Strong Demand For Quality Weanlings

Day two of the Inglis Great Southern Sale could be classified into three sections. It began with forty two of the Platinum weanlings selling followed by the remaining general weanling section. This was in turn followed by the opening broodmare section. It was from the first hour of trading that saw the weanling sales topper go through the ring. This was for lot 241 a son of Exceed And Excel (Aus) (Danehill), consigned by Makybe and which sold to a partnership of Ampulla Lodge and New Zealand’s Ascot Farm for A$300,000. Exceed And Excel is a proven global stallion, his son Buratino (Ire) was an impressive winner of the G2 Coventry S. at Royal Ascot last week, and one of his new owners Steve Jostlear of Ampulla Lodge remarked, “He is the best colt we’ve seen all year. I’ve looked at every colt in every sale, and he is the best by a long way.” 

These thoughts were echoed by his new co-owner Maureen Harvey who commented, “Pedigree-wise he ticked all the boxes, and type also. He’s a great example of the sire.” Makybe’s Lorraine Swanson was also thrilled with the outcome but neither was she surprised, “There were about six different sets of people that had multiple looks, there were heaps of hits on his X-Rays also, and we knew that they were pretty much spot on,” said Swanson. The rest of the weanling section was a fairly low key affair but the sale sprang back into life when the broodmare selling commenced. This was highlighted by lot 403 Illusional (Aus) (Redoute’s Choice {Aus}) who was purchased by Caulfield trainer John Salanitri on behalf of his client Eddie Hirsch for A$160,000.