There have been nine Australian Group 1 winners in the current racing season whose dams were sold through the National Broodmare Sale prior to when they themselves were bred.
Those nine horses combined for 12 Group 1 wins in total, with sprint star Nature Strip (Nicconi) and 3-year-old Shadow Hero (Pierro) multiple Group 1 victors, while G1 Epsom H. winner Kolding (NZ) (Ocean Park {NZ}), also won the $7.5 million Golden Eagle, the third richest race in Australia.
The other horses on the list are Gatting (Hard Spun {USA}), Black Heart Bart (Blackfriars), Exceedance (Exceed And Excel), Miami Bound (NZ) (Reliable Man {GB}), Farnan (Not A Single Doubt) and Quick Thinker (So You Think {NZ}).
We have had a look at the sale of each of their dams and where possible have pulled out a few quotes from their breeders to reflect on what motivated them to buy.
Note: This list only contains horses whose dams were sold prior to them being foaled and only sold through the Broodmare Sale.
Quick Thinker (So You Think {NZ}) - G1 Australian Derby
Dam: Acouplamas (Al Maher x Mahiro) - 2013 National Broodmare Sale, Lot 611, On account of Widden Stud
Andrew Bowcock secured the stakes-placed Acouplamas for $115,000 in foal with her first pregnancy to Sebring. Her dam, Mahira (Canny Lad) was a half-sister to Kensington Gardens (NZ) (Grosvenor {NZ}), who produced the Group 1 winners Larrocha (Danehill {USA}) and Blackfriars.
"She was in foal to Sebring at the time, I was doing a bit of work with Widden, selling noms from Brisbane. I liked the progeny and I liked the horse. I wanted a young mare in foal to him and she came along and was stakes placed, from a good family, so I thought I'd buy her," Bowcock told TDN AusNZ last year.
Zoustar x Acouplamas (colt) sold for $1.075 million | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Her first two foals by Sebring sold for $52,000 and $110,000, before stakes-placed The August (I Am Invincible) fetched $150,000. Quick Thinker then secured $180,000 as a weanling to James Bester, while the Zoustar colt Yulong Code made $1.075 million as a yearling last year.
Under Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman, Quick Thinker has won a trio of stakes races, including the Australian Derby.
Nature Strip - G1 TJ Smith S., G1 VRC Sprint Classic, G1 Moir S.
Dam: Strikeline (Desert Sun {GB} x Strike High) - 2006 National Broodmare Sale, Lot 1886, On account of Eliza Park
Ultra Thoroughbreds struck way back in 2006 to secure the multiple stakes-winner Strikeline off the track for $470,000 through agent Steve Brem. She looked an ideal broodmare prospect, having won six starts, including a G3 McEwen Trophy. Her own dam, Strike High (Pre Emptive Strike {Can}) was a stakes winner, who produced another Group 3 winner in Bashful Girl (Perugino {USA}).
Nature Strip
While her first foal, No Identity (Fastnet Rock), was a winner, it wasn't until her fourth foal that the black-type ability became evident in her progeny. The Barrister (Star Witness), who would go on to race with success in Hong Kong under the name High Volatility, won a Listed Fernhill S.
In 2014, she delivered a Nicconi colt, who was initially passed in for $90,000 as a yearling, but was sold for $100,000 to Rod Lyons. He has proven to be an elite-level sprinter and is considered the front-runner to be crowned Australian racehorse of the year in 2019/20 off his three Group 1 successes this season for trainer Chris Waller.
Farnan - G1 Golden Slipper S.
Dam: Tallow (Street Cry {Ire} x African Queen) - 2017 National Broodmare Sale, Lot 931, On account of Strawberry Hill Stud
Tallow, a winner of the G3 Vanity S. and runner-up in the R. Listed Magic Millions 3YO Trophy, had already had five foals by the time she was offered in foal to Not A Single Doubt at the 2017 National Sale. At that stage, only one of her progeny had raced, but a yearling colt by Snitzel, the subsequent stakes-winner Sandbar, had secured a $650,000 return at the Gold Coast Yearling Sale earlier that year.
Agent David Lucas swooped to buy the Street Cry (Ire) mare for an emerging outfit known as Phoenix Thoroughbreds, paying $250,000. The subsequent colt sold for $550,000 as a yearling to a partnership between Aquis and Phoenix, and in the Phoenix colours, he would win this year's Golden Slipper in impressive fashion for trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.
Farnan
Shadow Hero - G1 Randwick Guineas, G1 Spring Champion S.
Dam: Sookie (Casino Prince x Purple Blood) - 2013 National Broodmare Sale, Lot 599, On account of Patinack Farm
The Patinack Dispersal was a huge attraction at the 2013 National Broodmare Sale and Pierro's owner Greg Kolivos, was looking for mares to send to his Triple Crown-winning stallion. Sookie, who won the G3 Glenlogan Park S. on the eve of the Sale and descended from a multiple Group 1 winner in Victory Vein (My Henrysee {USA}) fit the bill. James Harron, representing Gai Waterhouse and ultimately Kolivos, paid $700,000 for her.
She had one start under hew new connections before visiting Pierro in his second year at Coolmore, producing the metro winner Picaro. Her next visit to him struck gold with Shadow Hero, a $260,000 yearling purchase for Sweetbriar Equine who has been a two-time Group 1 winner for Mark Newnham, and has now been sold to Hong Kong.
Sookie | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
"We went to that sale looking for a mare that we thought would be ideal for him to support him in those first couple of years. It kind of looks like he didn’t really need our support the way he is going but as a shareholder, you want to do everything you possibly can for your stallion," Kolivos said.
