Three exceptional days of selling at the 2016 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale has concluded with 432 yearlings selling for a gross of over $105 million to breeders and vendors with nine youngsters selling for $1million and upwards.
Strong demand for the region's best fillies and colts at this year's Easter Sale led to 49 Lots realising prices of $500,000 or more, while siblings to runners in The Championships to have found new homes in the world's premier stables include Winx, Criterion, Politeness, Bounding, Peeping, Happy Hannah and Vanbrugh.
CLICK HEREto view the Inglis Easter Day Three Summary.
A fierce bidding dual between Guy Mulcaster and Angus Gold saw the former secure the much-anticipated first son of Frankel to be sold in Australia, with a final bid of $1.6 million on behalf of Chris Waller.
Bred and offered by John Singleton's Strawberry Hill Stud as Lot 423, the colt (pictured Steve Hart) is the first foal of Group 1-placed mare More Strawberries, and is the highest priced Frankel yearling in the Southern Hemisphere.
Frankel's three yearlings sold through the ring at Newmarket this week for an average of $986,000.
"We loved the colt, he really moved well so we're really happy we bought him. He's the best Frankel we've seen," said Mulcaster.
"We've got some good clients to go into him. He'll be a good syndicate horse, and fingers-crossed we'll see him back winning good races. If he goes anywhere near as good as his dad did it will be pretty good, and his mum wasn't too bad either," Mulcaster said.
Angus Gold was able to strike back ten Lots later, outbidding James Harron to purchase a son of Redoute's Choice out of South African Champion National Colour(Lot 433)for $1.75 million on behalf of Shadwell Stud.
Offered by Arrowfield Stud, the colt is the third consecutive yearling out of the mare that Shadwell have taken home from an Easter sale, with his brother, the Mike De Kock-trained Rafeef, to line up in South Africa tonight.
"We're here to buy good colts. For the past four or five years we've been outbid on Wandjina and I wanted to buy Deep Field. I'm desperate to get Sheikh Hamdan a colt that can make a stallion in Australia," said Gold.
"We identified the top colts earlier in the week and I thought he was right up there. We have the first two out of the mare and both have above-average ability according to Mike de Kock. He was a beautiful quality horse and he behaved himself impeccably," Gold said.
This is the fifth yearling by Redoute's Choice Shadwell purchased at Easter in 2016, helping to render him the leading domestic sire by average in Session I (three or more sold), and helping Shadwell remain leading buyer by aggregate for the fourth consecutive year.
Redoute's Choice's Session I average of $573,250 is more than double what he achieved at any other Australian yearling sale this year, and he is one of 20 stallions to average in excess of $200,000 at Easter (two or more sold).
Pierro became the tenth sire to have a yearling sell for $750,000 or more at this year's sale when Louis Le Metayer's Astute Bloodstock purchased the Pierro half-brother to Criterion from the draft of Willow Park Stud(Lot 399).
In total, eight stallions recorded their highest-priced Southern Hemisphere yearling at Newmarket this week, including Snitzel ($2.3 million), Frankel ($1.6 million), Hinchinbrook ($1 million), Medaglia d'Oro ($875,000), Not A Single Doubt ($850,000), Dalakhani ($620,000), All Too Hard ($600,000) and Choisir ($560,000).
Closely following Shadwell on the buyers' table was Gai Waterhouse, who was out in force purchasing 24 yearlings for a total of $9,272,500 in conjunction with a number of individuals and syndicators, including the top-priced lot for the sale on Day One, Winx's half-brother by Snitzel.
Arrowfield Stud, the home of Redoute's Choice, Snitzel, Not A Single Doubt and Animal Kingdom, finished the Easter Sale as the leading vendor having sold 21 of their yearlings for $9.51 million.
Coolmore Stud, Segenhoe Stud, Widden Stud, Newgate Farm and Yarraman Park Stud also returned gross receipts of $5 million or more for their Easter offerings.
The sale of their Frankel colt helped Strawberry Hill Stud top the vendor table by average with $893,333 in Session I (3 or more sold). Erinvale Thoroughbreds' boutique draft of three averaged $515,000, while Newgate Farm posted impressive results selling all 11 of their Session I Lots at an average of $504,091. Another 35 vendors averaged $200,000 or more in Session I.
Topping Session II was the last Street Cry colt to be offered ever at Easter, when Willie Leung's Magus Equine went to $300,000, joining another 31 yearlings in Session II to be sold for $100,000 or more.
The half-brother to the Group 1 West Australian galloper Luckygray was offered by Yarraman Park Stud asLot 481.
"He is a beautiful mover and an athletic horse. I am glad I was able to secure him, he will stay in Australia before we decide on a plan for him," said Leung.
The overall sale clearance rate has risen to 82% and offers can be made on horses that are still available viaInglis' Make-An-Offer Service.
Photos of the sale's Top Lots are available on the Inglis Facebook page,InglisBloodstock.
All yearlings offered at the sale are eligible for entry into the $5 million Inglis Race Series covering their 2YO, 3YO and 4YO racing seasons. For more information go toinglis.com.au/races
Complete sale, vendor, buyer and sire statistics are available at the Breednet Sales Centr e.
Overall Top Lots ($1million or more)
2016 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale Statistics
(2015 in Brackets)
Session One
Lots Catalogued: 450 (464)
Lots Sold: 345 (355)
Clearance Rate: 83% (84%)
Average Price: $284,080 ($290,944)
Median Price: $200,000 ($200,000)
Top Price: $2,300,000 ($2,200,000)
Gross: $98,007,500 ($103,285,000)
Session Two
Lots Catalogued: 130 (141)
Lots Sold: 87 (99)
Clearance Rate: 76% (82%)
Average Price: $90,690 ($92,848)
Median Price: $75,000 ($75,000)
Top Price: $300,000 ($500,000)
Gross: $7,890,000 ($9,192,000)
