28 starts with the highlight coming when she took out the Listed Takeover Target S. in 2021.

Like Wandabaa, she was last seen in the G2 Missile S., producing a good performance to finish fourth. Enchanted Heart was purchased at the same sale as her stablemate, with Australian Bloodstock parting with $80,000 at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale and she has accrued $438,930 in career earnings.

“We tried to manage the expectations beforehand, but we said to the owners we expected her to make $250,000, so for her to make just under $300,000 was brilliant,” said Lovett. “She has won almost $400,000 and eight races and she has been a fantastic mare for the owners. I was absolutely delighted with that result.

“All in all she is a good story. Syndication gives investors and owners the chance to compete for big prizemoney, but they also get nice results when they sell them.”

Fairgray was excited by the prospect of Enchanted Heart being served by Lucky Vega (Ire), whose first foals have hit the ground in the past few weeks.

“We’re thrilled with the first four foals Lucky Vega has thrown, he seems to have thrown a lot of quality into them, a lot of strength, good hip and shoulders and head so we think Enchanted Heart is a great match for him.’’

Fairgray said he was excited by the prospect of Enchanted Heart being served by Lucky Vega, whose first foals have hit the ground in the past few weeks.

“We’re thrilled with the first four foals Lucky Vega has thrown, he seems to have thrown a lot of quality into them, a lot of strength, good hip and shoulders and head so we think Enchanted Heart is a great match for him.’’

Another mare for Russian Camelot

The final mare of the trio was four time-winning mare Lunakorn and she was snapped up by Three Bridges Thoroughbreds - who were working on behalf of their client Pete Murray - for $115,000.

The 7-year-old earned $235,320 in prizemoney, while her career highlight came when she finished third in the G3 Mannerism S., in 2021 and she will be covered by Widden Stud resident Russian Camelot (Ire) this spring.

“John Wheeler bought three nice mares off Inglis Digital last week to send to Russian Camelot and while Pete has a share in the stallion, he believes in the stallion and has bought a mare in Lunakorn who genetically matches to suit the stallion perfectly so hopefully he can breed a horse as good as Russian Camelot himself,” said Three Bridges’ Toby Liston.

Bought by Australian Bloodstock and Darren Weir for $67,500 from the draft of Armidale Stud at the 2018 at the Magic Millions Tasmanian Yearling Sale, Lunakorn is out of Kandy Korn (Flying Spur) and hails from the same family as G3 Matriarch S. winner Sweet Corn (Scenic) and Listed winner Baby Corn (Exceed And Excel).

“We always had a very good opinion of her when she raced in Melbourne, she was perhaps her own worst enemy a few times because she had the tendency to over race,” said Lovett.

“But she competed at a fairly good level and was stakes-placed. But a city-winning mare with an outcross like that should be easy to breed to. She has a lovely temperament and I will be very interested to see what she produces, because she is a very nice type herself.”

All three mares were previously entered in the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale, but Lovett said they decided to target a few more races before offering them as broodmare prospects, a decision Lovett believes has paid off.

“It is the first time I have used Inglis Digital to sell mares of that quality and we were delighted with it,” said Lovett.

“The marketing team does a great job at promoting the catalogues and there is plenty of activity on social media leading into the sale. Personally, I would have had 15 to 20 calls in the last seven days from breeders and agents just asking about the mares.

“From our point of view, it was later in the year and the owners wanted to race on. We had them entered at the Gold Coast, but it turned out to be the right decision with both Wandabaa and Enchanted Heart running in the Queensland carnival and Wandabaa finishing second in the Missile S.”

With the Australian Bloodstock Boutique Sale now complete, attention turns to the next Inglis Digital Sale – the August (Late) auction – and entries for that close at midnight (Wednesday) with the sale opening for bidding on Friday afternoon.

There are already several high-class entries confirmed for the sale including G1 Queensland Oaks winner Winning Ways (Declaration Of War {USA}) and Homebird (Rothesay), dam of last weekend’s G3 Quezette S. winner Bound For Home (Rubick).