Classic Bigger, Better Than Ever

Before the first yearling even steps into the ring on Feb. 10, Inglis's 2018 Classic Yearling Sale can already lay claim to being the company's biggest sale ever; with 800 yearlings catalogued between Feb. 10 and 13, the Classic sale is Inglis's largest sale ever numerically, the company having taken full advantage of the extra space at its new Riverside Stables sales complex.

Whether it is better than ever, one will only know once selling gets underway, but all indications are that the Classic sale remains on the rise. Figures for the sale have risen each year since 2015 for numbers catalogued, average, median and gross, with the latter having grown a whopping 204% since 2013. The catalogue grew 28% during that time period, but nonetheless the average has risen 114% since 2013 and the median 112% since 2014.

While the numbers are still not large stacked up against the world's highest-grossing yearling sales-the average last year was A$71,342 and the median A$55,000-the quality to have emanated from the sale, especially at the middle market, has certainly been above average. The 2016 Classic sale produced last year's G1 Golden Slipper quinella in She Will Reign (Aus) (Manhattan Rain {Aus}) and Frolic (Aus) (Husson {Arg}), both bought for A$100,000 or less. Other recent Group 1-winning graduates of the sale bought in that same price bracket include Extreme Choice (Aus) (Not A Single Doubt {Aus}), I Am A Star (NZ) (I Am Invincible {Aus}), Under The Louvre (Aus) (Excellent Art {GB}) and Yankee Rose (Aus) (All American {Aus}).

The sale will once again kick off with the Gold Riband session beginning at 6 p.m. after the Inglis Race Day at Warwick Farm. The Gold Riband session, which debuted last year, is reserved for yearlings handpicked to be precocious, and Inglis offers a A$100,000 bonus split between the named vendor and breeder of the session's first stakes winner. For last year's sale, that bonus was collected last Saturday by Fiesta (Aus) (I Am Invincible {Aus}) in the G3 Widden S. Fiesta, now a Golden Slipper aspirant, was bought by Star Thoroughbreds and Chris Waller for A$150,000.

The Gold Riband session was deemed a success last year, its A$130,200 average far surpassing that achieved for the sale as a whole, and this year 59 yearlings will go under the hammer as part of the session. Those include a plethora by popular first-season sire Deep Field (Aus) (Northern Meteor {Aus}), the group-winning sprinter whose yearlings were tops by average among first-season sires with three or more sold at the Gold Coast at A$219,231. His Gold Riband yearlings include lot 62, the first foal out of stakes winner Scorpio Queen (Aus) (Choisir {Aus}) and lot 92, a colt out of a winning half-sister to stakes winner and Golden Slipper and Blue Diamond runner-up Zizou (Aus) (Fusaichi Pegasus). Other first-season sires represented in the Gold Riband include Brazen Beau (Aus), his haul including lot 76, the first foal out of Group 3 winner Written Dash (Aus) (Written Tycoon {Aus}); and Rubick (Aus), who is represented by a colt out of a half-sister to last year's G1 Hong Kong Sprint winner Mr Stunning (Aus) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) (lot 105). Others of note on pedigree in the Gold Riband include lot 88, an I Am Invincible colt out of Group 3 winner Camporella (Aus) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) and lot 70, a Snitzel (Aus) filly out of the stakes-placed Suzy Smart (Smart Strike).

Eight siblings to Group 1 winners are catalogued, including two by first-season sire Hallowed Crown (Aus): a half-sister to Brazen Beau (lot 30) and a half-brother to last year's G1 Victoria Derby winner Ace High (Aus) (High Chaparral {Ire}) (lot 329). Lot 353 is by Brazen Beau and is a half-sister to New Zealand champion 2-year-old filly Ruud Awakening (Aus) (Bernardini). Another first-season sire with two Group 1 siblings going for him is Deep Field's Newgate barnmate Dissident (Aus), with a half-sister to Japonisme (Aus) (Choisir {Aus}) (lot 425) and a half-brother to Amanpour (Aus) (Northern Meteor {Aus}) (lot 552).

Shuttler Olympic Glory (Ire) has also made a good start with his first yearlings this year, and his 22 catalogued include a half-sister to Group 2-winning sprinter In Her Time (Aus) (Time Thief {Aus}). Among the established sires, Fastnet Rock (Aus) has a daughter of champion filly Heavenly Glow (Aus) (Spinning World) (lot 432) and a colt who is the first foal out of the dual Group 1 winner Platelet (Aus) (Strategic {Aus}) (lot 585) among his six. Fastnet Rock's Coolmore barnmate and leading second-season sire Pierro (Aus) has a pair catalogued out of Group 3 winners, lots 127 and 207, from nine catalogued. The leading first-season sire on the track, Spirit of Boom (Aus), has seven catalogued, while Snitzel has three total, Not A Single Doubt (Aus) 16 and I Am Invincible 12.

With all graduates of the Classic sale this year being eligible for A$1-million bonus split between the vendor and breeder if they win the 2019 Golden Slipper, there seems little reason to not be shopping at Riverside Stables.