Rugged up buyers to make most of Great Southern opportunities
Select sale quality weanlings tipped to come in for hot competition from buyers
The skies were clear and the westerly wind died down but puffer jackets remained the order of the day as inspections were in full swing yesterday ahead of the Great Southern Sale in Melbourne.
With beanies also highly sought after, and warm soup favoured over cold beverages, the buyers’ blowtorch was being applied prior to Inglis’ June weanling and broodmare sale at Oaklands Junction, the last Victorian thoroughbred auction of the year.
After a strong Inglis foal sale in Sydney, where the average of $49,500 was up 11 per cent and the median rising at the rival Magic Millions auction on the Gold Coast, pinhookers hoping for value have ventured to Melbourne while some of their competitors have headed overseas, principally the UK for next week’s Royal Ascot meeting.
There are 392 weanlings catalogued over the next two days – by stallions including Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice), Dundeel (High Chaparral), Shamus Award (Snitzel), So You Think (High Chaparral), Toronado (High Chaparral) and Written Tycoon (Iglesia) – and those vendors with select sale quality stock on offer are sure to hold the upper hand.
Last year’s Great Southern Sale, conducted in July due to lockdowns and the difficulty of interstate and international travel, averaged $40,739 with 275 weanlings changing hands, while the 2020 auction was forced online due to the Victoria lockdown.
Inglis Victorian bloodstock manager James Price believes inspections “have been strong”.
“The sale’s down ten per cent on last year in terms of numbers, but I think, as we’ve seen with weanling sales so far, for that weanling that holds yearling sale credentials they have sold for a premium,” Price told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“So, I would think the supply of those won’t meet the demand as there’s high demand for those horses who can reach those premium sales next year, topped by the Easter sale.”
While there is the fear of buyer fatigue, given the Great Southern’s placement at the end of a long sales season, Price does not believe that will be a factor in the results delivered over the next two days.
“The weather’s something we shouldn’t talk about, yet it’s what we talk about the most, but I think people are enjoying what they’re seeing, vendors are happy with inspection levels, so there’s quite a buoyant feel about the market heading into the sale,” he said.
“As we’ve seen, the capacity for people to participate in sales off-site has been transformed in the last two years through Covid, so anyone who wants to participate has the ability to do so, whether they’re here at Oaklands, on a plane to Royal Ascot or on a beach in Fiji.”
Those who have braved the weather over the past few days include agents Seamus Mills, Brett Howard, Mark Pilkington, Bevan Smith and Andrew Williams, Paul Moroney and James Mitchell.
Two Bays Farm’s Rob Carlisle has a draft of 13 weanlings including the only foal by Rebel Dane (California Dane), the sire of star juvenile Fireburn, to be offered at the Great Southern Sale.
Rebel Dane, who will stand at Widden Stud in the Hunter Valley this year at a fee of $27,500 (inc GST), is one of only eight weanlings on the ground by the Group 1-winning stallion and the cross is already proven, with the colt, who is listed as Lot 335, the brother to the stakes-placed Lloyd’s Crown.
“He is a very unique Rebel Dane. He is one of four colts in this crop, he’s a neat crop, too, there’s nothing wrong with him and we are happy to have representation by the sire of the Slipper winner,” Carlisle said.
Two Bays Farm also has weanlings by Toronado, Dubious (Not A Single Doubt), Ocean Park (Thorn Park) and Too Darn Hot (Dubawi).
“The weather gods have probably been on our side. It was forecast to be terrible but there’s been a few sunny days and the parade inspections have been pretty positive,” Carlisle continued.
“It is always hard when a lot of people have to brave the cold to get out here and the sale being on a Thursday and Friday is a bit different – they normally kick off on a Sunday – but the inspections have been really strong.”
A select group of broodmares will also be offered to the market tomorrow including mares in foal to young stallions Tagaloa (Lord Kanaloa), Justify (Scat Daddy), Alabama Express (Redoute’s Choice), King’s Legacy (Redoute’s Choice) and Farnan (Not A Single Doubt).
“It is down on numbers from last year as our Inglis digital platform sells a high volume of mares, but there’s still good interest. There’s lots of people who haven’t been able to find mares throughout the sales so far this year, so the interest from clients has been strong through people who are here at the sales but also through us as agents,” Price said.
“We expect that to be fairly strong particularly when we look at Marjoram, a mare in foal to Kingman. It’s not every day we get a mare to sell in foal to Kingman at the Great Southern Sale, so expect her to be one of the highlights on Friday afternoon.”
The Great Southern Sale starts at 10am.