The Inglis Easter Yearling Sale was a huge success and once again highlighted just how strong our industry is at present. The international interest has probably never been at a higher level and the domestic demand remains strong which is very positive.

The yearling sales across the board this year have been very competitive and I am pleased to have I filled my orders before the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale. To achieve an average of over $350,000 was better than I had expected and a big boost for the Inglis team as they prepare for the move to their new $125,000,000 sales complex at Warwick Farm. I wish them all the best and the move from Newmarket with the famous complex simply not being able to cater for the size of the sales the company wishes to conduct in future. The Warwick Farm racing precinct is about to get a massive boost and makeover and the ATC has really got four outstanding facilities under its care with Randwick, Rosehill, Canterbury and Warwick Farm all very viable and diverse businesses.

The meeting on Saturday at Randwick once again showcased Winx’s amazing talent. She is the biggest drawcard in Australian racing at present and is rightly being compared with the best we have seen in this country. She makes very good horses look like hacks. Congratulations to Chris Waller and the owners for the way they have allowed the public to become part of the Winx story. To be a part of a champion horse’s career is a privilege that we all aspire to. Every time I purchase a yearling I do so in the hope he or she will develop into something special.

HINCHINBROOK AND I AM INVINCIBLE

The results on Saturday once again highlighted just what a great job these two young sires are doing not only for Yarraman Park but also our industry. The colonially bred sires really do the job for us in this country and whether it is a good thing or not we are about to be bombarded with more new sires on the market than I can ever remember. Many are still only three year olds and it will be a tricky job sorting them out. Let’s get back to Hinchinbrook and I Am Invincible.

Over the weekend, Hinchinbook sired another Group winner with Derryn getting up at Randwick and I Am Invincible had a nice two year old winner at Caulfield. Hinchinbrook is now leading 3rd Season Sire with his highest stakes earner for the season being Flying Jess with $1,218,100. He was Australia’s Leading First and Second Season Sire in the previous two seasons so his position at the head of the third season only further enhances his position as ‘the real deal’.

I Am Invincible has done a wonderful job at stud with his progeny well out of the reach of most people now. He sits in 4th place on the General Sire’s List and had a similar profile to Hinchinbrook as he moved through his first three years at stud. The Yarraman Park team have done a very professional job promoting these two horses and it will be interesting to see which stallion next joins their roster. They are in the fortunate position to be able to wait for the right horse to come along. The stud really started an upward spiral when it stood Catbird and has been on a steep curve since then. Magic Albert was a great horse for them with his daughters and alsoCatbird’s combining well with I Am Invincible and Hinchinbrook.

I am quite proud of the fact I syndicated the first I Am Invincible and Hinchinbrook progeny offered by a syndicator in their first year at stud offering weanlings by both these sires. We have learned a lot about both sires since and I am looking forward to watching both further consolidate themselves as prominent sires in Australia. Wehave plenty of both on our books.

I am a great believer in working hard to identify which of the first season sires is most likely to make the grade and supporting them in the sales ring. After all about 30% of the mares bred in Australia in any season go to the freshmen. Many of these mares particularly at the more commercial studs are amongst the best mares they own or manage.

It was no fluke we got it right with Smart Missile who followed on from I Am Invincible (2013/14) and Hinchinbrook (2014/15) in 2015/16 as Champion First Season Sire in Australia. I purchased three fillies by Smart Missile in his first year and I am happy with each of them.

This year I am very bullish about the prospects of Epaulette and Sizzling and I have purchased yearlings by these two good young horses. The mail out of Europe on Epaulette where he shuttles to is outstanding. He is a stunning individual by Commands.

It never ceases to amaze me when so many of the ‘good judges’ sit back and wait for it to happen before jumping in and supporting a horse. Over the year’s we supported the likes of Snitzel, Fastnet Rock Al Maher, Flying Spur and More Than Ready in their first year purchasing yearlings at the sales that went on to do the job for us on the track. I’m certain Smart Missile will be a success as the trainer’s learn how to train them. It is amazing that he has had 11 stakes horses in his 55 winners. This is very good.

NICE PEDIGREE UPDATE

When Debellatio ran third in the Group 2 Karrakatta Plate at Ascot on it meant a lot to the owners of Strike For Victory, Honolulu Lass and the Smart Missile filly I am syndicating out of Devoirs. Debellatio is out of Velasco, the dam of Honolulu Lass. Debellatio is also a 1⁄2 brother to Reve de Victoire and Devoirs, the dams of Strike For Victory and our Smart Missile filly. I believe he is set to run in the WA Sire’s Produce Stakes on Good Friday.

