A collection of 421 yearlings are slated to sell at Inglis Riverside Stables on April 6 and 7, walking through the same ring that once held G1 Coolmore Stud S. victor Switzerland (Snitzel), G1 Australian Oaks winner Autumn Angel (The Autumn Sun), and the G1 1000 Guineas-winning Joliestar (Zoustar).

The 2025 sale promises yet another edition of the “best of the best” in bloodstock that the Southern Hemisphere has to offer, albeit with a very select group: down 79 yearlings year on year, around 15 per cent less than 2024.

“We’re very grateful to be given the opportunity by vendors to get stock of this kind of quality, it’s not something we take for granted," said Sebastian Hutch, Inglis Bloodstock CEO.

"There is pressure to get outstanding results for people with this stock, but the sale has forged its reputation over time to be the best of the best with every renewal. We aim to raise the bar every year.”

Home Affairs leads the charge for first season sires on fire

Nine first season sires have yearlings that have made it into the illustrious Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale catalogue, but it is Coolmore Stud’s dual Group 1-winning son of Champion Sire I Am Invincible, Home Affairs, who dominates the offerings.

"It’s not often that a first season sire commands a six figure fee," said Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch. "He (Home Affairs) has covered a lot of nice mares and has produced a lot of good stock from a broad cross-section of vendors. There’s a number of yearlings that I’m excited to see come sales time.”

The G1 Coolmore Stud S. winner saw his first crop of yearlings be extremely well received at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in early January, averaging $383,000 and Inglis has compiled a standout list of offspring for April. Himself a graduate of Easter, Home Affairs has a colossal 28 of his yearlings in the Easter catalogue, representing 19.9 per cent of his first crop of 141 live foals.

With 55 offered earlier this month on the Gold Coast and 15 next week in New Zealand, 69 per cent of Home Affairs’ first crop will be offered through a premier sale ring.

His highlights include Lot 405 from Coolmore’s draft, a filly out of Hips Don’t Lie (NZ) (Stravinsky {USA}), the G2 Reisling S.-winning dam of fellow first season sire Acrobat and G3 Chairman’s S. winner Ennis Hill (Fastnet Rock), dam of Champion 2YO Filly Learning To Fly (Justify {USA}).

Newgate Farm’s sensational G1 Golden Slipper S. winner Stay Inside will be represented by 12 members of his first crop. The talented son of Extreme Choice was a product of his G1 Blue Diamond S. winning sire’s first crop, and his eight Easter colts will no doubt appeal to the stallion syndicates. Sledmere Stud offer Lot 268, a colt out of Abscond (Galileo {Ire}) who is not just a half-brother to the incredible Invincibella (I Am Invincible), but also a three-quarter-brother to Listed Gothic S. winner Extreme Flight (Extreme Choice).

Fellow Coolmore sire, Cartier Horse Of The Year and five-time Group 1 winner St Mark’s Basilica (Fr), ties with Darley’s Champion 2YO Pinatubo (Ire) to lead the rest of the first season sires with eight yearlings each. Torryburn Stud will offer Lot 369 by St Mark’s Basilica, a colt from 12-time winner Fabergino (Maschino), who captured the G3 Northam S. alongside five Listed victories on the track.

Eight individual studs will present offspring of Pinatubo; Kia Ora Stud will offer Lot 331, a daughter of G1 Tattersall’s Tiara winner Cosmic Endeavour (Northern Meteor), whose son Great Barrier Reef (I Am Invincible) attracted a bid of $1.4 million from Tom Magnier four years ago, subsequently twice narrowly missing out on the placings in Group company.

Highgrove Stud offers the rare opportunity to tap into David Peacock’s talented Discreet family with Lot 118, a daughter of Listed Nitschke S. placegetter Really Discreet (Helmet), a half-sister to this spring’s explosive G2 Edward Manifold S. winner Too Darn Discreet (Too Darn Hot {GB}).

Lion’s share for nation’s leading stallions

Champion Sires Snitzel and I Am Invincible prove that good stallions just get better with age, and they continue to dominate the catalogue this year.

