Cover image courtesy of Inglis

At A Glance

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In its second year as a two-day sale, the aggregate after the final day stood at $12,845,500, down slightly from $13,065,000 last year, though the gap will likely close as more horses are traded overnight.

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The average improved in Day 2 to finish at $52,431, up on $48,750 in 2022.

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The median remained steady at $30,000, the same as in 2022.

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The clearance rate also improved, and at the close of trade 245 weanlings had changed hands for a clearance rate of 73 per cent, against 78 per cent last year.

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The $625,000 Capitalist colt sold on Monday, a brother to Kia Ora’s young sire Captivant, remained the sale-topper as a Deep Field from Fairhill Farm realised $300,000 to head the final day of the sale.

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Newgate Farm remained the host of the sale’s leading sire by average (with three or more sold), as Deep Field overtook Capitalist on Day 2, with three weanlings selling for a $245,000 average. Farnan was the sale’s leading first-season sire, with three sold for an average of $153,333.

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The dispersing Ashleigh Thoroughbreds draft was overtaken on aggregate by Fairhill Farm on Day 2, the latter selling 25 for a total of $1,838,000. With an average of $138,750 for four sold, Kia Ora led the vendors by that metric.

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New Zealand’s Kaha Nui Farm spent the most amongst the buyers, forking out $635,000 on four weanlings.

The Day 2 upswing

Trade picked up a notch on the concluding day, bringing the average up to $52,431 to surpass last year’s figure, despite the clearance rate lagging slightly. The increased activity on Day 2 may have improved some of the metrics, but Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch described it as a ‘source of frustration’ that a number of buyers left the sale with orders still to fill.

“There’s no disguising the fact that there are parts of the market that are challenging at the moment,” Hutch said.

“It certainly felt like people had a greater sense of urgency about their business today. There were some nice horses that sold today, and we want nice horses to sell well.

“Reflecting on the sale, I think we can say with a fair degree of confidence that nice horses that vetted well and met the credentials of pinhookers did sell well. Whether it was early in the day yesterday or at the end of the day today.”

Sir Patrick’s sign-off with rare Savabeel

After much of the breeding stock belonging to the late Sir Patrick Hogan was dispersed via a special Gavelhouse Plus auction last week, the last Sir Patrick-bred weanling to head through an auction ring was consigned by Bhima Thoroughbreds on Tuesday.

It was a fitting end given that Sir Patrick’s considerable impact on the industry can be traced as much through the people he helped to hone as the bloodlines he’s so famous for. Mike Fleming, who runs Bhima with his wife Kate, is a former pupil of Sir Patrick, and explained that his influence extended far beyond that initial employment.

“Look, I had a long association with Sir Patrick, or Boss as we knew him, and even after I moved on and managed Brooklyn Lodge and came to Australia, he has always been a great supporter of myself and (my wife) Kate,” Fleming said.

“It is pretty humbling to sell the last horse that he has bred to go through a sale ring. Everyone knew how good he was with what he did, the horses he bred. It’s the end of an era, really. I don’t think we’ll see anyone else in our lifetime or in the future of breeding in general do what he managed to do as a sole operator and build an empire.”

Out of the O’Reilly (NZ) mare Tricia'o (NZ), a dual winner, the filly is a half-sister to Group 2 placegetter Titled (Exceed And Excel). With Titled raced by Gary Harding, it was the Kiwi owner who secured the filly for $280,000 over the phone.

“(Titled) showed a lot of ability so we were very pleased to get her,” Harding said. “We liked the pedigree a lot too,” Harding said.

“She vetted really well, some close friends had a look at her and the reports back were very good.”

Reported by Fleming to have been bought out for inspections ‘probably close to 150 times’, the relative rarity of Savabeel weanlings offered for sale (just two sold in 2022) undoubtedly combined with the appeal of the Savabeel/O’Reilly cross to make the filly the sale’s third-most expensive purchase.

Striking at 13.2 per cent stakes winners to runners, the cross boasts eight Group 1 winners, most recently responsible for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott’s Australian Derby winner Major Beel (NZ).

“Very pleased with the purchase, we thought for what we want, she was the best filly in the sale. I like racing them as 3-year-olds in the Classic races and that’s the plan with this filly,” Harding said.

“We think the sale has been very good, very strong, so pricing her wasn’t an easy task. I said to my wife that I’d like to think we could get her for $220,000 but she may go for up to $300,000 yet, so the price is at the higher end of where I thought she would be but still we’re very happy to be taking her home.”

