Siblings to Switzerland and Growing Empire, half siblings to group 1 winners Sunshine In Paris, El Castello, and Autumn Angel, and progeny out of top-level winning mares such as Arcadia Queen and Hungry Heart are among the many highlights of a streamlined Inglis Easter 2025 catalog.
Wootton Bassett,Too Darn Hot, Extreme Choice, and The Autumn Sun are among the rising sires sure to be in hot demand at the sale, along with long-established heavy-hitters including Zoustar, I Am Invincible, Snitzel, and Written Tycoon.
International sires including Frankel , Gun Runner , Justify , and Siyouni will also be represented in the auction at Sydney's Riverside complex April 6 and 7.
The catalog is considerably smaller than last year's book of 500, and significantly tighter than the past several years, with 421 lots cataloged.
While Australia's foal crop for 2023—from which this year's yearlings spring—was the lowest it has been in the past five years and 5.7% down on 2022, and though the country's wait continues for the next generation of stallions to emphatically cement themselves, Sebastian Hutch said the slimmer catalog merely reflects an accent on quality over quantity.
The Inglis bloodstock CEO said the level of mares represented had not been bettered at an Australasian sale in the recent past.
"The strength of the mares in the catalog, as proven producers or as race-mares, is as strong as I can ever remember it," Hutch told ANZ Bloodstock News.
"Ultimately, when people get the catalog and turn page by page, I think they're going to be very excited by what they see.
"After last year, we felt 500 lots was a bigger number than what we felt was ideal. It's not about filling a book; we're not trying to just fill boxes. We want to find horses who are suitable for the sale. There's no intention to try to pad out the catalog with what people might feel to be inferior horses.
First-season sires at the sale are headed by Home Affairs, whose filly out of Sunlight topped this month's Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale at $3.2 million. Home Affairs has 28 Easter lots, including his stud Coolmore's colt first foal of two-time group 1-winner Shout The Bar (Lot 158), and Cressfield's colt out of group 1-winner Secret Agenda (Lot 146).
American siring-sensation Gun Runner has two yearlings on offer including Emirates Park's filly out of Sweet Embrace Stakes (G2) winner One More Honey (Lot 92), while Bhima Thoroughbreds offers the exotic sole lot by Japanese former champion Kitasan Black (Lot 169), a filly out of Japanese mare Skirt Fuwari.
Sledmere will offer the only lot by former Coolmore-shuttler Justify, a filly out of a winning U.S.-bred mare Sahara Breeze (Lot 134), while French sensation Siyouni's sole lot, from Alma Vale Thoroughbreds, is from a 2-year-old winning half sister to German group 1-victor Danceteria (Lot 129).
The wash-up from the bellwether Magic Millions sale earlier this month focused on its softer low-to-middle market. Many saw that as a reflection of a tough time for breeders, which was acutely felt in the 2024 season. Most experts, however, expect Easter to be impervious to any (downturn), with its age-old reputation for quality.
