Cover image courtesy of Inglis
The horses have breezed, the saddles put away, and now the vendors and their 2025 Inglis Ready2Race Sale drafts have descended on the Riverside Stables sales complex at Warwick Farm. A total of 224 2-year-olds have been catalogued for the sale by 28 vendors, five of whom shared their drafts’ best picks ahead of sale day on Thursday.
Lot 13, chestnut colt (Tagaloa x Fantasy (Ire) {Invincible Spirit {Ire}})
On account of Crossley Thoroughbreds; passed in at the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale
Hailing from Avenel in Victoria, Mitch Pearce of Crossley Thoroughbreds is a fan of the Tagaloa colt in his draft; the chestnut is the third foal from multiple stakes-placed Fantasy (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), from the immediate family of Coolmore’s superstar Auguste Rodin (Ire). Fantasy’s full sister Tickled Pink (Ire), already the dam of G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Victoria Road (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}), just produced another stakes winner at the weekend with Listed Star Appeal Stakes winner Andab (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}).
Lot 13 - Tagaloa x Fantasy (IRE) colt | Image courtesy of Inglis
“He comes from a great international family,” Pearce said. “He's got a great beautiful head on him and he's a lovely colour as well. He's been quite popular so far throughout parades and he's conducted himself really well.
“We don't have access to that kind of pedigree very often, so we're very lucky to be able to present him at this sale.”
Breezed on the synthetic track at Wangaratta, the colt crossed the line in 11.03s.
“He looks quite fast,” Pearce added. “He breezed up in good time, and he a nice, short-coupled horse.”
Lot 68, bay colt (I Am Invincible x Maroon Bay {Exceed And Excel})
On account of Crossley Thoroughbreds; purchased by Kuda Bloodstock for $375,000 from the draft of Emirates Park at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale
The pedigree of Maroon Bay’s (Exceed And Excel) I Am Invincible colt needs little introduction when looking under the second dam, where it’s easy to spot the presence of G1 The Everest contender Joliestar (Zoustar). Maroon Bay is a half-sister to the multiple Group 1 winner’s dam Jolie Bay (Fastnet Rock), and Joliestar’s victory in the G2 The Shorts keeps the page bang up to date.
Lot 68 - I Am Invincible x Maroon Bay colt | Image courtesy of Inglis
Even without the exquisite second half of the page, Maroon Bay is a good producer in her own right already. Among her six foals to race, five are winners, including Listed Merson Cooper Handicap winner Ebhaar (I Am Invincible), and the stakes performers Shotmaker (Shooting To Win) and Mednyi (Capitalist).
“I think he’s the standout of the sale,” said Pearce. “He’s very strong with a good hindquarter. He's the sort of horse that I dream about taking to the sales.”
Breezed up at Wangaratta on the grass, the colt stopped the clock at 11.07s.
“He's just a lovely type, he’s got a great attitude, and he's been really well prepared by the guys that prepared him to breeze up. He's taken everything in his stride, and he's just a lovely horse.”
Lot 89, bay filly (Zoustar x Ordos Honor {Fastnet Rock})
On account of Baystone Farm; purchased by Baystone Farm for $200,000 from the draft of The Chase at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale
Dean Harvey of Gnarwarre-based Baystone Farm likes to do things differently in the sales sphere, and one member of his draft could be in for a major update by Thursday if she manages to strike in the Listed Debutant Stakes at Caulfield on Wednesday. Named Rachini (Zoustar) and prepared by Leon and Troy Corstens and Will Larkin, the filly will jump from barrier 2 on Wednesday afternoon and currently is well favoured by the punters.
“We’re always trying to push the boundaries and, in terms of the breeze-up sales, we try to trial horses if they’re ready,” said Harvey. “It just gives the buyers extra confidence in the product they're buying. We've got a couple of horses here that have already trialled and then if we can get them to the races and we think they're suitable to go, we will try to get them there.
