Having previously sold three Group 1 winners at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, Sledmere Stud’s 2026 draft is the place to look for buyers wanting to drill for oil where it’s already been found. Saturday’s racing further demonstrates the depth of quality of racehorse coming off of Sledmere’s property in Scone.
The 2-year-olds are the future
Saturday’s G2 Blue Blue Diamond Prelude (f) at Caulfield has a field of 14, and impressively two of them came from the pastures at Sledmere Stud. I Am Aria (I Am Invincible) was sold by Sledmere Stud at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale for $450,000, and she already has important black-type, having run second in the G3 Blue Diamond Preview (f) on debut.
Unraced Shy Miss (Stay Inside) will make her debut in the Prelude on Saturday, and she was purchased through Sledmere Stud’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale draft for $400,000.
Shy Miss as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
The pair of exciting prospects demonstrate Sledmere’s remarkable record with the G1 Blue Diamond Stakes and its lead-up races in recent seasons. Sledmere Stud have had Blue Diamond two runners in 2022, 2023, and 2024 - and they aren’t just making up the numbers, they are performing well and going on with it as older horses.
In 2022, Sledmere graduate Revolutionary Miss (Russian Revolution) ran second in the Diamond with Sebonack (Capitalist) in fourth, while in 2024 Stay Focused (Cosmic Force) finished in fifth, less than one and a half lengths behind the winner Hayasugi (Royal Meeting {Ire}). In the same race, Rue de Royale (NZ) (Per Incanto {USA}), whose earnings are now just shy of $1 million, finished just three lengths off the winner.
Revolutionary Miss | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Sold for $195,000 by Sledmere on the Gold Coast, Revolutionary Miss won the G2 Blue Diamond Prelude (f) before her Diamond placing, then added the G2 AV Kewney Stakes at three and three more Group wins as an older horse. Retiring with $1.8 million in the bank, she was sold as a broodmare prospect to Japanese interests for $1.6 million, further highlighting the long-term value of a Sledmere yearling.
Little Brose, who now stands at stud in New Zealand alongside his sire Per Incanto (USA), won the 2023 G1 Blue Diamond Stakes, with fellow Sledmere graduate Arkansaw Kid (Harry Angel {Ire}) running third.
Little Brose | Standing at Little Avondale Stud
The winner of the R. Listed Inglis 2YO Banner at his first start and now boasting earnings of over $2 million, Arkansaw Kid heads to the G1 BCD Sprint this weekend at Te Rapa. Lindsay Park Racing snapped up the pair in 2022 for $200,000 and $190,000 respectively.
Joining Arkansaw Kid on the Te Rapa card on Saturday will be another Sledmere-sold yearling; Inglis Easter graduate Los Salsero (Frankel {GB}) will step up to the plate in the G2 Waikato Guineas.
In Sydney, the R. Listed Inglis Millennium field features Profitabelle (Profiteer), a Sledmere weanling sale graduate bred by co-principal Catriona Murphy’s brother Jock Mackay, principal of Cangon Stud Farm. Classic Sale graduate Bohemian Rhapsody (Prague) appears in the form guide, having placed in the 2025 R. Listed Inglis 2YO Banner on debut behind Inglis Millennium runner Calamari Ring (Street Boss {USA}).
On the same card, $475,000 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale graduate Caloocan Beauty (Justify {USA}) looks to improve off a debut fourth when heading to the Listed Lonhro Plate.
Group 1 form is the best form
G1 George Ryder Stakes winner Veight (Grunt {NZ}) - who is one of Sledmere's Group 1-winning Classic Sale graduates alongside Icebath (NZ) (Sacred Falls {NZ}) and Communist (Russian Revolution) - runs in Saturday’s G3 Kevin Heffernan Stakes at Caulfield, where he will be joined by fellow Sledmere graduate Hughes (Russian Revolution). Veight brings red-hot form to the race, having run second in the G2 Australia Stakes last start.
The winner of five races, including the G2 VRC Sires’ Produce Stakes at his second start at two, Veight has earned over $2 million for his connections - an excellent return on investment, given her was a $220,000 purchase for McEvoy Mitchell Racing and Belmont Bloodstock (FBAA) in 2022.
Veight | Image courtesy of Sportpix
Recently retired Communist was also a wonderful galloper for his connections, earning over $1.1 million in his career, with his biggest win coming in the G1 Randwick Guineas. Sledmere Stud sold him at Classic for $160,000 to Michael and Richard Freedman.
Icebath was a $100,000 outlay from Sledmere's 2018 Classic draft and she went on to win over $5.2 million, with her crowning achievement coming in the G1 Empire Rose Stakes. She continued to be a great earner for her connections when selling as a broodmare prospect to Yulong for $2.3 million. Her first foal, a filly by Alabama Express, is in Yulong’s Inglis Easter Yearling Sale draft.
Gallery: A selection of yearlings from Sledmere Stud's 2026 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale draft
The 2026 Classic yearling sale draft
Sledmere Stud will present a draft of 31 yearlings at the 2026 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale. The yearlings on offer represent a huge spread of exciting stallions being Anamoe, Ardrossan, Capitalist, Castelvecchio, Dundeel (NZ), Farnan, Hellbent, In The Congo, Justify (USA), King’s Legacy, Ole Kirk, Per Incanto (USA), Profiteer, Profondo, Starspangledbanner, Stay Inside, Street Boss (USA), Super Seth, Tiger Of Malay, Too Darn Hot (GB), Wild Ruler, and Xtravagant (NZ).
For Sledmere Stud's Royston Murphy, when the quality is this intense, it's impossible to choose a standout.
Royston Murphy | Image supplied
“We are really pleased with every lot in the draft and wouldn’t want to single one out," he said. "Classic has always been a successful sale for us, and it’s exciting to offer a quality group of horses to the market.
“There’s a horse to suit everyone, with proven sires like Too Darn Hot and Ole Kirk, as well as several first season sires and stallions like Stay Inside, Wild Ruler, and Profiteer who have all started their careers well this season.”