Sedgwick strays for latest pinhook

Operating under the STAS Bloodstock banner, friends Allison Sedgwick and Shannon Taylor crept into the pinhooking game last year. Whilst Taylor last year joined IRT after many years at Haunui Farm, Sedgwick is Darley’s nominations sales consultant, and so it was no surprise to see that their first purchase last year was a Too Darn Hot (GB) colt.

They returned again this year to purchase a Harry Angel (Ire) filly (Lot 159) on Monday for $55,000, but on Tuesday they looked beyond the Darley roster for the first time to land a Dundeel (NZ) colt, consigned by Bell River Thoroughbreds as Lot 353.

They secured the three-quarter brother to Ain’tnodeeldun, a daul-Listed winner, for $270,000. The third foal from Ain't She Smart (Smart Missile), the colt is also from the family of recently announced Aquis stallion Stronger and was bred in a partnership including Anna Freedman, wife of trainer Michael.

“We were chatting to the Fergusons about it and they think there’s probably a lot more ability in the family than even the catalogue led you to believe,” Sedgwick explained. “I think we’ll probably send him to Bhima, we have a good relationship with Mike (Fleming).”

After the excellent season enjoyed by Dundeel, the pair were encouraged by the colt’s resemblance to G1 Sires’ Produce/Champagne S. double winner Militarize (NZ), who Taylor remembers well from her time at Haunui Farm.

“I really loved him since the first time I saw him on Friday,” Taylor explained. “He reminded me a lot of Militarize - I worked at Haunui Farm for a long time and he was born and raised there. He was in a similar mould and we thought we’d have a go and luckily Allison (joined).

“Like always, we paid a bit more than probably we wanted to, but he’s such a nice colt and, at that level, you’d have to think you can easily clear that at whichever sale he goes to. Hopefully he develops like we think he can and turns into a nice result for everybody.”

Farnan gains traction, proven sires remain popular on Day 2

There were a smattering of notable results for first-season sires as the second day of trade got underway. A son of Peltzer (Lot 295) went for $100,000, followed by Lot 296, a colt by King’s Legacy which sold to The Hermitage for $140,000.

Those results handed each sire their top lot for the sale, the same being true of the Hanseatic colt (Lot 351) from Fairview Park Stud, which sold to Sullivan Bloodstock for $145,000. However, it was Kia Ora’s Farnan who led the first-season sires highest amongst the established names on average (with three or more sold).

The son of Not A Single Doubt had three sell for an average of $153,333, putting him in third spot behind Deep Field and Capitalist, and in general they were much admired by some of their vendors at least, with three passing in for $200,000 or more across the sale.

Sires by aggregate

Sires by average (3 or more sold)

Fairhill finishes in front

A flurry of action on Day 2 saw Fairhill Farm overtake the dispersing Ashleigh Thoroughbreds as the leading vendor on aggregate, making it a fifth-straight year at the head of the vendors for Mike and Debbie O’Donnell’s farm.

Producing the top result on the concluding day, and second-best overall, Fairhill sold their Deep Field colt (Lot 437) to AB Bloodstock for $300,000. He’s the second foal from Cribbage (Eurozone), a half-sister to G1 Railway S. winner Good Project (Not A Single Doubt).

“I’m very, very pleased considering the current market conditions, we are overwhelmed with the result,” Mike O’Donnell said. “We were expecting a good price. We thought we might hit $200,000, so it was exciting to hit $300,000. We went on the market at $150,000, so it was good.

“(Inspections) were very, very good. They were comparable with last year but the market was far more discerning than last year. They were looking for risk-free animals.”

Asked about the Fairhill policy of selling all their stock as weanlings, O’Donnell added:

“You’ve got to take the good with the bad and we’ve got to at least be a seller and present all and that’s what we try to do.

“I am very happy for them (pinhookers) to make plenty because they’re the best adverts for us. In fact, it’s disappointing if someone doesn’t make plenty.”

Vendors by aggregate

Vendors by average (3 or more sold)

Kiwi buyers strongest

Buyers from New Zealand spent the most on average across the sale (of regions with three or more purchases), bringing home 34 at a rate of $70,250 apiece.

In fact, the eastern Australian states were only as high as fourth by average spend, with the Kiwi buyers followed by those from Hong Kong (four purchased for an average of $65,250) and Western Australia (14 purchased for an average of $64,000).

“We had strong representation from New Zealand - Brett (Gilding), Jonathan (D’Arcy) and Dean Hawthorne have worked hard on that,” Sebastian Hutch said.

