A half brother to Blue Diamond Stakes (G1) queen Streisand, siblings to 12 other top-tier victors, and offspring of 15 elite-level winning mares are among the reasons giving Inglis optimism over a strong Inglis Premier Yearling Sale, which runs March 1-3.
A catalog of 814 yearlings—by 110 stallions and offered by 64 vendors—has been drawn for the auction at Oaklands Junction, including 226 in Book 2 Tuesday. That's 11 more horses than last year's edition, which despite fears of a flat sale season returned improved year-on-year Book 1 statistics in several areas.
"We feel we have a better catalog than 12 months ago," Inglis bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch told ANZ News.
"On the basis of having run a good sale last year, we feel we've got good support, or better support, and consequently our expectation is that we should be able to run a better sale than 12 months ago.
"I'm very reluctant to give anyone the impression the market at the moment is easy, because it's not. You've still got to work hard to get horses sold, at all levels but especially in the $100,000 and under range.
"But if you've got a nice horse, typically people are getting well paid for it, and there are plenty of nice horses here."
Hutch said last year's inspections at Victorian and interstate farms had revealed a "very impressive" list of yearlings for Premier.
"When you look at the metrics we apply to the assessment of horses for the sale in the spring, those metrics say we have a group of horses who scored better than a year prior," he said.
Newgate has a 19-strong draft, up from nine in their first Premier draft last year, by sires including their own superstar Extreme Choice, who has three lots in the draft and eight in total, plus Snitzel and Frankel .
Coolmore are presenting their first Premier draft since 2016, with 17 horses mostly by their own sires. They include four by St Mark's Basilica, two by Wootton Bassett, and two by Home Affairs, who has 16 yearlings at the sale in total as his stock continues to rise in his first season of runners.
Hutch said foot traffic at Oaklands had been busy this week, and with a "good representation of international buyers."
Highlights of the catalog include Lot 458, Newhaven Park's colt by Star Witness whose half sister Streisand boosted his page markedly by winning the Feb. 21 Blue Diamond. Among other siblings to group 1 winners is Lot 470, a half brother by Hitotsu to two such horses in Baraqiel and Autumn Angel, who's presented by Glenn Lee Thoroughbreds.
The stock of high quality racemares is well represented including Lot 187, the colt first foal by I Am Invincible of the 2023 Galaxy (G1) heroine Mariamia. He's part of the 74-strong draft of Victorian powerhouse Yulong, the most represented vendor at the sale.
