‘We feel that we’ve got a horse here to suit everyone’ – Newhaven brings firepower to the Inglis Premier Sale
Newhaven Park will present an 18-strong draft at the upcoming Inglis Premier Yearling Sale and also be keeping a close eye on the racetrack, where its unbeaten homebred Autumn Glow (The Autumn Sun) will chase her second Group 1 victory.
The Kelly family-bred daughter of The Autumn Sun (Redoute’s Choice) has rapidly become one of the most exciting mares in Australia, and the iconic operation will be watching closely as she bids to extend her remarkable winning streak to ten in the Verry Elleegant Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) at Randwick.
Sold by Newhaven for a sale-topping $600,000 at the 2022 Magic Millions National Weanling Sale, Autumn Glow, went on to make a sale-leading $1.8 million at the Easter sale the following year, has continued to enhance the farm’s reputation for producing high-class racehorses, with her rise providing a timely boost ahead of Victoria’s key yearling auction.
“It is exciting, but then it gets a little bit more nerve-racking every start,” John Kelly told ANZ News, amid a busy inspection period at Oaklands Junction. “Everything is exciting at the moment – there is so much upside in her, there looks to be, so we’ll just hope that she can deliver again.”
Drawn in barrier three, the Chris Waller-trained mare will again be partnered by James McDonald and is currently a $1.30 favourite with bookmakers. She is set to face a strong line-up that includes seven of her stable companions including Lindermann (Lonhro) and Aeliana (Castelvecchio) as well as Group 1 winners Ceolwulf (Tavistock) and Sir Delius (Frankel) for the Joe Pride and Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott stable respectively.
With her picket fence of victories growing longer and her dominant performances catching the eye of racing fans, comparisons have naturally been drawn with champion mare Winx (Street Cry), although Kelly believes such talk is premature.
“It’s a big comparison that’s probably not really justified yet. When she gets to 30 straight, then you can start making comparisons. At the moment, she’s got a long way to go. She’s obviously very exciting, very talented, and it’s great to have her sporting our brand, but we’ll just take one start at a time and let’s hope she can win on Saturday.”
Regardless of the result, attention will quickly turn to Oaklands Junction, where the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale begins on Sunday. Newhaven Park will offer a diverse draft across Book 1, with Kelly confident the farm has assembled a group capable of appealing to a broad cross-section of buyers.
“We feel that we’ve got a horse here to suit everyone, whether it’s a filly or a colt, and hopefully the sale goes well,” Kelly said.
Among the early highlights is Lot 99, a filly by Newhaven’s resident sire Cool Aza Beel (Savabeel) out of the unraced Redoute’s Choice mare Heriz. The mare has already proven herself at paddocks having produced dual Group 3 winner Jamaican Rain (Manhattan Rain) and two-time Group 2-placed Diasonic (Reset).
“Cool Aza Beel has been well received this year, and she’s one of the nicest fillies we’ve presented by him so far,” Kelly said.
Another pedigree update has added interest to Lot 223, a colt by Starspangledbanner (Choisir) from the dual winner My Sweet Fish (Shamus Award), a sister to Group-level winner Swats That. The colt’s page received a timely boost when his half-brother Flying Boom (Saxon Warrior) scored at Sha Tin earlier this month, enhancing an already commercial family.
“He’s a very nice Starspangledbanner colt out of My Sweet Fish, he’s been well admired.”
Newhaven will also consign Lot 396 on behalf of Mark Pilkington’s Seymour Bloodstock. By Shamus Award (Snitzel), the filly is out of Listed placegetter The Front Bar (Sessions). The mare was purchased in Western Australia with racing ambitions before injury redirected her toward the breeding barn, and her first offering for the farm has drawn favourable comments during inspections.
Kelly explained: “They bought the mare in WA to race, she came over and was very highly rated. Dan O’Sullivan had her very highly rated, but she actually hurt herself so she went to stud, and this is a lovely Shamus Award filly out of her.”
One of the most talked-about members of the draft is Lot 251, a striking son of Newhaven-based sire Xtravagant (Pentire) out of the Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) mare Paris Lights. From the same family as the talented Lavish Girl, the colt has already generated strong interest during parades and inspections.
“He is a rockstar and he’s by Xtravagant, and he’s a blood brother to Lavish girl, who was obviously a very good Xtravagant filly, which we raced,” Kelly said. “We bought the mare especially to breed him and he’s the first foal we’ve got out of her. He’s probably been the most admired horse in our draft, if I’m being frank with you. He’s just a beautiful horse.”
Arguably the headline act of the Newhaven consignment arrives later in the catalogue. Offered as Lot 458, the son of Star Witness (Starcraft) is out of Zouper Star (Zoustar), making him a half-brother to last Saturday’s Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Streisand (Magnus). Purchased by Shane McGrath Bloodstock for $20,000 at the Inglis Great Southern Weanling Sale, the colt has attracted strong attention in the lead-up to the auction.
“We’ve got a beautiful Star Witness colt, obviously he is the star of the draft being the half-brother to Streisand,” Kelly said. “He’s been very well admired. He’s been at Newhaven since June. He was purchased out of the Weinling sales, he’s come up there and he’s a very nice horse. He’s really developed and come on since he arrived and he’s got a great nature, he’s a great mover, so we’re really looking forward to selling him.”
The Melbourne sale continues a busy eastern seaboard campaign for the Boorowa nursery, which has already traded through this year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast and Inglis Classic yearling sales. Kelly believes strong prize-money levels and sustained demand for quality bloodstock have helped underpin a resilient market so far in 2026.
“I think the market’s very good, prize-money is very good,” said Kelly. “Racing is very exciting, especially at this time of the year. And I would go as far to say, I think the horse market this year is probably a little bit better than last year, a little bit more zing in it, and we’ve been very happy how we’ve gone this year, but as always, we just put our horses on the market with very low reserves, and we sell them.
“We’ve been coming to Melbourne for seven or eight years now, and we’ve always done really well down here.”