“They’re very particular about what they want to buy. Generally speaking they’re looking to shop in terms of quality not quantity.

“There were a large number of New Zealand pinhookers here, a number of whom didn’t buy which is disappointing for them and frustrating for us that we couldn’t get enough horses in front of them.”

Top buyers

Fillies close down colts

In 2022, fillies were 27 per cent cheaper than the colts, whilst that figure was 52 per cent in 2021 and 27 per cent in 2020. Decreasing to the lowest level in the last few years, fillies sold on average for a 24 per cent discount against the colts at this year’s sale.

Lot 402 - Deep Field x Californiasurprise, colt - $255,000

Kaha Nui Farm made their biggest purchase of the sale on Day 2 via Lot 402, a Deep Field colt consigned by Middlebrook Valley Lodge. Bred by Middlebrook’s Verna Metcalfe in partnership with EW and SM Beirs, the colt is the fourth foal from the I Am Invincible mare Californiasurprise, a juvenile winner.

The dam of one foal to race so far, a winner, Californiasurprise is herself out of the high-class Western Australian 2-year-old Camporella (Exceed And Excel), winner of the G3 WATC Sires’ Produce S., R. Listed Magic Millions Perth 2YO Classic and Listed Gimcrack S.

It was a smart start for Metcalfe and her co-breeders, with the mare having been purchased at last year’s Inglis Australian Broodmare Sale for $140,000 when in-foal to this colt.

Lot 435 - Maurice (Jpn) x Courtesan (NZ), colt - $190,000

The second of three purchases by AB Bloodstock was Lot 435, the Maurice (Jpn) colt consigned by Kerry Stephens and Denis Griffin’s Glenbeigh Farm. Knocked down for $190,000, he is out of Courtesan (NZ) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), a half-sister to dual Group 1 winner Monaco Consul (High Chaparral {Ire}).

Courtesan was a $100,000 purchase at the 2022 Inglis Digital (Early) Online Sale by D Farming, when in foal to this colt.

Lot 329 - Farnan x Waterloo Sunset, colt - $180,000

Kia Ora’s first-season sire Farnan was handed his highest-priced weanling on the second day of the sale when their own colt, Lot 329, sold to Black Ridge Farms for $180,000.

He is out of the Group 2-placed Fastnet Rock mare Waterloo Sunset, who was picked up by Kia Ora at last year’s Inglis Chairman's Sale for $300,000. Her only foal to race is the winning Frankel (GB) filly Unclouded, and with her own dam being the G1 Flight S. winner Unearthly (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}), Waterloo Sunset is a half-sister to Group 1 winner Invest (Dehere {USA}).

Top lots

Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything

In a significant scoop for auction house Magic Millions, it was revealed on Tuesday that the 9-year-old mare Piping Hot, a daughter of More Than Ready (USA), will be offered for sale at the upcoming Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale.

Piping Hot is the dam of the dual Group 1 winner Coolangatta (Written Tycoon), whose repertoire also includes the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic, and she will be offered in foal on an early cover to I Am Invincible.

Piping Hot will be consigned by John Muir’s Milburn Creek, where she has lived since her retirement from the track in 2017, and she will enter the Bundall sale ring as Lot 676 on Tuesday, May 23. By all accounts, she is a powerful offering.

“To be honest, if I think back on the history of the broodmares that have been sold in Australia in foal, a mare of the calibre of Piping Hot is very hard to compare to,” said Magic Millions’ Barry Bowditch, speaking to TDN AusNZ. “I’ve been here for some 18 years now and I don’t believe there’s been a mare go to market of this calibre. She is only nine years old by one of the world’s best sires and she is the dam of Coolangatta.

“I think that, on top of her having a very early cover to I Am Invincible, is a recipe for every commercial breeder worldwide to be playing a part when she enters the ring later this month.”

Piping Hot is owned by John and Carolyn Warren in the United Kingdom. She is one of five broodmares in Australia that the Warrens’ Highclere operation keeps at Milburn Creek in the Southern Highlands. The mare is from the Danehill (USA) producer Ribe, who won the G2 Moonee Valley Oaks, and she is a half-sister to the 2008 G1 Blue Diamond winner Reaan, a sire son of Hussonet (USA).

Piping Hot was co-bred by Arrowfield and bought by Jake and John Warren at the 2015 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling. She cost $320,000 and, despite a succinct career at Tulloch Lodge that lasted just four starts for two wins before going amiss, Piping Hot was worth every penny.