“The sale has been renowned as the best of the best,” Hutch said. “Snitzel, I Am Invincible, Zoustar, Extreme Choice - they’re the best stallions in the country, and we want to showcase their best progeny at Easter. I feel it will have worked out that way when they get to the sale in April.”

After an extraordinary spring where he sired a Coolmore winner (Switzerland), the quinella in the G2 Sandown Guineas (Snitzanova and Bittercreek), and his 58th juvenile stakeswinner (Return To Conquer in the Listed Counties Challenge S.), Arrowfield Stud stalwart Snitzel is represented by 44 yearlings from a particularly vintage crop where he covered the likes of Ennis Hill, Gypsy Robin (USA) (Daaher {USA}), and Invincibella. The catalogue accounts for nearly 40 per cent of his 2023 crop.

Yarraman Park Stud’s I Am Invincible had an excellent spring with $1.2 million daughter Hi Barbie winning the Listed Phelan Ready S. on debut and his star mare I Am Me collecting her 11th career win when downing Stefi Magnetica (All Too Hard) in the G2 The Shorts. Not to be outdone by his son Home Affairs, he has 32 yearlings catalogued, accounting for over 25 per cent of his crop, and features the first foal of G1 Sir Rupert Clarke S. winner Sierra Sue (NZ) (Darci Brahma {NZ}) and the second foal from Champion Female Sprinter Arcadia Queen (Pierro).

The perennial So You Think (NZ), whose Easter graduates include G1 Australian Derby-winning sire Quick Thinker, Victorian warhorse So Si Bon, and G2 Sapphire S. winner Fasika, has 33 offspring in the catalogue. Among his progeny is Lot 105, the first foal from G1 VRC Oaks winner Personal (Fastnet Rock), and Lot 418, a filly out of dual Group 3-winning Invincible Star (I Am Invincible).

Born off of a $198,000 service fee, 36 yearlings by Widden Stud’s flagbearer Zoustar feature in the catalogue. His spring has produced stakeswinners in both hemispheres, with his British-born son Starlust (GB) capturing the G1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint and Yulong’s Group 3-winning Growing Empire placing in three Group 1 contests, narrowly missing out on victory in the G1 Manikato S. in September.

Vinery Stud will offer Lot 58, a full sister to Growing Empire, and Widden Stud present Lot 198, a full brother to G2 Missile S.-winning entire Schwarz.

“Racing waits for no man. The successful graduates are crucial to maintaining the profile of the sale, and Switzerland and Growing Empire are arguably the two most desirable colts in the country right now,” Hutch said. Arrowfield Stud's draft features the full brother to Switzerland as Lot 76.

“The people who land elite colts who are capable of standing at stud, they are the great wealth generators of the thoroughbred industry. I believe Easter produces more stallions per lot than any other Australasian sale, and it ranks competitively among sales around the world.

"The consolidation of quality throughout the book is world class, and that is what gets people excited about the sale.”

Gallery: Siblings to stars that will be offered at Inglis Easter

As Hutch put it, nobody gets tired of seeing Frankel's (GB) offspring in a sales catalogue and the Juddmonte champion features predominantly in April's selection, with well over a third of his Southern Hemisphere-born yearlings making the cut. Arrowfield Stud will offer three of his 12 lots, crowned by Lot 110, a daughter of Pluperfect (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), a three-quarter-sister in blood to elite sire Kingman (Ire).

Wootton Bassett’s (GB) first Southern Hemisphere-bred 2-year-olds have been dazzling the nation over the past few months, with his $1.6 million son Wodeton announcing himself as a serious Slipper contender with his debut win on Saturday. 17 lots from the Coolmore shuttler are highlighted by Lot 80, a son of G1 Surround S. winner Nakeeta Jane (So You Think {NZ}) who got off the mark as a broodmare last week with her first foal Gatekeeper (Justify {USA}) winning in good style on debut at Canterbury Park.

