A daughter of Tale of the Cat became the highest-priced horse sold so far at the William Inglis & Son Sydney Classic yearling sale when she brought Aust$120,000 ($125,725 in U.S. funds) Jan. 23 during the second session of the auction. Les Bridge and Kim Harding purchased the bay filly from Crowning Stone at the Australian sale.
The yearling is a half sister to four winners, including Liamcourt Rock (by Fastnet Rock), who finished third in the 2011 Selangor Cup (SAf-II). Their dam, the winning Hurricane Sky mare Zakuro, finished second in the Hilton Adelaide Quality and third in the Feltex Carpets New Year’s Gift in Australia in 2004.
The results for the sale through the first two sessions included a gross of Aust$8,591,727 ($9,001,640) for the 273 horses that were sold. The average price was Aust$31,472 ($32,974) and the median price was Aust$25,000 ($26,193).
Compared to last year at the same point, the number sold and gross were down 1.8% and 5.8%, respectively. The average and median were down 4.1% and 3.8%, respectively.
The clearance rate was 78.7% compared to 83.5% in 2011.