The Inglis Premier Yearling Sale is not short on quality, but a colt by a super popular sire from a mare that traces directly to one of the best female Golden Slipper winners in history is always going to turn heads.
The progeny of Group I winning sprinters are always keenly sought after in Australia and this colt is by the outstanding stallion I Am Invincible's very fast Group I winning son Hellbent - Australia's leading third season sire.
Owners and trainers love the Hellbent progeny; his yearlings at the recent Magic Millions selling for up to $280,000 and for up to $320,000 at the Inglis Classic.
Hellbent (whose oldest progeny are four) compares well with his sire at the same stages of their careers; both the sire of a Group I winner and two other Group winners; I Am Invincible having progeny earnings of $9.8 million whilst Hellbent's tally has already reached $13 million.
Recently represented by his 100th individual winner, Hellbent is a stallion on the up with his progeny including the unbeaten stakes winning 2Y0 Fully Lit, the Group I winning sprinter Magic Time and the Group winners Benedetta and Kristilli who both ran ripping races at their latest outings.
This colt provides the opportunity to tap into a bit of Australian history with his third dam being the star filly Bounding Away.. the Gr.1 Golden Slipper heroine who is the only two-year-old to earn the title of Australian Champion Racehorse.
Considered by legendary trainer Tommy Smith the best filly he trained, Bounding Away sadly had little luck at stud - producing only two foals.
Only one of which made it to the track - Group II Queen Of The Turf Stakes winner In A Bound - dam of this colt's lightly raced two times winning Calle Flora dam who has already been represented by five winners including the multiple city winner Handspun.
The I Am Invincible sire line picks up extremely well on strains of the prolific family from which he hails - as does Calle Flora's grandsire Street Cry whose close relation Shamardal is the dam sire of I Am Invincible's finest galloper - the wonderful mare Imperatriz.
Another proven cross at work here is that of the speed influence Biscay who is duplicated in all four of Hellbent's stakes winners!
And this colts strains here come through his most influential son - Bletchingly - and his best daughter - Bounding Away.
This BOBS and VOBIS qualified colt foaled on October 22 has been expertly prepared for sale at Collingrove Stud with Daniel Brash describing him as "a great moving mid-sized colt with a great shoulder and hindquarter and good depth of girth... a two-year-old type."
