‘We brought her to this sale to stand out and she certainly did that’
Former Chris Waller trained dual city winner Zelify (Snitzel) emerged as the top lot at the Australian Broodmare Sale which brought the curtain down on a bumper week of bloodstock trade for Inglis at Riverside.
Offered by Lime Country Thoroughbreds, Zelify – believed to be carrying a foal by Vinery’s red-hot first-season sire Ole Kirk (Written Tycoon) – was knocked down to Queensland’s Omen Bloodstock for $280,000.
The seven-year-old won four of 16 starts, including at Canterbury and Doomben, and has had one foal, a yearling filly by Pierro (Lonhro).
“It’s been a great week for us,’’ said Lime Country’s Jo Griffin. “This mare today, we brought her to this sale to stand out and she certainly did that.
“She was part of our trading partnership and unfortunately that’s the way it is, we have to roll them through as part of the agreement every two to three years. We’ve got a lovely Pierro filly out of her that we’ll be offering next year.”
Only 106 lots were catalogued for the sale, with 53 sold and 30 passed in by Friday night.
The average stood at $66,170, up from $59,729 last year, but with just 83 mares put through the ring compared to 189 in 2024. The clearance rate was around 64 per cent, down from 70 per cent in 2024, with a gross of $3.5 million compared to last year’s $7.9 million. The median was up $1000, at $46,000.
Inglis were delighted with this week’s record-breaking Sydney Breeding Stock Sale Series, which also included the Australian Weanling Sale on Monday and Tuesday and Thursday night’s glitzy Chairman’s Sale, the company’s top-end mares auction highlighted by the purchases of Bella Nipotina (Pride Of Dubai) for $4.2 million and Amelia’s Jewel (Siyouni) for $3.8 million.
A combined $77.06 million was traded between the three sales, smashing the previous record for the week of $65.97 million set in 2023.
The weanling sale had a record gross of $19.31 million and a record top price of $775,000 for a colt by Too Darn Hot (Iffraaj) out of Enbihaar (Magnus).
The Chairman’s notched its highest gross of $54.43 million, a record average – for a southern hemisphere mares’ sale – of $706,883, a new high top price of $4.2 million, and a record 14 seven-figure lots.
“To gross over $11 million more than the record for this week of sales is really quite incredible, let alone the fact that turnover increased $17.5 million year-on-year off what was a very successful series of sales last year too,’’ Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch said.
“It really has been a week we dream about – fabulous catalogues, enthusiastic buyers, happy vendors and a great spectacle all round.
“The amount of people who have said that Thursday night’s Chairman’s Sale was the best horse sale they’d ever been to in their lives, it’s very satisfying for the entire Inglis team who work exceptionally hard to ensure our clients have a memorable experience when doing business with us.
“A mention must go to the connections of both Bella Nipotina and Amelia’s Jewel, to have been entrusted by them to sell their darling mares was truly a great honour and to achieve special results with them both was something our whole team got incredible satisfaction from.
“I can’t stress enough how grateful we are to all the vendors, breeders, owners and buyers who have supported the week and made such positive results possible.’’
Two six-year-old mares shared the second rung at Friday’s Australian Broodmare sale, at $200,000.
Abu Simbel (I Am Invincible), a 1400m winner out of Listed victor Siwa Lady (Gonski), was sold from Astute Bloodstock’s draft to SP Bloodstock of NSW. She has one yearling filly foal by Blue Point (Shamardal), and is believed to be in foal to Darley shuttler Harry Angel (Dark Angel).
And Dubai Diva (Pride Of Dubai), a four-time winner in New Zealand who was second in a Group 3, was bought from Alma Vale Thoroughbreds’ draft by Hong Kong’s Keith Lam Racing and associates. She’s believed to be in-foal for the first time, to Stay Inside (Extreme Choice).
Dubai Diva capped a huge week for Alma Vale in its first year of solo operations.
Verna Metcalfe’s farm was top vendor at the weanling sale, with 15 of 17 lots sold for an aggregate of $1,445,000, and the two equal-third highest lots, at $340,000, for an Anamoe (Street Boss) filly and a Too Darn Hot (Dubawi) colt.
Alma Vale ranked tenth at the Chairman’s, selling all six of their lots for a combined $1.88 million.
And on Friday, the Hunter Valley farm was the leading vendor at the Australian Broodmare Sale, with 14 of 24 lots sold for $1,218,500.
Metcalfe conceded “it wasn’t easy selling some of those mares” amid relatively small crowds – which may pose questions about the sale’s future.
“But it was a good sale,” she told ANZ Bloodstock News. “You’ve got to take your hat off to Inglis. They try very hard and they try exceptionally hard to get the passed in lots sold. Their day doesn’t finish when the last horse leaves the ring.
“We had a fair few horses in there. We present our horses well and I’ve got very good staff, and we try hard to sell horses for other people as well as us.
“It was our first stand-alone draft at this sale, and overall I’m really pleased with our results from this week.”
Metcalfe said Dubai Diva was “a very nice mare and she was a very good buy too – worth every cent of what they paid for her”.
“She’ll suit that stallion she’s in-foal to, Stay Inside. She’s got nice size and quality about her, and she’s out of a Stravinsky mare, and I like those. Plus she was a good racehorse,” Metcalfe said. “I think Stay Inside will put a bit of grunt into her.”
Alma Vale sold four of the top seven mares, also including empty French-bred seven-year-old Tomorrow’s Dream (Oasis Dream), who was knocked down to Boomer Bloodstock for $180,000.
Tomorrow’s Dream was stakes placed in England and her second dam was the Royal Ascot winning Irresistible Jewel (Danehill), who’s thrown Irish St Leger (Gr 1, 1m 6f) hero Royal Diamond (King’s Best) plus two other Group victors who were Group 1-placed.
“She’s a nice mare,” Metcalfe said of Tomorrow’s Dream. “She’s a good, big strong mare with a good action on her and an international pedigree, which people like.”
Second top vendor was Lime Country, with two lots grossing $355,000, ahead of Willow Park Stud, which sold six for $254,500.
2025 — 2024
Catalogued 106 — 219
Offered 83 — 189
Sold 53 (63%) — 133 (70%)
Aggregate $3,507,000 — $7,944,000
Average $66,170 — $59,729
Median $46,000 — $45,000
Top lot $280,000 — $240,000
*No comparative percentages due to the sale being a different format