Sliders Tops Inglis Digital Australia January Sale

The Inglis Digital Australia January Sale was topped Jan. 21 by well-related Street Boss mare Sliders—with an I Am Invincible (AUS) colt foal at foot—who sold for AU$400,000 (US$272,000, AU$1=US$0.68). Offered by Coolmore on behalf of a client, Sliders sold to a delighted Ben Kwok, who has dreams of a visit to Darley stallion Too Darn Hot (GB) with the mare. "I'm hoping he returns to Australia this year and I can get her to him but if not, I'll find another good stallion,'' Kwok said. "She will stay in Australia anyway and I'll probably retain the colt to race.'' Coolmore's Brian McGuire was pleased with Wednesday's outcome. "Sliders is from an outstanding family and her I Am Invincible colt foal is a lovely type so she deserved to make that sort of money," McGuire said. The sale's second-top lot was the 3-year-old Portofino (AUS) (I Am Invincible), who was offered by Newgate Farm and sold for AU$105,000. Portofino sold to Tamworth-based Luke Berger—a former trainer who now runs an ownership management groups enterprise—who will send his new purchase to Mudgee-based trainer Mack Griffith. "He fits our model, we look for well-bred horses with good form and then we place them with trainers with high strike rates and put them in a weaker jurisdiction,'' Berger said. The Inglis Digital January Sale grossed AU$3,391,400 (US$2,306,152).