Cover image courtesy of Sportpix
The world’s best fillies and mares have commanded extraordinary prices over the past decade, now Golden Slipper winner and world-leading 3-year-old sprint filly Lady Of Camelot (Written Tycoon) enters that rare market.
The sale of a champion mare is never governed by a neat formula.
In 2017, nine-time Grade 1 winner Songbird (USA) (Medaglia d’Oro {USA}) sold for US$9.5 million (AU$13.55 million) at Fasig-Tipton’s Night of the Stars. Two-time champion Tepin (USA) (Bernstein {USA}), offered in foal to Curlin (USA), made US$8 million (AU$11.41 million) on the same evening.
Three years later, dual Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner Monomoy Girl (USA) (Tapizar {USA}) also sold for US$9.5 million (AU$13.55 million), setting a world record for a racing or broodmare prospect offered at public auction.
At Tattersalls, dual Group 1-winning sprinter Marsha (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) established a European auction record at 6 million guineas (AU$12.62 million) in 2017. Four-time Group 1 winner Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never {USA}) made 5.4 million guineas (AU$11.36 million) five years later.
More recently, G1 Prix de l’Opéra winner Barnavara (Ire) (Calyx {GB}) sold for 4.8 million guineas (AU$10.1 million) in 2025, the highest price paid for a filly in training anywhere in the world that year.
Barnavara (Ire) winning the G1 Prix de l'Opera | Image courtesy of Tattersalls
Australia produced its own record in 2024 when 10-time Group 1 winner Imperatriz (I Am Invincible) sold for AU$6.6 million, the highest price paid for a filly or mare at auction in the Southern Hemisphere.
They were different propositions: some retired, some still racing and some already in foal. What they shared was their scarcity - when mares of that calibre became available, buyers are forced to look beyond normal domestic benchmarks.
Go Bloodstock Australia’s Lady Of Camelot now enters that company.
The homebred daughter of Written Tycoon won the G1 Golden Slipper Stakes at two and returned the following season to become the world-leading 3-year-old sprint filly. She has been retired sound and is being offered privately to an international buying bench, with bids closing on Friday, August 7.
Lady Of Camelot winning the G1 Golden Slipper | Image courtesy of Sportpix
Go Bloodstock manager Steve O’Connor believes her value must be assessed against the elite fillies and mares offered around the world, rather than confined to previous Australian broodmare results.
“You have to value her on an elite global scale,” he said.
“You have to value her (Lady Of Camelot) on an elite global scale.” - Steve O’Connor
“There have been very few Golden Slipper winners ever sold in Australia, so you’d need to compare her to champion 2-year-olds in Japan and America and Europe.
“I’d say she’ll be a record sale for Australian mares, but where that lands comes down to the determination of the buyers.”
Steve O’Connor | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
A rare offering
Few horses, if any, have been offered for sale in Australia with a record of the calibre of Lady Of Camelot.
A juvenile Group 1 winner, multiple Group 1-placed and fourth in a race like the AU$20 million Everest, she is the type of filly owners rarely part with at the beginning of her breeding career.
Since 2000, very few Golden Slipper-winning fillies have changed hands following their racing careers.
Only two have walked through an Australian public auction ring after winning the Slipper: Polar Success (Success Express {USA}) and Calaway Gal (Clang).
Polar Success | Image courtesy of Sportpix
Polar Success sold for AU$1.2 million at the 2009 Inglis Australian Weanling and Breeding Stock Sale while in foal to Bernardini (USA). Calaway Gal attracted considerably less attention when she was sold empty in the twilight of her breeding career, with a lesser racing record to her credit.
Two more, She Will Reign (Manhattan Rain) and Fireburn (Rebel Dane), were privately purchased by Katsumi Yoshida’s Northern Farm at the end of their racing careers, with neither sum disclosed.
Fireburn | Image courtesy of Sportpix
Fireburn’s first foal, a colt by leading Japanese sire Kizuna (Jpn), sold for ¥370 million (AU$3.3 million) at the 2025 Japan Racing Horse Association Select Sale.
Lady Of Camelot presents a different proposition again: a Slipper winner offered at five, before her first mating and with her entire breeding career ahead of her.
“On the ranking scale, she was the world-leading 3-year-old sprint filly,” O’Connor said.