This is a great running family with some terrific fillies at the top of the page that will be properly bred which augurs well for the future of the family. It pays to understand how a mare and her close relatives are being bred because it makes a huge difference going forward. Look at these matings. Velasco is in foal to Hinchinbrook. Devoirs is in foal to I Am Invincible. Reve de Victoire is in foal to So You Think.

Epaulette / Pozitave filly 2015

10% shares $23,500.00 5% shares $11,750.00 - John Moloney – Caulfield

The photo of this filly tells a great story. She is a wonderful looking filly, very athletic and with great balance and poise. After I did my inspections at the Inglis Classic Sale I was determined to purchase this filly. To my eye she was faultless and she vetted out without any issues. The fact her x-rays were inspected 15 times is testament to just how good a type of filly she is.

I must say I love buying bay horses that are rich in colour and this filly is about as perfect as you would get in this regard. Also she has a beautiful head. I’ve always regarded Awasita and Unabated as two of the most attractive looking mares I have purchased. This filly is right up there with them as a sort.

An obvious attraction to me with this filly is her close relationship to Flying Jess. This fillies dam Pozitave is by Zeditave out of Positive Flyer. Flying Jess is out of Matitess by Magic Albert by Zeditave out of Positive Flyer. Flying Jess by Hinchinbrook by Fastnet Rock by Danehill. This filly by Epaulette by Commands by Danehill.

I will include a photo of Flying Jess at a similar age and I’m sure you will be surprised just how much more attractive this filly is than flying jess was at the same age. It all reads very well to me. I’m absolutely thrilled to have secured her and can’t wait for her to get to the races. She will be paid up for BOBS and the Inglis Series Of Races.

I’ve really been impressed with the Epaulette’s progeny at this year’s sales and I am thrilled to have secured a filly by him. It doesn’t matter which way you look at Epaulette he is a high class horse. He was an excellent racehorse winning twice as a two year old, at the highest level as a three year old and again at the highest level as a four year old. His two Group 1 wins came in the ATC Golden Rose and BRC Doomben 10,000 which are backed up with a Group 3 win as a juvenile in the Canberra RC Black Opal Stakes, 2nds in the Group 1 ATC TJ Smith Stakes, Group 2 ATC Todman Stakes and 3rd in the Group 1 MRC Caulfield Guineas. He couldn’t have done much more on the track. He also has a superb pedigree on his dam’s side with his dam having four to race with all four Group 1 performers. Added to this he is by Commands who is a great levelling influence in a pedigree. In the main the foals by Commands have great attitudes with Under Command as good a natured horse as I have ever purchased.

This is Epaulette’s first crop of Australian yearlings. I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t make the grade. I’ve discussed at length the close relationship Pozitave has to the dam of Flying Jess and the similarity in the two pedigrees. Pozitave brings a lot to the table with her being by the outstanding sire Zeditave. Zeditave provided a wonderful outcross to the Australian breeding industry and as a sire produced some outstanding racehorses, both male and female.

Two of his sons Strategic and Magic Albert have gone on to be excellent sires in their own right and we now have a remarkable situation where Zeditave and these two outstanding sons of his are proving to be very effective broodmare sires.

Pozitave comes from a fast successful female line that could explode off the pedigree page over the next few years. Maritess the dam of Flying Jess has an outstanding colt by I Am Invincible on the ground at Yarraman Park and Pozitave is being bred in the ‘right’ direction.

The 3rd dam on the page was the high class Group 1 winning mare Dinky Flyer. Again I see this as a very posive influence with Dinky Flyer being by the great galloper Balmerino

Al Maher filly out of Miss Cutie 2015

$8,500 per 10% share (5% shares $4250) John Thompson to train at Royal Randwick

For a few years I have been on the lookout for a nice Al Maher filly and at last I found the one I was after. This filly is a beautiful walking filly and in many ways reminds me of the better Street Cry fillies I have inspected. She has good size and is well proportioned. She has an attractive head and is strong through the shoulder and hindquarter.

The one characteristic I really liked about this filly was her attitude. While she had a strong personality she was easy to handle and I observed her being inspected on several occasions to make sure she a good attitude. In my experience the progeny of Al Maher can be a bit ‘hot’.

I was keen on the progeny of Al Maher from day one and purchased two fillies out of his first crop. One of these was Unchain My Heart. She was a wonderful staying mare and won the Andrew Ramsden Stakes twice and also the Bagot Handicap. Like this filly Unchain My Heart came from a stout female line and wasn’t unlike this filly as a type.

Al Maher has been a really good sire with his progeny producing better than 10% stakes winners to winners. Only the best sires achieve this figure. His 32 stakes winners include some outstanding females including Delicacy, Majestic Music, Speedy, Natalie and of course Unchain My Heart.

