Cover image courtesy of Inglis
At A Glance
The Great Southern Sale gross of $10,024,000 was down on 2024’s two day figure of $11,906,000 but with a smaller catalogue of 327 weanlings across one day of selling in 2025, down from 379 in 2024.
With a smaller catalogue came less sales with 221 weanlings finding new homes, compared to 256 in 2024. However, the clearance rate improved to 79 per cent from 68 per cent.
The average and median of $45,357 and $20,000 were down from 2024’s respective figures of $46,508 and $22,250, but improved from the 2023 figures of $44,692 and $16,000.
The overall sale-topping weanling was a filly, Lot 198, by Ole Kirk from Rainy Daze (Commands) was sold by Lemrac Lodge for $475,000 to Wilrace. The sale topping price was down from the 2024 top price of $575,000.
Wilrace topped the buyer’s chart by aggregate with their single sale topping purchase, while International Animal Health topped the buyer’s chart by average (2 or more bought) spending an average of $172,500 across two weanlings.
Three Bridges Thoroughbreds were the leading vendor by aggregate, selling 10 of their 11 strong draft for $912,000, while the leading vendor by average (2 or more sold) was Merrivale Farm who sold two weanlings for an average of $173,000.
Toronado (Ire) lead the sires by gross, with 11 weanlings sold for $1.3 million (at an average of $120,000), while Ole Kirk’s pair of weanlings gave him the leading sire by average tag with the two selling at an average of $248,500. Anamoe was the leading first season sire with two weanlings sold at an average of $65,000.
#1. ‘Hugely satisfying’ end to record-breaking Breeding Stock Sale Series
The mood was buoyant on Friday evening as the 2025 Inglis Breeding Stock Sales Series came to a close with the Inglis Great Southern Sale, which achieved a top price of $475,000 for Lot 198, and a total gross for the Inglis Weanling Sale Series of over $29.33 million. This has pushed the breeding stock series total gross to a record $87.42 million, smashing through the previous record of $78.09 million set in 2023.
Closing at a gross of $10.024 million, the Inglis Great Southern Sale added another 27 six-figure weanlings to the series’ total to reach 80 six-figure weanlings sold in 2025, on a par with the 85 sold in last year’s edition of the series.
“There have been no shortage of unbelievable moments over the past four or five weeks, from the spectacular Chairman’s Sale to the unbelievably robust weanling sales in both Sydney and Melbourne, and to see the numbers at the end of the day is hugely satisfying,’’ Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch said in Inglis’ end of sale press release.
“There have been no shortage of unbelievable moments over the past four or five weeks.” - Sebastian Hutch
“This set of breeding stock sales is something that, as a team, we have worked incredibly hard on for the past number of years to ensure they all saw the growth we knew they warranted.
“And the results speak for themselves; to now have the Inglis Weanling Sales Series as comfortably the biggest and best in Australia and to have made a significant impression on the broodmare market, it’s fantastic.
Sebastian Hutch | Image courtesy of Inglis
“To sell nearly $30 million worth of weanlings between the Australian Weanling Sale and Great Southern Weanling Sale is massive. We are very grateful to breeders and vendors for their support of our sales. We are hugely motivated to deliver the best results we can for as many people as we can, so it’s pleasing to have reached this stage of the sales season and achieved the results that we have.”
Closing bidding on a clearance rate of 79 per cent places the sale ahead of last year’s market already, which finished at 71.5 per cent clearance, including weanlings sold after the ring.
#2. From Inglis Digital bargain to top-priced Ole Kirk filly
Vinery Stud’s Ole Kirk has been increasingly hot property this sales season and the hype is well justified; currently holding strong to the lead in the race for the Champion First Season Sire title, he has cemented his lead with the most winners, stakeswinners, stakes wins, and prize money. As is fitting, his fee has jumped to $99,000 (inc GST) for 2025, and thus his daughter out of Commands mare Rainy Daze attracted the sale’s top bid of $475,000, knocked down to Wilrace.
Lemrac Lodge offered the filly, Lot 198, who is a half-sister to G3 Star Kingdom Handicap victor Vegadaze (Lope De Vega {Ire}), with Rainy Daze being a full sister to Listed-winning and Group-placed Deltona (Commands), from the family of three-time Group 1 winner and Champion 3YO Colt Riff Rocket (American Pharaoh {USA}).
Lot 198 - Ole Kirk x Rainy Daze | Image courtesy of Inglis
It was a fantastic result for Lemrac Lodge’s Megan Kirsopp-Cole, who paid just $12,000 for Rainy Daze in April of last year, when she was offered in an Inglis Digital online auction.
“She (Lot 198) handled the sale really well,” Kirsopp-Cole said. “She got paraded 70 times on one day, but she handled it brilliantly. She was an absolute queen. We’re very proud of her.”
