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‘Hopefully they’ll prove popular’
Wentwood head back to Inglis Classic with four-strong haul
Trevor Marshallsea
ANZ News
New Zealand’s Wentwood Grange Stud have come back across “the ditch” with a small but select draft for Inglis Classic, continuing their decade-long attendance at the sale.
And while they’re also gearing up for their first venture to Easter later in the autumn, their four Classic lots - all by sires of the moment - wouldn’t look out of place at Inglis’s No.1 sale either.
Reflecting a keen interest in Darley sires, three of Wentwood Grange’s four Classic lots are by that farm’s stallions: in-demand first season prospect Anamoe (Street Boss), the well proven Harry Angel (Dark Angel), and Ghaiyyath (Dubawi), fresh from his explosive results in the spring.
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The fourth member of the quartet is by surging New Zealand-based shuttler Satono Aladdin (Deep Impact), who’s parlayed his champion two-year-old and second season sire titles across the Tasman in 2022-23 to currently boast a stakes winners to runners ratio there of 12.8 per cent (10 from 78), which echoes his 12.9 per cent rate in Australia (four from 31).
Run for the past 12 years by brothers Dean, Sean and Leigh Hawkins, who took over from their Welsh immigrant parents Des and Jan, Wentwood brings their latest draft to Classic off the back of a booming Karaka sale, where their 27 sold yearlings ranked them fifth among vendors by aggregate.
“We’ve got a nice bunch of lots for Easter as well, but we just felt this was the right sale for these four,” said Dean Hawkins, whose farm has been a modern constant at Classic, even through the Covid years, also selling four yearlings at its past three editions.
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“It’s a good sale for us, because of the timing. Our Karaka and Classic horses get a very similar prep, with the Classics starting a week or so later than the Karakas, and then we started prepping our Easter horses just before Karaka.
“Obviously getting horses over here and into the Australian market gets our brand over here.
“We try to use the produce of younger mares normally, to help get them kicked off by having their horses compete in Australia, and this year we’ve brought over yearlings by a few Australian stallions, so hopefully they’ll prove popular.”
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At Riverside, Wentwood Grange is located in “Kiwi Alley” - in Barn C alongside Woburn Farm and Windsor Park, who have two yearlings apiece.
“We all support each other and work in with each other,” Hawkins said. “Nick Hewson from Windsor Park does the cards for all three of us.”
Hewson and Hawkins bred and part-owned Lickety Split (Turn Me Loose) in a racing career including triumphs in Ellerslie’s Sistema Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) and Flemington’s Edward Manifold Stakes (Gr 2, 1600m) in 2022, amid three black type victories.
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And the pair, with partners, will offer Lickety Split’s first foal - another colt by Anamoe - in Wentwood Grange’s draft at Easter, along with colts by Satono Aladdin and Zousain (Zoustar), and a filly by Super Seth (Dundeel).
As for more immediate matters, the Brothers Hawkins are confident of strong results from their Classic quartet, based not only on their quality but on stats from Magic Millions Gold Coast, whose Book 1 average rose slightly on 2025, and Karaka, where it leapt from $164,800 to $187,000.
“Magic Millions and Karaka were fairly strong sales and Inglis have done a great job of getting people here for Classic,” Dean said. “It’s been pretty busy on the ground, so hopefully it’s a strong sale.
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“As always, we’re here to sell. Ours won’t be going home.”
Wentwood Grange’s Classic draft begins on day one on Sunday with Lot 234, a chestnut filly by Harry Angel whose page has room for only two dams.
She’s the sixth foal of Irish 1900-metre winner Namurian Sunset (Thousand Words), a half-sister to Germany’s 2003 Horse of the Year and Champion 3YO Ransom O’War (Red Ransom).
Aside from Ransom O’War, second dam Sombreffe (Polish Precedent) threw the dams of four stakes winners, who include two Australian performing half-siblings. Star Of The Seas (Ocean Park) won the VRC Blamey Stakes (Gr 2, 1600m) and was second in Randwick’s Doncaster Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) and Winx Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) of 2020; and Spieth (Thorn Park) won five times including in Listed class, and was second in Flemington’s Darley Classic (Gr 1, 1200m).
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“She’s a good, strong-moving, leggy and athletic filly with a lot of black type in her family,” Hawkins said of Lot 234.
“Harry Angel’s results are phenomenal. He’s done a brilliant job down here. He’s a medium sized stallion and Namurian Sunset is a big, physical mare, so it was a really nice physical mating.”
On day two, Wentwood offers two in quick succession starting with Lot 547, a colt by Satono Aladdin.
He’s out of six-time winning mare Unique Magic (Denman), whose dam Magic Star (Danzero) was a sizzling performer in the breeding barn, throwing three stakes winners. One sits among Wentwood’s great success stories in triple Group 1 winner Kolding (Ocean Park), whom they bred with a partner, while another was quadruple stakes victor - and 12-time winner - Sampson (Dubai Destination).
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Third dam This Way Up (Semipalatinsk) threw seven-time Queensland stakes winner Make Mine Magic (Canadian Silver).
“He’s a very showy boy,” Hawkins said of the colt. “He’s brown with a fair bit of white about him, and he’s a beautifully built colt.
“Magic Star was a terrific mare for us. Kolding was a headline horse for us for a very long time. And Satono Aladdin’s stats are just terrific. The mare’s not overly big, but Satono Aladdin is a big boy, so he’s added a bit of size to the mare.”
A few minutes later will come Lot 553, a filly by Anamoe with impeccable bloodlines.
She’s the seventh foal of Valley Girl (Mastercraftsman), winner of Te Rapa’s Herbie Dyke Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) and second in Rosehill’s Vinery Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) of 2016.
Second dam Leigh Valley (Bianconi) won a Group 3 and ran fourth at the top level.
“This filly’s a big, strong, powerful girl, who really moves like Anamoes do,” said Hawkins, whose farm sold three such yearlings at Karaka, including their personal sale-topper in a colt who fetched $600,000.
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“Anamoe’s got a sensational walk, and this filly just glides across the ground as well.
“She’s got a fantastic brain on her, like all the Anamoes we’ve had, and she’s very well grown and looks very similar to her mum.
“Valley Girl is a big, strong, powerful mare. Anamoe’s just added that touch of class.”
Wentwood’s final offering, Lot 668, taps into the same family. He’s a colt by Ghaiyyath out of Berg En Dal (Dehere), a two-time winner in New Zealand whose dam was Eastend (Bigstone), also the dam of Leigh Valley.
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The farm sent a mare to Ghaiyyath in his first Australian season, and sold the resultant colt at Classic 2024 for $275,000 - comfortably the highest priced of their quartet that year.
Impressed enough to go back to the Darley shuttler, Wentwood were then delighted to see Ghaiyyath explode last the spring, with first crop three-year-olds including VRC Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) hero Observer, Different Gravy, Yum and Freedom Flame giving him four stakes winners, among a current Australian total of 36 runners, at 11.11 per cent.
“We were very fortunate to send the mare to Ghaiyyath before he kicked off,” Hawkins said. “We bred one to him in his first year who was a ripper that we brought to Classic, so we were keen to go back to him.
“We love that Dubawi blood, and Ghaiyyath himself was a champion racehorse in Europe.
“This mare was a good physical for Ghaiyyath, medium size and classy - very similar to the first mare we sent to him.
“And this colt is a very well grown boy. He’s perhaps more of a three-year-old type, like Ghaiyyath’s Australian stakes winners.
“He gets across the ground very well. He walks like a panther.”
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