Quality over quantity: Star-studded relations headline Inglis Easter 2025

A collection of 421 yearlings are slated to sell at Inglis Riverside Stables on April 6 and 7, walking through the same ring that once held G1 Coolmore Stud S. victor Switzerland (Snitzel), G1 Australian Oaks winner Autumn Angel (The Autumn Sun), and the G1 1000 Guineas-winning Joliestar (Zoustar).

The 2025 sale promises yet another edition of the “best of the best” in bloodstock that the Southern Hemisphere has to offer, albeit with a very select group: down 79 yearlings year on year, around 15 per cent less than 2024.

“We’re very grateful to be given the opportunity by vendors to get stock of this kind of quality, it’s not something we take for granted," said Sebastian Hutch, Inglis Bloodstock CEO.

"There is pressure to get outstanding results for people with this stock, but the sale has forged its reputation over time to be the best of the best with every renewal. We aim to raise the bar every year.”

Home Affairs leads the charge for first season sires on fire

Nine first season sires have yearlings that have made it into the illustrious Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale catalogue, but it is Coolmore Stud’s dual Group 1-winning son of Champion Sire I Am Invincible, Home Affairs, who dominates the offerings.

"It’s not often that a first season sire commands a six figure fee," said Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch. "He (Home Affairs) has covered a lot of nice mares and has produced a lot of good stock from a broad cross-section of vendors. There’s a number of yearlings that I’m excited to see come sales time.”

The G1 Coolmore Stud S. winner saw his first crop of yearlings be extremely well received at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in early January, averaging $383,000 and Inglis has compiled a standout list of offspring for April. Himself a graduate of Easter, Home Affairs has a colossal 28 of his yearlings in the Easter catalogue, representing 19.9 per cent of his first crop of 141 live foals.

With 55 offered earlier this month on the Gold Coast and 15 next week in New Zealand, 69 per cent of Home Affairs’ first crop will be offered through a premier sale ring.

His highlights include Lot 405 from Coolmore’s draft, a filly out of Hips Don’t Lie (NZ) (Stravinsky {USA}), the G2 Reisling S.-winning dam of fellow first season sire Acrobat and G3 Chairman’s S. winner Ennis Hill (Fastnet Rock), dam of Champion 2YO Filly Learning To Fly (Justify {USA}).

Newgate Farm’s sensational G1 Golden Slipper S. winner Stay Inside will be represented by 12 members of his first crop. The talented son of Extreme Choice was a product of his G1 Blue Diamond S. winning sire’s first crop, and his eight Easter colts will no doubt appeal to the stallion syndicates. Sledmere Stud offer Lot 268, a colt out of Abscond (Galileo {Ire}) who is not just a half-brother to the incredible Invincibella (I Am Invincible), but also a three-quarter-brother to Listed Gothic S. winner Extreme Flight (Extreme Choice).

Fellow Coolmore sire, Cartier Horse Of The Year and five-time Group 1 winner St Mark’s Basilica (Fr), ties with Darley’s Champion 2YO Pinatubo (Ire) to lead the rest of the first season sires with eight yearlings each. Torryburn Stud will offer Lot 369 by St Mark’s Basilica, a colt from 12-time winner Fabergino (Maschino), who captured the G3 Northam S. alongside five Listed victories on the track.

Eight individual studs will present offspring of Pinatubo; Kia Ora Stud will offer Lot 331, a daughter of G1 Tattersall’s Tiara winner Cosmic Endeavour (Northern Meteor), whose son Great Barrier Reef (I Am Invincible) attracted a bid of $1.4 million from Tom Magnier four years ago, subsequently twice narrowly missing out on the placings in Group company.

Highgrove Stud offers the rare opportunity to tap into David Peacock’s talented Discreet family with Lot 118, a daughter of Listed Nitschke S. placegetter Really Discreet (Helmet), a half-sister to this spring’s explosive G2 Edward Manifold S. winner Too Darn Discreet (Too Darn Hot {GB}).

