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‘When people think of Classic, they think of buying racehorses for good value’

Inglis releases 810-lot catalogue for opening 2022 Riverside Stables yearling sale 

Inglis has resisted the temptation to increase the size of its Classic sale, instead maintaining the three-day format it has used for the past two years and will rely on the auction’s growing reputation for elite graduate success to attract domestic and international buyers to the company’s first yearling auction of 2022.

Last night, Inglis released an increased Book 1 catalogue of 660 lots for next year’s Classic sale while reducing its Highway Session to 150 lots in order to compensate for the larger select offering.

With an honour roll that includes Everest (1200m) winner Classique Legend (Not A Single Doubt), dual Group 1 winner Castelvecchio (Dundeel) and Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) hero Vow And Declare (Declaration Of War), the three-day Classic sale, preceded by the Inglis Millennium race meeting at Randwick on February 5, will begin on Sunday, February 6. 

It will continue through until Tuesday, February 8, at Riverside Stables with each session starting at 10am.

Aiding Inglis’ bid to attract buyers attention, the unbeaten Gary Portelli-trained ATC Breeders’ Stakes (Gr 3, 1000m) and Golden Gift (1100m) winner Sejardan (Sebring), the early Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) second favourite, has already emerged from the 2021 Classic sale and the consistent Icebath (Sacred Falls), who sold for $100,000 in 2018, won the $2 million The Invitation (1400m) at Randwick last month.

Inglis Bloodstock chief executive Sebastian Hutch says the auction house’s team had placed a great deal of thought into the compilation of the Classic sale catalogue.

“When people think of the Classic sale, they think of buying racehorses for good value, so we set out with the objective every year of trying to find the best credentialled from the point of view of physique, particularly, and pedigree as well and that the horses are produced by people with a proven track record of breeding good horses,” Hutch told ANZ Bloodstock News.

“It’s a formula that has worked really well for the sale and I expect that it’s going to work really well for the sale in 2022.”

The catalogue, which has 75 different vendors presenting horses, features nine yearlings by Extreme Choice (Not A Single Doubt), seven by I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit), six by Written Tycoon (Iglesia), four lots by Zoustar (Northern Meteor) and three by Fastnet Rock (Danehill). There will also be a large offering by Capitalist (Written Tycoon) (39) and Deep Field (Northern Meteor) (37).

“There’s progeny of 107 stallions in the catalogue. It is something we consciously do,” Hutch said. 

“We think it adds appeal and intrigue to the catalogue and beauty is very much in the eye of the beholder in terms of physique and pedigree, so a well diversified catalogue means it has a broad cross section of people it is likely to appeal to. 

“The second crop stallions look to have made a really strong impression, whether it’s Capitalist, Extreme Choice, who we have strong numbers by, Flying Artie, Maurice, Shalaa, Frosted, I don’t want to leave any horse out, but you get the gist of it.

“They shape like important stallions of the future and they complement the more established, proven stallions, whether it’s Fastnet Rock, I Am Invincible, Zoustar, Written Tycoon, etc, along with what looks to be a really interesting group of first season stallions.”

Those first season sires include Widden Stud’s Trapeze Artist (Snitzel), The Autumn Sun (Redoute’s Choice) and Justify (Scat Daddy).

“There’s also horses like Harry Angel, Written By and Brave Smash who are amongst those horses who made a really good impression with their progeny during the inspection period,” he said. 

“They are well represented in the catalogue and I think they are going to be well received by the buying bench.”

For the first time, next year’s Classic sale will be held without the backdrop of the New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale, which potentially could provide the professional agents and trainers who follow the circuit a small breather after the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in January and Inglis’ first auction of the year.

“I would have been guilty of overthinking things like this in the past, trying to compensate for their significance in one way or another, but generally the market has a pretty good way of working itself out independent of the sales structure,” Hutch said.

“From the point of view of buyers, it may make the schedule a little bit more manageable. Obviously there’s a busy sale in January and changing the date of New Zealand allows people to have a little bit more time to regroup and approach Classic potentially with a fresher mindset. 

“That said, the gap between the Gold Coast Yearling Sale and Classic isn’t that big, really, when you factor in something like Australia Day. It breaks up that week that sits between the two sales and we are pretty confident that buyers are going to target Classic with real enthusiasm.” 

With the exception of a few international agents who have undertaken the arduous two-week hotel quarantine, in some cases on multiple occasions, to attend Australian thoroughbred sales since the pandemic began, it has largely been a trans-Tasman marketplace over the past 18 months.

That, however, is set to change next year and Hutch expects an influx of overseas buyers at the Inglis sales.

“We have had a large number of internationals who have been in touch already about the sales,” said Hutch, who was last week promoted to the position of Inglis Bloodstock chief executive. 

“A number of those buyers have specifically singled out Classic as a sale they want to target because of the reasons I mentioned earlier. 

“They feel it’s a sale they can come to and be confident of acquiring the stock they want to buy. I think we’re feeling optimistic about the sale without feeling complacent.”

Ridgmont to make Classic entrance

The 2022 Classic sale will be the first for Ridgmont Farm with principal Andrew Dunemann making a strategic decision to bypass the Magic Millions to focus on Inglis’ season opener.

Dunemann and his business partners, Gary and Lorilie Cunningham and their son Mitchell as well as Neil Douglas, bought Hunter Valley-based Glastonbury Farms from Duncan and Di Grimley and Mark and Yvonne Clerke in late 2020 and officially took over earlier this year.

Ridgmont Farm’s inaugural draft of nine yearlings includes a Pierro (Lonhro) filly, the first foal out of $300,000 Chairman’s Sale-purchased mare Golden Hooves (Frankel), herself a sister to Group 3 winner and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (Gr 1, 8f) runner-up East, and daughters of Dundeel (High Chaparral), Pariah (Redoute’s Choice) and Justify (Scat Daddy).

“We really wanted our yearling manager Jakub Vitek, while we can, to be there for the full preparation of both the sales (Classic and Easter),” Dunemann said. 

“It is crucial that we get the right article on the ground for our first sale season, so that will enable him to prep the horses for the whole time, rather than being away at Magic Millions for a couple of weeks and miss that vital time mid-preparation.  

“We are obviously doing a lot to the farm, we’ve bought next door and whatever else, but our first showcase will be the Classic sale and hopefully we can put the right product in front of people.”

Kia Ora Stud will also offer two colts by Deep Field (Northern Meteor) and one by Russian Revolution (Snitzel) and American Pharoah (Pioneerof The Nile), while Newgate Farm is the largest consignor at Classic with a draft of 58 yearlings.

Arrowfield Stud, which offers first crop yearlings by The Autumn Sun (Redoute’s Choice), Real Steel (Deep Impact) and Showtime (Snitzel) in 2022, has a draft of 29.

 Classic sale stallion representation

Lots catalogued

Capitalist 39

Deep Field 37

Hellbent 30

Russian Revolution 30

Harry Angel 24

Pariah 24

Shalaa 23

Invader 22

Written By 22

Trapeze Artist 19

Merchant Navy 19

Flying Artie 17

Maurice 15

Dundeel 14

All Too Hard 14

Click here to view full catalogue

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