What have the Chairman’s Sale graduates been up to?

Cover image courtesy of Inglis

The Inglis Chairman’s Sale has established itself as one of the premier events in the Southern Hemisphere for purchasing high calibre fillies and mares, and enters its 10th year of bolstering the quality of broodmare bands in 2026. Since its inception in 2017, the sale has sold 58 lots for $1 million or more.

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We followed up on where some of those million dollar mares are in the years following their purchases, which stallions they have visited, and what results they have delivered for their new owners.

Bella’s date with a champion

The 2025 edition of the Inglis Chairman’s Sale raised the bar again with a new record price, courtesy of G1 The Everest victress Bella Nipotina (Pride Of Dubai), who returned to her birthplace at Longwood Thoroughbred farm thanks to a winning bid of $4.2 million.

In October, the four-time Group 1 winner visited Zoustar, who was elected Champion Sire in Australia for the 2024/25 season. She was one of 171 mares to visit the Widden Stud resident in his second season standing at a career peak of $275,000 (inc GST), a fee he stays at in 2026.

Longwood’s Michael Christian said at the time that it was a “difficult task" selecting the first mating for his champion, but that Zoustar had been the best match on both physique and pedigree. Speaking in the present day, he shared that the mare was settling well into broodmare life.

“She's let down really well,” he said. “She's healthy and happy, and she's just enjoying life at the moment. It's very exciting to be thinking about the arrival of her first foal, there's no doubt about that. We really do feel like expectant parents.”

Christian hasn't locked in where Bella Nipotina will go in 2026 just yet, saying, "we're going through the options at the moment and we will likely make a decision over the next few weeks."

When you have a multimillion dollar mare of the calibre of Bella Nipotina, you aren't short on options.

Seven figure investments into Yulong’s broodmare band

Yulong’s rise to prominence as a stallion farm has been rapid, and the operation has ensured their stallions receive strong backing with their own broodmare band. At last year’s sale, five of the seven-figure lots made their way south to the operation’s Nagambie property after selling at the Inglis Chairman’s Sale.

G3 Triscay Stakes winner and $1.6 million earner Semana (Winning Rupert) was a $1.55 million purchase and retired to stud a handful of starts in the green and white. She visited Alabama Express - who earns relocation to the Hunter Valley this season - in 2025.

Other purchases who patronised the son of Redoute’s Choice last season include $1.45 million multiple Group winner Grinzinger Belle (NZ) (Shamexpress {NZ}) and $1.2 million Under Your Spell (SAf) (Capetown Noir {SAf}), who had been offered in foal to I Am Invincible. The South African Group 1 winner foaled a colt in August.

“He is an outstanding colt,” said Yulong’s Sam Fairgray. “He’s a big, strong, forward sort of colt who is going to mature into a lovely type of yearling.”

G1 South Australian Derby winner Coco Sun (The Autumn Sun), a $1.2 million purchase, visited Pierata for her maiden cover in September, while $1.6 million buy Enbihaar (Magnus) foaled a filly by Zoustar in November and visited Extreme Choice on Northern Hemisphere time in March.

“She’s a very athletic, very attractive Zoustar filly,” Fairgray said of Enbihaar’s 2025 foal. “We are very pleased with her as a physical type.”

Enbihaar’s Too Darn Hot (GB) colt was the star of the show at last year’s Inglis Australian Weanling Sale where he was offered by Widden Stud, selling for $775,000 to SP Bloodstock and partners. Offered as a yearling at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, he yielded a price of $2.2 million to the bid of Watership Down Stud, McKeever Bloodstock, and Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott Racing.

Purchased in the 2024 sale for $2.2 million, Kimochi (Brave Smash {Jpn}) raced on for another 12 months in the Yulong silks, claiming the G1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes the following November. She closed out her career with a hard fought fourth in last year’s G1 Kingsford Smith Cup and visited Alabama Express.

Dual Oaks winner Pennyweka (NZ) (Satono Aladdin {Jpn}) was a $1.6 million buy in the same sale and subsequently visited Panthalassa (Jpn), foaling a colt in September before visiting Alabama Express.

Yulong’s yearling drafts this year have featured a number of the first Yulong-bred foals of several prior purchases; at Inglis Easter, they sold the first foal, by Alabama Express, out of G1 Empire Rose Stakes winner Icebath (NZ) (Sacred Falls {NZ}). The filly made $460,000 to the bid of Sutton Racing and Byron Rogers. The first foal from four-time Group 1 winner Montefilia (Kermadec {NZ}) - who was a sale-topping $3.4 million in her year - was offered at the same venue but didn’t quite make his reserve.

