Cover image courtesy of Inglis
When Gobi Desert (Too Darn Hot {GB}) sold for $600,000 at the 2024 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, it was a fantastic result for the inaugural draft of North Bloodstock. The result got a whole lot better when she won Saturday’s Max Lees Classic at Newcastle on debut.
North Bloodstock at Kanangra Farm
“When I bought Kanangra off Fred (Moses), the filly was on the farm with a few of his other yearlings,” said North Bloodstock’s Mick Malone. “The minute I saw her, she was just a queen. It was a simple preparation. Those good horses just do it themselves, they are so easy to deal with. I told everyone I saw, this is the best filly I’ve seen at Classic.
“The minute I saw her (Gobi Desert), she was just a queen. Those good horses just do it themselves. I told everyone I saw, this is the best filly I’ve seen at Classic.” - Mick Maloney
“Fred asked me, ‘What do you think she’ll make?’ and I said that she will make whatever is the most a horse can make at Classic. Six hundred thousand. And by freaky chance, that was her price. She could’ve gone to any sale but we wanted to take her where she would stand out.
“It was the perfect storm for her. Yulong had shares in her older sister who had won a trial just before the sale and Too Darn Hot hadn’t quite taken the leap he has now but he was looking likely. Being out of an older mare was against her as some buyers don’t bother with them, but she was a proven mare and just a belter of a type.”
Gobi Desert is a half-sister to Fred and Mary Moses-bred G1 Lightning S. and G1 Galaxy H. winner In Her Time (Time Thief). Their dam, Hell It’s Hot (Zeditave), is a winning half-sister to G3 Shorts H. winner Hot As Hell (County), and Listed winners Flaming Hot (County) and Craig’s Dragon (Catbird), as well as winning mare Sin Sin Sin (Fantastic Light {USA}), the dam of The Everest winner and young sire Yes Yes Yes, and winning mare Harlem Heat (Xaar {GB}), the dam of Listed winner Harlem River (Fastnet Rock).
“We are taking her sister by Astern to Classic this year. She’s slightly more like her sire and is a good filly with a lovely residual pedigree. I said to Fred, ‘Why would you sell her? There’s so many lovely fillies in the family breeding on.’ And now if Gobi Desert goes on, the family will only improve. Apart from being an athletic type who would make a good racehorse, (the Astern yearling) looks like she’ll make a good broodmare in time, she’s got that lanky, scopey, broodmare shape about her.”
“We are taking her (Gobi Desert's) sister by Astern (Lot 284) to Classic this year. She’s slightly more like her sire and is a good filly with a lovely residual pedigree.” - Mick Malone
North has 16 yearlings in the newly released 2025 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale catalogue.
“This is a sale that produces racehorses. The more elite sales absorb the pedigrees, then this sale gets the types instead. If you’ve got a belter of a type, Classic is the right sale for them, and it punches above it’s weight on the track. It just produces runners, usually ones that are fairly forward and precocious. They might lack a bit of pedigree sometimes but that matters almost never on the track.
Mick Malone | Image courtesy of Inglis
“If you’ve got a really nice horse that might slip through the cracks elsewhere, Classic is the place to go. All the syndicators go to Classic and find the good types. It’s a proper sale for tough stallions who get runners. And now it’s proven that you can get big money results like Gobi Desert too. I’ve topped this sale twice in my life, the other was years ago, but what you need is the perfect type.”
A sale for racehorses
As Malone said, “This is a sale for racehorses.” And the data bears this truth with 21 Group 1 graduates since 2018, with 12 of them purchased for $100,000 or less. In the same time frame, 30 Classic sale graduates have earned more than $1 million in prizemoney in Australia, and that’s not counting the Hong Kong earners who number 168 winners since 2018 including Voyage Bubble (Deep Field) and Beauty Eternal (Starspangledbanner).
“It’s fair to say that this sale has earned the respect of the market over time, both from vendors and buyers. We’ve had a tremendous number of vendors wanting to participate in it and each and every year the sale attracts buyers because of its significant results,” said Inglis CEO Sebastian Hutch.
Sebastian Hutch | Image courtesy of Inglis
“With horses like Pride Of Jenni, dual Group 1-winning colt in Celestial Legend and 3-year-old colt in Veight who was so good he won the G1 George Ryder against the older horses, and all three legs of Hong Kong’s 4-year-old series were Classic graduates.
“The knack of the sale for producing top-class horses is why it is so popular with so many buyers – think back to the likes of Choisir, I Am Invincible, Extreme Choice, She Will Reign, In Her Time, Brazen Beau, Yankee Rose, Hellbent, Vow And Declare and Castelvecchio, to more recent stars like Classique Legend, Mazu, Icebath, Pippie, Shadow Hero, Communist, Palaisipan, and Coco Sun.
“The knack of the sale for producing top-class horses is why it is so popular with so many buyers – think back to the likes of Choisir, I Am Invincible, Extreme Choice...” - Sebastian Hutch
“Throw in Hong Kong stars like Voyage Bubble, Beauty Eternal, Hot King Prawn, Super Sunny Sing, and Cordyceps Six, and you can see why buyers keep coming back.”
Gobi Desert’s cohorts
The 2024 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale done more than producing Saturday’s winner Gobi Desert, with four winners already on the board, led by R. Listed Inglis Banner winner Within The Law (Lucky Vega {Ire}), Golden Gift winner North England (Farnan) as well as debut winner Leave No Doubt (Doubtland).
“Even in terms of early season 2-year-olds, it’s fantastic to see the sale-topper winning before the first of December, and particularly good for Yulong to win a significant 2-year-old race," said Hutch.
