Dundeel colt smashes auction record at Inglis Ready2Race Sale

Cover image courtesy of Inglis

At A Glance

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At the close of trade, Inglis reported that 145 lots were sold for an aggregate of $15,646,500, making it the most successful breeze up sale ever held in Australia (by gross).

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The clearance rate sits at 65%, but likely to improve as passed in lots are traded.

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The gross increased from 12 months ago, where 110 lots sold for a gross of $12,016,500, however it was a significantly smaller catalogue in 2021, with 185 lots catalogued compared with 289 this year.

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The sale finished with an average of $107,907, a slight dip on last year where it was recorded as $109,241, while the median remained steady at $80,000.

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A colt by Dundeel became the most expensive juvenile ever purchased at the auction with trainer Ciaron Maher and Mat Becker’s Group 1 Bloodstock paying Dean Harvey’s Baystone Farm $750,000 for the colt.

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Anton Koolman Bloodstock finished the sale as the leading buyer, purchasing three juveniles for total receipts of $1,310,000 and his most expensive purchase of the day was an Nolen Racing-consigned colt by Deep Field, who he secured for $550,000.

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Golden River also left the sale with three purchases and the most expensive of the trio was a son of The Autumn Sun, who they picked up for $500,000.

Maher snaps up son of Dundeel

A colt by Dundeel (NZ) became the most expensive juvenile ever purchased at the Inglis Ready2Race Sale on Tuesday after trainer Ciaron Maher and Mat Becker's Group 1 Bloodstock purchased the Baystone Farm-consigned colt for $750,000.

Originally bought by Dean Harvey of Baystone Farm for $210,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale earlier this year, the colt showed his talent when clocking a respectable 10.69s in his 200-metre breeze in the run up to the sale.

Catalogued as Lot 223, the son of Dundeel is out of the dual-winning Redoute’s Choice mare Lady Moura and she is herself a sister to the ill-fated outstanding young sire Beneteau. Further back this is also the same family as multiple Group 1-winning Champion Alinghi (Encosta De Lago).

Being by Arrowfield Stud’s Dundeel out of a daughter of Redoute’s Choice means the colt is bred on the same cross as G1 Caulfield Guineas winner Super Seth, who now stands at Waikato Stud in New Zealand.

Harvey - who has retained a small share in the youngster - was unsurprisingly delighted with the colt’s price-tag and rated him one of the best colts he had ever offered at the sale.

“He’s a gorgeous horse,” Harvey told TDN AusNZ. “I reckon he’s one of the best horses we’ve produced at this sale, just a gorgeous individual. He’s a bit different to his sire, a lot leggier and a bit taller, but not heavy.

“He’s very athletic, has a great brain and can obviously gallop quite quickly. It was just a great result, we’re actually going to stay in for a little bit, I asked Ciaron after they bought him.

“He shouldn’t be doing what he’s doing at the moment, he’s by a stallion that generally throws 3-year-old middle-distance horses.”

Maher - who trains alongside David Eustace - said they had to front up more money than he expected, but was happy to do so given the potential the colt had shown in his trials and breeze-up.

“He seems like a readymade horse and he has trialled up very well and the form of his trials seems very good. We knew we would have to pay a fair bit for him, but we probably had to go a couple of bids more than what I expected, but for a nice horse you always do,” said Maher.

“He trialled well and has a lovely action, but he is a beautiful horse as well and so he ticks all the boxes and he has been well educated.”

Maher said they would get the colt home before making any concrete plans for him, but he expected him to run as a juvenile.

“He has got the type of action (to be a Guineas type), but I would say he would run as a 2-year-old, so hopefully he is the next good one. This horse has already trialled down the straight and has already had a look at Headquarters, so hopefully he can get back there on raceday,” he said.

“We will get him home, have a look at where he is physically and mentally and make a plan from there.”

Baystone on top

Baystone finished the afternoon as the leading vendor by average (with three or more sold) and aggregate, selling six juveniles for an average of $258,333 for a total receipts of $1,550,000 and Harvey was, generally speaking, very pleased with the day's trade.

“It’s been a great day,” he said. “We’ve had a few that struggled to get through and hit the mark, the middle market’s a bit tricky, but that’s okay, they’ll revert into our trade option anyway. We’ll take them to the trials now - they are nice horses, they just didn’t find their mark today (Tuesday).”