Also in 2023, Yulong purchased Berimbau (Shamardal {USA}) for $1.8 million, carrying a full brother to Imperatriz (I Am Invincible). Now named Invictabeat, the 2-year-old colt runs in the Yulong silks, while his Pierata yearling half-brother was purchased for $400,000 by David Ellis CNZM and Te Akau Racing at the Magic Millions Gold Coast this year.

Berimbau has another Pierata colt on the ground and subsequently visited Alabama Express.

“He’s very typical of the kind of horse she has left already,” Fairgray said. “He’s very strong with a big shoulder and strong hindquarters, and a very attractive head. He is a very nice weanling.”

In Her Time (Time Thief) has been a resident at Yulong since her 2020 purchase, and she has produced two winners with her first two runners; 4-year-old Time Lapse (I Am Invincible) has never been out of the placings in six starts and 3-year-old Patonga (Written Tycoon) won at the third time of asking and was exported to Hong Kong after selling for $255,000 on the Inglis Digital platform.

Yulong have opted to retain her Diatonic (Jpn) yearling filly. She delivered a colt by Pierata in 2025 before Yulong’s first season sire First Settler.

“He’s a big, forward colt as well,” said Fairgray. “She is just an amazing mare. She just keeps producing these lovely foals with really nice temperaments.”

Coolmore’s best for the late Wootton Bassett

One of the greatest participants in the top end of the market, Coolmore Stud are also always growing the top echelons of their broodmare brand, with typically principal Tom Magnier signing the docket at sales.

In the 2025 Chairman’s Sale, he signed for three of the seven-figure lots, including the second top lot in the sale, $3.8 million Amelia’s Jewel (Siyouni {Fr}). The G1 Northerly Stakes winner and victress of 10 stakes winners, she was one of 39 mares who were able to visit the late Wootton Bassett (GB) before his untimely passing in the spring.

Magnier also signed for two of I Am Invincible’s best performing, paying $2.8 million each for Tiz Invincible and Estriella. Dual Group 2 winner Tiz Invincible also visited Wootton Bassett in 2025, while Estriella had an unlucky first season at stud, missing to Wootton Bassett, Extreme Choice, and City Of Troy (USA).

In 2024, Coolmore bought another three seven figure mares, including dual Group 1 winner She’s Extreme (Extreme Choice) for $3.4 million, who was sent to the States to visit Justify (USA) at his Northern Hemisphere base. She returned in December of 2024 and delivered a filly by the Triple Crown winner in September, before visiting Home Affairs.

“She’s Extreme has had a very nice Justify filly,” said Coolmore Stud Manager Justin Carey. “She will probably be aimed at the Inglis Easter sale next year. She is in foal to Home Affairs, and we look forward to seeing what that mating produces.”

Dual Group winner Autumn Ballet (The Autumn Sun), a $1.6 million purchase, delivered a colt by Zoustar in 2025 as her maiden foal, and returned to the Widden Stud-based stallion the same season.

“Autumn Ballet has had a rockstar of a Zoustar colt,” said Coolmore Racing Manager John Kennedy.

“She has had a very good Zoustar, who will either go to Magic Millions or to Easter,” said Carey. “He’s a very good mover, as was the mare. He’s a lovely horse, and she back to the stallion on the strength of him.”

Magnier also purchased G2 Dane Ripper Stakes winner C'est Magique (Zoustar) and produced the cross in reverse, sending the $1.7 million buy to Snitzel to produce a filly last August. She was another mare able to visit Wootton Bassett in September.

“She has had a lovely quality filly,” Carey said. “It’s a very good first foal, and we are very happy with it.”

Coolmore’s most fruitful purchase to date has easily been Samaready (More Than Ready {USA}), who was a $1.8 million purchase in 2020 when in foal to Snitzel. The resultant foal, Shinzo, won a G1 Golden Slipper Stakes and cemented a spot for himself on the Coolmore roster. Sent to the States in 2022, Samaready has produced two Justify colts that will endeavour to mirror their half-brother's steps to the top of the sport.

Shinzo's first foals have hit the sales ring in 2026, with a top price of $600,000 for a filly offered by Noorilim Park on Tuesday.

International appeal

Japan has long had an affinity for Australia’s top breeding stock, purchasing mares both through auction and privately with the likes of G1 VRC Oaks winner Pinot (Pierro), juvenile dual Group 1 winner Yankee Rose (All American), G1 Thousand Guineas winner Amphitrite (Sebring), and G1 Robert Sangster Stakes winner Driefontein (Fastnet Rock) leaving Australian shores to join the Japanese broodmare band.

