Inglis kicks off its 150th anniversary year this weekend with its first sale of the season, the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, Feb. 11 to 13. The sale begins at 6 p.m. on Saturday evening following racing at Randwick, when 56 yearlings will go through the ring during the inaugural Gold Riband session. The Gold Riband is a select session for yearlings with the pedigree and conformation to excel in the elite 2-year-old races, and Inglis will pay a A$100,000 bonus split between the named vendor and supplier (breeder) of the first graduate of the session to win a stakes race. Inglis will also pay the initial Golden Slipper entry fee for each horse sold during the Gold Riband Session, which covers lots 61-120.
Inglis will also offer for the first time a A$1-million bonus, split between the vendor and supplier, of any graduate of the Classic sale that can win next year's G1 Golden Slipper. Last year, Classic graduate Yankee Rose (Aus) (All American {Aus}) finished second in the Golden Slipper while another Classic graduate, G1 Blue Diamond S. and G1 Moir S. winner Extreme Choice (Aus) (Not A Single Doubt {Aus}) started favourite, and this year Classic graduate She Will Reign (Aus) (Manhattan Rain {Aus}) is the early Slipper favourite.
The Classic sale was well represented on Australia's biggest racedays in 2016, with Group 1 winners Yankee Rose and Extreme Choice joined by G1 Myer Classic winner I Am A Star (NZ) (I Am Invincible {Aus}) and two other Group 1 horses.
This year's 600-horse Classic catalogue–selected from 1700 entries–includes the siblings to 51 stakes winners, and 20% of the catalogue are out of stakes-performed mares–a high for the sale. Standouts on paper include lot 98, a full-brother to Group 3 winner and Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner Karuta Queen (Aus) (Not A Single Doubt {Aus}); lot 121, a Pierro (Aus) colt out of Group 1 winner and stakes producer Nova Star (Aus) (Iglesia); lot 169, a Choisir (Aus) colt out of a half-sister to world champion sprinter Starspangledbanner (Aus) (Choisir {Aus}); and lot 469, an I Am Invincible (Aus) colt out of a half-sister to that sire's champion colt Brazen Beau (Aus). I Am Invincible, the country's current leading sire, is well represented with 28 yearlings, and that bunch also includes lot 95, a bay colt out of Brave Choice (Aus) (Dr Fong) and lot 106, a filly out of the stakes-placed Family Crest (NZ) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}).
Champion sire Fastnet Rock (Aus) has five catalogued. lot 143 is a regally bred daughter of the stakes-placed Perfect Persuasion (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}), making her a full-sister to the stakes-placed Lady Sharapova (Aus) and a half to stakes-placed Papillon (Aus) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}). Lot 292 is a Fastnet Rock colt out of stakes winner Volcada (NZ) (Stravinsky) and a full-brother to stakes winner Kaepernick (Aus). Lot 573 is a Fastnet Rock daughter of stakes winner Laguna Lake (Odyle), who has produced the stakes winner Hot Butterfly (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}).
More Than Ready has six catalogued, including a New Zealand-bred grandson of Group 1 winner Stella Cadente (NZ) (Centaine {NZ}) (lot 241); Not A Single Doubt has 11 and his paternal half-brother Snitzel (Aus) 10. Their sire, Redoute's Choice (Aus), has one catalogued: lot 152, a filly who is the first foal out of Group 3 winner Pretty Pins (NZ) (Pins {Aus}).
Click here for the extended TDN preview of the Classic sale, and visit www.inglis.com.au for the catalogue and results.
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