$1.1 million Written Tycoon colt sets new benchmark for leading vendor Blue Gum
Harron lands sought after Crabtree-bred son of champion Victorian stallion
One of Australia’s most respected and highest-profile yearling buyers has helped the Inglis Melbourne Premier achieve a seven-figure milestone for just the second time in the sale’s history after a colt by remarkable stallion Written Tycoon (Iglesia) sold during a record day’s trade.
James Harron, with a good deal of confidence, alluded to the fact his prominent syndicate would be active on the colt by delaying a media interview until after the star attraction went through the Oaklands Junction ring about two hours into the opening session.
And he came true on his promise, securing the colt over Coolmore, when the price moved from $1.05 million to the $1.1 million.
The market was expected to follow on from the other record Australian yearling sales held so far this year and, despite a tempered start to proceedings, the action heated up in the early afternoon as a series of high-calibre yearlings were sold, highlighted by the $1.1 million Harron-purchased colt from the draft of leading vendor Blue Gum Farm.
“He is a top-quality colt, bred by one of the best breeders here in Victoria in Rob Crabtree. He is a very, very nice colt and he handled the sale nicely,” Harron said.
“His mother Gybe was very good. I remember her racing and winning a Gimcrack and she was very talented and this guy is by Written Tycoon who is doing an amazing job.
“Now with Capitalist at stud, he looks like being a real sire of sires.”
The model employed by Harron and his partners is to buy colts who have the pedigree and credentials to go on and become stallions as Capitalist and Pariah (Redoute’s Choice) have already done and King’s Legacy (Redoute’s Choice) will do this season.
“He is a horse who ticks a lot of the boxes for stallions going forward. He has to do it on the track, obviously, but he is a beautiful individual,” he said.
“He was a very late October foal, so there’s still a bit of development and improving to do. He is a very classy colt and he would have stacked up very well at any sale this year in my opinion and I’m glad to get him.”
Harron added: “I thought he was a million dollar horse from what we’ve seen so far this year. I thought he was going to command a lot of attention.
“It is very difficult to breed that kind of horse.”
The fourth million dollar lot ever sold by Written Tycoon, and the second most expensive colt, he is the fourth living foal out of Gybe (Fastnet Rock), an ATC Gimcrack Stakes (Listed, 1000m) winner. Catalogued as Lot 70, he was offered by Blue Gum Farm on behalf of Dorrington Farm.
The million-dollar milestone moment was not lost on Blue Gum’s Philip Campbell with the colt becoming the farm’s first seven-figure yearling in 40 years of selling horses.
Fittingly, the retiring Simon Vivian was on the podium conducting the auction when the seven-figure colt was sold.
“Simon Vivian and I wanted to take the horse to Melbourne Premier, because we honestly believed we would be able to achieve a result not dissimilar to what he has,” Campbell said.
“First of all, I am rapt for Rob and Sylvie (Crabtree), as well as Fiona, who is back at Dorrington, she has done a wonderful job.
“To the guys at our farm who have prepped the horse, it’s just amazing, I can’t wait to get back down there and celebrate. It is a real team effort and we are so lucky at our farm that we have such wonderful clients.
“Last year, we topped the sale for Neville and Susan Duncan, and this year, to be topping it so far for Rob and Sylvie is a big thrill.
“It’s a dream result, which hasn’t quite sunk in.”
Campbell, whose operation sold 13 yearlings yesterday for $3.04 million, revealed the colt had impressed all the major top-end colts buyers during numerous inspections and the horse handled the sales experience with aplomb.
“For me, these people have got to see yearlings come out of the box and fill their eye,” he said.
“That’s what this bloke did, and not just for one person, he filled the eye of many. He had the physical prowess, he has got the page, he was by the right stallion at the right time and he was just the perfect storm.”
The colt will head to Kolora Lodge in Queensland to be broken in before returning to Melbourne to be trained by Anthony and Sam Freedman.
