William Inglis has trimmed the size of its Australian Easter Yearling Sale
catalog to 492 horses for 2006. The three-day sale at Newmarket in Sydney starts
Tuesday, and the reduction has received widespread applause from vendors. The
sale rode on the crest of the Redoute’s Choice wave last year with 436 horses
from 598 cataloged selling for gross receipts of A$90,528,000, an average of
A$207,633 and a median of A$20,000.
The boom stallion has 41 yearlings set to feature at Easter this year. Others
with big drafts include Encosta de Lago (44), Rock of Gibraltar (Ire) (38) and
Elusive Quality (30). There are 37 withdrawals to date, but many believe the
move toward a tighter catalog has cleared the deck for a truly select sale.
“It is going to be a very strong sale,” Darley’s Alastair Pulford predicts.
“The catalog is, as usual, superb, with some fantastic female lines, but it is
also very tight this year. Inglis has selected to a standard and not a number.”
Willow Park Stud’s Glenn Burrows agrees.
“I think following on from the success of the earlier sales this season,
Easter is going to be particularly strong,” Burrows said. “Inglis has done the
right thing taking 100 lesser horses off the bottom for this elite market. It is
a very sensible step because if the average is not in excess of A$200,000, then
they are losing momentum. They should be commended for doing it.”
Inglis Director Jonathan D’Arcy says an expanded Melbourne Premier sale
enabled Inglis to trim Easter numbers — a bold move as the rival Magic Millions
catalog gets fatter each year.
“Easter yearlings are always selected on quality to ensure the sale proves
the climax of the best-bred fillies and colts in Australasia and 2006 will be no
different,” D’Arcy said. “One of the highlights this Easter will be the sale
ring clash of Redoute’s Choice, Encosta de Lago and Zabeel, the three top-tier
stallions in this region. Redoute’s Choice has 41 cataloged and, given his
light selling schedule so far in 2006, that will prove to be a major drawcard
for serious investors. Encosta de Lago’s crop are from the best book of mares,
resulting in 44 high-class yearlings making their way to Newmarket in 2006. In
the 19 years I have been with the company, this is without doubt the best
catalog on pedigree and type that we have ever presented on behalf of
vendors.”
Before the cream of Australasia’s 2004 yearling crop began arriving at the
Inglis Newmarket complex 10 days ago, consensus was generally that the money
would be evenly spread, with particular strength in the A$300,000 to A$400,000
price bracket at Easter this year.
On the eve of the sale, a “must have” list of likely sales-toppers has
crystallized, with the standout being Yarraman Park’s full sister to four-time
Group 1-winning filly Alinghi (Aus) (Encosta de Lago). She will be offered on
Thursday as Lot No. 451.
“She is very much like Alinghi, a really strong filly and a lovely mover,”
said Yarraman’s Harry Mitchell. “She is definitely the best filly we have ever
presented for sale.”
The consignor is set for a bumper sale. Lot 261, a colt by Redoute’s Choice
out of the Slew o’ Gold mare Deja Slew is among its likely stars; the colt is
from the family of Green Dancer. The Yarraman draft also features a Redoute’s
Choice colt (Lot 287) out of a half-sister to My Juliet (Canny Lad) — the dam
of dual Group 1 winner Mnemosyne (Encosta de Lago).
“This is the best draft we have ever had, and we have individuals whose looks
match their pedigree,” Mitchell added.
Last year, a Redoute’s Choice half-brother to Makybe Diva (Desert King)
fetched A$2.5 million and was among eight yearlings — six of them by Redoute’s
Choice — to make $1 million or more. This year, the dominant Danehill stallion
doesn’t look to have any superstars, and it is fair to say he has covered
substantially better books since the mares that visited him in 2003.
Nevertheless, the “must have” list is top-heavy with yearlings by the sire of
seven Group 1 winners, with Arrowfield’s Lot 51, a brother to stakes winner Not
a Single Doubt (Redoute’s Choice) out of a half-sister to the late sire
Snippets (Be My Guest), among them.
A much-admired Redoute’s Choice filly is Newhaven Park’s Lot 206, a daughter
of the Woodman mare Bounce, herself a daughter of champion two-year-old and Triple
Crown winner Burst (Marauding). The yearling is bred on an identical cross to
Golden Slipper (Aus-G1) winner Miss Finland, who is out of the Woodman mare Forest
Pearl.
Cambridge Stud’s Zabeel recently celebrated a 100-stakes winner milestone and
he has 19 cataloged, including Lot 3, a half-brother to VRC Derby (Aus-G1) winner Amalfi
(Carnegie [Ire])
to be offered by Trelawney Stud. Another youngster expected to really fire up
proceedings is Tyreel Stud’s Lot 9. Danehill Dancer attracted some plum mares in
2003, including Dean Fleming’s champion stayer Republic Lass (Canny Lad), and
the resultant filly has been out for inspection almost constantly.
Kia-Ora Stud will offer another much-admired Danehill Dancer filly (Lot 483)
from Procrastinate (Jade Hunter), the dam of champion South African mare
Laisserfaire (Danehill), as well as Foreplay (Danehill) and Galileo (Ire)’s
first-crop stakes winner Personify.
Darley will offer its first ever Easter draft of 14 youngsters, including
nine by flagship sire Elusive Quality, who has 30 cataloged overall.
“The yearlings are from our own broodmares, there to support our stallions,
and what we found at the Gold Coast was that the Darley draft provided a
particular focus for our stallions and made the buying public well aware of
them,” Pulford explains. “Fortunately, other breeders who had
yearlings by our stallions did very well, and that is what it is all about,
because ultimately we are a stallion farm.”
Potential stars from Darley’s draft include an Elusive Quality filly from
dual Group 1 winner Camarena (Danehill), and an Elusive Quality colt from
Coolmore Classic (Aus-G1) winner Porto Roca (Barathea [Ire]). Additionally, the
Darley draft features yearlings by impressively bred imported mares representing
contemporary international families, including daughters of champion broodmare
sire and 14-time champion sire Sadler’s Wells. One example is a colt by Elusive
Quality from the Sadler’s Wells mare Goddess of Wisdom, a daughter of champion
European three-year-old filly Golden Opinion (Slew o’Gold) (Lot 318), as well as a colt from
the Royal Academy mare Flinders, from the family of Mr. Prospector sire Miswaki (Lot
299), and a colt from the A.P. Indy mare Indy Rose (Lot 339).