A Fastnet Rock colt out of the group 1-winning mare O'Marilyn was purchased for AUS$1.8 million (US$1,385,280) by George Moore Bloodstock to top Day 2 of the Inglis Bloodstock Easter sale April 10 in Australia. The colt was consigned as Lot 268 by Kia Ora Stud.
"These horses are finely selected for Easter and I've been at Kia Ora for eight years now and this is the best result in my time. As a boutique farm, this is our greatest moment,'' Kia Ora Stud's Alex Kingston said. "You hope for a good result, but when it happens you don't expect it. Easter really is the best of the best and this was my best horse. He was always going to come to Easter, but to get this result is still amazing, a huge result for the farm.''
Moore was convinced he was going to buy the colt from the moment he first saw him, and was relentless in outbidding representatives of Coolmore Stud.
"The best horse in the sale,'' Moore said. "He's a good moving, medium-sized Fastnet Rock colt, but that's exactly what you want."
At the conclusion of Day 2, the sale's clearance rate has jumped to 80% with an average of AUS$348,394 ($266,867), median of AUS$260,000 ($192,400), and gross of AUS$80,827,500 ($62,180,001) for 232 yearlings sold. Through the same juncture in 2017, the Easter sale saw a 225 head average of AUS$348,394 on total receipts of AUS$79,660,000, with a AUS$270,000 median.
The buying bench has been broad, with Australian interests buying 50% of the catalog to date, Asian clients 30%, Middle East 10%, and New Zealand 7%. Inglis reported that many of the horses purchased by overseas interests will remain in Australia to be trained.
Tuesday's second top lot was a Snitzel colt out of Go Indy Go (Lot 152) purchased by a syndicate consisting of Steve Morley Bloodstock, Glenlogan Park, Whitby Bloodstock, and RIFA Mustang for AUS$1.5 million ($1,152,920) from Kitchwin Hills.
Kitchwin sent out another seven-figure yearling on the day with an I Am Invincible—Marianne colt sold to the Hong Kong Jockey Club for AUS$1million ($768,615).
"You come to these sales and there's always that idea that there's a million-dollar horse in your draft, but I've been selling yearlings a long time and I know they're hard to come by,'' Kitchwin's Mick Malone said. "The Go Indy Go, he's got this lovely attitude, unbelievable brain, nothing phases him. You'd imagine from a colt point of view he'd be perfect.''
Day 3 action begins April 11 at 11 a.m. local time.
