A gelded son of I Am Invincible (Aus) out of the New Zealand Group 3-placed Utopia (NZ) (High Chaparral {Ire}) stole the limelight at the Hong Kong Jockey Club's International Sale on July 3, bringing a sale-topping price of HK$7.2-million (US$928,996/£745,519/€826,238) from Sze-to Kin Sun. The bay, who had been a A$1-million purchase from the 2018 Inglis Easter Sale from the Torryburn Stud consignment, is a half-brother to the G1 South Australian Derby winner Volatile Mix (NZ) (Pentire {GB}).
The Australasian-bred offerings found favour at the sale, accounting for the top six prices. Next up was a HK$6.5-million (US$838,677/£673,038/€745,909) son of Zoustar (Aus) bought by Wong Kwong Miu. The NZ$250,000 NZB Ready To Run purchase is out of Volkster (NZ) (Volksraad {GB}), a half-sister to four-time Group 1 winner Volkstok'n'Barrell (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}).
Bringing HK$6-million (US$774,164/£621,266/€688,531) were sons of Per Incanto (NZ) and Savabeel (Aus) bought respectively by Palluzzi Alessandro and the Seven Heroes Syndicate. The Per Incanto gelding had been a NZ$370,000 Karaka yearling and is out of the G1 Railway S. victress Fleur De Lune (NZ) (Stravinsky). The son of Savabeel, a full-brother to G1 New Zealand Oaks winner Savvy Coup (NZ), had cost NZ$500,000 at Karaka.
While there were seven withdrawals, all 19 lots offered were sold for HK$74,300,000. The average of HK$3,910,526 was up 37% on last year, while the median climbed 42.5% to HK$4,000,000. One more horse was sold last year.
Bill Nader, the Hong Kong Jockey Club's director of racing business and operations, said, “This was a very good sale, it exceeded our expectations. Overall, we have to be pleased with the results and it might be a good sign for the economy in Hong Kong that things could be rebounding, because the money was with us tonight. The horses presented well and I don't think anyone was surprised by the sale topper. There was a good mix of pedigrees, I think the buyers had a lot of variety and hopefully there's some value there for our owners.”
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