“She was a most talented filly,” said Gai Waterhouse. “Not only did she win several races for me, but she was a filly that I felt could have gone right on to Group 1 level. Alas, she went amiss, but she has certainly produced, in a filly like Coolangatta, a remarkable individual.”

Coolangatta was Piping Hot’s second foal, born in 2019 and a well-documented $280,000 yearling purchase for Ciaron Maher Bloodstock. The mare’s first foal, the Snitzel gelding Snitzonfire, went to Gai Waterhouse, Adrian Bott and Mt Hallowell Stud as a Magic Millions yearling for $425,000, and he’s won three of his 10 starts.

Last year, Piping Hot’s Dundeel (NZ) filly was sold at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale for $400,000, going to a consortium of Kennewell Racing, Group 1 Bloodstock (FBAA) and Trilogy Racing.

However, the jewel for Piping Hot has been the 3-year-old Coolangatta, who is just shy of $3.1 million in eight lifetime starts.

She won the G3 Gimcrack S. on debut in dazzling fashion, then the G3 BJ McLachlan S. and R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic. She was third to Fireburn (Rubick) in the G1 Golden Slipper and third to Rothfire (Rothesay) in the G2 McEwen S.

Since then, Coolangatta has won the G1 Moir S. in a glittering sprint battle with Bella Nipotina (Pride Of Dubai), and after her only unplaced effort in the G1 Coolmore Stud S. in the spring, she was electric in the G1 Lightning S. on February 18, winning arguably the best sprint feature in Victoria.

“Coolangatta… what can you say about a filly like that?” Bowditch said. “She’s not only running in the King’s Stand S. at Royal Ascot in June; she’s favourite for the King’s Stand S. in June.”

The Coolangatta story has captivated Australian racing for two years now, so the sale of Piping Hot is timely. Bowditch expects, without much argument, that the mare will attract big dollars.

“She’s the mare that should make the most money in this marketplace in 2023,” he said. “She ticks every box that could be ticked. She’s young, she’s in foal to an outstanding sire who has taken all before him this year, and she’s produced a world-class filly, which will be proven next month.

“I’m very excited about this, and it’s a privilege to be able to offer a mare like this on behalf of Magic Millions for clients as international in profile as John and Carolyn Warren.”

Worldwide interest

For John Warren, the buzz around Piping Hot’s sale is equal parts excitement and regret. Selling a proven producer of this calibre isn’t easy, particularly when his numbers are so boutique in Australia.

However, Highclere Australia is a commercial operation just like any other and the wheels must spin for everyone.

“We are commercial breeders, it’s what we do,” Warren said, speaking on Tuesday to TDN AusNZ. “That’s our business model and we, as a family and as an organisation, are commercial breeders.

“Yes, it was a hard decision to make but we’ve got an exceptional weanling filly out of her and everyone that’s seen her has been blown away by her. So there is a daughter there, even though we’re yet to decide what to do with her, whether we keep her or sell her next year.”

Piping Hot’s weanling filly is a full sister to Coolangatta. She is striking, a rich chestnut in colour with three white socks. Warren has had a good look at her, spending much of January and February in Australia, as he does each year.

“It’s fun having mares in Australia,” he said. “We enjoy it and it gives us a great interest in Australian racing.”

One of the critical elements of Piping Hot’s sale is the expected international interest in her. She is a mare by More Than Ready, who has worked so well in this country, but also so well in the United States and Europe. That sireline brings a versatility to Piping Hot’s useability around the world, and it’s one of the reasons Highclere bought her in the first place.

“Being by More Than Ready, she had a pedigree that we could relate to,” Warren said. “In respect to her sale, that has made her much more appealing because she will fit some of the best stallions in the world. There’s little stopping anyone from mating her to any top-end stallion in America, Europe or Japan, and that’s where it’s going to be interesting, to see how that shapes itself out.”

The international interest in Piping Hot will make her sale very good theatre. She will be offered ahead of her daughter’s tilt at the King’s Stand S. at Royal Ascot, but the promise of that result will work in her favour.

International breeders as far away from Australia as Kentucky and Japan could potentially buy a mare that will not only deliver a foal by a Champion Australian sire as part of the package; they will have the rare accolade of owning a half-sibling to a prolific, potentially Group 1-winning Royal Ascot filly.

It could be enough to tickle the interest of buyers who wouldn’t normally shop the Australian market.

“There will be significant international interest in her, and there should be,” Bowditch said. “The Europeans could potentially be buying the dam of a King’s Stand winner, and from an American perspective, she’s by More Than Ready and she possesses all they look for in a mare.