Lion’s share for nation’s leading stallions

Champion Sires Snitzel and I Am Invincible prove that good stallions just get better with age, and they continue to dominate the catalogue this year.

“The sale has been renowned as the best of the best,” Hutch said. “Snitzel, I Am Invincible, Zoustar, Extreme Choice - they’re the best stallions in the country, and we want to showcase their best progeny at Easter. I feel it will have worked out that way when they get to the sale in April.”

After an extraordinary spring where he sired a Coolmore winner (Switzerland), the quinella in the G2 Sandown Guineas (Snitzanova and Bittercreek), and his 58th juvenile stakeswinner (Return To Conquer in the Listed Counties Challenge S.), Arrowfield Stud stalwart Snitzel is represented by 44 yearlings from a particularly vintage crop where he covered the likes of Ennis Hill, Gypsy Robin (USA) (Daaher {USA}), and Invincibella. The catalogue accounts for nearly 40 per cent of his 2023 crop.

Yarraman Park Stud’s I Am Invincible had an excellent spring with $1.2 million daughter Hi Barbie winning the Listed Phelan Ready S. on debut and his star mare I Am Me collecting her 11th career win when downing Stefi Magnetica (All Too Hard) in the G2 The Shorts. Not to be outdone by his son Home Affairs, he has 32 yearlings catalogued, accounting for over 25 per cent of his crop, and features the first foal of G1 Sir Rupert Clarke S. winner Sierra Sue (NZ) (Darci Brahma {NZ}) and the second foal from Champion Female Sprinter Arcadia Queen (Pierro).

The perennial So You Think (NZ), whose Easter graduates include G1 Australian Derby-winning sire Quick Thinker, Victorian warhorse So Si Bon, and G2 Sapphire S. winner Fasika, has 33 offspring in the catalogue. Among his progeny is Lot 105, the first foal from G1 VRC Oaks winner Personal (Fastnet Rock), and Lot 418, a filly out of dual Group 3-winning Invincible Star (I Am Invincible).

Born off of a $198,000 service fee, 36 yearlings by Widden Stud’s flagbearer Zoustar feature in the catalogue. His spring has produced stakeswinners in both hemispheres, with his British-born son Starlust (GB) capturing the G1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint and Yulong’s Group 3-winning Growing Empire placing in three Group 1 contests, narrowly missing out on victory in the G1 Manikato S. in September.

Vinery Stud will offer Lot 58, a full sister to Growing Empire, and Widden Stud present Lot 198, a full brother to G2 Missile S.-winning entire Schwarz.

“Racing waits for no man. The successful graduates are crucial to maintaining the profile of the sale, and Switzerland and Growing Empire are arguably the two most desirable colts in the country right now,” Hutch said. Arrowfield Stud's draft features the full brother to Switzerland as Lot 76.

“The people who land elite colts who are capable of standing at stud, they are the great wealth generators of the thoroughbred industry. I believe Easter produces more stallions per lot than any other Australasian sale, and it ranks competitively among sales around the world.

"The consolidation of quality throughout the book is world class, and that is what gets people excited about the sale.”

Gallery: Siblings to stars that will be offered at Inglis Easter

As Hutch put it, nobody gets tired of seeing Frankel's (GB) offspring in a sales catalogue and the Juddmonte champion features predominantly in April's selection, with well over a third of his Southern Hemisphere-born yearlings making the cut. Arrowfield Stud will offer three of his 12 lots, crowned by Lot 110, a daughter of Pluperfect (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), a three-quarter-sister in blood to elite sire Kingman (Ire).

Wootton Bassett’s (GB) first Southern Hemisphere-bred 2-year-olds have been dazzling the nation over the past few months, with his $1.6 million son Wodeton announcing himself as a serious Slipper contender with his debut win on Saturday. 17 lots from the Coolmore shuttler are highlighted by Lot 80, a son of G1 Surround S. winner Nakeeta Jane (So You Think {NZ}) who got off the mark as a broodmare last week with her first foal Gatekeeper (Justify {USA}) winning in good style on debut at Canterbury Park.

