Gippsland Bloodstock's Inglis Ready 2 Race Sale kicks off early at Oaklands Junction on Wednesday October 4 with Dean and Phoebe Grass to lead one of the first into the ring.
Lot 4 - an eye-catching Super VOBIS qualified son of Exceed And Excel's dual Group winner Kuroshio whose yearlings sold so well last season - is out of the imported mare Refuge who has already proven her worth at stud.
The dam of the metropolitan winners Lonhruge and Perfectly Safe (by Exceed
And Excel), Refuge is a daughter of the incomparable Sadler's Wells... one of
the world's most influential broodmare sires with 372 stakes winners; 71 of
whom have been successful at Group One level.
Exceed And Excel boasts an excellent record with Sadler's Wells mares - four stakes winners with a black type strike rate of over 10%. And there is plenty more to like about this fellow's pedigree with his ancestress, the high class stayer Teresina also featuring in Kuroshio's pedigree via her champion sire son Alibhai.
This is an outstanding international family, Refuge being a daughter of the Royal Ascot Group Three winner Narwala, dam of the stakes winners Affidavit, Tea Garden, Altamura and Nalani - and grandam of the Group winners Aynthia and Maiden Tower.
Meanwhile other notable descendants of Teresina include the US stars Funny Cide (Kentucky Derby & Preakness winner) and Empire Maker (Belmont Stakes, Florida Derby & The Wood Memorial).
Breezing up nicely in 11.49 seconds, he is a colt who impressed Phoebe Grass from the second she saw him.
"Right from when he came out of his box at the yearling sale I just knew I had to have him! There were a lot of people looking at him, he was in and out of the box all day and was always very well behaved."
"He is a really nice type with a great temperament, very trainable. We knew he would breeze up well as he had started to show what he has a couple of weeks before."
Next up for Gippsland Bloodstock is lot 16, a bay colt by the quiet achiever Dream Ahead - the five times Group One winning sprinter whose first two crops have yielded twelve stakes winners including recent Group One Prix Jacques le Marois Stakes winner Al Wukair.
Dream Ahead has already had four Australian
bred stakes winners with a further seven stakes placed from his first 40 local
winners... with trainers and owners now well and truly taking notice!
This BOBS eligible and Super VOBIS nominated colt bred on the same Dream Ahead/Shamardal cross as the stakes winner Ken's Dream is the first foal for the winning mare Shamicia whose dam is a full sister to the high class Hong Kong sprinter Natural Blitz - winner of 11 races including the Group One Hong Kong International Sprint.
Also a half-sister to the Listed winner Castletown Keys, Shamicia's grandam is a daughter of Golden Slipper Stakes winner Century Miss.
Looking good breezing up in 11.92 seconds, he is a horse with a noticeably smooth action - "everyone who rides him comments on his beautiful length of stride," Grass said.
"He has a beautiful temperament, is very easy to train and has come through his preparation effortlessly. He has done everything right, he is a sweet natured horse with the right mindset."
Line-breeding enthusiasts will be taking close note of lot 42, an imposing Harbour Watch colt line-bred to two of the most influential broodmares of recent times... Fall Aspen and Best In Show.
The former, a Group One winning dam of nine
stakes winners including four Group One winners, is third dam of Harbour Watch
and grandam of Dubai Millennium whose outstanding son Dubawi is this colt's dam
sire.
Best In Show meanwhile is this colt's sixth dam and also grandam of Try My Best from whose sire line Harbour Watch hails... providing for quite the impressive pedigree!
Whilst his breeze up time of 12.09 seconds was not the fastest of Gippsland Bloodstock's quartet, Grass was still happy - "we expected him to go faster but we just think he would've fared a lot better with a partner, he just wanted to have a good look at the grandstand in the run home."
"He is very switched on and keen to do his job. He is a horse with presecne who carries himelf in a professional manner which he has done since day one."
Sadly Harbour Watch was not fully appreciated by Australian breeders serving only two small books of mares but from this limited opportunity he has been represented by South African stakes winner Trojan Harbour, the stakes placed Lets Get Nauti Gal and Paret who was so impressive overcoming a tricky gate and trouble in running when saluting in easy fashion at his Canterbury debut on Wednesday.
BOBS eligible and Super VOBIS nominated, this colt hails from the most prolific branch of the Best In Show family with his fourth dam Dancing Show being the dam of Group One winning successful stallions Hurricane Sky and Umatilla and grandam of four times Group One winning champion sire Redoute's Choice.
One of that influential stallion's most memorable wins was his Caulfield Guineas victory in which he engaged in a stirring battle with Testa Rossa who just happens to be the sire of Gippsland Bloodstock's fourth Ready To Run entrant.
A flashy chestnut with an impressive length of stride, lot 104 is a BOBS eligible colt out of Fragrant Storm whose sire Exceed And Excel is already proving a strong broodmare sire force with 16 stakes winners including the Group One gallopers Astern, Alizee and Bounding.
His six times Group One winning sire Testa
Rossa is one of the country's classiest and most reliable stallions, the sire
of 62 stakes winners with an outstanding 73.5% winners-to-runners strike rate.
Testa Rossa fares well with Danzig and Wilkes duplications and this colt has both. Plus he hails from a consistent family, his dam being a half-sister to the terrific stakes winning sprinter Texan.
With his fourth dam being the high class race and broodmare Toltrice, this colt can boast amongst his relations the Group One winners Keltrice, Red Dazzler and Seltrice.
"We knew he was going to breeze up well," Grass said of the colt who scooted home in 11.44 seconds - "he has galloped a couple of times against more experienced horses, carrying more weight and showing ability. He had that awkward, adolescent look when he first came to us but with every month that has gone by he has grown into himself."
"He is a very athletic horse with a real Exceed And Excel look. We can't fault him, he is a nice all round horse and we are confident that he is going to be a good racehorse."
Gippsland Bloodstock made their Ready To Run debut last year, enjoying a highly successful sale with two colts selling for well above the sale average. Already one of those, the Helmet 2Y0 Junior has trialled well for the Cliff Brown stable in Singapore.
For further information on Gippsland Bloodstock contact Dean Grass 0400137678 or Phoebe Grass 0421270224.
