Bumper Inglis Easter sale predicted with fillies set to prove especially popular

Just as enormous prices paid for proven sire prospects over the past decade have pushed an increasing number of stallion investors to embrace the yearling market, the surging southern hemisphere breeding stock sales appears likely to have the same effect on breeders, prompting them to buy and race well-bred young fillies as an alternative way of developing their broodmare bands.

The rapid progression of the fillies segment of the market is predicted to be borne out at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale when the first of two days of selling at Riverside Stables gets under way on Tuesday in front of leading domestic and international racing participants.

The 487-lot catalogue, 213 of which are fillies, offers buyers the chance to own some of Australasia’s best-bred yearlings available, with 77 yearlings either out of or siblings to Group 1-winning mares and the progeny of leading stallions including I Am Invincible, Snitzel, Written Tycoon, Fastnet Rock, Exceed And Excel, Frankel, Kingman and Zoustar.

It is that concentration of elite bloodlines, which the prestigious Easter sale is renowned for, that has thoroughbred industry figures on both sides of the fence confident that the unprecedented demand for bloodstock in Australia will be maintained when Inglis auctioneer Jonathan d’Arcy calls for opening bids from 10am.

Inglis Bloodstock chief executive Sebastian Hutch on Monday anticipated more breeders were likely to play a greater hand in the Easter yearling market this year in order to chase well-bred fillies, rather than waiting to acquire the increasingly rare commercial broodmare prospects which are available off the track.

“As we’ve seen, and as I think we will see later in the year, access to quality breeding stock is not easy and a sale like this has a reputation for not only producing good racehorses but fillies who go on to be elite producers in their own right,” Hutch told ANZ Bloodstock News.

“I think people have seen the opportunity that exists in that and I think we will be pleasantly surprised to see a number of breeders appear on the buying sheet during the sale, recognising the fact that accumulating these good pedigrees and these good fillies isn’t getting any easier and this might be the opportunity to do it.”

Arrowfield Stud’s John Messara, whose Hunter Valley farm is offering a draft of 63 yearlings at Riverside Stables, also believes this year’s Easter sale presents buyers who are prepared to take a long-term view with a tremendous opportunity to invest in families which have been nurtured for generations.

“This is the only country in the world where a farm like ours who has built families and developed broodmares over a long time offers the best of what they have got,” said Messara.

“We’ve taken 40 years to get to what we’re offering today, yet someone can waltz in tomorrow and buy 20 of our 35-odd fillies and they could start a farm on the back of it, there’s no doubt, and they could certainly start a racing string on the back of it and a pretty powerful one.

“(The Easter sale) is a great opportunity for buyers.”

John Messara: happy to offer what Arrowfield has spent decades nurturingCredit: Edward Whitaker

Neil Jenkinson, a long-time adviser to rising Sydney training couple Matt and Keira Dunn, is one agent who has been on the ground inspecting the yearlings catalogued in their entirety in an attempt to identify horses capable of competing at the major carnivals on the eastern seaboard.

He and the Dunns are not alone in their approach, however.

“There are so many people on the ground who have plenty of money to spend," said Jenkinson on Monday. "There are a lot of nice horses, so you have probably just got to avoid the obvious and look for horses who might take a little bit of time, the ones who have got the good frame but aren’t quite there yet.

“Fillies are probably more likely to fall into our budget, the ones without the huge pedigree but are good types, that’s probably where we’ve got to play.

“What is here are stallions with large numbers, so our play might be, once the top ten or 12 with big numbers here go through, we can sneak into the lower to middle part of those stallions [to buy a yearling or two].”

While the fillies part of the Easter sale could be proportionally stronger this year, demand for elite colts remains on track to be as strong as ever, with the majority of major parties who have embraced the yearling market having enjoyed success on the racetrack with horses they have purchased at auction in recent years.

The Coolmore partnership, for instance, has dual Group 1-winning sprinter Home Affairs retiring to stud in the near future, the Newgate Farm-China Horse Club syndicate has a host of colts on the roster in 2022, including Wild Ruler and leading first season sire Russian Revolution, while Tony Fung Investments, the Rosemont Stud-led Victorian Alliance, which in its first year has two-year-old stakes winners Brereton and Millane, are all expected to be major players.

James Harron’s partnership has also stood the test of time and the group is likely to be active in order to add to the quality colts the team has already acquired at the yearling sales so far this year.

Hutch, though, implored the wider buying bench to not be scared off by the collective power of colts partnerships.

Sebastian Hutch: 'There are a lot of nice colts in the sale'Credit: Inglis

“I expect that on particular horses they will be strong, but they are very specific in terms of the horses that they want to buy,” he said.

“There are a lot of nice colts in the sale … and there’s going to be some good buying with those mid-range colts by the proven stallions and by the young, progressive stallions.

“I think it would be a mistake for people to be overwhelmed by their presence.”

The domestic investors will again underpin the market, which has been on a pandemic-induced bull run for almost 18 months, but there will also be more competition from the internationals over the next two days with the opening of the borders in recent times.

Among the influx of internationals has been agents Hubie de Burgh and David Redvers and Marie Yoshida, while New Zealanders such as Bruce and Becca Perry and Phill Cataldo are also on site, having been absent from many other yearling sales in recent times due to border restrictions.

Despite the apparent health of the Australian industry, Hutch was again cautious about predicting any significant year-on-year growth for the Easter sale, the Australasian auction with the highest average price which last year achieved a figure of A$368,945 (approx £211,000/€252,000) and a median of A$280,000 from 365 lots sold.

He said: “We are sensitive to the fact that a lot of money has been spent to this point of the year. I think A$79 million more through yearling sales than the year prior at the same stage has been spent.

“I would be lying if I said it wasn’t in the back of my mind as we approach sale day; by the same token the international arrivals have given the sale a bit more impetus, the domestic buying bench will be really strong, as it has been throughout the year.”

Segenhoe Stud’s Peter O’Brien, who is overseeing a draft of 24 yearlings including the high-profile I Am Invincible half-brother to recent Festival Stakes-winning juvenile Millane, is confident that the Easter market will be buoyant.

“We tallied numbers on Sunday night and we’re up about 12 per cent on inspections alone,” O’Brien revealed.

“All the buyers are here - it’s great to see international buyers back in particular - and obviously the domestic buyers have been very strong all year, so we’re expecting a strong sale.”

Arrowfield’s Messara was predicting “brisk trade, but I am not certain it will be a lot higher than last year”.

“It was a grand sale last year, so if the average is about the same as that then I would be pretty happy,” he said.

“Breeders are certainly profitable at that level.”

Lots to watch

Lot Breeding Vendor

Lot 96 Snitzel-Carry On Alice colt Arrowfield Stud

Lot 144I Am Invincible-Egyptian Symbol coltCressfield

Lot 145I Am Invincible-Ektifaa fillyYarraman Park Stud

Lot 159Fastnet Rock-FaayzafillyRosemont Stud

Lot 169I Am Invincible-Fireworks coltSegenhoe Stud

Lot 210Written Tycoon-Hell Or Highwater colt Rosemont Stud

Lot 348I Am Invincible-Pinocchio fillyTyreel Stud

Lot 374Snitzel-Response coltArrowfield Stud

Lot 393I Am Invincible-Ruud Awakening fillyNewgate Farm

Lot 424Snitzel-Silent Sedition fillyArrowfield Stud

Lot 434Zoustar-Solar Charged coltWidden Stud

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