Exceed foal leads way in buyers' market

9 min read
An Exceed And Excel colt led the way on the first day of the Inglis Australian Weanling Sale, with buyers in the ascendancy in a challenging market and a familiar face in the syndication space making a splash as a pinhooker.

Cover image courtesy of Inglis

At A Glance

>> The clearance rate finished Day 1 on 70 per cent, down from 85 per cent for the same Sale last year

>> The Sale average dropped only slightly on last year, reaching $33,748, compared to $36,088

>> The median of $20,000 was up on last year, when it was $18,000

>> The top lot, an Exceed And Excel colt, went to Port Stephens-based Bruce McKenzie, bidding online

>> Scott Darby, of Darby Racing, launched his DR Pinhook enterprise with two purchases totalling $176,000

>> Middlebrook Valley Lodge enjoyed a terrific first day, with $726,500 in sales, including the top lot

>> Agent Andrew Williams, bidding on behalf of New Zealand outfit Spyglass, spent $288,000 across three lots

>> Jazcom Thoroughbreds, fresh from a terrific pinhook result earlier this week, purchased 12 foals

Mackenzie extends for Exceed

Bruce MacKenzie was the successful bidder on the day's top lot, going to $260,000 for Lot 174, a colt from Middlebrook Valley Lodge by Darley's Exceed And Excel.

Mackenzie, whose horses carry the 'Oakfield' name of the family farm near Newcastle, was bidding from home and was happy enough with the reports he was given to bid with confidence.

Lot 174 - Exceed And Excel x Count Your Money (colt)

"I had multiple people look at the horse who I trust," he said. "He could be the nicest colt at the sale. I had a guy there for two days looking around, at end of the day had 4-5 picked out but said this was the one."

Mackenzie said the horse would go back to the family property and would be trained by either Kristen Buchanan or Damien Lane.

"We’ll break him in and educate him here. He’ll be here tomorrow," he said.

The bay or brown colt is the first foal from the unraced Pierro mare Count Your Money, the half-sister to G1 Railway S. winner Good Project (Not A Single Doubt), Listed winner World Airlines (Umatilla {NZ}) and Listed placegetter Alicarte (Umatilla {NZ}).

Count Your Money herself was a $150,000 weanling purchase through this sale five years ago and this colt's breeder Kate Gadsby bought her through the 2016 Magic Millions National Yearling Sale for $50,000.

“I’ve said all along, this is the sale to come to," Middlebrook Valley's Verna Metcalfe said. "It’s the first weanling sale, bring them here, the good colts sell well.

"This is an awesome result all round, and an awesome result for a long-time client in Kate Gadsby. It’s good for her to get a good result as she’s had a lot of bad luck lately.

"This is an awesome result all round, and an awesome result for a long-time client in Kate Gadsby." - Verna Metcalfe

"I thought the colt would make his $200,000 because the Exceed And Excels are hard to get. He’s a lovely colt, the first foal out of the mare. He was a good colt form the day he was born, just a good, straight forward, easy-to-rare colt."

Darby enters pinhook game with So You Think colt

Darby Racing has a reputation for winning Group 1 races as syndicators, notably with cheap purchases such as Golden Slipper S. winner She Will Reign (Manhattan Rain) and Sires' Produce S., and Spring Champion S. winner Yankee Rose (All American), but Scott Darby has entered the pinhook game, through DR Pinhook, which purchased two lots on Day 1 of the Sale.

It paid the day's second highest price, $150,000, for Lot 204, a colt by So You Think (NZ) out of Feirin (Fastnet Rock) from the draft of Twin Hills Stud.

Lot 204 - So You Think (NZ) x Feirin (colt) | Image courtesy of Inglis

"He was one of the best looking, if not the best looking horse at Riverside, and we saw most of the weanlings there," Darby said.

"He’s well-built, well made, the cross is phenomenal. We just thought he was the top pick of the whole sale for us."

"He’s well-built, well made, the cross is phenomenal. We just thought he was the top pick of the whole sale for us." - Scott Darby

The So You Think-Fastnet Rock nick has produced six winners, including the recent city winner Splendoronthegrass. The dam, Feirin, is from a top racemare in America, Randaroo (USA) (Gold Case {USA}), who was a multiple graded winner and Grade 1 placed.

But neither this colt, or Lot 116, the Sooboog colt DR Pinhook paid $26,000 for on Wednesday, are likely to be running around in the Darby Racing colours, with their most likely destination a yearling sale next year as part of a change in focus for the company.

Lot 116 - Sooboog x Anadyomene (colt)

"2020 for Darby Racing is about expansion. We’re expanding the business from syndication to also include pinhooking – yearlings into 2-year-olds and weanlings into yearlings. We’re looking for quality horses that we think will sell well at the major sales next year," he said.

"We’re looking to use our knowledge and success we’ve had with yearlings that have turned into early-running 2-year-olds and using that same formula for the pinhooking side of things. This is the first time we’re fair dinkum really into it. We hope to pick a few up at this sale and then get them into the right sales next year as yearlings."

