Easter produces the Pinhook of the Year

With such a buoyant yearling market it's generally been a good year for the pinhookers and Easter produced the 'Pinhook of the Year', albeit in a market which showed that playing at the top is not for the faint hearted.

Star of the show was the Medaglia D'Oro x Kiss The Sun colt which had been the sale topper from the Platinum Session at last year's Inglis Australian Weanling Sale at $230,000 when purchased by US based investor Roderic Wachman from the Middlebrook Valley Lodge draft.

Sent to Yarraman Park Stud to grow out and prepare for sale he returned to Newmarket and produced a whopping $645,000 profit when sold to Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum for $875,000.

That's the best result for the year among the pinhooks at all of the major sales.

On a dollar profit basis the next most successful were a duo level pegging, with the Sepoy x Baby Corn filly from Milburn Creek turning a $180,000 profit when purchased from the Sledmere Stud draft at the Inglis Australian Weanling Sale Platinum Session for $190,000 and subsequently making $370,000 to the bid of Laurel Oak Bloodstock.

That was matched by the Fastnet Rock x Slapstick filly, which had been purchased for $280,000 from the Wood Nook Farm Dispersal at last year's Magic Millions National Sale series by Amarina Farm who duly re-offered her at Easter and saw her sold to the bid of Mick Price for $460,000.

Matching the 280% gain of the top performer was Coolmore Stud's Zoffany x Spring Falls colt which made $55,000 at the Inglis Great Southern Weanling Sale and subsequently knocked down to BBA Ireland for $210,000 at Easter.

Another notable was the Pierro x Rocha colt which was also part of the Wood Nook Farm dispersal, being bought for $300,000 by Segenhoe Stud who sold him for $450,000 at Easter.

For all the top end success though there were some quite modest gains and a few losses from weanlings which had made significant money the first time around, showing it can be a tough game for those with the ticker to try.

And try they surely will again with the next round of weanling sales set to kick off on May 1 with the Inglis Australian Broodmare and Weanling Sale at Newmarket.

Click here to see the pinhook results from the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale and here for Session Two.