Champion Australian sire I Am Invincible topped Day 2 of the Inglis Australian Weanling Sale with his filly from Noor Sahara knocked down for AU$400,000 (US$289,434; AU$1=US$0.72) to Peter Twomey's Wattle Bloodstock as agent for an Asian-based buyer.
"She was our No. 1 pick of the entire sale, so we're really happy and somewhat relieved to get her," Twomey said not long after Lot 424 left the sale ring after attracting bids from around the arena May 6.
"We bought the filly for a client of mine who races horses in England, New Zealand, and Australia.
"He has a global view on things, and she represents a quality European family, and we're obviously mindful of what a good stallion I Am Invincible is, so we were really keen to get her."
Her dam Noor Sahara won the 2019 Prix de Pontarme at ParisLongchamp, and her second dam By Invitation is a half sister to the dam of 2011 European champion sprinter Dream Ahead.
"The client was here for the Easter Sale, and we were able to buy one Frankel filly, but we missed out on a lot of others, so the aim for me coming to the Inglis Weanling Sale was to find an Easter-quality horse to race," Twomey added.
"We were also beaten on the Frankel colt from Awhile yesterday, and this one will stay in Australia to race. She will head to Twin Hills now, and Chris Kent and Ollie Tait will look after her. They're at Cootamundra, and I'm just down the road in Wagga, so I can keep a close eye on her.
"More than likely, she will go to a trainer in Sydney, where the client has a few horses racing already. It's very nice to add this filly to the Frankel filly from the Easter Sale.''
A Shinzo colt from My Xanadu (Lot 412) also made AU$400,000 to share top billing on the second-session leaderboard.
He's the first foal out of a winning half sister to 2022 Oaklands Plate winner He's Heaven, and second dam Lights Of Heaven won the 2011 Australasian Oaks (G1).
Shinzo had been represented by another popular foal earlier Wednesday when the Newgate Consignment colt out of United States stakes winner Miss Alacrity (by Munnings ) (Lot 383) changed hands for AU$325,000 when sold to Tasman Bloodstock.
"The appetite for Shinzo has been obvious this week. And there was no better foal by him on the ground at home," Coolmore Stud's Tom Moore said of Lot 412.
Sale Metrics
Inglis reported across-the-board records for gross, average, and median at the two-day Australian Weanling sale.
There were year-on-year increases on lots sold for both AU$100,000-plus (58) and AU$200,000-plus (21), while the average of AU$66,547 (US$48,153) and median of AU$40,000 (US$28,944) were both sale records and up 2% and 33%, respectively, year-on-year.
The current gross of AU$19,498,250 (US$14,108,719) is also a record for the Australian Weanling Sale.
Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch was thrilled with how the sale had played out over the past two days.
"As a team, we have worked incredibly hard over the past five years, especially, to ensure new life was breathed into this sale, and to see it perform the way that it has over the past two days is extremely satisfying, especially considering we offered 85 less weanlings than last year,'' Hutch said.
The Inglis Breeding Stock Sales Series reaches a crescendo May 7 with the Inglis Chairman's Sale, where 115 lots are cataloged for what is set to be another memorable night of selling.