Twin Hills Stud's Olly Tait was very much pleased with the result for the So You Think colt.

Olly Tait

"We're very pleased. $150,000 is a lot of money. He was a lovely horse, he did everything right. He’s by a really good sire and he’s got a nice pedigree. His attitude and athleticism, he sold himself really. We didn’t have to do much," he said.

"He had a lot of inspections from the moment we started so we were confident he’d sell well. All in all this is a very good result and I’d say a resilient market, given the current circumstances."

Hellbent on making a mark

Expectation was strong for the first ever foal by Yarraman Park's Group 1-winning sprinter Hellbent to go through the ring and Lot 50, a colt from Segenhoe Stud, didn’t disappoint, fetching $140,000.

He was always destined to be highly sought after, being out of the multiple stakes-winner Sister Madly (Redoute's Choice), who has already produced three winners, including the $1.2 million yearling Ready Fire Aim (Sepoy).

Sister Madly is a half-sister to Hong Kong Champion sprinter Silent Witness (El Moxie {USA}) from the family of Group 2 winner Empress Rock (Fastnet Rock).

Agent Andrew Williams was bidding on behalf of Spyglass, who also picked up another Hellbent colt, Lot 177, for $43,000 from the draft of Davali Thoroughbreds, and Lot 123, a colt by Pariah, for $105,000.

“It’s a big old syndicate of New Zealanders and bits and bobs, so it’s a bit of fun trying to buy a few horses in this market. I don’t really know what’s going to happen but it’s just good to buy nice horses," Williams said of Spyglass.

“It’s a big old syndicate of New Zealanders and bits and bobs, so it’s a bit of fun trying to buy a few horses in this market. I don’t really know what’s going to happen but it’s just good to buy nice horses." - Andrew Williams

“We saw him (Lot 50) on the farm at Segenhoe initially and he made the second list to go back and have a look at him at the complex and he really caught our eye. He’s a sharp looking horse, moderate size, good action. I really like these Hellbents. They are great-shaped horses and I’m really quite excited by him.

“I thought Yarraman did a fantastic marketing play on him by going to the farms with Matt Scown and he really caught my attention."

Segenhoe Stud’s Brian Clarke said the Hellbent colt shaped as an excellent prospect.

“He’s really nice with a great shape, precocious, a real 2-year-old sprinting type," he said.

“We were really happy with the price we got and good luck to those who purchased him. He was very popular with parades, so we were pretty confident he’d sell well but that was definitely above our expectations, so we’re delighted.”

Arrowfield Stud's Pariah got his first six-figure weanling when Spyglass paid $105,000 for the colt out of Astrophysical Jet (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) offered by Newgate.

Pariah | Standing at Arrowfield Stud

The colt got a nice recent pedigree update when his dam's half-sister Know It All (GB) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) won a Group 3 in Ireland and the momentum helped him get past the $100,000 mark.

Astrophysical Jet was a multiple stakes winner herself and another half-sister Coral Wave (GB) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) was also a Group 3 winner in Ireland. The extended family includes Australian Group 1 winner My Kingdom Of Fife (GB) (Kingmambo {USA}) and the G1 Coronation Cup winner Ask (GB) (Sadler's Wells {USA}).

SYT colt another great result for Middlebrook Valley

Gall Bloodstock won the battle for Lot 120, a So You Think (NZ) colt from Middlebrook Valley Lodge, paying $130,000.

The colt is the first foal from Aquamosa (NZ), a stakes-placed daughter of Alamosa (NZ) from the family of Big Maverick (NZ) (O'Reilly {NZ}) as well as American stakes winners Pachattack (USA) (Pulpit {USA}), Liquid Amber (USA) (Kitten's Joy {USA}) and La Mina (USA) (Mineshaft {USA}).

The colt's breeders had purchased Aquamosa in foal to So You Think for $87,500 at the Inglis Great Southern Sale last year and sold her, to Gall Bloodstock as it happens, for $180,000 in foal to Merchant Navy in May.

Lot 120 - So You Think (NZ) x Aquamosa (NZ) (colt) | Image courtesy of Inglis

That result, plus the top-priced Exceed And Excel colt, helped Middlebrook Valley Lodge to become the top vendor of the day, selling 11 foals for $726,500, an average of just over $66,000.

Exceed And Excel also had the equal top filly of the day, with Lot 218 out of Go Daisy (Show A Heart), headed to Pinhook Bloodstock from the draft of Sledmere Stud for $100,000, the same price that Suman Hedge/Grant Bloodstock paid for Lot 238, a filly by Deep Field out of Iceland Turf Belle (Duporth) offered by Edinburgh Park Stud.

Exceed And Excel leads the sale averages on $180,000, while So You Think led aggregates with $420,000 across four foals.

