A combination of two expert judges of fillies by Zoustar, a powerful cross, and the buying power of Ozzie Kheir combined to produce the top lot on a particularly strong first day of trading at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale at Oaklands March 1.
Lot 238, the second foal out of AU$1.2 million earner Nudge from progressive Victorian breeders Two Bays Farm, was knocked down to Chris Waller and his main bloodstock agent Guy Mulcaster, in concert with Kheir and his regular partner Group 1 Bloodstock, for AU$850,000 (US$604,860, AU$1=US$0.71).
The filly was the stand-out lot ahead of an AU$520,000 Ghaiyyath colt and an AU$410,000 son of Toronado on a day when a strong middle market pushed metrics markedly up on last year's Premier auction, continuing strong momentum from the Australasian yearling sale season so far.
On Sunday evening, the sale's average stood at AU$157,784 (US$112,279), up 7.89% from AU$146,240 at the same stage last year, with the median up by AU$30,000 to AU$130,000 (US$92,508), a massive 30% increase.
With a clearance rate up six points to 77%, the gross was up from AU$26.17 million to AU$30.61 million (US$21,782,076), with only 16 more lots sold (194 from 179).
Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch was delighted with how the day transpired, with the quality of stock on offer and how it was taken up, particularly at a time when "the market is not easy" and buyers are "very discerning."
"In advance of the sale, we thought we had a good catalog and good buyer engagement, and with even luck we should be able to run a good sale, and that's the way it's played out," Hutch told reporters.
"The clearance is up five points on last year, the median is up AU$30,000; I don't think I've ever been involved in a sale where the median is up a third year-on-year. The average is up, which is a good effort given the clearance is up significantly, and it felt like a strong sale.
"On balance, the majority of horses sold and sold well, and that was very pleasing."
Hutch added, "The median tells you there was tremendous strength in the middle part of the market.
"For the median to go from AU$100,000 to AU$130,000 on the equivalent day 12 months ago, that's very rare. Whether that can hold true through tomorrow, I don't know—I expect as the clearance goes up, that will taper off.
"But we're starting Day 2 from a far stronger position than what we started Day 2 on 12 months ago. And we felt pretty good at the end of day one last year."
The Zoustar-Nudge filly, sold after a tense bidding duel involving several bidders on site and online, is the highest-priced yearling so far for the Mornington Peninsula's Two Bays Farm, and represents tried and true pathways in many respects.
Zoustar over Fastnet Rock counts as probably the reigning champion sire's finest nick. While others have a stronger stakes winners-to-runners ratio than this one's 12%, it has yielded eight black type victors, including three at the group 1 level, to be the Widden stallion's only nick with multiple elite-level winners.
Two of those top-level stars are females trained by Waller—three-time group 1 winners Joliestar and Zougotcha—the latter of whom was bought by Waller and Mulcaster at Inglis Easter for AU$500,000. The third such winner is Robert Sangster Stakes queen Climbing Star.
Group 1 Bloodstock's Mat Becker said he and Kheir knew just who to contact when they were drawn to the Zoustar-Nudge filly at Oaklands last week.
"We identified her and thought there's no better judge of a Zoustar filly than Guy and Chris," Becker said. "We reached out to see if they wanted to do something, and they loved her as much as we did. They really wanted to buy her. We were thrilled to put our team together with theirs. Hopefully, she's the next Zoustar filly star in their stable.
"Chris also trained the mother, so they know the family. It's a great cross, Zoustar over Fastnet Rock mares. It's the right nicks. It gave us a lot more confidence when Guy and Chris came, and they loved her as well. She would not have been out of place at Easter with the best fillies."
Waller trained Nudge to four wins from 1,400 meters (about 7 furlongs) to 1,700 meters (about 8 1/2 furlongs), highlighted by victories in a Brisbane group 3 and Eagle Farm's Magic Millions National Classic. She was raced by a syndicate headed by the late Winx part-owner Richard Treweeke, whose children Elizabeth and Rick now share ownership of the broodmare with Two Bays Farm's Ross Ferris.
Sunday's second top yearling was Lot 19, a son of surging Darley sire Ghaiyyath sold by Stonehouse Thoroughbreds to Lindsay Park for AU$520,000. The colt is a half brother to VRC Derby (G1) winner Extra Brut.