“She looks fast and she’s producing fast horses. Realistically, you could be outlaying with the idea of getting a lot of your money back just with that first foal by I Am Invincible. The investment, to me, could end up being very, very sound.”

For Warren, with all his years attending the major bloodstock sales of the world, Piping Hot is a well-named commodity now. He said they’re just not easily available, mares of this calibre, and it’s a consistent conversation at the elite end of the broodmare-buying market.

“She’s a left-field, rare thing to come about,” Warren said.

Full of confidence

John Warren will be ringside for Piping Hot’s sale this month. He’s an annual visitor anyway, keeping in touch with Highclere's Australian connections and its local bloodstock market.

For Bowditch, Piping Hot will not only add a new level to the 2023 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale; she could add a new benchmark.

“As a sales company, you’re always on the lookout for mares like this,” he said. “You hope to be able to offer them from one time to another, and in this instance we’ve got a very strong relationship with the Warrens. Relationships count for a lot in this industry and Piping Hot is something we are very excited to bring to the marketplace.”

As far as health of the buying bench goes, Bowditch said Piping Hot’s level is doing extremely well and he expects she will be sought after, hotly contested and rich in return.

“Buying at this end of the market, you’re always rewarded,” he said. “You’ve got that upside of selling the progeny with the big pedigrees, and I’m full of confidence that this end of the market, where Piping Hot sits, will remain very strong and very buoyant.

“Internationally, when you convert what you’re spending to your own currency, you’re buying extremely well. And as I said, it’s a great recipe to participate in Australia on mares of Piping Hot’s quality.”

Cover image courtesy of the Hong Kong Jockey Club

The Canungra-based Aquis Farm has released its stallion roster for the 2023 spring, which emerges at the end of several weeks of announcements regarding stallion movements.

Through April, the farm revealed that Pierata was a high-profile relocation to Yulong, while both Divine Prophet and Santos were on their way to Highview Stud in New Zealand. Likewise, Brave Smash (Jpn) departed to stand at Yarraman Park, and Dubious was announced for Kitchwin Hills.

These, and other relocations, have condensed the Aquis stallion roster from 17 sires last year to just seven this year, and, at $16,500 (inc GST), the 7-year-old Jonker sits atop things. Heading into his second season, Jonker’s fee is unchanged from last spring when he covered 115 mares.

“With his sire, Spirit Of Boom, getting a well-deserved fee increase, Jonker still represents terrific value, as he was in his first season as a proper weight-for-age, Group 1-winning sprinter by a proven stallion,” said Jonathan Davies, Aquis’ director of sales. “He’s the only direct descendant of Eight Carat at stud on the eastern seaboard, so he offers such a great opportunity for breeders to duplicate that great bloodline through Eight Carat and Cotehele House.”

Eight Carat (GB) (Pieces Of Eight {Ire}) and her daughter Cotehele House (GB) (My Swanee {GB}) are fifth and fourth dams respectively in Jonker’s pedigree. It comes up a lot when Davies is planning matings for Aquis clients.

“I was just looking it up this morning, actually,” he said. “Duplicating Cotehele House in pedigrees is running at 20 per cent stakes horses to runners, which is incredible.”

Jonker is still fresh off the blocks at Aquis. His first foals will arrive at the end of the winter off a healthy first book of 115.

“He made the most of his opportunities last spring with great fertility,” Davies said. “He’s been well-supported by lifetime breeding-right holders and shareholders, which include the original ownership group that raced him. They’ve been great supporters of his and they’ll continue to be, which is a great help to any stallion.

“We hope his first foals will look like him, which they should… strong, neat, short-coupled, powerful, and that great, deeply rich colour that traces back to Eight Carat.”

Lean Mean Machine drops slightly

Seven-year-old Jonker leads the Aquis roster at $16,500, while the new stallion Stronger, a son of Not A Single Doubt who was announced for the farm last week, will debut at $13,750 (inc GST).

Stronger arrived at Canungra on Monday looking magnificent, according to Davies, and they’re expecting a show of support from both local and interstate breeders in this Group 3-winning, Hong Kong-performed sprinter.

Next in line on the Aquis lineup is the proven Lean Mean Machine, a son of Zoustar and dual Group 2 winner. Rising eight years old, this stallion is heading into his fifth season at stud at a reduced fee of $13,200 (inc GST), down from his 2022 fee of $17,600 (inc GST).

