FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 2014 732-747-8060 $ TDN Home Page Click Here CURTAIN FALLS ON INGLIS EASTER EMERALD CITY SET TO SHINE By Christina Bossinakis, additional coverage by Rob Burnet by Christina Bossinakis The three-day Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale The run up to Easter has always been a busy one in came to a close Thursday with overall sale clearance New South Wales, courtesy of the fall=s Sydney reaching 83%, 328 lots sold, an average of A$252,873 Carnival and the and a median of A$190,000. The average was the Inglis Easter highest--outside of 2013, when two high-priced colts Yearling sale. added A$9 million alone to the gross--for the past five However, this years. The clearance was year, a season- better than 2010 (80%), concluding jewel 2011-12 (82%), 2013 has been added (78%) and only lower than to Sydney=s 2009 (84%). crown with the AThroughout the sale we launch of the have seen a very good inaugural clearance rate,@ said Inglis Bloodstock Director running of The Session 3 topper, Lot 403 Championships. Royal Randwick Inglis Jonathan D=Arcy. AThe ATC horses that had passed in The series during the sale have met with good reception outside. kicks off at The overall clearance of 83% through the three days is Randwick Saturday, highlighted by a quartet of Group very pleasing. If at any sale around the world you can 1 events: the A$3-million Doncaster Mile, A$2.5-million be selling at 83%, I=d say you=ve done very well.@ TJ Smith S., A$2-million Australian Derby and A$1- The highest price paid at this year=s Easter sale was million Inglis Sire=s Produce S. The second day of The A$1.6 million paid for Lot 149, a colt by Fastnet Rock Championships is contested Saturday, Apr. 19, and (Aus) out of Perfect Persuasion (Aus) (Encosta de Lago boasts an additional four {Aus}), who was secured by John Warren Bloodstock. Group 1's (six races included in The Championships): Offered during the first day of selling, the colt was the A$4-million G1 Queen Elizabeth S., A$1-million consigned by Coolmore Stud, who sold a trio of G1 Schweppes Sydney Cup, A$1-million G1 Australian yearlings at Easter--all by Coolmore stallion Fastnet Oaks, and A$1-million G1 Queen of the Turf S. in Rock--for in excess of seven figures. The sale addition to the A$500,000 G2 Royal Sovereign S. and concluded with seven yearlings bringing over A$500,000 G3 Royal Randwick S. Cont. p9 A$1-million, with four falling on Day 1, two on the second day and one yesterday. Cont. p3 ANOTHER MAKER=S FOR WISE DAN? Mort Fink=s two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan (Wiseman=s Ferry) looks to kick off his 7-year-old campaign today the same way he did 12 months ago-- with a victory in the GI Maker=s 46 Mile at Keeneland. The Charlie Lopresti trainee went 7-6-1-0 last season, adding victories in the GI Woodford Reserve Turf Classic in May, the GII Firecracker H. in June and a particularly impressive win in the GI Woodbine Mile in September. The chestnut settled for second behind controlling speed Silver Max (Badge of Silver) in this venue=s rained-off GI Shadwell Turf Mile Oct. 5, but bounced back with a 3/4-length success from Za Approval (Ghostzapper) in the GI Breeders= Cup Mile Nov. 2. Za Approval also completed the exacta behind Wise Dan in the Woodbine Mile before annexing Belmont=s GIII Knickerbocker S. as a prep for the Breeders= Cup. He was a close fourth as the favorite last time in Santa Anita=s GI Frank E. Kilroe Mile S. Mar. 8, and tries the Keeneland turf for the first time here. Cont. p12 IN THIS ISSUE CO-PUBLISHERS President: Barry Weisbord [email protected] @barryweisbord Vice President: Sue Finley [email protected] @suefinley Open Letter to the Industry BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Director of Business Development: Gary King [email protected] EQB’s Patti Miller voices her concerns about the current state of 2-year-old auctions. “Every horseman in the 2-year-old market needs to stop battling the EDITORIAL stopwatch in these breeze shows. And we are fast running out of time to have any control over our destiny.” [email protected] Editor-in-Chief: Jessica Martini Managing Editor: Alan Carasso Page 18 Racing Editor: Steve Sherack Racing Analyst/Social Media Director: Brian DiDonato Associate Editor: Justina Severni Assistant Editor: Christie DeBernardis Assistant Editor: Heather Likins Assistant Editor: Michael Illiano ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising: Alycia Borer Art Director: Lia Kusch Sr. Ad Coordinator/Dir. of Distribution: Sarah K. 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Topping Thursday=s truncated final portion of Session AWe all thought that the first day was the strongest, 1 was Lot 403 (video), a colt by Fastnet Rock out of but it was just the way the alphabet falls, and that=s Defiant Dame (Aus) (More Than Ready). Consigned by where a couple of the big horses were,@ explained his breeder Coolmore Stud, the D=Arcy. colt was secured by trainer Gerald Added Inglis Managing Ryan for A$1.3 million. Thursday=s Director Mark Webster, Session II also offered a couple of AThe middle market was highlights, headed by Lot 523, a very strong, and I still think colt by Magic Albert (Aus), out of the top of the market was the Snitzel (Aus) mare Eye For Fun quite good as well. The (Aus). The half-sibling to number of yearlings making G1 Golden Slipper heroine a million or more compared Mossfun (Mossman {Aus}) was to other sales in the region purchased by Sheikh Mohammed is still well ahead of what bin Khalifa Al Maktoum for everyone else can do.@ A$750,000, the second highest While gross, average and price on the afternoon. Mark Webster median dipped from the AThere are some yearlings that Inglis 2013 renewal of the sale-- would sell better in Session IIBit is Jonathan D’Arcy when a pair of colts a matter of placement,@ said Webster. AIf vendors were Inglis brought A$5-million and more open to Session II, they might actually get a A$4-million during the first better result in Session II. So that is something we two sessions--this season=s renewal of the sale would like to talk more about to some of the vendors compared with other editions over the past few years. going forward as it is a session that is producing good AI said before the sale that there was no way we performers, like Mossfun [who brought A$85,000 in were going to replicate those two big colts, so I am 2013]. The same buyers are here. One of the top sellers really happy with the result,@ said Webster. AMy goal in Session II is Lot 450 [colt by Northern Meteor {Aus}, coming into the sale was to improve the clearance rate who went to China Horse Club for A$650,000], so it is and get it into the low 80=s, so I think we have done successful. And [Hong Kong=s] George Moore was the that. underbidder, so [the big bidders] are still here.@ Cont. p4 TDN P HEADLINE NEWS • 4/11/14 • PAGE 4 of 19 • thoroughbreddailynews.com Commenting on the overall quality of this year=s group of yearlings relative to what many thought was a superior lot offered in 2013, D=Arcy said, AI think maybe some stallions were just a little bit off [this year]. Last year, we just had the best group of Fastnet Rock colts and fillies that we had ever seen. This year just wasn=t the same, although we did have some very nice Fastnets, but they just weren=t the same caliber, as a bunch.@ On the other side of the coin, D=Arcy pointed out several other stallions improved over one year ago. AThis year, we had some outstanding individuals by Street Cry (Ire) and I think More Than Ready had the best group he has ever had at a sale,@ he said. AI think horses like Sebring (Aus) and Northern Meteor moved into the market. I think now we have a group of six or seven stallions in Australia that people are happy to go to over A$500,000, and as we saw, up to A$1.5 million for a Snitzel [Lot 118], so the young stallions are really starting to hit the market in the sale ring.@ Leading the charge by gross expenditures through Session I was Shadwell Australasia, which signed for 20 head for a total of A$8.085 million.