Rare gems on offer from around the globe

This April’s catalogue features a number of collector’s items to tempt the discerning buyer, including one of only two foals from Shadai Stallion Station’s seven-time Group 1 winner Kitasan Black (Jpn), sire of 2023’s top-rated racehorse worldwide Equinox (Jpn).

Bhima Thoroughbreds will present Lot 169, a daughter of Skirt Fuwari (Jpn) (Symboli Kris S {Jpn}), on behalf of her breeder Mr T Li. The other Kitasan Black foal, also a filly, born in Australia was bred by Yulong Investments and was born on Northern Hemisphere time.

Only one foal was born in Australia from the season that Justify (USA) did not shuttle down under, but Sledmere will offer another chance to own one, with a filly born stateside on Southern Hemisphere time. Lot 134, a filly bred by Newstead Stables LLC out of winning More Than Ready (USA) mare Sahara Breeze (USA), half-sister to globetrotting G1 Ancient Title S. victor Gayego (USA), presents a unique opportunity in the absence of her sire on our shores this spring.

The More Than Ready cross with Justify is an emerging nick, so far delivering three winners from five runners, led by G1 Belmont Oaks winner Aspen Grove (Ire) (Justify {USA}).

Similarly, Emirates Park will offer an American-born daughter of Three Chimneys Thoroughbreds’ elite sire Gun Runner (USA) in Lot 92, out of G2 Sweet Embrace S. victress One More Honey (Onemorenomore). One More Honey’s first foal Man In The Mirror (Not A Single Doubt) was a runner-up in the G2 Sires’ Produce S. as a 2-year-old and her second foal Super Lucky Dragon (Zoustar) was a $1 million graduate of this sale three years ago.

Widden Stud have a colt among their draft, Lot 96 out of Listed-placed Originator (USA) (Artie Schiller {USA}).

Evergreen European sires Siyouni (Fr) and Camelot (GB) have a yearling apiece, and two of the last five yearlings from Deep Field feature in the catalogue, including Lot 38 out of Group 3 winner Macroura (Snitzel), the three-quarter-sister to Sunshine In Paris (Invader).

Forging dynasties in the sales ring

“There has never been a stronger group of mares in the book, both proven broodmares and elite race fillies coming off the track,” Hutch said. “When you flick through the catalogue, from one pedigree to the next, people will be familiar with the names that they see, and that speaks to the real quality through the book.”

It has scarcely been three years since Lighthouse (USA) (Mizzen Mast {USA}) downed a quality field of race fillies in the G1 Coolmore Classic, scoring the eighth win of her career, and Kia Ora Stud offers the first chance to have a slice of her legacy in April when Lot 28, her colt by Slipper-winning Farnan, walks through the Inglis ring. She joins dual Group 1 winner Shout The Bar (Not A Single Doubt) as elite mares with their first offspring selling at Easter this year.

O’ Ole’s (Ole Kirk) Friday night performance in the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic gave a timely pedigree boost to Lot 246, her full sister, one of 10 lots by Ole Kirk available in the sale.

She is not the only full sibling with a pedigree fresh in the mind of prospective buyers; The Chase will offer Lot 86, a full brother to Newgate Farm's freshman sire Ozzmosis, and Arrowfield's Lot 137 is a full brother to New Zealand's Champion First Season Sire Super Seth. Wild Ruler has a colt and a filly from his first crop heading to Easter, and they will be joined by his full sister as Lot 396 in Kia Ora Stud's draft.

“Dynasties are being forged at Easter,” said Hutch. “Year after year, you see the success of graduates on the racecourse, but also in subsequent years as stallions at stud, and as elite broodmares.

“Hopefully, in years to come, we will be toasting to the success of 2025’s graduates.”

Bred by Fairway Thoroughbreds, Wodeton's stunning 3.9l win on Saturday compelled bookmakers to elevate him to a clear and outright favourite for the G1 Golden Slipper at $5, with no other runner featuring in single figures.