Rare gems on offer from around the globe

This April’s catalogue features a number of collector’s items to tempt the discerning buyer, including one of only two foals from Shadai Stallion Station’s seven-time Group 1 winner Kitasan Black (Jpn), sire of 2023’s top-rated racehorse worldwide Equinox (Jpn).

Bhima Thoroughbreds will present Lot 169, a daughter of Skirt Fuwari (Jpn) (Symboli Kris S {Jpn}), on behalf of her breeder Mr T Li. The other Kitasan Black foal, also a filly, born in Australia was bred by Yulong Investments and was born on Northern Hemisphere time.

Only one foal was born in Australia from the season that Justify (USA) did not shuttle down under, but Sledmere will offer another chance to own one, with a filly born stateside on Southern Hemisphere time. Lot 134, a filly bred by Newstead Stables LLC out of winning More Than Ready (USA) mare Sahara Breeze (USA), half-sister to globetrotting G1 Ancient Title S. victor Gayego (USA), presents a unique opportunity in the absence of her sire on our shores this spring.

The More Than Ready cross with Justify is an emerging nick, so far delivering three winners from five runners, led by G1 Belmont Oaks winner Aspen Grove (Ire) (Justify {USA}).

Similarly, Emirates Park will offer an American-born daughter of Three Chimneys Thoroughbreds’ elite sire Gun Runner (USA) in Lot 92, out of G2 Sweet Embrace S. victress One More Honey (Onemorenomore). One More Honey’s first foal Man In The Mirror (Not A Single Doubt) was a runner-up in the G2 Sires’ Produce S. as a 2-year-old and her second foal Super Lucky Dragon (Zoustar) was a $1 million graduate of this sale three years ago.

Widden Stud have a colt among their draft, Lot 96 out of Listed-placed Originator (USA) (Artie Schiller {USA}).

Evergreen European sires Siyouni (Fr) and Camelot (GB) have a yearling apiece, and two of the last five yearlings from Deep Field feature in the catalogue, including Lot 38 out of Group 3 winner Macroura (Snitzel), the three-quarter-sister to Sunshine In Paris (Invader).

Forging dynasties in the sales ring

“There has never been a stronger group of mares in the book, both proven broodmares and elite race fillies coming off the track,” Hutch said. “When you flick through the catalogue, from one pedigree to the next, people will be familiar with the names that they see, and that speaks to the real quality through the book.”

It has scarcely been three years since Lighthouse (USA) (Mizzen Mast {USA}) downed a quality field of race fillies in the G1 Coolmore Classic, scoring the eighth win of her career, and Kia Ora Stud offers the first chance to have a slice of her legacy in April when Lot 28, her colt by Slipper-winning Farnan, walks through the Inglis ring. She joins dual Group 1 winner Shout The Bar (Not A Single Doubt) as elite mares with their first offspring selling at Easter this year.

O’ Ole’s (Ole Kirk) Friday night performance in the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic gave a timely pedigree boost to Lot 246, her full sister, one of 10 lots by Ole Kirk available in the sale.

She is not the only full sibling with a pedigree fresh in the mind of prospective buyers; The Chase will offer Lot 86, a full brother to Newgate Farm's freshman sire Ozzmosis, and Arrowfield's Lot 137 is a full brother to New Zealand's Champion First Season Sire Super Seth. Wild Ruler has a colt and a filly from his first crop heading to Easter, and they will be joined by his full sister as Lot 396 in Kia Ora Stud's draft.

“Dynasties are being forged at Easter,” said Hutch. “Year after year, you see the success of graduates on the racecourse, but also in subsequent years as stallions at stud, and as elite broodmares.

“Hopefully, in years to come, we will be toasting to the success of 2025’s graduates.”