Miss Cutie is by the Champion sire Street Cry and was a metropolitan winner and placed in Sydney as a two year old. This is only her second foal with the first being placed recently at Sandown. Miss Cutie comes from a very good female line that includes the high class Group 1 performers Defier and Traveston Girl. I also like the line of dams with Street Cry, Grand Lodge, Marscay and Salieri the dam sires of the first four dams. The 2nd dam is a half-sister to Defier who was a wonderful galloper winning three times at Group 1 level and in excess of $2.9 million.

All in all Miss Cutie presents as quite a complete package.

Smart Missile / Devoirs filly

Darren Weir 10% shares $14,900 5% shares $7,450

If there was one yearling I was always going to purchase at this sale it was this one. I know the family very well and have two fillies closely related to this impressive Smart Missile filly. The first is Strike For Victory who like this filly is by Smart Missile Australia’s Champion First Season Sire of 2015/16 season. Strike For Victory is probably the fastest two year old I have ever had. She has amazing talent but her attitude has let her down although this is improving. The second filly I have from the family is Honolulu Lass out of Devoirs dam Velasco. Patrick Payne trains her and has a big opinion of her. She should race in the next six weeks. A Smart Missile colt out of Velasco named Debellatio was an impressive winner WA recently and looks to have plenty of talent and is being aimed towards the Group 2 Karrakatta Plate.

Devoirs was a good racehorse and Stakes winner. I was offered her first foal Edge Away as a weanling but felt she was too small. She is a Sydney Metropolitan winner. This filly was reared at Yarraman Park whose reputation for rearing tough horses with good bone and a strong constitution has soared in recent years. I’ve written many times that it is more important where a foal is raised than who its parents are. This is certainly the case with Yarraman Park.

Progeny reared at Yarraman Park did a remarkable job during the recent Magic Millions Gold Coast Carnival where the highlight was the win by the Yarraman reared Houtzen. Other horses from the farm to perform well on the day were I Am Zelady which was 2nd in the $1 million Mares Race and Madeenaty 3rd in the Two Year Old race as well.

I have been a strong supporter of Smart Missile since I first inspected his yearlings and have three very nice three year old fillies by him that have raced with The Wasp and Strike For Victory being very impressive winners and Chastity Strikes being placed before needing a spell after contracting a virus. He was Champion first Season Sire in his year in Australia and s leading Second Season Sire as I write this.

I am thrilled to have this filly in our team and should thrive under Darren Weir’s training. The filly will be paid up for the rich Magic Millions Series and looks a real runner to me.

Note: This filly’s 3⁄4 brother Debellatio ran 3rd in the Karrakatta Plate at Ascot recently.

Sizzling /Dedication colt

Tony Gollan- 10% shares $8,500 5% shares $4,250

This is a cracking colt and he certainly attracted my attention at the sales where he was one of only two colts I had vetted. He is well grown and avery athletic. He has a wonderful attitude and is nice walking horse.

I love his pedigree and more than that I was instantly attracted to him when I inspected him. If you don’t like a horse when you first inspect it you should never buy it. In my opinion this colt was as good an individual as I inspected in the sale.

I really liked what I saw in a number of the progeny of Sizzling at this year’s sales. To me it is a no brainer that he will be a success at stud. He was a terrific racehorse and precocious two year old from the most dominant sire line in Australia for the past 20 years out of a ‘black type’ mare by one of the greatest sprinters of the modern generation in General Nediym.

Sizzling’s pedigree page is very strong with a host of very good horses down the page. In fact it couldn’t be any stronger with both the 2nd and 3rd dams being superior producers. I love the General Nediym (1st dam), Alzao stakes winner (2nd Dam) and Without Fear stakes producer (3rd dam) down the page. Eastate Label, the 3rd dam was a very high class producer also throwing the outstanding two year old filly Loving Cup.

I must say I had a bit to do with both sides of this pedigree with Sizzling’s sire Snitzel being out of Snippet’s Lass. Both General Nediym and Snippet’s Lass were trained by Bill Mitchell when I was his Racing Manager. They were both high class racehorses with Snippet’s Lass being one of the toughest mares I have had anything to do with.

Dedication is a young well related mare by a sire that has had a great impact in Australia through his daughters at stud and provides a perfect outcross to the many Danehill line sires we have standing in Australia. A close look at this female line displays plenty to be enthusiastic about.

Firstly, Singspiel has crossed beautifully with the sons of Danehill with the high class Australian Group 1 winners Helmet and Epaulette being amonst the thirty two Group winners his daughters have thrown.

Secondly, there are several examples of Danehill working in this pedigree headed by Alverta, the Group 1 winning daughter of Flying Spur, Group 3 winner Aerobics and stakes performers Violet Lane and star Mystic.