Gai Waterhouse believes she has another Golden Slipper (G1) contender after Home Affairs' ballistic start to stud life continued when big-buying Tulloch Lodge made one of his sons top-lot on a powerhouse first day at Inglis Easter April 6.
In January, Home Affairs achieved the remarkable feat for a first-season sire of providing the highest priced yearling at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale, when the filly first foal out of Sunlight fetched AU$3.2 million.
Three months later he was at it again, when the first foal of Waterhouse and Adrian Bott's former star mare Shout The Bar was snapped up by the stable for AU$3 million (US$1,833,420, AU$1=US$0.61).
Waterhouse and Bott had narrowly missed three hours earlier when acting as underbidders on a brother to Coolmore Stud Stakes winner Switzerland, who fell to that farm's Tom Magnier for AU$2.7 million, the day's second-top lot.
But they were fiercely determined to snare their Home Affairs colt—offered by the young stallion's home stud Coolmore—and did so following an intense bidding battle, beating out Jamie McCalmont.
They had help from their friends, with Bruce Slade's Kestrel Thoroughbreds also on the buying ticket, and their flamboyant long-time collaborator John Singleton among those weighing in to take a share.
Coolmore had made dual group 1 winner Shout The Bar a record-breaker when buying her for AU$2.7 million at the Inglis Chairman's sale of 2022.
Having sent her to their much vaunted new sire in his first season, the stud will now be cheering even more loudly for the phenomenal reception Home Affairs has had at the start of his career.
Depending on results in Monday's closing Easter session, he may end his first sale season with the two highest-priced yearlings sold in the Southern Hemisphere this year.
The colt topped a booming day one which by far outstripped even Inglis’ greatest expectations, and which was a huge vote of confidence for this year’s smaller catalog of 421 compared to last year’s 500. After withdrawals, 388 horses are on offer, down from last year’s 445.
At the close of Sunday trade, 129 lots had been sold out of 163 to go through the ring, with the average AU$488,798 (US$298,724), the median AU$375,000 (US$229,178), and the gross AU$63,055,000 (US$38,535,433). The clearance was 79%, and certain to comfortably clear the standard 80% target.
This compared to last year's overall sale figures—inflated by the AU$10 million Winx filly—when the average was AU$426,447 and the median AU$300,000.
The comparison to day one last year—without day two's Winx filly—is even more glowing, with the average then only AU$373,415 and the median AU$300,000, through 183 lots sold.
Especially in light of fears for this year's sale season following some worrying signs at the Gold Coast and Karaka, a 15% increase in the average over last year's completed sale, and a 31% rise over last year's day one figure, had Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch ebullient.
"It's fair to say it's a far more fulfilling day than any of us would've envisaged at any stage in the last 11 months and 28 days," Hutch said.
"We had a fantastic sale here last year. We genuinely felt it would be something difficult to live up to do.