The most expensive yearling sold at the Premier sale was an I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) colt, later named Octane, who made $1.4 million at the 2017 sale.
Harron also lands another Capitalist colt
You can never have too much of a good thing and that was Harron’s rationale in buying another second crop colt by the Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Capitalist (Written Tycoon) who, of course, carried his colours to a stellar two-year-old career.
So far this year, Harron has bought five yearlings by Capitalist, one at the Magic Millions Gold Coast sale, three at the Inglis Classic and yesterday’s colt from Premier for $340,000 from Northmore Thoroughbreds.
He was sold not long before Harron launched at the session-topping $1.1 million colt.
“We have got a few Capitalists and he is obviously doing an incredible job at stud and I think everybody’s quite excited about him,” Harron said.
“He’s got some of the best colts in the country competing against the whole stallion pool.
“This colt was very forward, very strong and he had a really good mind on him.”
Catalogued as Lot 63, he is the third foal out of Grand Gesture (Starspangledbanner), a half-sister to Cool ‘N’ Sassy (Testa Rossa), herself the dam of New Zealand’s champion two-year-old of 2019-20, Cool Aza Beel (Savabeel).
The Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) and Karaka Million (RL, 1200m) winner will stand his first season at Newhaven Park later this year.
Earlier, a Capitalist filly held the honour as the session’s top lot for less than an hour when Caulfield trainer Clinton McDonald combined with client Domenic Romanelli to land the daughter of Flying Siren (Flying Spur) for $300,000.
Capitalist has taken all before him with his first crop two-year-olds, but McDonald did not come to the Premier sale to specifically target one of his progeny.
“She was just one who stood out to us. We come here with an open book. We look at every horse in the catalogue and we just try to find racehorses. I think this sale is a very good one to buy racehorses from and one we’ve had great success out of,” McDonald said.
“We bought Weekend Hussler here for $80,000 and Diamond Effort for $130,000, so it is a sale where you can buy a good horse for not a lot of money and get involved.”
Offered by Milburn Creek as Lot 38, the filly is the second foal out of Flying Siren, a half-sister to Group 2 winner Catapulted (Catbird).
“We have a certain type that we like to buy, Domenic and myself, and he did all the pedigrees and it matched up really well. She was a high rating on pedigree and I just liked her as a type,” the trainer said.
“She’s an athletic filly with a good walk, a good hindquarter and let’s hope she can run.”
Despite the urge to chase a quick return with their new filly, McDonald revealed there will be no rush to push her if she showed she was not ready to race early in the new season.
“Dom is not one to push them. If she’s there and she’s got the ability, she will be there, but if she needs time, we’ll give her the time and that’s the best thing about training for Dom,” he said.
“He’s a very patient man and he loves to give his horses time and that is why he has them racing as four, five and six-year-olds.”
McDonald bought six yearlings on day one for a total spend of $815,000.
McArdle digs deep for filly from favourite Mumma family
There was short odds available that John McArdle would buy the Zoustar (Northern Meteor) filly soon after she was born but it became no betting after her siblings, two-year-old Tycoon Humma (Capitalist), won the Festival Stakes (Listed, 1000m) and another half-sister Humma Humma (Denman) was stakes-placed at Flemington on Saturday.
McArdle already trains four foals out of Humma Mumma (Bel Esprit) and was not going home without the Flinders Park-consigned filly even if she came with a significant price increase at $600,000.
“It is good to get a stakes winner but it’s obviously cost me a bit more money today, so lucky we got the prize-money yesterday to help pay for her,” said McArdle, who signed for the filly under his Redgum Racing banner.
“I have seen her as a foal, I have seen her on the farm and I have seen her a fair few times here, so it was probably the worst-kept secret in the world that I was going to buy her.
“We were more than happy to secure her being by a champion stallion and obviously from a very good family.”
Offered as Lot 87, she is the sixth foal out of Humma Mumma who is proving to be a grand producer, with Humma Humma winning at Group 3 level and stablemates Strela (Smart Missile), Hummalong (Hallowed Crown) and Tycoon Humma already victorious for the Mornington-based McArdle.