“We didn’t duck away from a challenge. We took on the best and she showed herself that she was right up there with the best in Australia, and we feel a bit discouraged that she didn't get a chance to go to Ascot to sign off her career because she would have gone from a champion 2-year-old filly to the world-leading 3-year-old filly to Ascot.”
| 2022 | Alcohol Free | Tattersalls December Mare Sale | 5.4 million gns | $10,840,000 | BBA Ireland |
| 2025 | Barnavara | Tattersalls December Mare Sale | 4.8 million gns | $10,100,000 | Sugar Whiskey Trading |
| 2023 | Alpine Star | Goffs November Mares Sale | €6,000,000 | $9,860,000 | MV Magnier |
| 2023 | Alpha Centauri | Goffs November Mares Sale | €6,000,000 | $9,860,000 | MV Magnier |
| 2025 | Porta Fortuna | Tattersalls December Mare Sale | 4.5 million gns | $9,500,000 | MV Magnier |
| 2025 | Streak Of Luck | Fasig-Tipton Night Of The Stars | US$6,200,000 | $8,840,000 | Amo Racing |
| 2022 | Midnight Bisou | Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale | US$5,500,000 | $7,840,000 | Katsumi Yoshida |
| 2025 | Shisospicy | Fasig-Tipton Night Of The Stars | US$5,200,000 | $7,410,000 | Morplay Racing |
| 2025 | Puca | Fasig-Tipton Night Of The Stars | US$5,000,000 | $7,130,000 | Raging Torrent Syndicate |
| 2023 | Place Du Carrousel | Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale | €4,025,000 | $6,620,000 | Portofino Bloodstock |
| 2024 | Imperatriz | Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmar Sale | AU$6,600,000 | $6,600,000 | Yulong |
Table: Top-priced broodmares or broodmare prospects sold worldwide in the last five years
Access to a special family
Beyond her race performance, Lady Of Camelot boasts a family that has, and continues to be, potent in both hemispheres.
Grandam More Than Real (USA) (More Than Ready {USA}) won the G2 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf Stakes and counts a Group 1 third among her three Group placings.
She was brought to Australia by Kia Ora Stud and James Bester in 2012 and produced her best foal with her first born in 2013, Lady Of Camelot’s dam Miss Debutante (Fastnet Rock).
A $430,000 yearling who won the Listed Denise’s Joy Stakes, Miss Debutante’s first three foals were all Group winners.
Miss Debutante | Image courtesy of Sportpix
G3 Gimcrack Stakes winner Platinum Jubilee (Zoustar) is the only one to walk through an auction ring, selling as a yearling for $600,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale to her trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.
Two years later, she fetched $3.5 million at the 2024 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale.
Glenn campaigned Miss Debutante’s older daughter Queen Of The Ball (I Am Invincible) to four Group 3 victories, two as a juvenile, and added her to the broodmare band at the end of her career.
She has a colt on the ground by Extreme Choice, while Platinum Jubilee’s first foal is a filly by I Am Invincible.
Remarkably, all three fillies won Group races as juveniles and all three ran in the Golden Slipper.
Queen Of The Ball | Image courtesy of Sportpix
“We own all the family, and we'd always talked about, ‘wouldn't it be great if another industry farm had a branch of the family to grow it?’,” O’Connor said.
“Because the family is flourishing internationally, the Kentucky Oaks winner is in the family, there’s a Breeders’ Cup winner in it and it’d be fantastic if there was another line of the family, whether inside or outside of Australia, to grow it.”
On May 2, the page made another jump when Always A Runner (USA) (Gun Runner {USA}), whose second dam is a full sister to More Than Real, broke through in the G1 Kentucky Oaks.
That sister, Miss Always Ready (USA) (More Than Ready {USA}), has also produced 2019 G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Structor (USA) (Palace Malice {USA}), who stands at stud in Japan.
International exposure
O’Connor believes the pedigree could be enhanced further by exposure not only to the best stallions in Australia, but also those throughout the rest of the world.
“It could be something as simple as somebody breeding her to Frankel or Into Mischief, or one of those great international stallions in Japan,” he said.
“It’d be great for the female family to have the opportunity to visit those stallions and that wouldn't necessarily be in our wheelhouse.
“We have such stallion exposure to stallion equity here in Australia, and when we have access to a horse like Extreme Choice, the reality is you end up just going to Extreme Choice, which would be a great mating but it wouldn't expose a family internationally.
“At this stage, it looks like the mother and the sister are both going to Extreme Choice this year.”
Extreme Choice | Standing at Newgate Farm
It is not hard to imagine buyers in Japan taking an interest.
Yankee Rose (All American) came second in the Golden Slipper before being purchased by Northern Farm. She has already produced Japanese Triple Tiara heroine Liberty Island (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}).
High-calibre Australian racemares Funstar (Adelaide {Ire}), Youngstar (High Chaparral {Ire}) and Mosheen (Fastnet Rock) have all joined Japan's broodmare population in recent years, and not for small price tags.
Yoshida paid AU$1.4 million for Youngstar in 2020 and added Funstar for AU$2.7 million in 2021.
Youngstar | Image courtesy of Sportpix
At this year’s Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale, Yoshida spent another AU$3.4 million on three mares including Lilac (Justify {USA}) and O’ Ole (Ole Kirk) at AU$1.5 million each. He also purchased G2 The Roses winner Philia (All Too Hard), a half-sister to triple Group 1 winner Duais (Shamus Award), for AU$1.4 million at the Inglis Chairman’s Sale.
The right timing
Lady Of Camelot had been in full training and heading towards Royal Ascot during the live auction sales at Magic Millions and Inglis.