Of the overall sale, Harvey said: “I think the concept is growing and growing. We’re seeing more and more local trainers getting involved, which I think they should, it’s a great concept.

“There’s a lot of professional guys now doing the breeze-ups, buying nice horses, producing nice horses and putting them in the market, and we’re seeing the results of that on the racetrack too. I think the buying bench can have the confidence of coming here and buying a nice horse to go on with.

“We don’t generally go out and buy horses that are too sharp, we just buy horses that we like. Whether they’re a middle-distance horse or a sprinting horse, if they take our eye and we can buy them, that’s what we buy.”

Meanwhile, progeny of Dundeel also proved popular throughout the day and he finished the leading stallion by average (with three or more sold), selling three horses for an aggregate of $1,120,000 at an average of $373,333.

Koolman snaps up Deep Field colt

Newgate Farm’s Deep Field enjoyed an incredible afternoon on Saturday when siring two stakes winners and on Tuesday one of his sons translated that success into the sales ring with Oliver Koolman of Anton Koolman Bloodstock going to $550,000 for the youngster.

The Nolen Racing-consigned colt was enjoying his third trip to a sales ring, having been purchased by Hopetoun Lodge for $90,000 at the Magic Millions National Weanling Sale in 2021, before Tal Nolen snapped him up for $120,000 at the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale.

The colt signalled he would be a major player at the sale when clocking the fastest breeze-up time of the sale, when covering the 200 metres at Seymour in a time of 10.10s.

The juvenile is out of placed High Chaparral (Ire) mare Alderney and she is a sister of Listed winner Ballet Suite, while she also counts Listed winner Casquets (Fastnet Rock) amongst her half-siblings.

Given Deep Field’s success in Hong Kong, it was not surprising to see the colt bought for the jurisdiction.

“It was the fastest breeze, which was a bonus. I was particularly taken by his action, his constitution and his physique,” Koolman told TDN AusNZ. “The way he presented himself on the grounds, the vendor has done a fantastic job in identifying him, educating him and presenting him.

“He ticked a large number of the boxes that we wanted. He obviously x-rayed well, vetted clean and he’s been bought for the purpose of going to Hong Kong.”

Offered as Lot 110, the colt was the highest-priced horse sold by Tal Nolen on Tuesday, who finished having sold seven of his eight offerings and recorded a gross of $1,460,000, while he finished with an average of $208,571, a figure bettered only by Baystone Farm.

Nolen told TDN AusNZ he wasn’t expecting the son of Deep Field to realise the figure he did, but that he had always been a very forward going type, which was always going to garner significant attention at a breeze-up sale.

“I expected him to be probably around $300,000, somewhere around there. There was a lot of interest. He’s always been a sharp horse. As a 3-year-old he’ll race on, he’ll be a good horse later on,” Nolen said. “It’s been a really good sale. This sale’s been phenomenal.”

A cross that works

A few lots later, Koolman made his presence felt once again, signing for a colt by former Coolmore shuttler No Nay Never (USA), paying Baystone Farm $460,000 for the youngster.

The transaction signalled yet another nice touch for Harvey of Baystone, who purchased the colt for $80,000 at the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

Catalogued as Lot 136, the youngster - who clocked 10.35s in his breeze - is out of the unraced Exceed And Excel mare, Boomex, making the colt a half-brother to G3 Gold Coast Guineas winner Marboosha (Dream Ahead {USA}).

Exceed And Excel is one of the best broodmare sires on the planet and this colt, being by No Nay Never, is bred on the same cross as dual Group 1 winner Ten Sovereigns (Ire), who now stands at Coolmore Stud in Ireland.

Daughters of Exceed And Excel have produced 70 stakes winners with Ten Sovereigns being one of 11 top-flight winners out of Exceed And Excel mares, a haul that was added to again on Saturday when Tuvalu (Kermadec {NZ}) landed the G1 Toorak H. at Caulfield.

Koolman told TDN AusNZ the fact the colt was out of an Exceed And Excel mare was a huge attraction to him, but also a major positive was how well No Nay Never is performing in the Northern Hemisphere, with the stallion having sired eight stakes winners including three Group 1 scorers since January 1.