"She was a flagship one that we purchased and lo and behold, she has produced a star in this boy, we are absolutely thrilled."
Miami Bound (NZ) - G1 VRC Oaks
Dam: Arapaho Miss (NZ) (Danehill Dancer {Ire} x Happy Heart {Fr}), 2011 National Broodmare Sale, Lot 1085, On account of Amarina Farm
A winner of the G1 VRC Oaks, a race her daughter would also win this season, Arapaho Miss went to the 2011 National Broodmare Sale with an Encosta De Lago colt (the Listed winner De Little Engine) already on the ground, while she was in foal to Lonhro. She boasted a strong international pedigree and it was Baramul Stud who won the bidding for her, paying $650,000.
She had two further foals in Australia, before being sent to Westbury Stud in New Zealand, where she delivered an All Too Hard filly and then visited Reliable Man (GB). The resultant filly was Miami Bound, who was purchased by Danny O'Brien for NZ$120,000 and delivered her trainer a memorable Oaks success last spring.
Miami Bound (NZ)
“It’s a fantastic family,” Westbury Stud General Manager Russell Warwick said at the time of the Oaks victory. “Happy Heart, her granddam, was bought in Europe by John Foote and he brought her out to Australia. It’s a very popular and commercial international pedigree."
Exceedance - G1 Coolmore Stud S.
Dam: Bonnie Mac (NZ) (Thorn Park x Gold Class {NZ}), 2014 National Broodmare Sale, Lot 1285, On account of Oakwood Farm
Bonnie Mac was a Listed winner for Mike Moroney during her 16-start career and at the time of this Sale, boasted two stakes-winning half-siblings in Intimate Moment (NZ) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Gold Rum (Golan {Ire}), with Upham (NZ) (Mastercraftsman {NZ}) to join that crew as stakes-winner the following year.
Bonnie Mac arrived at the 2014 National Sale in foal to Sepoy and was picked up by Guy Mulcaster on behalf of Nick Vass for $460,000. She missed on her first trip to Darley's Exceed And Excel, but on her return produced a colt which Vinery's Peter Orton paid $180,000 for as a yearling at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale. Racing for a Vinery syndicate under the eye of Team Hawkes, he proved himself an elite 3-year-old winning one of the nation's premier stallion-making races in the spring.
The mare was sold again through last year's National Broodmare Sale for $375,000 to Allam Racing/Andrew Williams Bloodstock in foal to Capitalist and has since produced a colt before missing to Exceed And Excel again last spring.
Kolding (NZ) - G1 Epsom H.
Dam: Magic Star (Danzero x This Way Up), 2007 National Broodmare Sale, Lot 2130, On account of Tipuana Park & 2008 National Broodmare Sale, Lot 1016, On account of Widden Stud
Initially purchased for $18,000 by Widden in 2007, Magic Star was re-offered in foal to Snippetson at the National Sale in 2008, where the half-sister to multiple stakes-winner Make Mine Magic (Canadian Silver {Can}) fetched $24,000 to Warren Pegg, who was in partnership with Wentwood Grange.
Kolding (NZ) (blue cap)
She proved an excellent acquisition producing the stakes-winners Miss Upstart (NZ) (Snippetson) and Sampson (NZ) (Dubai Destination {USA}) with her first two foals. It was her seventh foal, a colt by Ocean Park (NZ), who proved the star of the family. A $170,000 buy by Mulcaster from the New Zealand Bloodstock sale at Karaka on behalf of Neville Morgan. Kolding won the Epsom H. as well as the inaugural Golden Eagle for trainer Chris Waller.
Black Heart Bart - G1 Underwood S.
Dam: Sister Theresa (At Talaq {USA} x Alma Mater), 2003 Gold Coast Autumn Broodmare Sale, Lot 732, On account of Riverslea Farm
It was a 17 years ago that Sister Theresa went through the Gold Coast sales ring in foal to Viscount, fetching $180,000 to Springfield Stud. A half-sister to Group 1 winner Savannah Success (Success Express {USA}) out of stakes-winning mare Alma Mater (Semipalatinsk {USA}), her pedigree page got a substantial update the year after this sale, when Savannah Success's son Savabeel won the G1 Spring Champion S, and Cox Plate.
She would be sold again for $50,000 at the Inglis Great Southern Sale five years later and headed to Western Australia where she was to be mated with Blackfriars, producing the six-time Group 1 winner Black Heart Bart, who would win last year's Underwood S., her final foal.
Black Heart Bart
Gatting - G1 Makybe Diva S.
Dam: Stubborn (Lonhro x Firm) - 2013 National Broodmare Sale, Lot 979, On account of Darley
In foal to Hard Spun (USA) - her first pregnancy - Stubborn (Lonhro) was offered as part of a Darley dispersal through the 2013 National Broodmare Sale. A sister to Group 3 winner Trim, out of multiple stakes-winner Firm (Night Shift), she provided an excellent chance for a smaller breeder like WA's Impressive Racing to get involved with a strong Darley family.
Through Magic Millions, Impressive Racing paid just $17,000 for Stubborn and struck paydirt with her first foal, a colt called Gatting. Retained to race for trainer Darren McAuliffe, he is the winner of 11 races, over $2 million in prizemoney, highlighted by his upset victory at odds of $101 in the 2019 Makybe Diva S. Stubborn was then sold through the 2018 National Broodmare Sale in foal to Hinchinbrook for $200,000.
"We always buy a couple of mares in foal, just to replenish our broodmare stocks each year," Kevin Berry of Impressive Racing said. "There were two mares that year and we sold one foal and kept the other and fortunately we kept the right one!"
