Harry Angel colt sets the standard on a solid day of trade at the Classic sale
New and highly structured entity the Equine Growth Fund (EGF) may have to rethink some plans due to the price involved, but they were delighted to snare the top lot at the Inglis Classic on a robust day of trade on two at Riverside.
Little more than a year old, EGF stretched to $540,000 to buy Lot 462, the brother to triple stakes-winning mare Stretan Angel (Harry Angel) presented by his boutique Hunter Valley breeders Kirks Bridge Farm.
The price represented the best result at Classic since 2024, and spearheaded a day of robust trading, with the clearance rate, average and gross all up on the 2025 edition.
EGF founder and managing director Stefan Pardi fought off fierce competition to secure the colt, consigning Annabel and Rob Archibald to the role of underbidders.
The purchase represented the latest splash by Pardi’s group, which involves 15 investors and is now operating within its second fund which, Pardi said, has $25 million to invest.
“This colt is a stallion prospect and this is what Equine Growth Fund is trying to do,” Pardi said. “We’re trying to buy these horses to make stallions and he was my number one colt, my number one horse out of 800 at this sale.”
EGF first emerged as a major player when setting the Inglis Australian Weanling Sale record last year with the $775,000 purchase of a Too Darn Hot (Dubawi) colt and it operates through various investment operations including pinhooking, trading and racing.
While the original intention for Monday’s Harry Angel colt may have been trading, as the bidding surged that became less of a profitable option.
“I only had $450,000 on him, but I just didn’t want to lose him,” Pardi said.
“At $450,000, he was definitely going to be a traded horse, but at the money I paid, I think it’s a bit top-heavy to try to trade; it’s a bit of a risk.”
Pardi explained EGF – which teamed up with the likes of Ciaron Maher and Chris Waller to buy seven yearlings, including two for $525,000, at the Magic Millions Gold Coast last month – operated with well organised strategies, which would help dictate plans for the Harry Angel colt.
“I’ve got my money in the Equine Growth Fund too … so I align myself with my investors and have skin in the game,” said Pardi, whose group plans to buy 100 racing and breeding propositions this year.
“I’ve got to make sure I do the right thing by them [investors]. Plus I have a very stringent CIO [chief investment officer] and CEO who really bolt down on what things we buy. We have stringent criteria.
“At this stage I think we’ll race him [the Harry Angel colt] under the Equine Growth Fund, and the strategy is to buy 20 or 25 racehorses, and the rest is breeding stock.”
Pardi, who has a varied business background from construction to coffee, said EGF differed from other thoroughbred investment funds.
“This is the first institutional one. The others are handshakes and friends, getting together, putting money together and buying colts and stallions,” he said.
“Our one is governed by ASIC [the Australian Securities and Investments Commission]. We have a separate trustee that looks after all the money, so it’s institutional grade funding.
“My CIO and my CEO are ex Macquarie Bank. They’re the ones that run it. I’m just there to buy the horses, nurture them, sell them. That’s my job.”
He added: “We’re hovering at about 58 per cent return in the first fund, so we’re doing pretty well. It’s better than money markets, the way they are at the moment, so we’re shooting the lights out on our returns.”
Kirks Bridge Farm manager Brad McCarthy, who opted to take the Harry’s Angel colt to Classic over Inglis Easter to “stand him out”, was overjoyed with his farm’s highest sale to date.
“He was a quality colt,” McCarthy said. “I’ve always had a massive opinion of him from day one. He was the nicest foal on the farm, [who] grew into the nicest weanling and then grew into the nicest yearling.
“And to come down here and get the support that he got, and all the good judges liked him, fills me with a bit of confidence we’re doing the right thing.
“We want to breed racehorses first and foremost. The colt sums up what we want to breed. Horses with a good education from the start, bred to be racehorses, bred to be tough and sound.
“He’s a great testament to us. He came down here and he’s handled everything to perfection. He was in and out of the box so much, so much going on, so much hustle and bustle, but he didn’t turn a hair. We’re stoked.”
The colt was way ahead of the pack on session two, a day which cheered a “very happy” Inglis bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch.
On Monday evening, the clearance rate stood at 84 per cent, up from 77 per cent at the same stage in 2025. The average was marginally up to $97,556, from $97,153 year-on-year, while the median was unchanged at $80,000. The gross was up 8.5 per cent at $39,315,000, albeit with 30 more lots sold (403 to 373).
“To me it felt stronger today,” Hutch said. “There’s always a level of apprehension coming into Monday after Sunday because we get strong attendance on Sunday.
“On Monday, a lot of people go back to work, it’s a quieter day around the complex, but ultimately everybody who was here was here to do business, and a lot of business got done today.