“She (Lot 198) got paraded 70 times on one day, but she handled it brilliantly.” - Megan Kirsopp-Cole
The filly was one of Lemrac Lodge’s standout foals from the moment she was born, and Kirsopp-Cole shared that she had handled the preparation with aplomb. Attention now turns to who to send Rainy Daze to next, as she is currently empty.
“We’ll sit down over the next few weeks and work out where she will go,” Kirsopp-Cole said. “Everything aligned with this filly. She came at the perfect time, by a hot stallion, and out of a proven mare.”
Dave Morrissey of Cannon Hayes Stud, who acted on behalf of Wilrace, added, “we put a budget on her, that budget blew out, I only got one bid and thank god it was the winning bid.
“I only got one bid and thank god it was the winning bid.” - Dave Morrissey
"We bought her for some really good clients. I loved her yesterday when I saw her, she vetted clean, and I came back today to look at her again and liked her more. There was very little not to like about her, she was a great physical, great hip, great walker, it’s a good family so we’re very happy to get her.’’
Dave Morrissey | Image courtesy of Inglis
The Lemrac Lodge team have targeted the Great Southern Sale annually for the last three years, and have enjoyed repeat success at the Oaklands-based sale.
“We had really good results,” she said. “We’re really happy, we love the sale. It's nice and close to us. We don't want to travel weanlings far and, yeah, we've had a lot of success. We're not going anywhere else. It’s a great sale and we're hooked with it.”
#3. Bleakley Bloodstock not afraid to back themselves
The 2025 edition of the Great Southern Sale saw interest from an international buying bench, with the keen pinhookers of New Zealand taking the third highest share of the market, behind New South Wales and leading buying sector Victoria, who purchased 37.1 per cent of the weanlings sold by the close of sale on Friday.
Bleakley Bloodstock Limited, the trading arm of Libby and Sam Bleakley’s Highden Park, were among the most active buyers, taking home four lots for a total spend of $124,000. The Palmerston North-based operation’s biggest spend was outlaying $80,000 on Lot 126, an Alabama Express colt offered by Lemrac Lodge - but he was by a stallion they just had to have.
Lot 126 - Alabama Express x Lady in the Sky (NZ) | Image courtesy of Inglis
“We were underbidders on a couple leading up to him, and we really wanted an Alabama Express,” Libby Bleakley said post-sale. “It’s the way it works sometimes. The ones you really want to buy don’t quite seem to go through the ring how you want.
“We let the other two go, but it worked out really nicely to get him.”
The colt - as well as Bleakley’s other three lots, by Pierata, Russian Camelot (Ire), and Kermadec (NZ) - will be inspected by all three major sales companies ahead of the yearling sales, Bleakley shared, with the aim of getting them into the best possible sale.
“It’s nice to get the feedback from everyone, and nice to have good guidance on the best possible placement for our cohort,” she said. “Sometimes we bring them home and they improve so significantly that what initially may not have been an option as a sale for them is suddenly put on the table.”
Libby Bleakley | Image courtesy of Highden Peak
The Great Southern Sale has been a successful hunting ground in the past for Bleakley.
“We like obscure sires, we had one of the first Deep Fields,” she said, referencing G3 Concorde Handicap winner Master Fay (Deep Field), a $72,000 weanling purchase for the operation at the Inglis Australian Weanling Sale who realised $100,000 the following January at the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale.
“We’re never afraid to buy what we think is a nice type for us. That’s where the Great Southern Sale was the way to go, as you could often get left-field sires, who might be a little less fashionable, but we like a more classic style of horse.
“We’re never afraid to buy what we think is a nice type for us.” - Libby Bleakley
“There’s only a few fortunate people who can outlay over $100,000 on a weanling in the hopes of getting a really nice return, as we choose to buy horses we can physically improve. We’ve got a beautiful farm for growing horses, with good grass and good hills. We’re not afraid to back our own judgement and put in the hard work to turn a horse around.”
Bleakley hopes that she can yet again attract the attention of Hong Kong with her four-strong selection.
“We targeted stallions that we think are on the cusp of being the next big thing in Hong Kong, particularly Pierata and Alabama Express. That was our main focus at the sale this year, so hopefully we have gotten on the front foot.”
#4. Emotional Fowler farewells top-priced Too Darn Hot
Merrivale Farm’s Jen Fowler was overcome with emotion when watching Lot 124, a Too Darn Hot (GB) colt out of winning Magic Albert mare La Magique, sell for $335,000 on Friday to the bid of Grenville Stud. Closely related to G3 J Swap Sprint winner Kelly Coe (NZ) (Proisir) and G1 The Derby winner Dr Devious (Ire) (Ahonoora {GB}), the colt is the latest in a family that Fowler has cultivated for several years and was the highest priced Too Darn Hot of the sale.