Segenhoe Stud’s General manager Peter O’Brien - who sold the colt on behalf of his breeder, Fairway Thoroughbreds, for $1.6 million at the 2024 Magic Millions Yearling Sale, believes it was the win of an extremely special horse.

“It was as good a performance by a 2-year-old, first time out that I’ve seen in a long while,” O’Brien said.

“I love his whole demeanour in the parade ring. He was like a 4-year-old. Even with the delay he was so calm. And despite missing the start a bit he just handled it like a total professional. The turn of foot was electric and obviously listening to J-Mac, he said, wait till he gets on good ground. It was a pretty special performance."

“I was just looking at the paper today and he’s on the front page of the sport section with the Fairway brand on him. I was talking to John Camilleri, and I said, well we know that last one that Chris Waller had with that brand on was pretty good – Winx. And then John obviously bred Zarastro who won at the Gold Coast on Friday night. He continues to be one of the best, if not the best, breeders in the country.”

While many people expected Wodeton to win, not many could have imagined he would do so such a devastating manner. However, O’Brien insists he knew he would.

“I expected him to win like that,” O’Brien said.

“I heard directly from the lads at Coolmore all along, even from the moment he was broken in, the breaker picked him out as his best. I spoke to Chris Waller at the sales, and Chris is a very understated person, and you could just hear it in his voice what he thought of this horse.”

Could Wootton Bassett be the next Danehill?

What O’Brien did not expect however, was the impact that Wodeton’s sire Wootton Bassett (GB) would have on Australian racing in such a short amount of time.

“Wootton Bassett is unbelievable,” he said.

“I’m old enough to remember when Danehill had his first runners, and I haven’t seen a stallion since him to start off like it. You never know with shuttle stallions, what works here and what doesn’t and it’s very rare that you get a stallion that works in both hemispheres and obviously he does. He’s got three of the top five in the Golden Slipper market which is unbelievable. As breeders, we are just saying all our prayers that he comes back!”

Despite his exuberant sale price and immense talent, O’Brien shared it wasn’t always obvious Wodeton was going to be Segenhoe’s next rising star.

“To be honest he wasn’t always a standout,” he said.

“He was a huge foal. He was 70kg and the average weight for a foal is 53kg. He was quite contracted through his tendons and he had a few developmental issues early. It was only when he got to 3 or 4-months of age, when all his tendons relaxed and then you could see his action. That’s when we realised he was a good looker.”

Brand with a sale premium

Segenhoe Stud has a well-established reputation for success and recently achieved remarkable results at the Gold Coast Magic Millions, where they sold 32 yearlings for an impressive total of $14.69 million, including a top lot that fetched $2.3 million.

It’s a stud the commands a premium, however sale prices are assessed on market value, and it's clear the history of proven results on the track at an incredible strike rate is weighted accordingly. Segenhoe ranks amongst the most elite vendors this season, offering the likes of Pride Of Jenni (Pride of Dubai), I Am Me (I Am Invincible), Joliestar (Zoustar), Eagle Nest (Shalaa {Ire}), Airman (I Am Invincible), and Jasmine Rouge (Dundeel {NZ}) in recent times.

“A lot of trainers were joking at the sales that they have to pay a ‘Segenhoe tax’ but that is relevant to the success of our horses on the track,” O’Brien said.

“No one remembers your sales average or sales topper but it is once they hit the dance floor, that’s what it’s all about.

“We’re the leading farm in Australia for the percentage of stakes performers of horse through the ring. Through the Magic Millions, one in five of our horses through have been stakes performers.

“But, you can’t look backwards, you’ve got to look forwards and this crop of 2-year-olds looks like it could be the best crop of 2-year-olds we have ever reared. It’s incredibly exciting.”

Perhaps Segenhoe's best 2-year-old crop yet

It has been an amazing start to the season for Segenhoe’s 2-year-old crop, headlined by Wodeton, and according to O’Brien some of the best are still to come.

“We’ve had four 2-year-old winners in the last 3 weeks off the farm, including Cherish Me which is second favourite, behind Wodeton, for the Blue Diamond,” O’Brien said.

