Pearls like these: The decision-making behind parting with elite racefillies

Cover image courtesy of Inglis

Almost all sales are a type of speculation; a horse could win so much on the track, or be worth so much in their careers at stud. Chayan’s (I Am Invincible) $5.6 million pricetag at last Thursday’s Inglis Chairman’s Sale is indicative of upside both on and off the track, and it is not the only example of an ownership cashing in on increased value a calendar year after purchasing.

For Eric Koh, it was one hell of a payday from an initial $250,000 investment at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. While multiple things inform this trading strategy, it is clear that striking while the iron is red hot can pay incredible dividends.

A shining comparison

Bruce Slade of Kestrel Thoroughbreds valued Chayan at $4-5 million before she walked into the ring on Thursday night. This valuation drew from a number of categories - starting with the 99.5 rating given by form analyst Daniel O’Sullivan for her G2 Reisling Stakes victory, factoring in the strength of her pedigree, and comparing her to previous Chairman’s results for Group 2-winning daughters of I Am Invincible.

Last year, Tom Magnier forked out $2.8 million each for Estriella (I Am Invincible) and Tiz Invincible at the same venue, which Arrowfield Stud paid $2 million for 11-time winner I Am Me. But that only counts for half the valuation, as Chayan still has her whole career ahead of her.

The story draws a parallel to Sunshine In Paris (Invader), a $90,000 2-year-old purchase for Champagne Bloodstock at the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale who turned into a $3.9 million purchase for James Harron Bloodstock at the same venue the following year.

In the 12 months between her visits to the Gold Coast, Sunshine In Paris went from unraced to the winner of three races with the third one being the G1 Surround Stakes at just her fifth start.

“She is a great example,” said Slade. “Sunshine In Paris was equally good on type and was already a Group 1 winner, but she was a year older and came with less of a pedigree than Chayan.

“Daniel rated her Surround win at her fifth start at 99, which is interesting, given Chayan achieved the same rating at her third start in the Reisling. That gives you a good reference for what Chayan could achieve.”

After her seven-figure purchase in 2023, Sunshine In Paris raced for two more years, winning four more races, including the G1 VRC Classic and the G1 Doomben 10,000, amassing roughly $5.5 million for owner Fairway Thoroughbreds. In her first season at stud, she was one of a handful of outside mares who visited the late Wootton Bassett (GB).

In comparison, Chayan still has her 3-year-old season - and the Surround itself - ahead of her against her own age group before she must face open competition.

“We all know how hard it is to find these top class fillies,” Slade said. “If you're presenting them still at the beginning of their racing careers with enough data to show that they are elite class, it suggests that you might spend a lot more trying to find another one just as good in the future.”

Whether that be at the yearling sales, or attempting to buy another one in the prime of her career. The latter strategy has been heavily employed over the past few years by several entities - most notably Yulong, who have been both active at the sales and proactive in purchasing fillies still running.

Ohope Wins (NZ) (Ocean Park {NZ}) recently took out the G1 Australian Oaks in the Yulong bottle green and white, and Yulong’s proprietor was trackside to watch the unbeaten Well Written (Written Tycoon) cap off her 3-year-old year with the NZ$4 million NZB Kiwi.

“So few of these fillies are now owned by syndicates or owners who are willing to sell, or are not breeders themselves,” Slade noted. “It makes the supply smaller and smaller.”

And all the more reason to pounce when one of high quality becomes available.

A generous decision

One mare who buyers will have to wait a little longer to acquire is Generosity (Divine Prophet), who was withdrawn from the Chairman’s Sale by owners B2B Thoroughbreds. The operation purchased her privately after her fighting fifth in last year’s G1 Goodwood Handicap and brought her east, where she rewarded them with victory in the G2 Challenge Stakes at the start of the autumn.

She was unlucky in the G1 Galaxy Handicap, finishing fifth by a long neck to Marhoona (Snitzel), who had been the bridesmaid in the Challenge at their previous start.

She was announced for the Chairman’s between those two starts, but after a gallant sixth by a length and three quarters in the G1 Robert Sangster Stakes, she headed not for the Riverside Stables sales complex, and instead for the spelling paddocks of Segenhoe.

“She's a horse that has plenty of racing in her, and she's improving prep to prep,” said Riccardo Surace Jnr, who runs B2B Thoroughbreds with his father.

“The intention has always been to sell her, but the prize money at the moment is just so good. She's a horse that is only getting better and we could probably win a lot more prize money before she retires.”

The intention is still to sell, just that the deadline has been shifted back by 12 months to 2027. Generosity had originally been on a path for Royal Ascot, but after the Sangster, connections decided she was best to head to the paddock and rest ahead of a spring campaign where she will take another swing at the G3 Concorde Stakes and the G2 The Shorts. Trainer Chris Waller has indicated an interest in getting the mare in the G1 The Everest.

“That’s the logical route of progression,” Surace said. “She was unlucky in that race last year, and while she’s rising six, she’s not racing like she is that age at all. She’s already a weight-for-age Group 2 winner so we will keep her in Sydney and see where she goes. Right now she’s enjoying a great spell at Segenhoe. Having the use of a farm like that is a vital cog in the machine to keeping her well.”

