Cover image courtesy of Inglis
Inglis was still celebrating selling the highest priced weanling in this sale’s history when $650,000 was received for the Stay Inside filly out of the G1 Oakleigh Plate winner Sheidel (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) and the team had even more reason to celebrate after Lot 367 went through the ring on the second day of the sale.
The result of a spirited bidding war, the son of Darley's emerging young stallion Too Darn Hot (GB) was knocked down to the Equine Growth Fund Pty Ltd for $775,000; a big result in anyone's book and all the more so when considering that he was purchased as a pinhooking prospect.
The Equine Growth Fund's Stefan Pardi was unperturbed by the price he had to pay, jokingly noting that, “we actually had more, sorry Widden!”
Lot 367 - Too Darn Hot (GB) x Enbihaar (colt) | Image courtesy of Inglis
Pardi has a rating system, scoring the horses he inspects out of 10, awarding this colt 9.75 whilst recalling that, “last time I rated a weanling at 9 he went for $300,000 and later sold for a million.”
“I didn't want to leave without this colt,” he said, adding that “I pulled him out five or six times. The last time I had him paraded he was half asleep, he is such a relaxed colt!
“All I can say is that he is exceptional,” he enthused, “his movement, everything about him.”
Too Darn Hot: one of the best in the world
Pardi is a fan of Too Darn Hot, noting that, “he is one of the best in the land, maybe one of the best in world. He gets fillies, he gets colts.
“It is hard to find these quality colts,” he continued. "I spoke to a few of my clients who I have bought for and who are in our fund and we did have more to spend. We have a model of sophisticated investors, 10 to 20 of them who have an appetite to pinhook.
“They have been successful over the last couple of years doing it, we put all our money together and just try to find the right horses.
“We mostly buy at the top end and with this colt, we will try to turn him into something for the future, if not we will race him.
“We mostly buy at the top end and with this colt, we will try to turn him into something for the future, if not we will race him.” - Stefan Pardi
“I won't say it was a no-brainer to buy him but I am pretty happy. The family is outstanding and another key element to buying him is that I think his sister will make pretty good money here on Thursday night.”
Already plotting likely buyers for next year's yearling sales, Pardi said that, “he could easily be a colt syndicate sort of horse for someone to make a stallion of if he does anything on the track.
“Or the trainers of his sister might be hanging around ready to put their hands up!”
That sister being the talented Too Darn Lizzie, the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trained 3-year-old who has done such a good job winning the G2 1000 Guineas Prelude whilst finishing in the placings in another six stakes races.
Included in that tally was her tough G1 1000 Guineas third, making the pace and trying hard on a day that suited the swoopers.
“She towed me into that position and did well to run third,” jockey Jye McNeil reported on the day.
Too Darn Lizzie: a Chairman's Sale star
Too Darn Lizzie is one of the star lots of Thursday evening's Chairman's Sale, going through the ring as Lot 17 as a member of the Yarraman Park draft.
Raced by Lord Lloyd Webber and Lizzie Spender (widow of another famed entertainer in Barry Humphries), Too Darn Lizzie has ownership ties to her sire who was bred and raced by Lloyd Webber's Watership Down Stud.
Lord Lloyd Webber expressed a desire to support Too Darn Hot's career in the this part of the world and to that end he teamed with McKeever Bloodstock and the Waterhouse and Bott stable to secure Too Darn Lizzie for $1 million at the 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Lot 17 - Too Darn Lizzie, to be offered in the Inglis Chairman's Sale on Thursday, May 8 | Image courtesy of Inglis
That was a quick return on the $825,000 Bahen Bloodstock paid for her dam Enbihaar (Magnus) at the 2021 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale where she was sold in foal with her classy daughter.
Her first foal Extremely Wicked (Zoustar) (bred by Shadwell Stud) had also sold well, that $550,000 weanling purchase racing for Sharon Cummings, Fraser Brown and Rohan Ford who bred Too Darn Lizzie.
Extremely Wicked is still a maiden though the 4-year-old member of the Richard and Chantelle Jolly stable does have her hoof firmly on the till.
After breeding Too Darn Lizzie, Enbihaar's owners sent her to Champion Sire I Am Invincible and the resulting colt was another to attract plenty of attention in the sale ring, purchased by Rosemont Stud, Suman Hedge Bloodstock (FBAA) and Mick Price for $700,000 at last year's Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Named Celtics, the Mick Price and Michael Kent (Jnr) trained colt is yet to race but was second in a Cranbourne jump-out a few weeks ago.
Enbihaar: another Chairman's highlight
Served last year by Zoustar, Enbihaar is also due to be sold on Thursday evening with Widden Stud taking her through the ring as Lot 55.
They also had the honour of selling the record breaking weanling with the stud's Matt Comerford already happy but all the more so when the Equine Growth Fund's Stefan Pardi told him that Widden could prepare him for the yearling sales.
“We consigned him for another client and it was a big thrill when Stefan and the team asked us to take him home and prep him for a sale next year, there is massive excitement amongst everyone at the farm.”
Comerford was always confident of a big result for the colt who kept staff busy during the inspection phase.
Matt Comerford | Image courtesy of Inglis
“He had Easter yearling sale numbers of inspections, nearly 200, which is unheard of for a weanling sale,” he said. “He will be ready for a break now!
“Physically he is really good, he has scope, quality and strength, showing that if you send the right sort of of mare to Too Darn Hot you can get the right result.
“He will continue to furnish, he will grow into a fantastic individual,” he said, adding that “he has a great mind.
“For a young horse to have as many inspections as he did and still move as well for the last parade as he did for the first, that's really important.”
“For a young horse to have as many inspections as he (Lot 367) did (nearly 200) and still move as well for the last parade as he did for the first, that's really important.” - Matt Comerford
Amongst those spending time admiring the colt were other pinhookers as well as end-users including, “several elite trainers here were here trying to buy him.”
“It was a fantastic result and certainly a good pinhook play for Stefan and the team,” Comerford said, noting that Widden's own pinhooking venture was in action though finding it tough.
“It has been hard to buy,” he said. "It has been like that at all the sales we have been to this year.”
Red Hot stallion
When asked why the Too Darn Hot colt's breeders decided to sell as a weanling Comerford said that, “they wanted to capitalize on the market and the fact that the stallion is red hot.”
Comerford is looking forward to selling Enbihaar, expecting her to be “a seven-figure mare.”
As a 9-year-old Enbihaar still has plenty to offer and her page is certainly an impressive one. Bred by Robert Crabtree who bred the record-breaking Stay Inside filly, she is a full sister to last spring's Listed Debutant Stakes winner Miss Celine (Magnus) out of the Listed Mode Plate winner Charm's Honour (Strada).
Still at stud, that four-time winner from 11 starts missed last spring having produced a filly by Too Darn Hot.
Lot 55 - Enbihaar, to be offered in the Inglis Chairman's Sale | Image courtesy of Inglis
Also from this family, one which has its matriarch the famed mare Eulogy (GB) (Cicero {GB}), are the big race winners Quick Star (Success Express {USA}), Rouslan (Ideal Planet), Unpainted (NZ) (The Cobbler {GB}) and Plush (NZ).
The Equine Growth Fund also purchased two weanlings on the first day of the sale, a filly (Lot 187) by The Autumn Sun out of a daughter of the dual stakes winner Dowager Queen (NZ) (Savabeel) for $280,000 from the Rheinwood Pastoral draft and a colt (Lot 261) by Home Affairs out of a half-sister to the triple Group 1 winner Arcadia Queen (Pierro) for $180,000 from Cannon Hayes Stud.
