The growth in strength of the Victorian breeding industry is behind the recent success of the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale, according to the auction house’s Victorian bloodstock manager, James Price, and the state’s breeders and vendors have again come out in support of the sale as the 2023 catalog was released Dec. 11.
The Inglis Premier auction is one of Australia’s fastest-growing select sales, with turnover increasing nearly AU$30 million (US$20.3 million) over the last two years, a rise of 58%, and Inglis again announced a slight increase in lots cataloged for 2023, with 816 horses included across both the Premier and Showcase sessions in this year’s sale, due be held over three days from March 5-7 at Oaklands Junction.
The Premier session in isolation will contain 615 lots, an increase of 101 horses compared with the 514 horses offered in Book 1 of the 2019 sale, from which five individual group 1 winners have emerged, namely Bella Nipotina, Ole Kirk, Tuvalu, Lunar Fox, and September Run. The sale also boasts AU$20.5 million ($14.7 million) earner Nature Strip and group 1 winners Gytrash and Masked Crusader as graduates.
Nature Strip digs in to win the King’s Stand Stakes at Ascot Racecourse
“I think the growth of the sale is down to the vendors who have continued to support the sale with the quality bloodstock they’re breeding,” Price told ANZ Bloodstock News Dec. 11.
“All of Victoria’s best breeders and consignors are represented in this catalog. The 2023 edition will be the biggest Premier Yearling Sale we’ve ever seen at Oaklands; such was the demand to get into the sale, having inspected over 2,000 horses in recent months. The demand’s been very high from vendors wanting to sell their horses in the Premier Sale.
“From an Inglis perspective, we’re incredibly fortunate to have vendors who solely consign horses at Inglis Premier. In particular, Blue Gum Farm, Flinders Park Stud, Merricks Station, Maluka, Morning Rise, Morningside, Noorilim Park, Northmore Thoroughbreds, Shadow Hill Thoroughbreds, Springmount, Stonehouse Thoroughbreds, and Two Bays Farm. A name synonymous with the Premier sale is Gilgai and they will again offer a strong draft at Premier. All of these farms have continued to upgrade the quality of their bloodstock. Any serious buyer needs to be at Oaklands in March to buy the future stars offered by these farms.”
A mainstay of Victorian yearling sales for more than 50 years, multiple-time leading vendor Blue Gum Farm is entering a transitional phase, having been purchased earlier this year from Phil and Patti Campbell by the Stenning and Dingwall families of Trilogy Racing, but the farm has again consigned a strong draft of 32 yearlings.
The Euroa-based farm’s consignment is only behind that of the now Victorian-based Widden (36), which will consign for the first year from its Riddle Creek base. There are also Rosemont (36), Maluka Thoroughbreds (37), and Nagambie-based powerhouse Yulong, which is set to offer the highest number of lots, with 44 cataloged for this year’s Premier sale.
The numbers consigned from Yulong, Maluka, and Rosemont are considerably higher than 12 months ago, when the farms offered 32, 27, and 18 lots, respectively, across both sessions, as is the support of other fledgling Victorian-based farms and operations, such as Michael Christian’s Longwood Thoroughbred Farm, whose 26 entries eclipse the 16 consigned in 2022. Similarly, Sherah Sullivan’s Sullivan Bloodstock consignment has more than doubled in numbers to 25 from 12 lots entered a year ago.
Rick Jamieson’s Gilgai Farm, which next year will also offer lots at the Inglis Easter sale, having exclusively sold yearlings at Premier in 2022, has 12 lots consigned. Fellow experienced vendors Two Bays Farm (15), Supreme Thoroughbreds (23), and Stonehouse Thoroughbreds (21) will all have strong representation at Oaklands Junction in 2023.
While the domestic market continues to show strength, the presence of interstate and international-consigned horses remains prevalent.
New South Wales operations Silverdale Farm, Sledmere Stud, Milburn Creek, Willow Park, and Edinburgh Park Stud may be absent from the vendors sheet of the Premier sale next year, but increased drafts that have been consigned by Newhaven Park (25), Bhima Thoroughbreds (18), Segenhoe Stud (16), and Vinery Stud (17) are a notable feature of the catalog, along with offerings from Queensland’s Eureka Stud and Mill Park Stud of South Australia, who continue to support the Premier sale with an eye-catching draft.
New Zealand’s Cambridge Stud (eight), Windsor Park Stud (seven), Monovale Farm (five), Henley Park (four), and Mapperley Stud (four) ensure an international flavor is maintained at the Inglis Premier sale.
“In the last five years the investment by broodmare owners here in Victoria has increased year on year, and with the quality of stock that breeders are producing, it’s given others the confidence to invest and have their mares here in Victoria, whether that’s investing in a property or housing their mares at various farms in the state,” Price said.
“That’s translated into the female pedigrees in the catalog getting better and better. Breeders can bring a yearling to the Premier sale and not be concerned that the sale has a ceiling on what they can make. For a number of years, we’ve seen horses push beyond the million-dollar barrier. So, breeders can come with confidence, knowing that Inglis will get the buyers here if they support the sale.