Gallery: The 2024 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale has already produced four winners
"The Golden Gift was won by North England and continues Newgate Farm’s investment in this sale, with the likes of Extreme Choice, Cosmic Force and Profiteer all coming from this sale and then standing at their farm. It’s been a fruitful hunting ground for them. The Inglis Banner winner comes from the other end, being a $30,000 purchase, which shows the possibilities that can manifest at Classic.”
The current crop of 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds
The 2023 sale has already produced four stakes winners with current 3-year-olds Drifting (Zousain), Fully Lit (Hellbent), Megastar Heart (Star Turn) and Pure Aqua (Headwater), and the crop prior to that who sold in 2022 includes three Group 1 winners, Classique Legend (Not A Single Doubt), Coco Sun (The Autumn Sun), and Veight (Grunt {NZ}).
Gallery: Some of the stakes winners sold at the 2023 and 2022 Inglis Classic Yearling Sales
“Whatever cliché you want to use, people drill for oil where it’s been found, or they fish where they’ve caught fish before, this sale has been productive for a great number of people, both local, interstate and international, particularly Hong Kong. We’ve also seen increased participation from Japan, and this sale is popular with New Zealand trainers. It really does serve a significant purpose for a great number of people.
“Hopefully this continues with 2025. Our team has inspected all the yearlings, and while the change between seeing them now and the sale date can be large, we believe that at this junction we’ve worked with vendors to put together a nice catalogue.”
Catalogue filled with diverse range of sires
In 2025, the Inglis Classic catalogue features 805 yearlings by 106 different stallions, across 73 vendors. Across the three days of selling, several Champion sires are represented including three are three colts and a filly by I Am Invincible, seven yearlings by NZ Champion Sire Proisir, two colts by NZ Champion Sire Savabeel, three colts and a filly by Snitzel, and nine yearlings by Written Tycoon. Other big name proven sires represented are Extreme Choice, Zoustar, Too Darn Hot (GB), Toronado (Ire), Wootton Bassett (GB), Exceed And Excel, Capitalist, Dundeel (NZ), So You Think (NZ), Street Boss (USA), Per Incanto (USA), Shamus Award, Harry Angel (Ire), The Autumn Sun, and Pride Of Dubai.
Emerging young sires with yearlings in the 2025 Classic Sale include Alabama Express, Ole Kirk, Farnan, Tassort, and Super Seth.
The sale has a big portion of young stallions with their first 3-year-olds and first 2-year-olds, and even those horses with first 4-year-olds are still making their ways as stallions. Buyers will determine which sires will be popular, but the list of vendors are all farms and people that our buyers have confidence in as developers of good racehorses.”
“Buyers will determine which sires will be popular, but the list of vendors are all farms and people that our buyers have confidence in as developers of good racehorses.” - Sebastian Hutch
The catalogue also features the progeny of first season sires Aclaim (Ire), Acrobat, Captivant, Extreme Warrior, Home Affairs, Jonker, Noverre (NZ), Palace Pier (GB), Pinatubo (Ire), Portland Sky, Profiteer, St Mark’s Basilica (Fr), Standout, Stay Inside, Sword of State, Tiger of Malay, Victor Ludorum (GB), and Wild Ruler.
Of the catalogued lots, 669 are BOBS eligible (83 per cent) while others are VOBIS Silver and QTIS.
Group 1 relatives at Classic
With five half-siblings to Group 1 winners and six yearlings out of Group 1 winning dams, there is plenty on offer for buyers who want residual value and depth of pedigree to go with their Classic purchases.
North Bloodstock’s Lot 284 is a half-sister to Gobi Desert and Group 1 winner In Her Time, and she is one of five yearlings with a Group 1-winning sibling.
Arrowfield Stud will present Lot 182, a Castelvecchio half-brother to G1 Kikuka Sho victor Urban Chic (Jpn) (Suave Richard {Jpn}). They also will offer Lot 404, a filly by Palace Pier (GB) who is the third foal of G1 Spring Champion S. winner Maid Of Heaven (Smart Missile), who is a half-sister to young sire and Group 1 winner Castelvecchio.
A half-sister to young sire and Group 1 winner Castelvecchio will be offered as Lot 404 | Standing at Arrowfield Stud
Coolmore Stud’s Lot 220 is a St Mark’s Basilica (Fr) half-sister to G1 William Reid S. winner Silent Sedition (War Chant {USA}). Coolmore’s draft also includes Lot 474, a Home Affairs filly out of G1 Coolmore Stud S. winner Nechita (Fastnet Rock) making this filly a half-sister to Group 3 winners Forbearance (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Harpo Marx (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).
Bivouac colt, Lot 496, presented by Sullivan Bloodstock is a half-brother to G1 Kingsford-Smith Cup winner Vega One (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and G2 Sweet Embrace S. winner One More Honey (Onemorenomore).
Widden Stud is offering an Acrobat filly, Lot 804, who is a half-sister to G1 JJ Atkins Plate winner Capital Gain (Ad Valorem {Ire}). Willow Park Stud’s colt, Lot 422 is by Russian Revolution from G1 Vinery Stud S. winner Murjalisa Lass (Danasinga).
A half-brother to G1 Kingsford-Smith Cup winner Vega One will be offered as Lot 496 | Image courtesy of Trackside Photography
Torryburn Stud’s colt, Lot 22, is by Saxon Warrior (Jpn) out of Champion 2YO in New Zealand and dual Group 1 winner Anabandana (Anabaa {USA}), who has already produced New Zealand Group 2 winner Packing Rockstar (Fastnet Rock) and Listed winner Anavinci (I Am Invincible).
Bhima Stud will offer Lot 109, a Proisir colt from G1 Auckland Cup winner Chenille (NZ) (Pentire {GB}), while another with Kiwi form is Wentworth Grange’s Lot 751, an Almanzor (Fr) filly from G1 Herbie Dyke S. winner Valley Girl (NZ) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}).
