Buy of the Weekend: How a $280,000 yearling became a $120,000 bargain

Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything

There aren't many opportunities to buy the same horse twice, particularly when the second purchase comes at less than half the original price. But that was the unusual position Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott found themselves in when Strawberry Hill Stud's unreserved dispersal went under the hammer in August 2023.

Just months earlier, the training partnership had secured a filly by The Autumn Sun out of Summer Surf (Uncle Mo {USA}) for $280,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. Then with the Strawberry Hill horses offered for sale, they had another opportunity to buy her at two.

This time, alongside First Light Racing, they paid just $120,000.

On Saturday, that filly, now racing as Surfin' Bird, claimed her first stakes victory in the G3 Ladies Day Vase at Caulfield, taking her earnings beyond $660,000 and adding valuable black type to an already attractive pedigree.

While Strawberry Hill's dispersal was remembered for the $1.85 million paid for Miss Fabulass (Frankel {GB}) and the $600,000 purchase of Key (Exceed And Excel), Surfin' Bird is proving one of the quieter success stories from the sale.

Bought twice by the same trainer

“I've got to give credit to Adrian, Gai and their team who bought her for John Singleton as a yearling for $280,000 and then they had the dispersal sale and included her as a 2-year-old,” First Light Racing’s Tim Wilson said.

“We relied largely on the feedback from the team on her progress in the stables at Randwick and what they’d seen.”

Saturday’s victory for Surfin’ Bird was the mare’s sixth win in 11 starts. Debuting late in her 3-year-old year, Surfin’ Bird won four of her first five starts, slowly earning her way into metropolitan company before finishing fifth by less than two lengths in the G3 Hong Kong Jockey Club Stakes.

“Obviously she didn't debut until the backend of her 3-year-old season and now as a 5-year-old spring mare, she’s still only had the 11 starts. She was a backward maturing type but the team liked what they’d seen from her and with her pedigree and a nice little push from the stable we certainly thought she represented great buying at $120,000,” Wilson said.

“The Autumn Sun was starting to kick goals at the time too. Maybe it was a bit of a perfect storm in terms of the timing too.”

Surfin’ Bird is from the second crop of The Autumn Sun, who would’ve had 3-year-olds at the time of the dispersal sale.

“He sired a handful of Oaks winners and, and Group 1 winners after that, but they were more those autumn types. They really hit their straps as backend 3-year-olds.”

It took Surfin’ Bird a little bit longer than that, but First Light Racing’s patience was rewarded.

Earlier this year, she was pipped by a nostril in the G3 Hawkesbury Crown by Chidiac (Better Than Ready) - who carries the silk colours shared by her owner Gerry Harvey and Strawberry Hill Stud’s John Singleton.

After a fifth in the G3 Dark Jewel Classic, where she missed the placings by a neck, Surfin’ Bird dived late to take out the $500,000 Magic Millions National Classic.

This spring, the 5-year-old resumed in the G2 Golden Pendant and led until the field straightened, where Lazzura (Snitzel) launched past her to win. Surfin’ Bird was fourth by less than two lengths again.

A terrific pedigree with a Slipper winner to boot

It is not a particularly big surprise to see Summer Surf produce the goods with a son of Redoute’s Choice. Her half-brother Farnan is the 2020 G1 Golden Slipper Stakes-winning son of Not A Single Doubt and her other half-brother Sandbar, by Snitzel, won two Listed races and was fourth in the G1 Golden Rose Stakes en route to a spot at stud as well.

“She has a terrific pedigree and as a yearling she was probably well bought and then, circumstances presented an opportunity to us, which we took with open arms,” Wilson said.

Their dam Tallow (Street Cry {Ire}) won the G3 Vanity Stakes in the Strawberry Hill colours, and Sandbar wears the strawberry brand on his nearside shoulder.

Further afield, the family strikes hot with the Danehill (USA) line yet again with Petite Dane (Danehill {USA}), whose 10 victories in South Africa include the Listed Ascot Fillies Nursery Stakes. Amongst her eight winners is seven-time winner, including the Listed Michaelmas Handicap, Danish Silver (SAf) (Silvano {Ger}).

Patrick Hodgens paid $400,000 for Cordina, a winning I Am Invincible half-sister to Farnan and Tallow, at this year’s Inglis Chairman’s Sale.

Tallow has gone back to the Redoute’s Choice well again in recent years, and will have a Shinzo colt to offer at the 2027 yearling sales.

Summer Surf produced a colt by Private Life, whose damsire is Snitzel, in September. She could have been the buy of the weekend herself, had she made her $50,000 reserve on Inglis Digital in May.

Dreams of a Group 1

With the G1 Empire Rose Stakes three weeks away, Surfin’ Bird could end up there, but the rich Five Diamonds with a potentially softer field is a more likely target.

“You can see in the Futures Market that horses like Autumn Glow, Lazzura, Lady Shenandoah and Pride Of Jenni might head there, making it a stellar edition of the Empire Rose,” Wilson said.

“It’s certainly on our radar, and that's been Gai and Adrian's long-term target with her. But the other option for us is to head towards the Five Diamonds in Sydney a week later, restricted to 5-year-olds.

“It'll just come down to who we think is going take their place on the day, and if for whatever reason we decide that it's more fruitful for her and her owners to go to the Five Diamonds a week later.

“We're probably fortunate as owners that there are lucrative options both in Melbourne and Sydney, and we've need to figure out which one works best for her.”

Whichever way First Light and the Waterhouse and Bott stable decide, Surfin’ Bird has already added valuable black type to her already outstanding pedigree.