$210,000 Merchant Navy Colt Tops MM Weanlings Day Two

The colt gave vendor Rothwell Park Thoroughbreds the honour of selling the top priced lot on both sale days when he sold for $210,000.

The day's top seller is the first foal of the Sydney winning Rip Van Winkle mare Awoke who herself ran fourth in a Group One Flight Stakes and is a half sister to the group winner Cismontane.

When the auctioneer's gavel fell it was Fergal Connolly of Valiant Stud who outlasted all other bidders with his $210,000 offer. 

"It's great to be here on the Gold Coast to see the quality weanlings on offer and I have to commend all the vendors who have turned out their horses in excellent condition particularly the last two drafts we've purchased form, Rothwell Park and Aquis Farm. The horses looked outstanding."

"We're very excited to have a Fastnet Rock filly going forward and a Merchant Navy colt."

"It is so good to actually work with Merchant Navy again being so close to the family having worked at Segenhoe for years. Having him foal there and watching his racing career, I've been very close to the whole process."

"They are very good solid conformed types," Connolly said of the Merchant Navy stock. "This colt moved very well and I thought he'd appeal to so many people with his family being very up to date and modern. He’s a standout colt for me with the way he moved."

Valiant's other high profile purchase on the day was Lot 1024 - the Fastnet Rock filly from an unraced Street Cry half sister to star mare Ghisoni and daughter of Portillo - for $160,000.

"The way the economy is at the minute I think we all foresee a little bit of a drop off in the market but outstanding types will always sell."

"Trainers will always want the nice horses, so I am confident that the horses we’ve purchased, for that reason, will meet the market," Connolly added.

Another weanling to feature on Day Two was Lot 947 - Newgate's Russian Revolution colt from Silent Cash who was purchased by Cangon and Sledmere Stud for an even $200,000. The colt is a half brother to group winner Get the Nod. 

Yesterday's top selling Zoustar-Miss Husson colt was the clear sale topper with his price of $410,000 retaining top spot on the high selling list for vendor Rothwell Park Thoroughbreds and buyer Segenhoe Stud. 

Across the two days of selling the National Weanling Sale rounded out with a gross of $7,707,000 and average price of $41,435 for 186 lots sold at a clearance rate of over 72 per cent.

"When you look at what is going on in the world I am satisfied with the results," Magic Millions Managing Director Barry Bowditch said. "Although I did expect there to be a little bit more strength in the middle end than what there was."

"On the whole, the good horses sold seriously well and there were plenty of bids on the right product. As we've seen in all sales this year, anything that was off the pace seems to struggle a little bit more than it used to and I guess that is understandable."

"Vendors are very happy with the way the sale went and all-in-all they have come here looking to meet the market and in most cases they have."

"The whole week has just been hugely positive for the industry, having the buoyancy in the race fillies and broodmare section and obviously we traded some weanlings for very good prices."

"The weanlings that were passed in, breeders have other options to sell them over the next 12 months and you would think we would see them back at yearling sales next year, but obviously we will be working to sell as many as possible over the next few days," Bowditch added. 

To view the results of the National Weanling Sale and to make an offer on a passed in lot click here.

Attention now turns to the National Yearling Sale which commences on Monday at 10am (AEST) and continues on Tuesday and on Day Two will be followed by the National Racehorse Sale.  Both sales are complemented by the Estate of the Late Eduardo Cojuangco Sale.