Melbourne’s premier event
The month of March sees the staging of the four-day Inglis Premier yearling sale, a sale that has provided the progeny of the Darley stallions with a significant level of Stakes success in the past two years
G1 Blue Diamond winner Reward For Effort (Exceed And Excel), this season’s G3-winning Shamardal colt Shamoline Warrior and Listed winner Set For Fame (Reset) (pictured); coupled with Exceedingly French (Exceed And Excel) and It’llbefantastic (Fantastic Light) lead a stellar Stakes line up to come out of the 2008 sale.
The 2009 sale has produced Breeders’ Plate winner Run For Wilson (Shamardal) and the Stakes-placed Lonhro filly Beau Vallon. The progeny of the Darley stallions are the number one source of Stakes horses over the past two years from the Inglis Premier yearling sale.
With an impressive array of well-credentialed yearlings for sale, the Northwood Park-based Gonski has 10 yearlings catalogued. Leading the way for the first-season sires, Gonski’s yearlings have sold extremely well this year, selling for up to seven-times his service fee. A Stakes-winning son of Danehill, Gonski is best remembered for his speed - winning on debut as a two-year-old by three-and-a-quarter-lengths before training on the following season to defeat no fewer than nine G1 winners, including Stratum, De Beers and Perfectly Ready.
Although having to wait until the final day of the sale, two Gonski fillies are sure to create plenty of interest. Lot 702, to be offered by Caithness Breeding, is out of the Sir Laurence mare Te Akau Quest. She is already the dam of the Stakes-performed Clonakilty, who in turn is the dam of the Stakes-performed Lonhro three-year-old Euphemism.
Heading through the ring a little later in the day is the Supreme Thoroughbreds-offered lot 714. A half-sister to G1 winner Reactive and Listed winner Fleischer, the filly is out of the Stakes-performed mare Victory River. It is interesting to note that Fleischer is by Danehill, so that cross has already proved successful in this family.
Fellow first-season sires Ad Valorem and Nadeem are also represented in the 724-strong catalogue. Lot 520, the sole representative of Danzig’s dual G1 winner Ad Valorem will be sold towards the end of the third day and is from the draft of Torryburn Stud. Out of the Marauding mare Zedabelle, the colt comes from a prolific Stakes-producing family that includes Unison, Flying Alpha, Melito, Zeditave, Alannon and Greys Inn, to mention a few.
Winning the G1 Blue Diamond Stakes and having spent much of his racing career in Melbourne, many local trainers will have seen Nadeem in the flesh and with seven yearlings on offer by the son of Redoute’s Choice, one can assume his positive start to the sales season will continue.
With four colts and five fillies for sale, the standout lots on pedigree look to be 122 and 551 which top and tail the sale for Nadeem. Selling under the banner of Phoenix Broodmare Farm as agent, Lot 122 is a filly from a winning half-sister to G2 Tristarc Stakes winner Infinite Grace, who in turn is closely related to multiple G1-winning Cox Plate hero Fields Of Omagh.
The final Nadeem yearling up for sale comes up as one of the last lots of day three. Flinders Park Stud will offer lot 551, a bay filly from a half-sister to G1 Darley Australia Cup winner Pompeii Ruler.
Currently holding down the top two positions on the third-season sires' table, both Lonhro and Exceed And Excel are represented with 13 yearlings apiece. The very sale where Exceed And Excel’s G1-winning two-year-old Reward For Effort was purchased, the progeny of the Champion first and second-season sire are sure to be well regarded.
Having previously bred and sold G1 winner Rebel Raider (Reset) and Shamoline Warrior (Shamardal), South Australia’s Mill Park Stud have a quality draft which includes among others, two colts by Exceed And Excel. Lot 154 is the first foal of the Stakes-performed Royal Academy mare Glory Be, a winning half-sister to Stakes horses Excited Angel, Typhoon and Prayerful, while Lot 485 comes from the family of South African G1 winner Global News and G1-winning juvenile Apercu.
Offered on behalf of Makybe as agent, lot 222 is sure to be one of Lonhro’s most admired yearlings at the sale. The third foal out of the G3-winning, G1-placed Snippets mare Legally Bay, the pedigree received a recent update through the deeds of two-year-old colt Legalistic who scored on debut by seven lengths.
Another Lonhro sure to be on the must see list is lot 250, a grey filly from the draft of Stuart Ramsey’s Turangga Farm. Out of the G2-winning Kenny’s Best Pal mare Mardi’s Magic, this filly is closely related to the recently-retired multiple G1 winner Racing To Win.
Currently sitting in third-place behind the above two mentioned stallions on the third-season sires' table, the progeny of the unbeaten Zabeel stallion Reset are also a must see. Highlighted by Rubiton Bloodstock’s Lot 163, a bay/brown filly from the Stakes-producing Great Manners, the Reset fillies will be keenly focused on off the back of Set For Fame’s recent Stakes win. Already the dam of G2 winner Great Glen, the mare recorded another Black type horse during the spring carnival with Cape Cross filly Mont Fleuri.
With Commands currently leading the general sires' table on individual winners, his small but select draft of yearling offers buyers the opportunity to purchase a yearling by one of the most consistent stallions on the Australian market. The first Commands yearling to sell is Eliza Park’s Lot48, a colt out of the G1 Coolmore Classic winner Chlorophyll.
12 February 2010