Lot 89 - Zoustar x Ordos Honor filly | Image courtesy of Inglis
“Obviously, there's not that many opportunities to do it before the sale, but she's a filly that's just continued to improve the whole way. She showed us early on that she was ready, and she’s a pretty progressive filly. She trialled really well at Flemington last week and we're always happy to, as I said, push the boundaries and try and get a little bit more out of them.
“But she genuinely has got really, really good ability. She's a very talented filly. She's drawing a really good gate, she has a good jockey on board - Ben Allen rode her in her trial last week and was very impressed - so we go there confident that she'll run well.
“Obviously, we hope she can win and get that big pedigree update that we're all looking for, and it would be pretty special for her to win and then sell the next day. I don't think it's ever been done before at a breeze-up sale.”
The $200,000 Harvey paid in January is starting to feel like a bargain, particularly after the exploits of Cool Archie (Cool Aza Beel {NZ}), who is out of a half-sister to the filly’s dam. In addition to her trial and race start on Wednesday, the filly breezed 10.81s on the grass at Wangaratta.
“With that pedigree, you could probably argue that $200,000 is not huge money,” Harvey said. “But she didn't look like a 2-year-old (at the time), and if you saw her in the yard tomorrow, she looks like a 3-year-old colt now. She's a big, strong filly, she's furnished quite quickly and she's very impressive as a type. She's got a great attitude too so hopefully she'll do the right thing tomorrow.”
Lot 125, chestnut colt (Star Turn x Sevini {Sebring})
On account of Hunter’s Lodge; purchased by Hunter Lodge Stables and Liam Ruddy for $100,000 from the draft of Glenbeigh Farm at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale
The partnership of Cade Hunter and Liam Ruddy have their first Inglis Ready2Race Sale draft in 2025 under the Hunter’s Lodge banner, and they kick off with a draft of eight, including the Star Turn son of Sevini (Sebring), who was twice a winner on the track. Her half-brother Fast Witness (Star Witness) won the Listed McKenzie Stakes and was further placed at stakes level.
Lot 125 - Star Turn x Sevini colt | Image courtesy of Inglis
“He’s a real sprinting type,” said Ruddy. “He’s a little bit of a heavier set kind of horse and he’s got a lot of Sebring in him. We’ve really looked after him and not been hard on him at all. He's done a lot of this naturally in his own way. He’s had a limited number of gallops and picked it up by himself. We've just really ensured that, especially with a horse like him, we've not rushed him at this early point in his career to get him here and ruin him along the way.”
The colt breezed home in 10.9 on Warwick Farm’s synthetic track.
“He's managed to run up in a really respectable 10.9s whilst we have been just looking after him and making sure there's plenty of racehorse left for the end user,” Ruddy said.
Lot 188, bay colt (Toronado (Ire) x Baccarat Baby {Casino Prince})
On account of Hunter’s Lodge; purchased by Hunter Lodge Stables and Liam Ruddy for $250,000 from the draft of Gilgai Farm at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale
Hunter and Ruddy stretched themselves to secure the son of Toronado (Ire) at Easter, but they believe he was well worth aiming high, particularly as he is the first foal out of G3 Sunshine Coast Guineas winner Baccarat Baby (Casino Prince), who is a three-quarter-sister to G2 The Roses winner Philia (All Too Hard) and triple Group 1-winning mare Duais (Shamus Award).
“He is one that Liam and I purposefully bought to bring here for the Ready2Race sale,” said Hunter.
“He was an expensive purchase, and he was very large as a yearling,” Ruddy said. “He was around 16.1 hands already and over 500kg, which sounds like a lot for a yearling, but he still had so much furnishing left to do. A lot of the people who saw him at Easter and have seen him here this week have commented on how well he’s done since the sale. He’s really furnished in the last six months and now he’s a real standout horse.
Lot 188 - Toronado (IRE) x Baccarat Baby colt | Image courtesy of Inglis
“He leaves a lasting impression on everyone who sees him, which is a nice thing to happen. There's not much imagination to be done with this one. You can already see him on the track in your colours.”