“We would have been happy to sell at either of those if we were ready at that time.
“She was training brilliantly, and she was heading to Ascot and we thought a really good chance, when that door closed because she walked on a stingray. While the actual incident resulted in a minor injury, it cost the two or three weeks of training and at that time, that's it. You’ve missed Ascot.”
The decision was made to retire her and give her plenty of time to prepare for the Southern Hemisphere breeding season.
“When that door closed, another door opened,” O’Connor said.
“We just got her back healthy and got her back to Newgate Farm where she was born, and gave her a bit of TLC. She's perfectly fine. She's in great health. I don't think she's ever looked better and she's never really had any lameness associated with that incident, it was just a laceration, which is fully healed.
“I don't think she's (Lady Of Camelot) ever looked better and she's never really had any lameness associated with that incident, it was just a laceration, which is fully healed.” - Steve O’Connors
“She’s ready to be mated, she’s cycling and sound.”
Lady Of Camelot | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
The timing argument is twofold, with Go Bloodstock choosing to focus on other goals beyond its breeding operation.
“It was a very hard decision for Sir Owen, but the reality is that Sir Owen is 86, he’ll be turning 90 before she has any foals running,” O’Connor said.
“And the funds could be used to reinvest more in short-term goals. Sir Owen has a list of races he wants to win and the Melbourne Cup is one of those.”
Sir Delius (GB) (Frankel {GB}) had been purchased in 2024 with the G1 Melbourne Cup in mind, but he will pursue other goals this spring after being ruled out of the Cup last year under veterinary scrutiny.
His treble of Group 1 wins on Australian soil makes him an enticing stallion prospect, but it does not tick off that goal.
Sir Delius (GB) | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Potential in the price tag
Lady Of Camelot comes to market at a time when buyers have continued to pay heavily for elite Australian racing and breeding prospects.
The AU$5.6 million price tag on G2 Reisling Stakes winner Chayan (I Am Invincible) at this year’s Inglis Chairman’s Sale was driven in part by what she could earn her new owners both on the track and through her future offspring in the sales ring.
Tom Magnier prevailed in the bidding war for the 3-year-old filly, who remains with trainers Annabel and Rob Archibald.
Chayan | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
He also prevailed at the same venue in 2024 to secure G1 Champagne Stakes and G1 VRC Oaks winner She’s Extreme (Extreme Choice) for AU$3.4 million.
There is also potential for today’s value to increase considerably if a family continues to improve.
Streak Of Luck (USA) (Old Fashioned {USA}) topped Fasig-Tipton’s Night of the Stars at US$6.2 million (AU$8.84 million), carrying a full sibling to G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and G1 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity winner Ted Noffey (USA) (Into Mischief {USA}).
That represented a considerable increase on the US$620,000 (AU$884,000) she had made at Keeneland in 2021.
Puca (USA) (Big Brown {USA}) is another mare whose success in the breeding barn drove a dramatic increase in value.
Before the arrival of G1 Kentucky Derby winner Mage (USA) (Good Magic {USA}), she was a US$475,000 (AU$677,000) purchase for Grandview Equine at Fasig-Tipton in 2018.
Mage (USA) | Image courtesy of Kentucky Derby
After Mage’s Derby win in 2023, she was bought by Gavin O’Connor on behalf of Resolute Racing for US$2.9 million (AU$4.13 million) at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.
She later sold for US$5 million (AU$7.13 million), having also produced G1 Belmont Stakes winner Dornoch (USA) (Good Magic {USA}) and G1 Pennsylvania Derby winner Baeza (USA) (McKinzie {USA}).
The whole package
“In our opinion, there’s never been an international prospect like her ever offered in Australia,” O’Connor said.
“She's from one of the most commercial families that you can find, by a champion stallion, and there's this year’s Kentucky Oaks winner on the page.”
Approval is strong from a physical perspective as well.
“She's really athletic, walks like a panther, and has that beautiful, loose, long walk,” O’Connor said.
“She's (Lady Of Camelot) really athletic, walks like a panther, and has that beautiful, loose, long walk.” - Steve O’Connor
“And she was so tenacious in her races. She'd never lay down, whether that was in the Slipper or the Blue Diamond or when she was fighting out any of the Group 1s that she was competing in, she had that will and that tenacity.
“She looks fantastic and that's one of the reasons we were heading towards Ascot because we thought she was never better.
“We’ve appealed to the select market base of international buyers that would have interest in a mare of her calibre.”
O’Connor will receive the offers and discuss them with Sir Owen Glenn before the sale closes on Friday, August 7.
Sir Owen Glenn | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
“It's basically like how the stallion deals take place and we've done the marketing campaign to expose her to the international buying bench,” he said.
“The feedback has been excellent so far. Hopefully it all transpires in the sales price, and that she sells for the price and goes to the home that she deserves. A home that is fitting of her calibre.
“It's our best family. It'll be very hard to see her go, but now that we've committed to the process, she will be sold and we're excited by how she’s been received in our final chapter for us.”