Top lots

174Exceed And ExcelCount Your MoneyColtMiddlebrook Valley Lodge, SconeB MacKenzie NSW$260,000
204So You Think (NZ)FeirinColtTwin Hills Stud, CootamundraD R Pinhook NSW$150,000
50HellbentSister MadlyColtSegenhoe Stud Australia Pty Ltd, SconeSpyglass NSW$140,000
120So You Think (NZ)Aquamosa (NZ)ColtMiddlebrook Valley Lodge, SconeGall Bloodstock Pty Ltd NSW$130,000
205CapitalistFinallyColtNoogee Park, SconeMitchell Bloodstock NSW$110,000
81Deep FieldTouch of GreatnessColtFairhill Farm, MulbringBinalong Bloodstock NSW$105,000
123PariahAstrophysical Jet (GB)ColtNewgate Consignment, AberdeenSpyglass NZ$105,000
18PierroRaunchy RockerColtNewgate Consignment, AberdeenJames Bester Bloodstock NSW$100,000
47All Too HardSherbet BombColtMiddlebrook Valley Lodge, SconeE Wong HONG KONG$100,000
131Merchant NavyBodhi BlueColtErinvale Thoroughbreds, Buckley, VicBinalong Bloodstock NSW$100,000

Top buyers

B MacKenzieNSW2$335,000$167,500$260,000$167,500
James Bester BloodstockNSW4$282,000$70,500$100,000$70,000
Binalong BloodstockNSW3$265,000$88,333$105,000$100,000
Jazcom Thoroughbreds Pty LtdNSW12$177,000$14,750$40,000$11,500
D R PinhookNSW2$176,000$88,000$150,000$88,000
BBT Breeding and Racing Pty LtdNSW4$163,000$40,750$60,000$37,500
Gall Bloodstock Pty LtdNSW2$150,000$75,000$130,000$75,000
SpyglassNSW1$140,000$140,000$140,000$140,000
Mitchell BloodstockNSW2$134,000$67,000$110,000$67,000
SpyglassNZ1$105,000$105,000$105,000$140,000

Top vendors by aggregate

Middlebrook Valley Lodge, Scone11$726,500$66,045$260,000$37,500
Fairhill Farm, Mulbring16$573,000$35,812$105,000$30,000
Coolmore Stud, Jerrys Plains14$461,000$32,929$90,000$29,000
Segenhoe Stud Australia Pty Ltd, Scone10$377,000$37,700$140,000$24,500
Newgate Consignment, Aberdeen10$306,000$30,600$105,000$15,500
Sledmere Stud, Scone5$229,000$45,800$100,000$20,000
Kingstar Farm, Denman7$191,500$27,357$65,000$20,000
Twin Hills Stud, Cootamundra7$189,500$27,071$150,000$8,000
Tyreel Stud, Agnes Banks6$184,000$30,667$65,000$25,000
Aquis Farm Operations, Murrurundi7$182,000$26,000$90,000$22,000

Top vendors by average (3 or more)

Middlebrook Valley Lodge, Scone11$66,045$726,500$260,000$37,500
Erinvale Thoroughbreds, Buckley, Vic3$48,333$145,000$100,000$30,000
Sledmere Stud, Scone5$45,800$229,000$100,000$20,000
Noogee Park, Scone3$41,667$125,000$110,000$8,000
Segenhoe Stud Australia Pty Ltd, Scone10$37,700$377,000$140,000$24,500
Fairhill Farm, Mulbring16$35,812$573,000$105,000$30,000
Coolmore Stud, Jerrys Plains14$32,929$461,000$90,000$29,000
Toolooganvale Farm, Scone4$32,000$128,000$62,000$31,750
Tyreel Stud, Agnes Banks6$30,667$184,000$65,000$25,000
Newgate Consignment, Aberdeen10$30,600$306,000$105,000$15,500

Top sires by aggregate

So You Think (NZ)4$420,000$105,000$150,000$102,500
Deep Field8$407,000$50,875$105,000$41,000
Exceed And Excel2$360,000$180,000$260,000$180,000
Rubick9$202,500$22,500$37,500$20,000
Capitalist4$191,000$47,750$110,000$37,500
Hellbent2$183,000$91,500$140,000$91,500
Pierro2$180,000$90,000$100,000$90,000
Invader6$173,000$28,833$75,000$23,500
Merchant Navy3$169,000$56,333$100,000$50,000
Churchill (Ire)4$162,000$40,500$90,000$35,000

Top sires by average (3 or more)

So You Think (NZ)4$105,000$420,000$150,000$102,500
Merchant Navy3$56,333$169,000$100,000$50,000
Deep Field8$50,875$407,000$105,000$41,000
Capitalist4$47,750$191,000$110,000$37,500
Russian Revolution3$41,667$125,000$80,000$25,000
Churchill (Ire)4$40,500$162,000$90,000$35,000
Pariah4$36,500$146,000$105,000$18,000
Pride of Dubai5$30,000$150,000$45,000$30,000
Invader6$28,833$173,000$75,000$23,500
Sebring3$26,333$79,000$40,000$21,000