Australia's avid sales-goers have taken in the likes of Sydney, Tasmania and Perth over the last two weeks, and the yearling sales circuit moves on to Melbourne with Inglis's Premier Yearling Sale Feb. 26 to Mar. 1. The four-day sale features 771 lots, including 103 siblings to stakes winners and 104 progeny of stakes-winning mares. The opening session will again feature the popular Blue Riband session, comprised of yearlings expected to excel in their Classic year and beyond.
Inglis's Victorian Bloodstock Manager Simon Vivian, speaking after a successful Classic Yearling Sale for the same company two weeks ago, said, “The strength of the yearling market allows us to go into Premier with plenty of confidence. The broad appeal for Premier is attributable to well-conformed yearlings by a great variety of stallions, which has been proven year-after-year. Graduates of the Melbourne Premier Sale continue to perform well on national and international racetracks and this provides buyers with great confidence in the product on offer. Our vendors can be complimented on their drafts and I'm sure they will be justifiably rewarded.”
Statistics for Session I of the Premier sale have been on an upward trajectory for the past five years, with the average last year topping out A$110,682, and the median A$85,000. The sale received a timely boost last weekend when its A$700,000 top lot of last year, Ducimus (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}), extended his unbeaten record to two in Flemington's Listed Talindert S.
Ducimus has been far from the only success story to emerge from the Premier sale as of late. The sale yielded five Group 1-winning graduates in 2016. The star was the filly Jameka (Aus) (Myboycharlie {Ire}), winner of the G1 Caulfield Cup, while The Quarterback (Aus) (Street Boss) took the G1 Newmarket H. and Scales of Justice (Aus) (Not A Single Doubt {Aus}) won the G1 Railway S. Two Premier graduates won Grade 1s in South Africa, Mac De Lago (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}) taking the Greyville Gold Challenge and The Conglomerate (Aus) (Lonhro {Aus}) winning the Durban July.
The nine siblings to Group 1 winners catalogued barely scratch the surface of well-related individuals in the sale, but they nonetheless include a Sepoy (Aus) half-brother to Warhorse (Aus) (General Nediym {Aus}) (lot 197); an I Am Invincible (Aus) half-brother to The Quarterback (lot 259); an Unencumbered (Aus) half-brother to Pear Tart (Aus) (Dehere) (lot 285); a Starcraft (NZ) half-brother to Fashions Afield (Aus) (Redoute's Choice {Aus}) (lot 361); and a Written Tycoon (Aus) half-sister to Precious Gem (Aus) (Econsul {NZ}) (lot 499).
Leading sires like Fastnet Rock (Aus), I Am Invincible (Aus), More Than Ready, Not A Single Doubt (Aus), Redoute's Choice (Aus) and Snitzel (Aus) are all represented. A rare offering by Malibu Moon out of the Grade II winner Rolling Sea (Sefapiano) is catalogued as lot 209, while Supreme Thoroughbreds offers a filly by rising American sire Into Mischief (lot 510).
Longtime Premier supporter Supreme Thoroughbreds fields the biggest draft with 40, and Supreme's Sue Shaw said, “With 16 fillies and 24 colts, we are presenting a diverse group of yearlings by most of the leading stallions out of first-rate mares that are all well-bred with strong pedigrees. This group of yearlings are all exceptional types and each one is striking in their own way. We are pumped and ready to parade out at Oaklands and hope that the quality on offer is well received by the local and international buying bench.”
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