The dominance of Inglis graduates in the stallion-making G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes continued at Flemington when Easter Yearling Sale superstar Home Affairs scored an explosive win in the 3YO feature.
In a scintillating display, Home Affairs (I Am invincible) pounced to the lead at the 300m mark for jockey James McDonald before increasing his margin over the final stages of the race to surge away with a barnstorming victory.
The win not only confirmed Home Affairs’ place on the Coolmore stallion roster in time but he became the fifth Inglis graduate to win the Spring feature in the past six years following previous successes by September Run (2020), Exceedance (2019), Merchant Navy (2017) and Flying Artie (2016).
Home Affairs defeated the Premier Yearling Sale colt Bruckner (Snitzel) in the Coolmore in another Inglis graduates’ G1 quinella.
He also becomes the 65th Inglis graduate to win a G1 since 2018.
It’s a special result for the Coolmore Colts Syndicate, for whom Home Affairs is the first top-level winner.
The syndicate is headed by Coolmore along with Derrick Smith, Georg Von Opel, Joe Poulin, Chris Waller, Debbie and Paul Kepitis, Graham and Linda Huddy, Lyn Ingham, Stuart Macdermid, John and Fran Ingham, Kerry and Jenny Pooley, Sir Peter Vela and Robert and Barbara McClure.
Sold during last year’s Covid-impacted Easter Yearling Sale, Home Affairs (pictured) realised $875,000 to Coolmore’s Tom Magnier.
He was offered by Torryburn Stud, who bred the colt.
Torryburn purchased Home Affairs’ dam Miss Interiors – via Damon Gabbedy’s Belmont Bloodstock – for $625,000 at the Inglis Chairman’s Sale in 2017, in foal to Deep Field.
She has now had two foals to race – the first was Aysar (Deep Field), which finished second to Ole Kirk in last year’s G1 Caulfield Guineas and now Home Affairs, a G1 winner after just seven starts.
Her third foal Wilbury (Capitalist), which James Harron purchased for $1,050,000 at this year’s Easter Sale, debuts in Tuesday’s G3 Maribyrnong Plate at Flemington while her fourth foal, another Dundeel colt, will be offered at next year’s Easter Sale at Riverside.
“She would have to be one of the best mares in the country,’’ a delighted Brett Cornish said after today’s Coolmore win.
“How good was that today?! Pretty scintillating really and he ran fast time too, he’s a super colt Home Affairs.
“It was during Covid when we sold him at Easter so it was all on-farm inspections and he was very popular with those who were able to get to the farm. The Coolmore team came back three times to look at him so we knew they were pretty keen on him and here they are with another stallion for their roster, so congratulations to them.
“He’s a big, beautiful colt, well balanced and superbly put together. He’s all quality with a magnificent head on him and he’s furnishing into a superstar.’’
Home Affairs’ Dundeel half brother will be one of nine yearlings in Torryburn’s draft for the 2022 Easter Yearling Sale and Cornish is already excited.
“The Dundeel is magnificent, there’s an I Am Invincible colt who is outstanding, there’ll be seven colts and two fillies and as you’d expect at Easter they’re all well conformed and have big pages,’’ he said.
Coolmore’s Tom Magnier described Home Affairs as an “outstanding colt’’ after today’s Coolmore victory.
“What an incredible performance from an outstanding colt who has been managed perfectly by Chris Waller and his team,’’ Magnier said.
“From the first day we inspected him at Torryburn in the lead-up to the Easter Sale he has been an absolute professional.
“Congratulations to all of our partners in this incredibly exciting stallion prospect.’’
Home Affairs has now won three of his seven starts for $1.7m in earnings.
Other big race results today have made for some outstanding updates to next year’s Inglis Yearling Sales Series.
A Shalaa half sister to the G1 Victoria Derby winner Hitotsu (ex Love Is Fickle) will be offered at the Premier Yearling Sale while a Charm Spirit half brother to the Golden Eagle victor I’m Thunderstruck (ex Primadonna Girl) is entered for the Easter Yearling Sale.