“The clearance through the ring was stronger, the figures for the day comparatively are stronger. The gross for the day was almost the same as the gross for yesterday and we offered 14 fewer horses today.”
Hutch added: “We ran what appears to be a very effective buyer canvas, and maybe just the market is a fraction more confident than it was 12 months ago.”
While conceding the lower end still represented a buyers’ market, Hutch forecast the likelihood of a still stronger closing session on Tuesday.
“I still think it’s a buyers’ market at under $100,000,” he said. “But the horses who are perceived to be more desirable by the buying bench, they’re kicking on and making strong money. There’s good competition on them.
“At stages today, it felt like there was an urgency to buy among people that I think can only be heightened tomorrow.”
Sale statistics – Day 2*
2026 2025
Catalogued 540 540
Offered 504 479
Sold 403 (84%) 373 (77%)
Aggregate $39,315,000 (+8.5%) $36,238,000
Average $97,556 (+0.4%) $97,153
Median $80,000 $80,000
Top Lot $540,000 $440,000
* stats from 2025 are taken at the close of trade on day 2
Warwick Farm trainer Bryce Heys stretched to $390,000 to claim the day’s second-top purchase, a Arrowfield Stud colt by the farm’s resident stallions in Castelvecchio (Dundeel) out of Panzerfaust (Redoute’s Choice), a two-time winner up to 1600 metres.
Second dam Desert Fight (Hussonet) was a dual elite winner and scored at up to 1800 metres in Chile, where she was Champion 2YO Filly in 2005-06, before throwing two Australian Group winners in Kebede (Redoute’s Choice) and her brother Panzer Division.
“He was one that rated very highly. I was on my last legs [in the bidding] but was fortunate enough that we were able to secure him,” Heys said.
“He’s quite an imposing individual. He’s very well balanced and he’s got great length.
“I hope he’s got the capacity to be able to train on as an older horse, and an older staying horse. Not everyone wants that sort of horse, but hopefully he’s that sort of horse, and we’ll give him every opportunity.”
Silverdale Farm’s colt by Zoustar (Northern Meteor) out of Score (Written Tycoon) ranked third, at $375,000. He’ll go west to seek his fortune after being bought by Perth trainer Neville Parnham.
The imposing colt is the second foal of the Listed-placed Score (Written Tycoon), a half-sister to dual top tier winner Scales Of Justice (Not A Single Doubt).
“That’s a great result,” said Silverdale stud manager Rob Petith. “He was a beautiful colt. We brought him here to the Inglis Classic sale so he would stand out, and stand out he did.
“We thought he was going to sell well but this is particularly good.
“He was a taller sort of horse, plenty of scope to him, a beautiful deep girth, and a lovely head on him and a tremendous athletic action. He glided across the ground and certainly caught the eye of a lot of people.”
Darby Racing, along with their main trainer Bjorn Baker and Jim Clarke Bloodstock, paid $350,000 for a colt by Justify (Scat Daddy) offered by Lime Country Thoroughbreds on behalf of renowned breeder Catherine Remond.
The strapping colt is the fourth foal of Phylicia (Pierro), a half-sister to dual elite winner Cosmic Endeavour (Northern Meteor). Both are out of triple stakes winner Crevette (Danehill), a daughter of Remond’s famed broodmare Twiglet (Twig Moss), the dam of two Group 1 winners in Fairy King Prawn (Danehill) and Easy Rocking (Barathea).
“He’s been slammed. He’s had over 20 x-rays and a phenomenal amount of parades, so I think he got what he deserved,” said Lime Country’s Jo Griffin.
Also fetching $350,000 was a son of Too Darn Hot from HP Thoroughbreds bought by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, Kestrel Thoroughbreds, First Light Racing and Matt Houldsworth.
At the close of trade on Monday, the leading sire by average with three or more lots sold was Too Darn Hot, having had seven lots sell for $190,000, ahead of The Autumn Sun (Redoute’s Choice) who had eight lots sell at an average of $185,000.
Top sire by aggregate, with three or more lots sold, was Hellbent (I Am Invincible), who sold 15 yearlings for total receipts of $1.84 million, ahead of The Autumn Sun, whose eight yearlings to change hands generated $1.48 million.
Leading vendor by aggregate was Arrowfield Stud, with 26 lots grossing $3.17 million, ahead of Sledmere Stud, whose 19 sold yearlings yielded $2.34 million. Kirks Bridge Farm’s windfall with EGF’s Harry Angel colt made it the leading vendor by averages (three or more lots sold), with three sales averaging $220,000, ahead of Cannon Hayes Stud, with three at $162,000.
Top buyer was Perth’s Vahala Racing/SM & KB Bloodstock, with five yearlings bought for $700,000, ahead of Kris Lees and Justin Bahen Bloodstock, with three purchased for $605,000.