“She’s probably a bigger, scopier filly than the rest of the family. The rest of the family are quite stocky and powerful, but she is a beautiful mover,” the Group 1-winning trainer said.
“The older half-brother Strela, who unfortunately injured himself after six starts, he was a bit the same as this filly. She’s a bit different to Humma Humma and Tycoon Humma, but she was a lovely filly.
“She’s a valuable filly anyway, but if she could win black type she becomes very valuable.”
Flinders Park’s Mike Cumming knew a buyer would need deep pockets to outbid McArdle for the filly.
“He pretty much told me a couple of days ago that ‘she is going home with me’. I said to him, ‘you are going to have a bit of competition this time, Johnny’, and he spent $240,000 on Tycoon Humma, and this one is the next level. He still wasn’t fazed by what I said to him,” Cumming said.
“She was more athletic, and with the same attitude as the mare. They can be pretty fiery when they race, they just love to race. That’s what comes through them. She gives them a fair bit of attitude.”
Laurie makes a $2 million splash on day one
Victorian trainer Matt Laurie, who won the Oakleigh Plate (Gr 1, 1100m) with Deep Field (Northern Meteor) three-year-old colt Portland Sky last month, let the industry know that his rising stable is here to stay after buying four high-priced yearlings on day one.
The last of the quartet, and the most expensive, was a Yulong-bred and consigned Shalaa (Invincible Spirit) colt who made $700,000 to Laurie and agent Justin Bahen.
The pair also bought a Lonhro (Octagonal) colt for $460,000, a Deep Field filly for $440,000 and a Frosted (Tapit) filly for $420,000.
The Shalaa colt, the second highest-priced yearling sold yesterday, is the second foal out of Our Daisy (Commands), with her first, a two-year-old colt named Deep Snow (Deep Field), being trained in Sydney by Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou.
“He was a lovely colt who had been well inspected and very popular, so we’re really pleased for him to go in the ring and be sold to one of Victoria’s leading young trainers in Matt Laurie,” Yulong’s Sam Fairgray said.
“Matt has some horses for us and he does a fantastic job with his attention to detail and so forth, so it is great that a colt like this is going into his stable.”
Yulong has been a supporter in Arrowfield Stud’s young shuttle stallion Shalaa, already the sire of this year’s ATC Breeders’ Plate (Gr 3, 1000m) and Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) winner with first southern hemisphere crop son Shaquero, and has been handsomely rewarded with yesterday’s sale result.
“We thought physically and on pedigree that he would suit, so we sent the mare to Shalaa,” he said.
“We like the stallion and we’re fortunate enough to get a beautiful type that the mare has left with this colt. Heading into the sale, we probably thought he was high $200,000s, but we knew as the parade days went on there was lots of talk that he was one of the better colts here.
“He’s a great moving horse and he had a lot of balance. It is what everyone is looking for, a horse who moves well and has the quality and strength about them.”
Laurie spent $2.02 million on day one but he could not fault his Shalaa colt.
“Obviously, Shalaa is going really well. I’m all about type and he fitted everything, I’m just pleased to have got him,” Laurie said.
“He just confirmed what we saw of him on the farm on the sales complex. He has a wonderful temperament and is just a faultless specimen. Physically, he was just a great type. He’s everything I look for.
“He is the style of horse that is just going to continue to furnish and progress. We’ve got a handful of Shalaas at home that we really like, and we are looking forward to getting them to the track, but I thought this was a special, special colt.”
Meanwhile, the Silverdale Farm-consigned Deep Field filly is the first foal out of Iceland Turf Belle (Duporth) who is a half-sister to Listed winner Vinland (Sebring). She was offered as Lot 90.
The pair also bought a Lonhro colt earlier in the day for $460,000 and a Frosted filly for $420,000 after their Deep Field acquisition.