“United States is trialling Friday and Fermoy has already run and I know Chris has huge opinion of both of them and they were both high-priced yearlings - both bought by Coolmore. Coolmore have been really good supporters of ours and that’s even more satisfying for me having worked there so long."

“Kerber, In Secret’s full-sister, Ciaron Maher thinks she is very good. Hillier, Pretty In Pink’s son, looks smart and Ciaron also has an opinion of Ripley."

“So, if all the dice fell as we hoped we could end up with six or seven runners off the farm in the Golden Slipper. Obviously, that probably won’t happen, but you can only dream!”

O’Brien is particularly excited about the imminent debut of Ripley (Too Darn Hot {GB}), who was reared at Segenhoe before being sold as weanling at the 2023 Gold Coast National Weanling Sale for $100,000 to Redbank North as a pinhook. Redbank North then on-sold him as a yearling at the Magic Millions for $625,000 to Ciaron Maher Bloodstock and David Redvers Bloodstock.

The son of Too Darn Hot (GB) reportedly has plenty of ability and also intriguingly shared a remarkably strong bond with Wodeton, which O’Brien posted online via a tweet.

“From the moment they were three weeks of age they (Wodeton and Ripley) were inseparable,” O’Brien said.

“You’d go to the field and even at a month of age were just glued together. If you saw the video, you’d have seen they would sleep beside each other all the time. When they got weaned, they just stayed together like best mates and they are actually related, they’re cousins in blood.

“They were heading Ripley towards the Breeders Plate but I believe he went shinny and didn’t run. David Redvers, who is in the ownership, was telling me at the sale they have a huge opinion of him. I think they were hoping he’d run in the next few weeks.

“I joked to someone, imagine if they came first and second in (Golden) Slipper – they would just spend the whole race together!”

Highlights in their Inglis Easter draft

Segenhoe will now head towards The Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale full of confidence.

“All the Easter Yearlings just came in to start their prep last Thursday,” O’Brien said.

“We have 17 yearlings for Easter from memory. We have a very, very good Street Boss colt out of Total Attraction, who is half to Yoshinobu and Pretty in Pink as well as some outstanding Vinnies and Snitzels."

“The one I’m most excited about though is the Snitzel colt out of La Mexicana. I think he’s special. He’s got the greatest action you’ve ever seen in your life and he’s built like a 2-year-old already. But it’s his action – when you see him in the field, he doesn’t touch the ground.”

Last year Segenhoe sold 17 yearlings at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale for an average of $528,000.

One of Clarke’s earliest memories is of her father training Sacred Shield (Racer’s Edge), who racked up seven of his 11 career wins under Gary Clarke’s expert care in the early 2000s. It’s safe to say that Clarke’s life and racing have always been completely intertwined.

Bitten by the bug

Clarke took out her stablehand license as soon as she turned 13 and has been a fixture of her father’s stables in Darwin ever since. Over the last few years, she has functioned as a foreperson in the stable and has absorbed all she can from her father. The trainer of the 1993 Birdsville Cup winner Engrossing (Charmande {USA}), her mother Sharlene has been an important influence as well.

A turning point came six years ago when Clarke was offered an opportunity by another trainer; fellow Darwin trainer David Waters was heading overseas for a while and asked if the young Clarke would look after one of his horses - a Host (Chi) gelding named Compere - while he was gone. The horse was transferred into the senior Clarke’s stable and the reins were handed to Ella.

“That's where I got my bug from the most for training,” Clarke said. “It was my responsibility to organise everything, under the guidance of Dad as well. And he got his first and only win while he was with me.”

Compere broke his maiden at his 12th start and collected most of his six placings in Clarke’s care. It was an excellent learning curve and paved the way for her to go for her trainers certification.

“Even after I completed my certificate, I didn't choose to jump straight into training,” she said. “I just still wanted to learn.” But who is a better teacher than your first horse?

Learning curves

Clarke’s first horse joined her stable in late 2021 - Son Of Utred (Time For War), a seven-start maiden who hadn’t had much luck running around New South Wales. Clarke swiftly turned his fortunes around, chalking up his second lifetime placing almost immediately and following it up with his - and hers - first win at his very next start.