Given that the second top lot at Chairman’s was current 6-year-old Benedetta (Hellbent) - fetching $1.9 million to the bid of Yulong - it’s not out of left field for Surace to be confident that Generosity will be just as desirable, if not even more so, next year as she is now.

And in the meantime, there is the opportunity for another tilt at the Galaxy. Surace described the race as “the one that got away”, but he is still proud of the 5-year-old mare’s run on the day.

“It’s very easy to get annoyed (at how close the result was), but at the end of the day, if you have a horse good enough to compete at that level, I would rather be beaten unlucky in that race than not be in the race at all,” he said.

While the iron is hot

Two sets of connections will attempt to cash in later this month when a pair of juvenile fillies are offered in the upcoming Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale; Te Akau Racing will offer Veiled Threat (I Am Invincible), an unraced full sister to Strasbourg and 2-year-old winner Lockyer, while Newington Farm will consign La Gitana (Home Affairs), a Group-performed daughter of Coolmore's blue hen Hips Don’t Lie (NZ) (Stravinsky {USA}).

James Bester went to $400,000 to secure the daughter of Champion First Season Sire elect Home Affairs from Coolmore Stud’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale draft last year and sent her to the Hayes brothers at Lindsay Park.

“At the time that we purchased her, we thought she was exceptional value, given almost every other yearling out of Hips Don’t Lie has cost over a $1 million,” said Bester.

“She just offered irresistible value. And that was before Home Affairs was Home Affairs, which is a very different kettle of fish now altogether.”

La Gitana was indeed on the cheaper side for a yearling out of Hips Don’t Lie; Listed-winning, G1 Golden Slipper Stakes third Lake Geneva (Fastnet Rock) has been one of five million dollar yearlings out of the mare, and the next cheapest was five-time winner Burning Mountain (Fastnet Rock), who was $900,000. The record of Hips Don’t Lie’s progeny ratifies this; from 10 runners, she has nine winners - La Gitana is the only one to not score yet - including three stakes winners and two Group performers.

Ennis Hill (Fastnet Rock) never went through a sales ring and raced in the Coolmore navy to win the G3 Chairman’s Stakes before producing $900,000 yearling and multiple Group winner Learning To Fly (Justify {USA}). Kia Ora Stud signed the sales docket, but Coolmore couldn’t resist retaining a piece of the filly who would bounce back from near disaster in the Slipper to conclude her career on a high note with a G1 Robert Sangster Stakes second.

Though yet to break her maiden, La Gitana has been stakes-placed at both of her starts, debuting third in the G3 Chairman’s Stakes before running second to Gin Twist (Home Affairs) in the Listed Festival Stakes.

“When she came out and was Group placed in her first two starts behind good horses, the partners put their heads together and decided that there was an opportunity here to make a profit on her,” Bester said. It was a similar conclusion that drove Koh to offer Chayan at the Chairman’s sale.

“Obviously there's great reluctance to part with a filly of this calibre who offers long-term breeding prospects, but the partners aren't a breeding operation. She was bought to race, with obvious residual value, but given that she's increased her value very significantly in her first two starts, we made the decision that we would offer her up and see where the market values her now.

“It will be bittersweet to part with her, but we don’t intend to just give her away either. There is only one filly left to come from this mare - by Wootton Bassett - and she will go to Easter next year. And I doubt Coolmore will make the same mistake again of letting her go through for $400,000.”

When to stay in

Of the partners in La Gitana, Bester is the most torn about the possibility of cashing out, and that is most likely because his involvement with La Gitana’s dam Hips Don’t Lie has been perhaps the ultimate example against trading.

Bester sourced the daughter of Stravinsky (USA) for NZ$200,000 as a yearling, and when she was offered as a broodmare prospect at the end of her racing career, he persuaded a client, Kia Ora Stud, to bid on her at the 2009 Magic Millions Broodmare Sale.

They were unsuccessful, sniped by Coolmore Stud - with Colm Santry Bloodstock signing the docket - to the tune of $770,000.

“It was a similar situation,” Bester recalled. “Partners who were not necessarily after a long-term breeding career and seeing an opportunity to make a profit. Representing Kia Ora, we were the underbidders, and Michael Kirwan was representing Coolmore, and they beat me to the punch.

“Some of my partners in the race filly were thrilled to make such a profit, but I looked at them and said, ‘this filly will be worth a lot more than that down the track’. Then I went to Coolmore and I said, ‘you outbid me on my own horse, could I retain my share?’”

Fortunately for Bester, the answer was yes.

“I think she has produced more than $10 million worth of yearlings,” he said. “Both her own and including the million dollar yearlings that Ennis Hill has produced. When you sell these pearls at a great price, you're basically selling the goose that lays the golden eggs, and I'd rather have the goose and get a golden egg every year. But some of the partners want to cash out on La Gitana, so we will see what happens.”

Bester may be fortunate again in that the eventual buyer will let him retain his share in another potential golden goose.

“Make no mistake, I will be watching very closely for the winning bidder,” he said.