The most expensive filly ever sold at Oaklands – and the equal-second highest priced yearling overall – topped a strong opening day of the 2023 Premier Yearling Sale.
In a result few saw coming, an I Am Invincible x Special Lover filly of Noorilim Park surged through the seven-figure barrier, eventually selling to Tony Fung Investments for $1.1m.
It was a remarkable outcome for Noorilim’s Glen and Peter Carrick and their team, headed by Operations Manager Chris Kent, who couldn’t contain his emotions after the sale.
“It’s unbelievable. I’m speechless,’’ Kent said.
“We had a plan, we thought we’d bring this filly here to stand out at the sale, support Oaklands and the Victorian breeders and I’m just so happy for the team.
“I’m just over the moon. She’s a lovely filly, we’re really proud we sold her here in Melbourne. This filly could have gone anywhere but we just thought ‘no, let’s make a name for ourselves down here in Melbourne and showcase her off’ and she’s done us really proud.
“I thought she could make between $600,000-$800,000 but that was just unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable.’’
TFI’s Sally Williams said the filly was “the kind of filly you dream of having in your colours’’.
“I saw her many times this week, she’s got even better throughout the week, she’s such a lovely mover, she didn’t get tired and she would have been such a busy filly during inspections,’’ Williams said.
“She would have been a standout in absolutely any sale in Australia this year. She’s beautiful, such a lovely athletic filly. You’d pay that for her at any sale all year. Fillies like this demand a premium because that’s what they are.
“Mr Fung thinks it’s very important to buy fillies like this with serious pedigrees to add to the racing team. We’re having a great season with our 2YO fillies and the Fung family are getting a lot of enjoyment out of it.’’
Today’s second-top lot was also an I Am Invincible filly, this time out of G1 winner Unforgotten and offered by Yulong.
She sold to Sheamus Mills Bloodstock for $650,000 and will be trained by Mick Price and Michael Kent Jr.
Mills was grateful that Yulong’s Mr Zhang opted to sell some of his very best yearlings in Melbourne this year.
“She’s the sort of filly that could have gone to Easter if you asked me, she was that good,’’ Mills said.
“I thought it was great of Mr Zhang to bring his elite horses here, the Soriano (filly by Grunt), the Foxplay (filly by Alabama Express), the Unforgotten, it’s a really good thing for him to come here and do that.
“Someone needs to break the glass ceiling and it looks like he might be the man for the job.’’
Yulong’s Harry King confirmed it was a strategic plan to target the Premier Sale with many of the the farm’s best offerings this year.
“She could have gone to Easter absolutely but we don’t have an Easter draft this year, we’ve offered plenty of horses here in Melbourne that could have gone to Easter…you offer a good quality filly or colt anywhere and the buyers will come, as we’ve seen today at Premier. We’ve had Easter results today,’’ King said.
“We’re very keen to get behind the Melbourne product, boost Victoria as much as we can as you’ve seen by the investment by Mr Zhang in the stallions and mares.
“We’re very excited, thrilled with the result. We’ve had a fantastic day today, we couldn’t be happier.’’
The third-top lot was an Exceed And Excel x Scarlet Billows colt of B2B Thoroughbreds, which sold for $600,000 to the partnership of Newgate Farm, China Horse Club, Go Bloodstock and Trilogy Racing.
It was the equal best result in B2B’s history, to the delight of Ricky Surace.
“It’s unreal, quite surreal really,’’ Surace said.
“We thought he’d make around the $300,000 mark but these good colts are hard to come by and he was one of the standouts in the sale. It’s very, very exciting. It means the absolute world to us.
“We thought he’d be suited to this sale because he was a bit of a later foal and the last few months he’s grown into an outstanding animal and we got a fantastic result.
“You can bring any sort of horse here [to Premier] and you’ll get viewers, whether you’re a bottom-end horse, a middle-end horse or a high-end horse like this colt because it’s a sale that brings everyone together and it’s been great for us.’’
Newgate’s Henry Field added: “There’s been a great buzz here today, a lot of buyers, it’s been a really good day.
“Inglis has done a great job getting a lot of buyers here, it’s an important sale and there’s a great feel to it.
“It’s flat stick in there in the auditorium and the carpark is full out to the back gate. There’s really positive signs for the market.’’
Day 1 ended with an average of $142,568 and median of $110,000 with an increasing clearance rate of 76%.
Inglis’ Victorian Bloodstock Manager James Price was buoyed by the day’s trade, which he said exceeded all expectations.
“We were always confident we had a strong catalogue heading into the sale but to see the first ever filly make $1m at this sale was just fantastic and a real boost for the Victorian industry in general,’’ Price said.
“Today was a really good day, there was a really good feel to the sale, a great atmosphere in the auditorium and outside on the lawns and in the marquees, there’s plenty of vendors going home thrilled and plenty of buyers are frustrated that they haven’t yet been able to buy the number of horses they wanted.
“The good news for them is there is an equally strong catalogue tomorrow to get through and I’m expecting another day that’s going to present an abundance of opportunities for buyers.''
To enquire about a passed in lot from today’s action, contact Will Stott from the Inglis Bloodstock team on 0408 126 952.
The remaining two days of the 2023 Premier Yearling Sale begin at 10am at Oaklands and will again be broadcast live on the Inglis website and Facebook page via our Sale Day Live coverage from 9.30am both days.
To view the catalogue, CLICK HERE.
DAY 1 STATISTICS (2022 statistics in brackets)
Lots sold: 185 (198)
Clearance Rate: 76% (82%)
Average Price: $142,568 ($162,980)
Median Price: $110,000 ($140,000)
Top Price: $1,100,000 ($675,000)
Gross: $26,375,000 ($32,270,000)