“I've had the grandmother and the mother, I bred the mother and I have the rest of the family, sisters and cousins, and they're all got this wonderful temperament,” she shared with Inglis after the sale. “Just a fabulous family.”
Fowler bred La Magique from Rose Pompadour (Ire) (Indian Ridge {GB}), dam of Listed Canterbury Belle Stakes-placed Floridita (Fasliyev {USA}) and a half-sister to the dams of six stakeswinners. La Magique’s first living foal, Mysterious Master (Tagaloa), drew plenty of attention at last year’s Inglis Ready2Race sale when selling to Chow Chun Tak Andrew and Wong Ho Hei Lawrence for $440,000.
“We’re rapt to get him,” said Grenville Stud’s Bart McCullogh. “We thought he was an outstanding colt, obviously by Too Darn Hot, a sire that's just doing a wonderful job. He’s faultless from our point of view; he’s a beautiful mover, well grown, great hind quarter on him. Good action, great temperament. The team at Merrivale have done a fantastic job.”
Lot 124 - Too Darn Hot (GB) x La Magique | Image courtesy of Inglis
The colt was conceived off a $44,000 (inc GST) service fee - which will jump to $275,000 (inc GST) when Too Darn Hot returns to our shores this spring.
Fowler was quick to thank her team back on the farm, particularly Kim Hobbes who she called “the backbone of the operation”.
“It makes sense for us to come here,” she said. “It’s as close to home as possible, and reducing the sale, concentrating the quality and getting the buying bench here, the guys have really done their job for us.”
Top lots
| 198 | Ole Kirk | Rainy Daze | B | Filly | Lemrac Lodge, Winchelsea South | Wilrace, QLD | $475,000 |
| 106 | Wootton Bassett (GB) | Jadeerah (GB) | B | Filly | Rosemont Stud | P Morgan / Gall Bloodstock, VIC | $350,000 |
| 124 | Too Darn Hot (GB) | La Magique | B | Colt | Merrivale Farm, Congupna | Grenville Stud, TAS | $335,000 |
| 321 | Zoustar | Clear for Take Off (GB) | Gr | Colt | Three Bridges Thoroughbreds | Headline Thoroughbreds Pty Ltd, NSW | $230,000 |
| 3 | Zoustar | Cafe Royal | B | Colt | Musk Creek Farm | Glenbeigh Farm , NSW | $210,000 |
| 269 | Justify (USA) | Vaayala (NZ) | B | Filly | Pepper Tree Farm | International Animal Health Products Pty Ltd, NSW | $210,000 |
| 72 | Toronado (IRE) | Fleet of Foot | B | Colt | Blue Gum Farm | Maluka Equine Management Pty Ltd, VIC | $200,000 |
| 218 | Farnan | She's Our Choice | Br | Filly | Bell River Thoroughbreds, Glen William, NSW | Hall Of Fame Bloodstock / Eric Yeung / Shane McGrath, NSW | $200,000 |
| 319 | Too Darn Hot (GB) | Bubbles 'n' Boats | B | Filly | Rushton Park | Gary Mudgway Bloodstock, VIC | $200,000 |
| 9 | Home Affairs | Celtic Glory | Ch | Colt | Pepper Tree Farm | Hallmark Stud, NEW ZEALAND | $160,000 |
Top Vendors by gross
| Three Bridges Thoroughbreds, Eddington | 11 | 10 | 0 | 1 | $912,000 | $91,200 | $230,000 |
| Stonehouse Thoroughbreds, Eddington | 25 | 15 | 5 | 5 | $841,500 | $56,100 | $160,000 |
| Blue Gum Farm, Euroa | 24 | 18 | 4 | 2 | $663,500 | $36,861 | $200,000 |
| Musk Creek Farm, Flinders | 14 | 12 | 1 | 1 | $650,000 | $54,167 | $210,000 |
| Lemrac Lodge, Winchelsea South | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | $615,000 | $153,750 | $475,000 |
| Twin Hills Stud, Cootamundra, NSW | 19 | 16 | 2 | 1 | $501,000 | $31,312 | $100,000 |
| Rushton Park, Tatura | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | $498,500 | $55,389 | $200,000 |
| Rosemont Stud, Gnarwarre | 19 | 9 | 6 | 4 | $483,000 | $53,667 | $350,000 |
| Shadow Hill Thoroughbreds, Avenel | 17 | 12 | 2 | 3 | $479,500 | $39,958 | $95,000 |
| Pepper Tree Farm, Cowra, NSW | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | $465,000 | $116,250 | $210,000 |
Top Vendors by average (2 or more sold)
| Merrivale Farm, Congupna | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $346,000 | $173,000 | $335,000 |
| Lemrac Lodge, Winchelsea South | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | $615,000 | $153,750 | $475,000 |
| Supreme Thoroughbreds, Romsey | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | $250,000 | $125,000 | $150,000 |
| Pepper Tree Farm, Cowra, NSW | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | $465,000 | $116,250 | $210,000 |