In 2023, G1 Golden Slipper Stakes-winning mare Fireburn (Rebel Dane) was a private purchase for an undisclosed sum and in 2025, she produced a colt by Kizuna (Jpn), with the breeder listed as Northern Racing.

In 2020, G1 Queensland Oaks winner Youngstar (High Chaparral {Ire}) was a $1.4 million purchase for Northern Farm’s Katsumi Yoshida, who would purchase her G1 Flight Stakes-winning half-sister Funstar (Adelaide {Ire}) for $2.7 million in an Inglis Digital the following year.

Youngstar’s first foal Eri King (Jpn) (Kizuma {Jpn}) has started his mother off in fine fashion, winning the G2 Kobe Shimbun Hai and the G3 Kyoto Nisai Stakes, as well as running second in the G1 Kikuka Sho to Energico (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}). Funstar’s first foal Danon Funstar (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) is currently three and opened his account with a 2000-metre win earlier this year.

Since Eri King, Youngstar produced a filly in 2024 by Contrail (Jpn) and delivered a colt by two-time Japan Horse Of The Year Equinox (Jpn) in 2025. Funstar’s 2025 foal is a colt by Suave Richard (Jpn).

Yoshida’s name appeared amongst the purchasers of seven-figure lots again in 2025, where he spent $1 million to secure G3 Maurice McCarten Stakes winner Eagle Nest (Shalaa {Ire}).

Grand producers make their own luck

The Japanese connection for Chairman’s graduate Pippie (Written Tycoon) comes further down the line. The Cressfield-owned mare died in 2024, leaving behind three foals who have sold for a collective $3.525 million at auction, including an I Am Invincible colt who sold for $1.35 million at this year’s Easter sale.

At the same venue last year, Pippie’s daughter by the same sire attracted the attention of Champions Farm and Satomi Oka Bloodstock (FBAA), who went to $1.4 million to secure her for export over the equator. Named Empress K, she opened her account with a win over 1200 metres earlier in 2026.

The first foal of Nimalee (So You Think {NZ}), a colt by Snitzel, made a sizeable dent in his dam’s $3.6 million purchase price at this year’s Inglis Easter sale when selling to Avenue Bloodstock for $1.1 million. Another Coolmore purchase, Nimalee followed him with a Wootton Bassett colt, before visiting Home Affairs.

Shout The Bar (Not A Single Doubt) went one step better with her first foal. A $2.7 million Chairman’s buy for Coolmore, her now 2-year-old - now named The Railway (Home Affairs) made $3 million to the bid of Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott and Kestrel Thoroughbreds at last year’s Easter sale.

After missing to Justify in his last season on Australian soil, Shout The Bar travelled north to visit the stallion and delivered a colt in 2025, before visiting Wootton Basset.

Booker (Written Tycoon), a $1.6 million purchase for Coolmore in 2020 has yielded impressive results too, with her first two foals collectively selling for $5.5 million. Her current 3-year-old Ernaux (I Am Invincible), a $3 million Inglis Easter purchase for Resolute Racing, is a city winner, Listed-placed, and has only been further back than fourth once in 11 starts. Booker produced a Justify colt in 2025 before patronising G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes winner Switzerland.

Coolmore have also been on the buying bench for the stock of other grand producers. Bred and sold by Yulong, In Her Time’s 2-year-old Horologist (Written Tycoon) was a $1.8 million sale to Tom Magnier at last year’s Magic Millions January sale.

Ellicazoom (Testa Rossa), a $1.45 million purchase for Sheamus Mills Bloodstock (FBAA), Longwood Thoroughbred Farm, and Peter Morgan in 2022, has had plenty of good fortune since her sale. The following year, her daughter Celerity (Exceed And Excel) yielded $850,000 to the bid of Godolphin and went on to win the Listed Manihi Classic and run fourth in the Listed Lonhro Plate. She remains in work with Ciaron Maher.

An I Am Invincible filly - now named Just Magic - achieved $360,000 at the yearling sales the following year and is trained by Tony and Calvin McEvoy. Her yearling I Am Invincible filly was offered at Inglis Easter this year and achieved a price of $600,000, selling to the James Harron Bloodstock Filly Partnership and Tony Fung Fillies. Ellicazoom produced a Zoustar filly in 2025 before missing to Farnan.