Racing
Extreme Choice colt sells for $3 million at Easter Yearling Sale
Coolmore supremo Tom Magnier continued the breeding giant's spending spree when he went to $3 million to secure a colt by super sire Extreme Choice on the opening day of the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale the Warwick Farm Riverside selling complex on Sunday.
Magnier won a spirited bidding duel for the top lot who is out of the Brazen Beau mare Pretty Brazen, herself a dual Group 2 winner of the Sandown Guineas and Let's Elope Stakes.Magnier's yearling purchase came just 48 hours after announcing that Coolmore had purchased Golden Slipper winner Guest House for $30 million.
And earlier this month, Coolmore bought New Zealand sire sensation Super Seth for $70 million.
Magnier said Hall of Famer Chris Waller would train the colt.
"Everybody on the team liked that colt all week, Guy [Mulcaster] and Chris [Waller], Paul Shanahan, MV [Magnier], everybody liked him,'' Magnier said.
"Obviously Extreme Choice is doing really well but the long and the short of it is he was a standout colt all week.
"He's a very good mover, loads of quality with a lovely light step on him. In fairness, Lime Country do a very good job with their horses and I'm thrilled for Linda and Graham Huddy too.
"These top colts at any sale, you have to pay for them and we did that today.''
The Extreme Choice-Pretty Brazen colt , who was offered by Lime Country Thoroughbreds, was among eight yearlings to sell for more than $1 million on Day One of the Easter Sale, the most important yearling auction in the southern hemisphere.
Newgate Farm offered the filly who was knocked down to Shane McGrath Bloodstock and trainer Clinton McDonald.
"She's a beautiful filly from one of the great Gooree families, she was a very special filly bought by terrific judges in Shane and Clinton and I think she'll be a top race filly because she was quite spectacular,'' said Henry Field from Newgate.
"Extreme Choice is obviously a great stallion but they're just a great line up of horses, it's his best crop of yearlings ever, the best mares he covered and he deserves to sell well because he's a phenomenal and rare stallion.''
Widden Stud was the vendor of the Zoustar-Summer Sham filly which also went for $1.8 million. The full-sister to Group 1 William Reid Stakes winner Schwarz was purchased by Dean Hawthorne Bloodstock.
Widden offered a Zoustar-Sword Of Light colt that went for $1.35 million with the successful bid of Yulong in partnership with trainers Gai Waterhousse and Adrian Bott.
"When you come here with a beautiful Zoustar colt and a beautiful Zoustar filly, you do have your expectations and we were really excited by what we had to offer but for that 10 minutes to have just happened, we're pinching ourselves, that was pretty wild!'' Widden's Antony Thompson said.
"The Summer Sham, she's a gorgeous filly, obviously a full sister to Schwarz and a filly we've loved from day one so to see her have over 200 parades this week and so many vets, everyone was all over her.
"We thought she was a million-dollar filly but to get $1.8m was a really fantastic result. We did come with a super draft and we're certainly being well rewarded, it's a great job from the Inglis team.''
Yulong also purchased the Zoustar-Paredo filly offered by Silverdale Farm that was sold for $1.1 million.
I Am Invincible, the champion stallion from Yarraman Park, was the sire of a filly out of the Bel Esprit mare Sweet Cherry that went for $1.7 million to trainer Michael Freedman and Sir Owen Glenn's Go Bloodstock.
Cressfield offered the I Am Invincible colt out of dual Group 1 winner Pippie (Moir Stakes, Oakleigh) that was sold for $1.35 million to China Horse Club and Newgate Farm.
In total, 149 lots were sold for a gross amount of $66,080,00 at an average price of $452,603 (median price of $350,000).
"We felt we had prepared well for the sale but it was very difficult to speculate as to the mindset of buyers given all that is going on in the world,'' Inglis Bloodstock chief executive Sebastian Hutch said.
"So all things considered, I think it was a very good start to the sale, with a strong gross and solid clearance.
"There is a hell of a lot to look forward to tomorrow, with a big day of selling and lots of nice horses, so we are excited.
"I think it is important to note that there were over 50 yearlings offered today that could have been bought for $200,000 or less, so there's plenty of value to be found and I expect that to continue to be the case through much of the day tomorrow."
The Easter Sale continues on Monday where another 228 lots are due to go through the Riverside ring.
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