Well-bred Stay Inside filly sells for a record-breaking $650,000 at Inglis
A daughter of Group 1-winning mare Sheidel (Holy Roman Emperor) by Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) hero Stay Inside (Extreme Choice) set a new record on the first day at the Inglis Australian Weanling Sale, after she was bought back by her breeder Rob Crabtree for $650,000.
Veteran Victorian breeder Crabtree is scaling back, having sold his Dorrington Farm and most of his thoroughbred stock.
But there was one horse he couldn’t bear to part with. Putting Lot 120 through the sale in a 50-50 joint venture with Noorilim Park, Crabtree went hard to purchase her at Riverside on Monday, through Damon Gabbedy’s Belmont Bloodstock.
That purchase was the highlight of the first of two days of trade, in which the three highest lots were fillies – and four of the top five – and when most metrics kept pace with last year’s sale.
The imposing filly’s dam holds a special place in Crabtree’s heart. After he bought Sheidel as an 11-race winner in Western Australia, she won the Oakleigh Plate (Gr 1, 1100m) of 2017, one race after Crabtree’s filly Catchy (Fastnet Rock) took the Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m).
Sheidel also ran three top-tier placings before retiring to Crabtree’s breeding barn. There, the path has been rocky.
Her first two foals were born deceased, before a slip and a miss. Finally at the fifth time of trying she produced a Blue Point colt, who’s now awaiting his first start as Blue Shield for Crabtree and partners in the Mick Price and Michael Kent stable.
Another miss, to Street Boss (Street Cry) in 2022 was followed by a successful mating with Stay Inside, which yielded the filly Crabtree kept hold of on Monday. A miss on Sheidel’s return to the same sire last year makes Monday’s filly all the more valuable.
She broke the Australian Weanling Sale’s previous record of $625,000, shared by a brother to Captivant (Capitalist) sold in 2023 named Outer Banks, who had his first (unplaced) start for Peter Snowden last month, and a filly named Pretty Flamingo (More Than Ready), sold in 2008, who never raced.
With his purchase being the most expensive filly put through the sale in 17 years, Crabtree was understandably looking forward to racing her.
“When I looked at everything else here, she was the stand-out horse of the sale,” Crabtree said.
“And since I raced Sheidel – we won the Blue Diamond with Catchy and then the very next race we won the Oakleigh Plate with Sheidel – she was a hard one to pass.”
Crabtree said he’d entered into a joint venture arrangement with Noorilim “because I’ve sold the farm and we’re dispersing all of our stock as weanlings”.
“But then you’ve got to stand back and say, ‘OK, independently as a buyer, do I want her? Not just ‘did I want her’ – I couldn’t let go of her,” he said.
“I would’ve been happy to pay a couple of hundred grand less but still, when you’ve got a horse that you think is priceless almost, you’ve got to back your judgment.
“The other thing is the mare’s pretty hard to breed to. She lost a couple. She’s a small mare. But it’s a pretty special commodity to get one that nice out of a mare like that given her history.”
Crabtree said the other factor making him so eager to have the filly was her sire.
“I do think Stay Inside is potentially one of the best stallions we’ve seen,” he said of the Newgate sire, who’ll stand his fourth season this spring at $66,000 (inc GST), up from $55,000 (inc GST), while his own sire continues to thrive.
“He won the Slipper, but lots of people at this stage are not really quantifying the Extreme Choice factor with him. I think he could be anything.”
Crabtree brought seven weanlings to sell at Riverside this week. He’s down to “about 20” racing stock, including ten yearlings and three weanlings.
He’s also selling the ten-year-old Catchy at Thursday night’s Chairman’s Sale and she will be offered in foal to Capitalist.
Noorilim’s Peter Carrick was delighted with the sale, noting it gave his farm two records. The Victorian stud has also sold the highest-priced yearling to go through Melbourne’s Inglis Premier Yearling Sale, the $1.1 million filly sold in 2023 and now known as Socrazyinlove (I Am Invincible), winner of one of five for Brisbane’s Tony Gollan.
“She was a stand-out – an absolute stand-out,” Carrick said of the Stay Inside-Sheidel filly.
That lot was the highlight of a first day which was relatively solid despite some fears of flatness sparked by toughness in areas of the yearling market this year.
At the end of day one, the median was down at $30,000, having finished at $36,000 at the same point last year. The average was also down at $53,545 (from $63,500), and clearance rate 70 per cent (75 per cent).
Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch was satisfied with the first day’s trading – including that the average had held despite greater numbers on offer this year, when a 581-strong catalogue far outweighing 2024 book of 456.
“I suppose our expectation in advance of the sale was the metrics would all fall,” Hutch said.
“They’re consistent with the overall sale of last year, but have come back a bit from the equivalent day, but we offered a big group of foals last year on this day, and on the second day it was a smaller group of foals. So the sale will get its chance to power ahead tomorrow [Tuesday] in terms of growth.
“We’re pleased to clear 70 per cent and above at this stage and hopefully we can progress that figure further.”
Last year, 237 weanlings were offered on day one and only 133 on day two. After 248 lots were offered on Monday, a further 219 will go under the hammer on Tuesday.
Too Darn Hot (Dubawi) was the leading sire by averages (with three or more lots sold), with four selling at an average of $170,000, including two of the seven who went for $200,000 or more.
Stay Inside came in second with seven weanlings moved at $127,393, ahead of Farnan (Not A Single Doubt), who had six sold at $109,167.
Crabtree’s Stay Inside-Sheidel filly made Belmont Bloodstock the day’s largest buyer, for that $650,000 outlay, ahead of the Equine Growth Fund, of NSW, who bought two for a combined $460,000, and Sledmere Stud (five for $400,000).
The Crabtree filly also helped make Noorilim Park the day’s leading vendor by both its aggregate of $1.06 million and its average of $265,000 through four lots sold.
Fairhill Farm had the next highest aggregate, with seven weanlings fetching $605,000, with Vinery Stud owning the second-highest average (three or more lots sold), with four at $115,000.
The Stay Inside-Sheidel filly “won” the day by a good margin.
Second-top was Lot 187, a filly by The Autumn Sun (Redoute’s Choice) – from the crop of the exciting Arrowfield sire before his enforced year off from serving in 2024 due to a pelvis injury.
Offered by Rheinwood Pastoral for breeder Brigid Kennedy of The Loch Equine, the daughter of The King’s Widow (All Too Hard) was bought by the Equine Growth Fund for $280,000.
The filly’s second dam is Dowager Queen (Savabeel), winner of three Listed races in New Zealand and thrice placed at the top level, including a second in the VRC Oaks (Gr 1, 2500m). The filly is also a half-sister to four-time Hong Kong winner Glory Elite (Russian Revolution).
Trilogy Racing and Suman Hedge Bloodstock paid $250,000 for Lot 203, a filly by the in-demand Too Darn Hot out of the Group 3-winning Vain Queen (Artie Schiller), offered by South Australia’s Rathmore Lodge.
The filly is the sixth foal of Vain Queen, who won the VRC Mumm Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m), ran second in the William Reid Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) and fourth in the Oakleigh Plate, both in 2015.
Fairhill Farm’s Lot 66, a colt by Harry Angel (Dark Angel) was bought by Victoria’s “CW” for $220,000. Three-time winning dam Ragazze’s (Snitzel) only runner has been a winner, while second dam Pravana (Anabaa) won at Listed level, and third dam Pravda (Zabeel) was a triple stakes victor who was Group 1-placed.
Also among the seven weanlings fetching $200,000 or more was Lot 211, a filly by Farnan (Not A Single Doubt) out of War Dame (Declaration Of War), bought by Hedge from Erinvale Thoroughbreds’ draft for $210,000.
The unraced War Dame is a half-sister to dual stakes winner Lady Of Honour (No Nay Never).
Lot 10, a colt by Toronado out of Nette Rousse (Mastercraftsman) – a half-sister to Champion Hong Kong Stayer of 2017-18 Pakistan Star (Shamardal) – was sold from Vinery Stud’s draft to Victorian interests for $200,000.
And rounding out the top seven was Too Darn Hot’s second lot in the $200,000 or above bracket in Lot 83, a colt bought by Sledmere Stud and Cangon of NSW from Cannon Hayes Stud’s draft, out of winning mare Rockaroo (Fastnet Rock). Second dam Randaroo (Gold Case) won seven Graded races in the US.
2025 — 2024
Catalogued: 300 — 280
Offered: 249 — 233
Sold: 174 (70%) — 175 (75%)
Aggregate: $9,367,750 (-15.7%) — $11,112,500
Average: $53,838 (-15.2%) — $63,500
Median: $30,000 (-16.6%) — $36,000
Top lot: $650,000 — $575,000