An exceptional opening day of the Easter Yearling Sale has seen a new Southern Hemisphere record set for an individual day’s aggregate as the surge for top quality bloodstock continued at Riverside.
On another incredible day of action at Warwick Farm:
*The day 1 gross of $66,410,000 eclipsed the previous record of last year – also set at Easter – as the Easter Sale again asserted itself the No.1 place to sell top-level bloodstock
*Six yearlings – from five individual vendors - realised $1m or more, headed by an I Am Invincible x Egyptian Symbol colt of Cressfield (lot 144) which sold to Kia Ora Stud, Ciaron Maher and Tony Fung Investments for $1.5m
*Rising Arrowfield stallion Dundeel realised his first $1m yearling when a son of Honesty Prevails sold to Hawkes Racing for an even $1m.
The day’s top eight lots were all colts, headed by the Egyptian Symbol youngster which took a trio of industry heavy-hitters to team up to purchase.
Born and bred at Cressfield, the stunning colt (pictured) was an outstanding type and set a new benchmark for the farm.
“He is up there with our best, I daresay he has been the most inspected horse in Cressfield’s history, and the X-Rays and scopes were certainly our highest ever so it’s a fabulous outcome,’’ an elated Wayne Bedggood of Cressfield said.
“We were here to sell and were pleasantly surprised by $1.5m. To be the current sale-topper, we’ll take that any day of the week. I’m very happy, the boss is very happy, he puts a lot into it so it’s great to see him get some good money back as well.
“The colt came on in the prep so much, I defy anyone to find a better hind quarter on a horse in this sale or any other sale, and he’s still developing, and he looks early.
“Him as a first foal, he could not have been more impressive and it’s great to see him get that result in the ring.’’
Maher’s bloodstock manager Will Bourne described the colt as “a lovely animal’’.
“Ciaron thought he was the colt of the sale. It’s quite obvious when Ciaron doesn’t have an owner for it and he goes to $1.5m that he likes it,’’ Bourne said.
“Ciaron is an aggressive guy with business, and fortune favours the brave. He’s not afraid to put his neck on the line and he has done on this colt and that reflects how big of an opinion he had of the colt.
“Ciaron really likes the farm, they’re a nursery of champions Cressfield. About three years ago Ciaron purchased Cellsabeel off the farm, it’s the same family with her there in the second dam and she had a ton of ability who was a long-time favourite for the Slipper so Ciaron had that in mind too when buying.
“He’s just a lovely animal, exactly what Ciaron looks for in a horse - plenty of size, plenty of substance, we couldn’t fault him.’’
Two colts found themselves equal second-top lots at $1.4m - a Snitzel x C’Est Beau la Vie youngster from Arrowfield (lot 90) and a Written Tycoon x Gracie’s Lass colt of Vinery (lot 198).
Both were purchased by Coolmore and both will be trained by Chris Waller.
The purchases led to Coolmore ending day 1 as leading buyer by aggregate at $3.8m.
“There’s plenty of really nice colts here and some excellent judges on the complex so I think that when those good horses come up, you’re going to have to pin your shoulders back,’’ Coolmore’s Tom Magnier said.
“Everyone is here this week to try and find those good colts who we want to turn into stallions and both were standouts of the sale.
“The C’Est Beau la Vie, he was a striking colt, one of the nicest Snitzels in the sale, it’s obviously well known what Snitzel is doing at the moment, and out of a Bernardini mare, it’s always a positive.
“And the Gracie’s Lass, he is a horse that is mature, he looks strong and Chris [Waller] was pretty keen on him, he thought he was a forward type of horse.”
The C’Est Beau la Vie sale helped Arrowfield end the day as leading vendor with an aggregate of $10,085,00.
“It’s been a very good day for us overall, we’ve brought a really good draft here to the sale and they’ve been well received at this stage,’’ Arrowfield’s Paul Messara said.
“The C’Est Beau la Vie is a beautifully balanced colt and I guess farms like Coolmore and all the stallion groups are trying to find those types of horses and he had plenty going for him.
“He’s a beautiful animal and I wasn’t surprised that he fetched a big number because he absolutely deserved to.’’
Of the Gracie’s Lass colt, which was bred by Greg Perry, Vinery’s Adam White said: “We were always confident he would be $700,000-$800,000-plus so to get to $1.4m, I mean wow.
“It’s a terrific result and especially great for his breeder Greg Perry, one of our partners, he’s a serious breeder of racehorses, he puts a lot of time and effort into it and he got a lovely colt here.
“He’s out of a young mare who has already thrown a Blue Diamond winner, he’s just a lovely horse who’s handled the whole week really well.’’
Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch described today’s action as “extremely satisfying’’.
“To set another Southern Hemisphere record day’s trade when selling six million-dollar lots is testament to the depth of the market and the diversity of the buying bench,’’ Hutch said.
“There were some fabulous results for vendors today and also some fabulous opportunities that buyers capitalised on.
“With the median being up 15%, it’s a reflection of the strength and depth of the market and certainly those horses that measured up physically and vetted well sold extraordinarily well.
“The way the catalogue has fallen, there are some exceptional highlights ahead of us tomorrow and the fireworks will continue but as was the case today, there is also some outstanding value shopping to be done again with something for everyone on offer.’’
To view our Sale Day Live Review Show from Day 1, CLICK HERE.
To enquire about a Passed In lot from today’s action, contact Harry Bailey from the Inglis Bloodstock team on 0420 997 417.
The second and final day of the 2022 Easter Yearling Sale will begin at 10am at Riverside and will again be broadcast live on the Inglis website and Facebook page via our Sale Day Live coverage from 9.30am.
Online Bidding and Make An Offer facilities will again be available on Day 2.
To view the Easter catalogue, CLICK HERE.
EASTER 2022 DAY 1 STATISTICS (2021 stats in brackets)
Lots sold: 173 (175)
Clearance Rate: 81% (85%)
Average Price: $383,873 ($368,400)
Median Price: $300,000 ($260,000)
Top Price: $1,500,000 ($2,500,000)
Gross: $66,410,000 ($64,470,000)
