Star Witness colt shines on day two of the Classic Yearling Sale

A standout Star Witness sold for A$400,000 (£219,000/€250,000) sparked up the second day of the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale in a session where buyers and vendors found their level after a patchy Saturday night session.

Large-scale investor Yulong Investments won the bidding war to secure the sale-high Noogee Park-consigned colt, who eclipsed Saturday night's top-priced yearling, a A$370,000 Snitzel filly, in a market where buyers were seemingly wary of over-paying for fillies.

The son of Widden Stud-based stallion Star Witness is the most expensive of seven yearlings to have thus far realised A$300,000 or more in a market described by some as one favouring buyers in comparison to last year's record Inglis Classic Sale.

"We identified him as one of the nicest horses we'd seen, so we're really pleased to be able to add him to the racing group," said Yulong Investments' Sam Fairgray, who outbid the China Horse Club-Newgate Farm syndicate.

"He's a big, strong colt who we'll take home, get him in the system and hopefully come back and win the Millennium next year."

Asked about the market during the opening two days of the Classic Sale, Fairgray said: "I think the nice horses are selling very well, and there was very strong competition on the Star Witness colt, but for the nicer ones you have to pay."

The colt, who was catalogued as lot 249, is the fifth foal out of the unplaced Canny Lad mare Defrock, herself a sister to Group 3 winner Blackball.

He was bred by Noogee Park's Jilly Henderson in partnership with Etak Thoroughbreds' Kate Nivison, who provided the service to Star Witness on a foal-share basis.

The colt was earmarked to be sold at the Inglis Great Southern Weanling Sale but Henderson persuaded Nivison to keep him for the Classic Sale where an A$80,000 reserve was placed on him.

"We knew he was a really nice horse. The best judges came to see him, so we got a little bit excited that there was some interest in him, so it was an amazing result," Henderson told ANZ Bloodstock News.

"Coming into the sale if you have a really good, outstanding type you are halfway there."

Henderson has also bred the stakes-placed A$440,000 yearling Comprende, by I Am Invincible, as well as the stakes-performer I Am Zelady, by the same sire, which has led to Henderson to send Defrock to another Yarraman Park Stud stallion last year, first-season sire Hellbent, a son of I Am Invincible.

"I'm a great I Am Invincible fan and I had a breeding right in him, so I've done very well out of supporting Yarraman Park," she said.

Meanwhile, Fairgray also secured the following yearling through the ring, a Charge Forward filly who was catalogued as lot 250, for A$150,000 on behalf of Yulong’s Yuesheng Zhang.

"She's a really nice Charge Forward filly who actually reminds of Response, the dam of the filly who won the Slipper in Estijaab, and Charge Forward is doing the job as a broodmare sire," he said.

She is the sixth foal out of the winning Flying Spur mare Defying Gravity and her second dam is the stakes-winning, Group 1-placed O'Reilly mare The Big Chill.

Later in the session, another colt by Star Witness sold to Hong Kong-based Sweetbriar Equine for A$180,000 from the Coolmore Stud draft. He was catalogued as lot 309.

Domeland secures Stratum colt for A$280,000
Not long before the Star Witness colt went through the ring, Vinery Stud sold a flashy grey colt from the last crop of Golden Slipper winner Stratum for A$280,000 to Domeland.

Vinery Stud's Adam White said the colt was a great result for the farm's client, but also used the occasion to highlight buyers' reluctance to overspend on fillies offered at the Classic Sale.

"It's fairly tough for fillies," White told ANZ Bloodstock News. "After passing a couple in we have had them sold afterwards, which is good.

"If we can meet the market, which we are as I think a lot of vendors are, then we can find new homes for them."

On the Stratum colt, White said: "His colour was actually a big help because a lot of the syndicators were on him, but not only that, he is a beautiful colt and a great mover.

"The trainers really liked him, too, so we knew we were in a good position because he had been out a lot and he had handled it really well."

Catalogued as lot 242, the colt is the first foal out of the placed Starcraft mare Dayeala, whose own dam Grey Swan, a daughter of Daylami, is a three-quarter sister to champion Irish two and three-year-old Grey Swallow.

Domeland representative Kevin Connelly was not surprised by the competition he had to fend off to buy the horse.

"He's a very active horse and is a standout in our opinion," Connelly said.

He'll be trained by John O'Shea at Randwick, adding to Domeland's growing presence in Australia. They now have about 28 horses in training and also operate a pre-training and spelling facility at Kulnura on the New South Wales central coast.

'2018 Classic sale impossible to match'
Caulfield trainer Mick Price, fresh from a successful double at his home track on Saturday, including the victory of Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes contender Shotmaker, said he was happy to invest in what he described as "a bit of a buyer's market" at Sunday's sale.

That sentiment and the view, among vendors and buyers alike, that last year's highly successful Classic Sale - the first at the Riverside Stables complex - was unlikely to be repeated.

Widden Stud principal Antony Thompson was guarded in his assessment of the auction after his farm and others had several lots leave the ring unsold.

"It was always going to be hard to replicate the success of last year's sale, but it appears that the increase in the number of horses this year without a significant increase in the buying bench has diluted the strength of the sale," Thompson said.

"Perhaps a return to last year's format and numbers needs to be considered and to open with the Gold Riband session to fuel interest from the start. The pass in rate was high, especially early on.

"Fortunately we've had good interest in those of ours that were passed in."

Price's first purchase of the day was lot 174, a Coolmore Stud-offered filly by Encosta De Lago stallion Rubick out of the Zabeel mare Calm Smytzer, who has had six winners from seven to the races.

"This market is more realistic than many we've bought at and I was happy to spec this filly at that price," Price said. "She's a good type with a nice pedigree and she scoped and x-rayed well. He's an interesting stallion, Rubick, in my book. I think his two-year-olds are doing enough at this stage and I suspect they'll train on and get better as they get older."

The trainer confirmed that Shotmaker, who finished an excellent second to I Am Immortal in Saturday's Group 3 Blue Diamond Preview for colts and geldings on debut, had "pulled up well" and would likely proceed to the Blue Diamond Stakes on February 23.

Day three of the Book 1 sale starts at 10am local time on Monday.

For comprehensive reports from the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, subscribe to ANZ Bloodstock News