Common sense or correlation: Dams of Inglis Millennium runners

Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan

When it comes to selecting a yearling who might make it as a juvenile, their physical type is often touted as the most important factor. They need to be forward individuals with plenty of muscle. But how about pedigree? Does having juvenile form on the catalogue page make a difference?

Saturday’s R. Listed Inglis Millennium field of 16 horses demonstrates the possibility of a correlation between a horse racing at two and their dam racing at two.

Double the expected rate

Across the whole racing population, only 20% of foals born will race at two, so it’s a select group of the population that can get up early. Obviously, this percentage rises dramatically once horses get older, with around 70% of all foals born eventually facing the starter.

Applying this to the field of 16 runners for the R.Listed Inglis Millennium, the data would expect that 3.2 of the runners (20% of 16) would have a dam who raced at two.

This year’s field has the progeny of two unraced mares, six mares who raced at two (38%), and a further three dams who trialled at two. There are five broodmares who raced, but did not race or trial at two.

“It’s a certainly factor in 2-year-old racing. We, as a farm, like to buy mares with good racetrack ability on the whole, and we do like mares who have early form," said Yarraman Park Stud’s Harry Mitchell.

“It tells you that they had speed and they were early maturing and they had a good brain. We think it helps with a broodmare going forward. We prefer that than a mare who was best at six.” Yarraman Park Stud, along with Widden Stud, are the only farms who sold two runners in the field.

“It’s common sense to think that fast early maturing mares will get a lot of the 2-year-olds. Everyone wants to buy a horse with a big bum and clean hocks, and a big walk, and you look at a lot of the 2-year-olds and that’s what they are like. There’s definitely a correlation.”

Yarraman Park Stud sold Chris Waller-trained Defensemen (Wootton Bassett {GB}) at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale for $1.4 million to Tom Magnier. “But it’s not a guarantee. If you look at Up Front, she got an injury and couldn’t run at two, but she was very fast early and they had to wait because she had a problem,” said Mitchell.

Upfront (USA) (War Front {USA}) was only placed at three as a race mare, and her first foal is Group 2-placed winner of four races Direct (Siyouni {Fr}). Upfront is a daughter of G2 Blandford Stakes winner Up (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) who was a winner at two and ran fourth in the G2 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at that age. There is juvenile form all over the page.

“Defensemen will end up wanting seven furlongs or a mile and that’s when you’ll see the best of him. However, Chris Waller wouldn’t run him for the sake of it. It shows the horse has good ability and he’s happy to run him.”

Yarraman Park Stud sold Snitzel colt Fireball from the same draft as Defensemen, with James Harron putting up his hand at $460,000. The pair are the two most expensive runners in the field.

“Advance Party was a 2-year-old winner. She’s not that well bred, but Fireball is a very nice looking horse and being by Snitzel, he’s a horse who has won as a 2-year-old and will be better as a 3-year-old. They’ve both drawn good barriers, so they might run well.”

Fireball, who won on debut for trainer Chris Waller, is the first live foal of Charge Forward mare Advance Party. She won at her second start as a July 2-year-old, adding another win at three. Her dam is unraced mare Luanne (Redoute’s Choice) who is a half-sister to 2-year-old Listed winner I Have No Fear (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}). Fireball’s half-sister by Dundeel (NZ) is in Yarraman Park Stud’s Classic draft as Lot 614.

Table: Sire and dam record at two for 2026 R. Listed Inglis Millennium runners

Does the stallion’s juvenile form matter?

The sixteen runners are represented by 13 different sires with King’s Legacy, Profiteer, and Street Boss (USA) each having two runners apiece. Of the 13 sires, only Street Boss didn’t race at two. However, in Australia, our stallion market is strongly correlated towards horses who have won at two.

And the stallions with Inglis Millennium runners demonstrate this bias. Written By won the G1 Blue Diamond Stakes, King’s Legacy won two of Sydney’s Group 1 juvenile races, Profiteer won the Inglis Millennium himself, and Stay Inside won the G1 Golden Slipper Stakes. Recently deceased shuttle sire Wootton Bassett (GB) was a Group 1 winner at two in France.

One of the pair of King’s Legacy runners, Audit is the only runner in the field out of a stakes winning juvenile. His dam, Flaunting (NZ) (Showcasing {GB}), won twice at two in New Zealand, including the Listed Castletown Stakes, and placed in the Listed Ryder Stakes at that age.

So no, while all bar one of the stallions with runners in the Millennium raced two, this is not much of a factor when compared with the general population of stallions and their records. It would be more surprising to find the opposite.

Racing is the great leveller

There are two frequent phrases used in horse racing. ‘Racing is the great leveller’ and ‘Horses don’t know what they cost’. Both are apparent in the R. Listed Inglis Millennium field with the 16 runners ranging in price from $1.4 million down to $1250, with an average price of $226,325.

The Inglis Classic Yearling Sale has the highest representation with nine of the 16 runners, while three came through the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, two from the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale, and the other two from the Inglis Great Southern Weanling Sale and Inglis Digital.

Table: R. Listed Inglis Millennium field with sale prices

Given that these prices cover the entire range that horses cost at auction, in basic terms, then price is not a predicting factor for getting into the field.

The next generation

Six of the 16 runners have yearling siblings still to enter the sales ring this year, giving buyers a chance to buy a younger sibling to one of the runners in the R. Listed Inglis Millennium.

Listed Blue Diamond Preview (c&g) winner Alibaba (Alabama Express) is out of 2-year-old winner Rowsthorn (Written Tycoon), whose colt by Lucky Vega (Ire) heads to the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale as Lot 52.

Defensemen’s half-sister by Starspangledbanner heads to Yarraman Park Stud’s Inglis Premier Yearling Sale as Lot 428. At the same sale, Two Bays Farm will offer the half-sister by Rubick to Calamari Ring (Street Boss {USA}) as Lot 45.

Two yearlings at this weekend's Inglis Classic Yearling Sale have year-older siblings running in the R. Listed Inglis Millennium.

Lot 190 is a full brother to R. Listed Inglis Nursery Stakes winner Where’s The Circus (Trapeze Artist), and the aforementioned Lot 614 is a Dundeel (NZ) half-sister to Fireball. Unfortunately, Lot 795 is withdrawn. He is the Russian Revolution half-brother to Lassified (Stay Inside).

The Artorius half-sister to Royal Exile (King’s Legacy) heads to the Magic Millions March Yearling Sale.