“That was probably the horse that I learned the most with,” Clarke said. “He taught me a lot. In his first start, he came out and led the whole way, and just got beaten on the line.”

That first win was, in Clarke’s words, a weight off of her shoulders immediately.

“There’s so much pressure, being Dad’s daughter,” said Clarke. At the time, her father had just won his ninth consecutive trainers premiership. “He's very good at what he does, that's why I look up to him a lot. And he's someone that obviously I've always wanted to learn off of - I've just been lucky enough that he's my dad.

“So while that is good, it does come with a lot of pressure for me as well.”

Clarke’s next horse Pop Magic (Wandjina) brought plenty of lessons with him as well. Placed once at Scone before heading north, Pop Magic also benefitted from the change of scenery and Clarke’s well-trained hand as Son Of Utred had before him. The then 3-year-old gelding placed in his first start for Clarke, then followed it up with a maiden win in his next start five weeks later.

“I've had a lot of fun with Pop Magic, but I've learned a lot with him as well,” she said. The gelding was sidelined for most of the 2022/23 season with injury, but Clarke has since nursed him to a further five wins and over $115,000 in prize money. His crowning win came in the Summer Sprint Series Final, where he put 6.8l on the runner-up. “He won that quite impressively.”

Clarke’s success with Pop Magic has allowed the stable to expand and Clarke has six horses on her books, including last start winner Wild Beau (Brazen Beau), who made an impressive statement with his 7.8l victory in December.

“Another little milestone, I took out the track record for the 1100 meters at Darwin with Wild Beau,” Clarke added. “The track record was previously held by Patriotic King, which was one of my dad's horses!”

Clarke also had one of her biggest moments captured for television when her Shamus Award gelding Ironedge won the Darwin Cup consolation race while the Bossy’s Bucket List team were visiting the track. She features along with her father in the second season of the series.

Hard work pays off

Clarke says she has really “knuckled down” over the past twelve months, pushing herself to be the trainer she knows she can be. In the first year of her training career, Clarke’s brother Guy lost his battle with mental illness and she admits the interest in her work waned for a while after his passing. But over the last year, her focus has been renewed and her hard work has been rewarded with 13 winners in her last 50 starters.

In 2024, the Women in Thoroughbred Racing NT Association invited Clarke to be a guest speaker at one of their events and to talk alongside Peter Moody’s co-trainer Katherine Coleman about her experience as a trainer - an “amazing experience” for Clarke and an unmissable opportunity to establish herself further.

“I’ve grown up in Darwin and a lot of the racing people have watched me grow up,” she said. “So it was good to get an opportunity for them to get to know me better on a deeper level, as my own person.”

Well deserved recognition

“I was quite honoured to just be nominated,” Clarke said. “And to be recognised for myself, not just as Dad's daughter.”

This year, the Magic Millions Racing Women awards expanded to have individual awards for different regions of the country, and Clarke was the recipient of the WA and NT award. The award comes with a $10,000 scholarship and Clarke is eager to use it to invest in the welfare of her stable.

“I would like to develop my skills and knowledge around post race recovery in the tropics,” Clarke said. “But due to the remoteness of everyone in the Northern Territory, we struggle to find skilled people and investors. People don’t really spend a lot of research time up here.

“For athletes, one of the most important things is their recovery.”

To that end, Clarke intends to invest in pulse electromagnetic field (PEMF) therapy, a popular therapeutic and recovery treatment amongst the country’s biggest trainers. The difference in climate up north poses a unique challenge to the racing industry, and Clarke hopes that her investment will do more than give her an edge - it will benefit the NT racing industry as a whole.

Her award shines a spotlight on the industry’s far north and the hard working women at its core. Although she insists she’s “still learning”, Clarke is proud to carry the racing women banner forward as she continues to build her stable and develop as a trainer in her own right. Gary Clarke better watch out for his premiership top spot.