| Bell River Thoroughbreds, Glen William, NSW | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | $379,000 | $94,750 | $200,000 |
| Three Bridges Thoroughbreds, Eddington | 11 | 10 | 0 | 1 | $912,000 | $91,200 | $230,000 |
| Swanson Bloodstock, Molyullah | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | $180,000 | $90,000 | $160,000 |
| Gilgai Farm, Nagambie | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | $253,000 | $84,333 | $135,000 |
| Taghadoe Stud, Scone, NSW | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | $154,000 | $77,000 | $130,000 |
| Durham Park, Durham Lead | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | $225,000 | $56,250 | $80,000 |
Top Buyers by gross
| Wilrace | QLD | 1 | $475,000 | $475,000 | $475,000 |
| Headline Thoroughbreds Pty Ltd | HONG KONG | 3 | $465,000 | $155,000 | $230,000 |
| P Morgan / Gall Bloodstock | VIC | 1 | $350,000 | $350,000 | $350,000 |
| International Animal Health Products Pty Ltd | NSW | 2 | $345,000 | $172,500 | $210,000 |
| Grenville Stud | TAS | 1 | $335,000 | $335,000 | $335,000 |
| Maluka Equine Management Pty Ltd | VIC | 2 | $320,000 | $160,000 | $200,000 |
| Gary Mudgway Bloodstock | NSW | 3 | $265,000 | $88,333 | $200,000 |
| Hallmark Stud | NEW ZEALAND | 2 | $225,000 | $112,500 | $160,000 |
| Glenbeigh Farm | NSW | 1 | $210,000 | $210,000 | $210,000 |
| Hall Of Fame Bloodstock / Eric Yeung / Shane McGrath | NSW | 1 | $200,000 | $200,000 | $200,000 |
Top Buyers by average (2 or more bought)
| International Animal Health Products Pty Ltd | NSW | 2 | $345,000 | $172,500 | $210,000 |
| Maluka Equine Management Pty Ltd | VIC | 2 | $320,000 | $160,000 | $200,000 |
| Headline Thoroughbreds Pty Ltd | HONG KONG | 3 | $465,000 | $155,000 | $230,000 |
| Hallmark Stud | NEW ZEALAND | 2 | $225,000 | $112,500 | $160,000 |
| Devcich Bloodstock Ltd | NEW ZEALAND | 2 | $195,000 | $97,500 | $140,000 |
| HP Thorougbreds Pty Ltd | NSW | 2 | $180,000 | $90,000 | $100,000 |
| Gary Mudgway Bloodstock | NSW | 3 | $265,000 | $88,333 | $200,000 |
| Northmore / Waterford | VIC | 2 | $155,000 | $77,500 | $80,000 |
| Lynton Farm | NSW | 2 | $150,000 | $75,000 | $100,000 |
| Glenbeigh Farm | NSW | 2 | $145,000 | $72,500 | $95,000 |
Top Sires by gross
| Toronado (IRE) | 15 | 11 | 3 | 1 | $1,325,000 | $120,455 | $200,000 |
| Too Darn Hot (GB) | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | $635,000 | $211,667 | $335,000 |
| Zoustar | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | $515,000 | $171,667 | $230,000 |
| Ole Kirk | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | $497,000 | $248,500 | $475,000 |
| Justify (USA) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | $380,000 | $126,667 | $210,000 |
| Wootton Bassett (GB) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | $350,000 | $350,000 | $350,000 |
| Written By | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | $320,500 | $80,125 | $160,000 |
| St Mark's Basilica (FR) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | $290,000 | $145,000 | $150,000 |
| Home Affairs | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | $290,000 | $96,667 | $160,000 |
| Farnan | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | $286,000 | $71,500 | $200,000 |
Top Sires by average (2 or more bought)
| Ole Kirk | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | $497,000 | $248,500 |
| Too Darn Hot (GB) | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | $635,000 | $211,667 |
| Zoustar | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | $515,000 | $171,667 |
| St Mark's Basilica (FR) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | $290,000 | $145,000 |
| Justify (USA) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | $380,000 | $126,667 |
| Toronado (IRE) | 15 | 11 | 3 | 1 | $1,325,000 | $120,455 |
| Home Affairs | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | $290,000 | $96,667 |
| Ghaiyyath (IRE) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | $175,000 | $87,500 |
| Written By | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | $320,500 | $80,125 |
| So You Think (NZ) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | $155,000 | $77,500 |
