Snitzel filly tops opening night session of the Classic Yearling Sale

Prominent owner Damion Flower was not going to miss out for a second time and was thus last night prepared to go to an auction high A$370,000 (£203,000/€232,000) for the only Snitzel filly offered at the 2019 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale.

Catalogued as lot 102, the filly out of Bernardini mare Racing Nadine was offered by Bhima Thoroughbreds on behalf of Jonathan Munz's GSA Bloodstock and Flower secured her after being underbidder on the sister at last year's Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

Now named Special Date, the filly's sister is raced by Go Bloodstock and she won a trial at Hawkesbury on Friday to further fuel Flower's enthusiasm for Friday night's purchase. Special Date is trained by Brad Widdup, who will also take charge of Flower's acquisition.

"I missed out on this family last year, being underbidder at A$480,000 for the sister, so it's a family I know and I might have got some value here," Flower said. "She was a little backward but who knows, if she'd got to Easter, she might have made A$600,000.

"She's a lovely, running type of filly with great residual value and I thought she was the best in the sale."

Bhima Thoroughbreds' Mike Fleming was naturally delighted with the sale. He said: "She was the right mould of a Snitzel filly and hard to fault in any way. She's got a great attitude and there was a lot of interest in her through the lead-up to the sale.

"The full-sister had trialed well which always helps. We sold her on behalf of Jonathan Munz and we're delighted for him given his support for us and his investment in the industry."

Dissident filly makes $340,000
The impressive debut win of the Tony Gollan-trained I Am Invincible two-year-old Garibaldi at Eagle Farm last week caught the eye of most racing fans and Stuart Boman of Blandford Bloodstock hopes the colt can continue his rise through the ranks.

The British-based bloodstock agent went to A$340,000 for Garibaldi's Dissident half-sister during the Gold Riband session last night and he believes she was a clear standout in the Book 1 catalogue.

"This filly was outstanding physically and I thought she was the best filly, if not the best yearling," said Boman. "The brother, Garibaldi, won impressively on debut and he made a lot of money at this sale last year.

“He runs in a stakes race this week I think, so hopefully we get the update. She has a great family behind her as well and Dissident is just starting to hit his straps.

"Ultimately we bought her on her physique and on conformation, which was absolutely outstanding."

Offered by Carramar Park as lot 110, the filly is the fifth foal out of the winning Exceed And Excel mare Sonnenblume, who is the dam of three winners including Garibaldi.

She was purchased by Boman on behalf of client Mr An and a trainer for the filly will be decided at a later date.

Six of the top ten lots sold last night were fillies, but Boman said that was more coincidence than buyers deliberately looking for fillies.

"It was just way it falls," he said. "It's not necessarily a fillies' sale as such and normally at this sale you buy more on type and less on pedigree."

Written Tycoon colt right fit for Size
Carmel Size was always a potential buyer for Yarraman Park's impressive Written Tycoon colt out of Danehill Dancer mare Ambers Waltz, who proved to be one of the more popular early offerings of Classic's Gold Riband session.

However, Size was determined not to allow sentiment to override good decision making in the wake of extraordinary events leading into last night's sale.

Last Tuesday, Size shipped this colt's I Am Invincible half-brother Secret Legend - who'd won at Canterbury on November 16 - to Hong Kong only to learn that he'd died from a colic attack 48 hours later.

"It was devastating news as I was particularly attached to that horse and it was quite difficult to put aside the sentiment tonight," said Size.

"But I was really taken with this Written Tycoon colt and had to back my judgement.

"Physically, he's a very different type to Secret Legend but blessed with the same kind eye and possibly with even more scope going forward. He's very athletic with a lovely loose walk and a great attitude."

The colt, who was catalogued as lot 63, was offered by Yarraman Park and will remain in Sizes care, having sold for A$220,000 with Size having the last say above Orbis Bloodstock, who were especially active last night with four purchases.

Ambers Waltz, who has produced three winners from four foals to race, was a top-class juvenile performer and stakes-placed three-year-old for trainer John O'Shea.

O'Shea is also a likely candidate to train lot 49, a fellow Yarraman Park offering who was knocked down to Domeland Pty Ltd for A$250,000.

She is a filly by their late Fastnet Rock sire Hinchinbrook and out of the Charge Forward mare Andromache, who raced with distinction in New Zealand and has produced the Listed-placed Pageantry from three runners.

"We brought both horses here with some confidence and the market vindicated our view," said Yarraman Park's Harry Mitchell.

"The half to Secret Legend was a lovely colt and plenty of good judges liked him and we were happy with how he sold."

Mitchell said the filly's sale price was in the "ballpark" of their expectations.

He continued: "We really liked her. She's a big, strong filly with a big walk and not dissimilar to some of the bigger Hinchinbrooks who've performed so well on the track."

Sun Bloodstock also went to A$320,000 for a Written Tycoon colt from the Woodside Park Stud draft.

Catalogued as lot 119, he is the second foal out of the juvenile winner Too Discreet, herself a half-sister to stakes winners Maybe Discreet, Just Discreet and the stakes-placed Always Discreet.

David O'Callaghan, on behalf of Sun Stud, said: "He's a lovely colt and Written Tycoon just keeps doing the job. He's a from a great Adelaide family of fast two-year-olds and they can all run. He's not big or heavy but athletic which I like."

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