On the Deep FIeld filly, Laurie said: “She’s a nice-sized horse who is balanced, we like everything about her. Obviously we’ve had nice success with the sire, so we went hard for her.
“We’ve been able to have a good go over the past year or two with some nice stock and we’ve just added to that.”
Laurie will not rush the filly, a $100,000 purchase as a weanling by Suman Hedge and Grant Bloodstock from the Inglis Australian Weanling Sale, believing the Deep Field progeny improve as they get older.
“The Deep Fields show enough as two-year-olds,, but I have found that they maybe can’t cop the work fully to race as two-year-olds and they are better three-year-olds, so I will just treat her as such,” he said.
“There will be no pressuring her and she will tell us when she is ready.”
Laurie suggested the market’s ability to zero in on quality conformed, athletic yearlings was again on show at the Premier sale yesterday.
He said: “Any nice horse, regardless of their pedigree, if they’re a good physical specimen they are well found and they are not always easy to buy.”
The leading buyer on day one by numbers were Ciaron Maher and David Eustace who purchased ten yearlings headed by a $480,000 Written Tycoon colt who the senior trainer declared was “stolen” at the price.
The Springmount-offered colt, catalogued as Lot 118, is the first foal out of La Haraka (Wicked Style), a half-sister to Group 3 winner Nina Haraka (Fraar) and Monte Rosa (Fraar), the dam of Group 1 winner Snitzerland (Snitzel), and Group 3-winning two-year-old Hard Landing (All Too Hard) as well as the promising first season sire Sooboog (Snitzel).
He is also from the same family as the Listed-winning, Group 1-placed Extension Of Time (Dash For Cash) and the stakes-placed Morrissy (Snitzel).
“I reckon we stole him. He’s a ripping colt with a big pedigree. He’s by Written Tycoon who is flying and he’s got our best two-year-old (Enthaar) and thought he was (a potential) stallion of the future,” Maher enthused.
“He’s got the pedigree, he’s got the strength and a great attitude as well. Temperament is something that can hold a two-year-old back and he ticked all the boxes there and hopefully we see him lining up in the Slipper next year.”
Maher and Eustace spent a total of $2.16 million yesterday. Other Victorian buyers to get their name on the sheet were prominent owner Nick Williams, who bought an American Pharoah (Pioneerof The Nile) colt from Mill Park Stud for $180,000, and trainer Cliff Brown, who has returned to the state after a long stint in Singapore. Brown bought an All Too Hard (Casino Prince) colt for $60,000 early in the day from Vinery Stud.
Record Premier trade as Victorians dominate the market
It was a record individual day’s trade for a Premier sale, with 233 yearlings changing hands for a combined $23.27 million, up 20 per cent year-on-year, at an average of $144,105 (up four per cent) and a median of $110,000, which was down from $120,000 on the same day in 2020 The clearance rate was a healthy 83 per cent.
“Simon (Vivian) was very bullish about the quality of the catalogue. He and Mark Dodemaide had seen the majority of it in the spring and we knew there were some more nice horses from interstate, but the enthusiasm for the horses here has really been fantastic,” Inglis general manager of bloodstock sales and marketing Sebastian Hutch said last night.
“It was a really enjoyable day, but the sale took a little bit of time to find its rhythm.
“There were some really good prices early on, it didn’t really quite flow in the manner you would like it to, but it just seemed to get stronger and stronger.
“The appetite for nice horses who vetted well was without fault almost insatiable and we reasonably expect it to continue (today).”
Eighteen yearlings made $300,000 or more at last year’s Premier sale, but 15 have already made that mark with two sessions to go. The sale was also a demonstration of the strength of the Victorian market, with all but two of those expected to be trained in the state.
“Obviously, it’s a sale that they (Victorians) target very effectively on their home turf,” Hutch said.
“We’ve worked hard to put provisions in place to allow for people to be entertained and Victorians get here and they support the sale with great enthusiasm, as they do with any sporting or racing pursuit.”