Breezed on the grass track at Warwick Farm, the colt stopped the clock at 10.04s for his breeze.
Hunter, who handles the breaking in, commented that the colt had always been a very straightforward animal, and had come on particularly well thanks to several weeks at the track with Sara Ryan.
“The system we have at Hunter’s Lodge is that I break them in, pre-train them, and spell them, then they go to Sara’s for the last seven weeks of the preparation before the breeze-up,” Hunter said. “That preparation is a full 12-week prep - we have tried to replicate the systems that work in big stables around the country. Sara does a really great job, her system and her attention to detail is crucial to our process.”
“Our philosophy in doing this is that we've really tried to produce proper racehorses that we're also breezing,” Ruddy said. “We believe that these horses could go straight into any major stable in the country and they would be just like any other racehorse in the barn.
“We’re also really thankful to Inglis for their support, they have done a lot for us along the way.”
Lot 190, bay or brown colt (Wild Ruler x Beatniks {Haradasun})
On account of Moffatt Breaking And Pretraining; purchased by Moffatt Breaking And Pretraining for $60,000 from the draft of Kingstar Farm at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale
Milawa-based Peter Moffatt points out a son of Wild Ruler as the highlight of his eight-strong draft. Wild Ruler’s first juveniles hit the track this spring and have already started to make an impact; filly Face The Wild was a strong trial winner at Caulfield Heath at the beginning of the month, and his daughter The Wildling was beaten less than two lengths on debut in the G3 Gimcrack Stakes.
“He (Lot 190) was a horse that I already liked the look of when I bought him, and I also thought he was one that could do nothing but improve,” said Moffatt. “He’s probably more of a 3-year-old type of horse to be sure, but I feel he’s a really tough horse and, if given the time, he will become a magnificent animal.”
Lot 190 - Wild Ruler x Beatniks colt | Image courtesy of Inglis
The colt is out of the tough Haradasun mare Beatniks, making him a half-brother to the Listed Bendigo Guineas winner Wonder Boy (Cosmic Force), who has also run placings at Group level on three occasions.
“For an October 27 foal, he’s already 15.3 hands and 490kg, and you know he's got more to go,” Moffatt said. “He’s not quite there yet, but he’s going to turn into a lovely horse.”
Lot 192, bay colt (Royal Meeting (Ire) x Belfast Lass {Akeed Mofeed {GB}})
On account of T D Aitken Horse Training And Education; purchased by T D Aitken for $40,000 from the draft of Newhaven Park at the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale
Ballarat-based educator Tyler Donaldson-Aitken has prepared a small draft of three for the Sydney sale, and it is a son of Royal Meeting (Ire) that has stood out to him throughout the sales preparation process. The colt’s dam Belfast Lass is a winning daughter of Akeed Mofeed (GB) and a half-sister to Group 3-placed Lady Of Crebilly (Choisir). His second dam Antrim’s Legend (USA) (Giant’s Causeway {USA}) is a full sister to the versatile globetrotter Courtofversailles (USA) who won the Listed Qatar Gold Trophy.
“He’s a beautiful type of horse,” Donaldson-Aitken said. “He’s well balanced, he’s a ready-made racehorse, a good weight - he’s 470kg and just over 15.3 hands. He’s got clean x-rays and a grade one scope. So I think he’s the perfect trade horse, the perfect racehorse.”
Lot 192 - Royal Meeting (IRE) x Belfast Lass colt | Image courtesy of Inglis
Donaldson-Aitken selected the colt himself from the Inglis Melbourne sales, and sent him out to breeze on the Wangaratta synthetic track, where the colt ran home in 11.24s.
“He was a great type (at the yearling sale),” Donaldson-Aitken added. “He moved well, he was well balanced, placed his feet nice and flat, and he had a good conformation.
“He could have breezed a little bit better simply because he came around the home turn on the wrong lead, but he’s such a nice moving horse. Royal Meeting had his first winner in Hong Kong at the start of the year for Mark Newnham, which is always a good thing. He seems to have all the numbers in his favour.”