“The interstate presence is very important to the sale, particularly for the diversity of the sale in terms of what they bring from their stallion ranks. Arrowfield have a number of horses spread throughout the catalog, but you’ve also got the likes of Newhaven, which is bringing a very strong draft, B2B Thoroughbreds, who have made the sale a focus, while there are farms from New South Wales who have been consigning at Premier for a number of years in Yarraman Park, Vinery, Bhima, and Segenhoe. Twin Hills have made it a sale that’s a must-attend.
“We see (interstate) farms who have consigned with us in recent years but do not have a draft in 2023, and probably the main factor is a shortage of staff. For these farms to have representation at all the sales, it pulls the rubber band a little bit too far sometimes. When they’re selling with Inglis, we have a number of sales to offer them, and they may choose to sell what they may have brought to Melbourne at the Classic sale in Sydney.”
The Inglis Premier Sale will not be without its perceived challenges in 2023, as the mooted downturn in the global economic landscape is considered, while on a more micro level several Victorian farms have been ravaged by the devastation of floods in recent months. Among those farms are Yulong and Noorilim, the latter having again engaged a large draft of 29 yearlings.
The auction will also have to contend with the repositioning of the New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Yearling Sale, which is to be reinstated to its traditional January/February date, having been forced back to March, and after Melbourne’s flagship thoroughbred sale, in 2022.
“If we look to next year, I don’t see any reason to have too much caution with how the market will be,” Price said. “The prize money levels are extraordinary across all states, so I think buyers can come to the sale and buy a product that will give them a return in the racetrack. I tend to think the economy, while there may be a degree of caution around next year, won’t be too changed to what we saw this year, when there was tremendous confidence at every level of the market.
“Floods never come at a good time, however, if we’re talking about a Premier preparation, most of the horses will come in to begin their preparations in January. So, the farms will be going through their clean-up processes now and will be ready to crack on in 2023.
Price added: “As for the New Zealand sale, don’t think there’ll be an impact with it going back to its original slot. What I think buyers really need to appreciate is that in the 2023 catalog, this sale will have an incredibly diverse stallion representation. They’ll be able to turn up and find a yearling that meets their criteria.
“You can come to this sale and buy the world’s best sprinter, you can buy the world’s best miler, middle distance, and Derby horses. And, if we’re talking about buyers spending in New Zealand, well, they can come and buy the 50-plus New Zealand-bred horses that will be in the Premier catalog.”
The catalog is also one of the most diverse to have been offered at Oaklands Junction, with 133 individual stallions represented, among them 24 first-season sires.
High-profile Darley stallion Blue Point , who shuttles to its Victoria base at Northwood Park, is the most represented first-season sire with 25 yearlings. They include a filly offered by Flinders Park out of Humma Mumma, dam of stakes winners Tycoon Humma and Humma Humma, and a son of group 2 winner Gypsy Diamond offered by Yulong.
Blue Point is joined by fellow Darley first-season sires Too Darn Hot , with six lots, and Microphone, with three lots, while Swettenham Stud’s I Am Immortal, has eight lots, Leneva Park’s Royal Meeting ,10 lots, and Rosemont Stud’s Strasbourg, nine lots, are well represented from Victorian studs.
Aquis Farm stallion Pierata has 17 lots entered, while Bowness Stud has four of the six lots entered by the Young-based stud’s sire D’Argento. Castelvecchio, six lots, Brutal, eight lots, Cosmic Force, four lots, and Exceedance, with 15 lots, are also represented.
The catalog’s most represented sire is Swettenham Stud’s Toronado , who, among his 32 lots cataloged, has a colt out of listed winner Very Discreet as well as a colt out of a half sister to group 3 winner Testa Shadow.
Buyers will also have the chance to come away with progeny by leading sires I Am Invincible , with10 lots, Yulong’s Written Tycoon , 23 lots, Snitzel , seven lots, and Zoustar , 12 lots.
The sale also features an international element to its sire list, with lots on offer by Lope de Vega , Night of Thunder , and Camelot .
“The first-season sires always capture buyers’ imaginations,” Price said. “They love coming to see what stock they’re producing. There’s the likes of Alabama Express, I Am Immortal, Microphone, Brutal, Pierata, Castelvecchio, Zousain, Yes Yes Yes (AUS), and Exceedance, but then there are international greats such as Blue Point, Royal Meeting , who stand here in Victoria, as well as Too Darn Hot.
“If we go back 10 years, you wouldn’t think the Premier Sale would be prestigious enough to sell a yearling by international superstars such as Lope de Vega, Night of Thunder, or Camelot, but it’s wonderful that breeders have chosen to sell yearlings by these stallions at Premier and it just adds a lovely flavor to the stallion list.
Santa Ana Lane wins the 2019 T.J. Smith Stakes at Sydney
“A horse like Santa Ana Lane, who is by Lope de Vega, came out of this sale, so it adds to a wonderful mix of what will be a very diverse catalog in 2023.”
For the full catalog, click here.