“Exceed And Excel is going to be the next big thing as far as broodmares go, so that gave me a fair bit of confidence,” said Koolman. “No Nay Never, I don’t mind the horse at all - I’ve had a bit of luck with No Nay Nevers.

“I just go back to what I’ve been looking at at the yearling sales, and he seems to be, as a broodmare sire, he seems to be throwing such athletic horses. He’s a very good stallion himself, he puts speed into anything.

“At the end of the day, we need speed, whether it’s at the end of a mile-and-a-quarter race or the end of a six-furlong race, we need a turn of foot and we need speed - and he’s got oodles of that. I see it carrying through.”

Koolman said the colt would head to Hong Kong and believed he would suit racing in the region.

“He’s a horse that throws a sensible animal. They’re going particularly well in the Northern Hemisphere, I’m not quite sure why it hasn’t happened here for him, but it happens with stallions.

“This guy will cross the equator anyway. He’s the right horse for the job for us, he’s going to come to hand quite quickly. He’s already a jump-out winner at Flemington, Blake Shinn spoke very highly of the horse and he’s familiar with the Hong Kong system. He’s got a great temperament, and that’s what brought us to him anyway.”

Harvey was also pleased with the result and believed the stallion’s form in the Northern Hemisphere played a huge role in his popularity at the sale.

“This was a great result too, and a stallion that couldn’t do anymore worldwide, he’s had a great season,” said Harvey. “He heads to Hong Kong. The mare’s done a great job, she’s thrown a stakes winner too with her first foal so she’s obviously a good mare - and he looks very sharp too.”

Justified price-tag

Another stallion who is going well in the Northern Hemisphere is Coolmore’s US Triple Crown winner Justify (USA) and his first-crop of runners has yielded 18 winners which are headed by four stakes winners including G2 Arlie Stud S. winner Statuette (USA).

The stallion, who will be represented by his first-crop of Southern Hemisphere-bred runners this year, enjoyed a good result at Tuesday’s Ready2Race Sale, when Koolman parted with $300,000 for a colt by the sire.

“He’s a nice horse. He’s very different to what we normally look for for a Hong Kong purchase,” explained Koolman. “The client we bought him for is happy to take a horse that can get up over a bit of ground. I think he’s going to excel at 1600-2000 metres.

“He’s going to need a little bit more time. We’ll get him up to Hong Kong in the next eight to 10 months - there’s no hurry. I think he’s going to be in for a big late 3-year-old and 4-year-old season.”

“He’ll be aimed at 3-year-old and 4-year-old races in Hong Kong.”

Koolman said that the progeny of Justify has surprised him and said he wasn’t expecting them to show the precocity they had in the Northern Hemisphere.

“I didn’t expect any of the Justifys to be out and about this early, and they’ve proven to be very effective in the Northern Hemisphere as 2-year-olds,” he said.

“From what I’ve seen, and I haven’t seen all of them but I’ve seen a lot of them, I thought he was going to be a stallion that was going to come to hand later on. But, they appear to have some raw ability, and this guy looked a lot like his father, and that attracted us.”

Catalogued as Lot 54, the son of Justify clocked 10.47s in his breeze and he was offered by WBF Thoroughbreds, who purchased the colt for $50,000 at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale earlier this year.

The juvenile is the first foal out of the four-time-winning So You Think (NZ) mare So You Merge and she is herself a daughter of G1 Adelaide Cup winner Demerger (Saithor {USA}).

Koolman finished the sale as the leading buyer, purchasing three juveniles for total receipts of $1,310,000.

Golden River goes to $500,000 for colt by The Autumn Sun

Another stallion that will be represented by his highly anticipated first crop of runners is Arrowfield Stud resident The Autumn Sun, and on Tuesday Hong Kong-based outfit Golden River threw their support behind a colt from his first crop when they paid Cheltenham Stables $500,000 for the juvenile.

Catalogued as Lot 58, the colt, who breezed in a time of 10.70s, was purchased by Cheltenham Stables for NZ$200,000 at the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale earlier this year and he is out of four-time-winning Sopra Tutto (NZ) (High Chaparral {Ire}).

Sopra Tutto is herself a half-sister to Group 2 winner Supera (NZ) (Savabeel) and dual Group 2 scorer Eleonora (NZ) (Makfi {GB}), while the colt’s third dam is multiple Group 1-winning champion Ethereal (NZ) (Rhythm {USA}).

