‘Three of the past four Everest winners were graduates of the sale’: Inglis Premier Yearling Sale catalogue released

Cover image courtesy of Inglis

Buyers could end up with the next Bella Nipotina (Pride Of Dubai), Think About It (Ire) (Ten Sovereigns) or Nature Strip (Nicconi) at a bargain price at the Inglis Premier Sale in Melbourne on March 2-4 next year.

That was the message from CEO of Bloodstock Sales, Sebastian Hutch, ahead of the 2025 edition, where 803 yearlings have been finalised for the auction at Oaklands Junction.

Of the entries, 474 yearlings are either VOBIS nominated or eligible, while others are BOBS, QTIS, Racing Rewards SA and Westspeed-nominated.

There are 119 stallions represented in the catalogue, including stars Extreme Choice, I Am Invincible, Snitzel, Zoustar, Exceed And Excel, Written Tycoon, Toronado (Ire), Too Darn Hot (GB), Wootton Bassett (GB) Harry Angel (Ire), Savabeel, So You Think (NZ), The Autumn Sun, Alabama Express, Dundeel (NZ), Capitalist, Deep Field, Lonhro, Street Boss (USA), Tassort, Maurice (Jpn), Ole Kirk, Proisir, Per Incanto (USA), Pierro and Pride Of Dubai, as well as international sires Frankel (GB), Justify (USA), Camelot (GB), Kingman (GB), Lord Kanaloa (Jpn), Mehmas (Ire) and New Bay (GB).

“If you look at the history of the sale in terms of its capacity to produce good racehorses, three of the past four Everest winners were graduates of the sale. There’s no stronger selling point for any sale than that,” Hutch told The Thoroughbred Report.

“That certainly creates confidence from the buying bench that they can go to the sale and buy a good racehorse.”

Winners of the world’s richest sprint race, The Everest – Bella Nipotina, Think About It and Nature Strip from the past four years – were snapped up at bargain prices at this sale.

The purchase of mare Bella Nipotina was just $80,000 out of the Rosemont Stud draft at the 2019 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale for Lindsay Park, Andrew Williams and Mt Hallowell Stud.

Gallery: Three of the past four Everest winners are graduates of the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale

Think About It was bought for $70,000 by Proven Thoroughbreds/Joe Pride Racing from Newgate Farm at the next year’s Premier Yearling Sale.

Nature Strip was passed in for $90,000 at the 2016 Inglis Premier Yearling sale and sent to trainer Robert Smerdon by breeders Golden Grove Farm, before champion conditioner Chris Waller turned him into a modern-day legend.

The son of Nicconi, who is a resident of Widden Stud, Victoria, Nature Strip retired with $20,732,012 in career prizemoney last year.

These are just a few remarkable examples of what buyers can end up with at reasonable prices in March next year, according to Hutch.

“Think About It was a $70,000 yearling. Bella Nipotina was an $80,000 yearling. You could’ve bought Nature Strip for $120,000. They’re not expensive horses,” he said.

“You want to achieve the best results we can for the breeders and vendors, and ultimately if they’re doing well, we’re doing well.

“At the same time, buyers like to find value and they know this is a sale where they can find value.

“There are any number of different examples of that, so we’ll hope to send vendors home happy in March, and help buyers buy nice horses.”

No shortage of quality

Hutch is excited by the catalogue he and his team have compiled to offer to buyers in March next year.

There is also a quality range of first-season sires represented, such Acrobat, Captivant, Delaware, Extreme Warrior, Finance Tycoon, Home Affairs, Palace Pier (GB), Pinatubo (Ire), Portland Sky, Profiteer, St Mark’s Basilica (Fr), Stay Inside, Sword of State, Tiger of Malay, Wild Ruler and Wooded (Ire), while the Premier Sale is offering the only Starspangledbanner yearling conceived in the Northern Hemisphere for this 2025 yearling crop.

“We’re very pleased with how the catalogue has come together. We rely on strong local support, which we have,” Hutch said.

“And this year it’s been complemented by particularly strong interstate support. I think people saw how well nice horses sold at the sale last year, and they see an opportunity to try and target the market that’s consolidated the Premier again.

“There’s a good mix of stallions and a good depth of pedigree through the book. It’ll get plenty of buyers engaged at the sale.”

Once again, Victorian breeders have supported the catalogue with quality in great quantity, with Yulong, Rosemont Stud, Blue Gum Farm, Maluka Thoroughbreds and Stonehouse Thoroughbreds among the largest vendors by draft size.

In total, 66 individual vendors will present drafts at Oaklands next year.

“We facilitate the best market that we can. Every year we work hard to try and attract people from all around the country and internationally to the sale,” Hutch said.

“People who support the sale with nice horses get good results, and people who support the sale with nice horses are going to get good results again next year.

“It’s great to have good representation from a number of the major Victorian farms. It’s crucially important to have strong local support for the Premier from Victorian vendors.”

This sale produces G1 winners

There have been an incredible 31 Group 1-winning graduates from this sale since 2018, of which 16 could have been secured for $100,000 or less.

Hutch believes this paints a clear picture as to why buyers should get involved in the 2025 edition.

“The sale performs very well – it’s an underrated sale,” he said.

“In the context of the market, you can go to that sale and buy a good horse – whether it’s a precocious 2-year-old or a well-bred colt who’ll go on to be a stallion like Ole Kirk, or a champion whether it’s Black Caviar (Bel Esprit) or Bella Nipotina, or Think About It, or whatever horse you want to buy.

“You can buy any kind of horse there.”

The Inglis Premier Sale Catalogue has also been the source of incredible recent Hong Kong success through the likes of recent G1 winners Victor The Winner (Toronado {Ire}) and Invincible Sage (HK) (Thronum), as well as a host of other high-class performers such as Senor Toba (Toronado {Ire}), Mugen (Deep Field), Full Of Beauty (Darci Brahma {NZ}), Champion’s Way (Hitchinbrook) and Handsome Bo Bo (Helmet).

“The sale is particularly well-supported by buyers from Hong Kong,” Hutch said.

“They like to shop there and they like the profile of horse they find there. Graduates from the sale are consistently successful in Hong Kong, and I think they’ll be back in force again next year.”