An AU$575,000 (US$379,500) I Am Invincible filly and an AU$370,000 colt by Capitalist, the two-highest priced foals sold during a record-breaking opening Inglis Australian Weanling Sale session May 6, will head to New Zealand.
The high-priced weanlings were purchased by Kaha Nui Farm's Nick and Nicky White, a Waikato-based husband and wife who have made a big impression on the market in a short time. Their investment helped fuel Day 1's trade to AU$11,124,500, the highest single-day aggregate for a Sydney weanling sale and a figure that was up 40% on the corresponding day last year.
The top-priced daughter of Australia's twice-reigning premier stallion out of the group 3-winning AU$1 million mare Shoko, who was sold through the Alma Vale/Kitchwin Hills partnership on behalf of Ridgmont Farm, could be retained to race by the Whites. They continue to develop a boutique team of fillies to keep and a draft of weanlings suitable for pinhooking.
"She's just a rangy type and the [I Am Invincible] fillies are doing well," said Nicky White. "At the end of the day, if I want to keep her and race her, I've got a filly to race. I loved her."
Shoko's first living foal, 2-year-old Hakushu, had two starts in New Zealand this year prior to recently being transferred to Australian trainer Kris Lees.
Alma Vale's Verna Metcalfe praised Ridgmont Farm for the way the valuable filly had been presented when she arrived under her and Kitchwin Hills' care.
"She's a queen and we're just rapt to be able to work with Ridgmont the way we have. It's great," said Metcalfe, who has been an integral figure in the newly formed Alma Vale/Kitchwin Hills partnership.
Former Ridgmont Farm partner Andrew Dunemann, who was bought out by the Cunningham family last year, paid AU$245,000 for Shoko on Inglis Digital last month.
Earlier, White signed for a colt by Golden Slipper winner Capitalist who will be pinhooked through a yearling sale next year. The impressive colt, a half brother to stakes-winning sprinter Brudenell, was bred by longtime Central New South Wales breeder David Baxter of Macquarie Stud. Baxter said he was thankful he heeded the advice to offer the horse at Riverside Stables a year earlier than he normally would.
Kaha Nui Farm's White, who bought four weanlings at last year's Australian Weanling Sale, said Magic Millions, New Zealand Bloodstock, and Inglis yearlings sales would all be considered for the son of Capitalist.
The Kaha Nui Farm-purchased pair were among five weanlings sold for AU$300,000 or more, underscoring the thirst for quality in the market. There were 35 weanlings who sold for AU$100,000 or more, up from 24 on the same day 12 months ago.
Of the 233 weanlings offered Monday, 176 were sold at an average of AU$63,207, an increase of 25 percent on the same session in 2023, while the median was AU$36,000, up from AU$30,000. The clearance rate closed at 76 percent. There are 176 lots catalogued for Day 2.