“We always try to price our stallions competitively, and we like to think that we’re one of the best-value studs going around for breeders to get returns on because that’s what we want to see,” Davies said. “Lean Mean Machine is priced accordingly this year. He’s a great opportunity for breeders to access a high-class son of Zoustar, and he’s the only dual Group-winning son of Zoustar at stud in Australia.

“He throws a lovely sales type. They’re athletic with incredible movement, and he’s already been represented with a metropolitan winner from just a few runners.”

Lean Mean Machine is among Australia’s first-season sires right now. He’s had just three runners to the track, headed by the juvenile filly Freeman, who won over 1110 metres on debut this season.

At the yearling point, the stallion’s top-priced youngster was a 2022 colt that sold for $380,000, a more than 20-fold return on service fee, while this year his sale average (across 18 lots sold) has been a tick under $45,000.

“We expect his 2-year-olds will really start to hit their straps over the coming months,” Davies said. “There’s a few that have come on really nicely through trials recently, and that Zoustar-line of stallion screams 3-year-olds, which wasn’t unlike Zoustar himself when his first crop turned three, of which Lean Mean Machine was a part.”

Competitive earners round out the roster

Filling out the rest of the Aquis lineup are Invader at $11,000 (inc GST) and the trio of Glenfiddich, Kobayashi and The Mission, each of these latter three at $8800 (inc GST).

Invader stood last spring at $22,000 (inc GST), meaning his fee has been sliced in half, while The Mission has also slid slightly from last year’s fee of $11,000 (inc GST).

“Invader has been the first second-season sire to produce a Group 1 winner through the deeds of Sunshine In Paris,” Davies said. “When breeders hunt around this season for value, Invader standing at $10,000 plus GST will pick himself.

“He throws a great sales type and they’re really hitting their straps now. He’s got good books coming through and I personally believe it’s all in front of him at the moment.”

Invader is leaping into his sixth season at stud. Until last year, he had covered sizeable books of up to 150. That waned when he covered just 25 last spring, but Aquis is confident that what is coming through will stand to the horse very well.

Invader has sired 24 winners to date, including Sunshine In Paris who won the G1 Surround S. at Randwick in the autumn for Annabel Neasham.

At $8800, the trio of Glenfiddich, Kobayashi and The Mission whip in the Aquis roster. Each has sizeable credentials to add to a competitive price bracket of the stallion market, in particular Glenfiddich, who not only brings the Fastnet Rock sireline to Aquis, but who has plenty of promise with his first foals arriving this spring.

Gallery: Aquis' stallions for 2023

“He’s a horse that is well-suited to the Queensland market,” Davies said. “He’s let down into a magnificent stallion. He’s very masculine and handsome, and he’s got a lot of class. He was a sharp-enough 2-year-old, being Group 1-placed in the Champagne, and he went on to great success as a 3-year-old, albeit we never saw the best of him.”

Glenfiddich was a $200,000 yearling in 2019 when offered by Edinburgh Park, plucked from the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale by the keen eye of bloodstock agent Peter Ford (FBAA) and the horse's first trainer, Robbie Griffiths. Glenfiddich was a one-time Cox Plate favourite, was third in the G2 Stutt S. and second to Hanseatic in the Listed Blue Diamond Preview in the boys’ division.

“He’s got some really nice mares in foal to him in the Edinburgh Park Dispersal coming up at Magic Millions, so we’re excited to see how they’ll be greeted in the market,” Davies said.

Kobayashi and The Mission, meanwhile, are heading into their sixth seasons. Both have had momentum lately, with Kobayashi siring the first two home in the QTIS Jewel race for 2-year-olds in March. This son of I Am Invincible has just two crops of racing age and he’s sired 17 winners from 41 starters.

The Mission has very similar numbers, plus the smart 3-year-old Yellow Brick to his name. Yellow Brick was second in the R. Listed Magic Millions 3YO Guineas in January, and he will this weekend line up in the G3 Gold Coast Guineas ahead of a possible tilt at the G1 Stradbroke H.

“Yellow Brick has been a star galloper for The Mission, and Kobayashi has had a great season with his 2-year-olds,” Davies said. “Both stallions are batting way above their averages, and their average earnings index is incredibly competitive, superseding most of their counterparts on the second-season sire table.”

The Mission is currently fourth on the Australian Second Season Sires' table by earnings, behind only Russian Revolution, Hellbent and Almanzor (Fr), while Kobayashi is also inside the top 10.

Table: Aquis Farm's stallion roster in 2023, *all prices inclusive of GST