Cheltenham Stables’ John Malcolm said while they were confident the colt was high-class, they were not expecting him to make the money he did.

“It was fantastic, we weren’t expecting to get to there,” Malcolm told the TDN AusNZ. “We’d had big interest in him all week and x-ray hits had been strong, but to get half a million for him was massive.”

Malcolm sold nine of the 11 juveniles he offered on Tuesday and finished the sale with a leading aggregate of $1,560,000 and average of $173,333, admitting that at times it was tough going in the ring.

“It’s a tough sale here today (Tuesday), for the right horses there’s the money there, (but) it’s pretty tough in general. We are getting them moved so as long as we keep doing that, that’s the main thing.”

Later on in the afternoon, Cheltenham Stables was handed another good result when Hong Kong-based trainer Peter Ng paid the New Zealand-based consignor $260,000 for a colt by Redwood (GB), who is a half-brother to Ng’s dual Group 2 winner Lucky Patch (NZ) (El Roca).

The colt was knocked down to Andrew Williams Bloodstock (FBAA), who purchased the colt’s half-brother for $40,000 at the Magic Millions National Yearling Sale in 2018.

Malcolm was delighted with the result and said, given his half-brother’s reputation, it was no surprise to see him snapped up by Hong Kong interests.

“It was a great result. He’s a lovely horse, and he breezed up really nicely. And, of course, he’s a half-brother to Lucky Patch so he gets that Hong Kong interest in him," he said.

Hutch pleased with trade

At the close of trade, Inglis reported that 145 lots were sold for an aggregate of $15,646,500, making the 2022 renewal the most successful breeze-up sale ever held in Australia (by gross).

The recorded gross is an increase from 12 months ago, where 110 lots sold for total receipts of $12,016,500, however it was a significantly smaller catalogue in 2021, with 185 lots catalogued compared with 289 this year.

The sale finished with an average of $107,907, a slight dip on last year where it was recorded as $109,241, while the median remained steady at $80,000.

Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch was buoyed by Tuesday’s good results and was confident the clearance rate, which sat around 65 per cent, would continue to rise in the coming days.

“I think we’ll end up with a clearance rate of 70 per cent which, traditionally, had been a reasonable benchmark for this sale format. Given the volume of investment by the vendors and the challenges presented by vetting, we’ve been spoiled the last couple of years with the major domestic participation to post clearance rates higher than that,” Hutch told TDN AusNZ.

“But, by the same token, we were working with a smaller catalogue and under different circumstances. So, ultimately I’m very pleased that, in spite of weakened domestic participation, we’ve been able to post the results that we have.

“We’ve got a turnover in excess of $16 million, which is a record for a sale of its format in Australia. We posted a sale price that hasn’t been realised in Australia or New Zealand for 15 years or more. A lot of fantastic trade results from people, huge participation from Hong Kong and Singapore, and plenty of domestic participation - just nothing like the scale we saw in 2020 and 2021.”

Hutch said given the strength of the yearling sale series, the auction house had expected a slight dip in domestic participation at the sale

“I think, ultimately, that just comes down to the volume of expenditure of yearlings in Australia in 2022 across the 11 yearling sales is in excess of $635 million, Inglis has a major share of that and that’s up $176 million on three years ago, the last pre-pandemic year.

“So, the volume of expenditure has been massive throughout the year, and I suppose there’s a point at which there’s less money in the market.”

Hutch said the auction house had worked tirelessly with the international buyers, particularly those in Asia to ensure their support at the sale.

“Those various relationships and the work that people have put in have contributed to a massive amount to the success of the sale, and hopefully those people that supported the sale will be rewarded with results on the racetrack in the years to come.

“What’s exciting is that this was definitely the best group of horses that have ever been brought to this sale, so it’s exciting to consider what these horses might go on to achieve in seasons to come for their new connections, and hopefully they can continue the momentum that their predecessors have generated.

“I think, ultimately, today has been a very positive day for the sale all round and hopefully graduates of this year’s sale can go on and help further continue that momentum.”

Top lots

Top pinhooks

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Vendors by aggregate (3 or more sold)

Vendors by average (3 or more sold)

Sires by aggregate (3 or more sold)

Sires by average (3 or more sold)