Some of the industry’s biggest participants including Godolphin, Te Akau, Bob Peters and Australian Bloodstock featured heavily in the leading lots of today’s Inglis Digital November (Early) Sale, which was topped by Swettenham Stud-offered mare Rain Cloud.
Ultra Thoroughbreds' Sean Buckley paid $150,000 for Rain Cloud (Domesday), the dam of last year’s G1 VRC Oaks placegetter Queen Air.
Rain Cloud was offered in foal to Toronado, making the resultant foal a full sibling to Queen Air.
“I love Toronado and I love the mare because I love the Domesday/Shamus Award cross, it’s very successful, so we’ll foal down the Toronado and then send her to Shamus Award for three seasons in a row and see if we can emulate that cross again,’’ Buckley said.
“They’re never cheap these nice mares, she’s a lovely mare who’s thrown a Stakes winner and is in foal to Toronado who’s flying. Adam [Sangster] always sells a good product and is an icon of the breeding industry so I’m always happy buying off him.’’
Speaking on behalf of Swettenham Stud, Sam Matthews described today’s outcome with Rain Cloud as “awesome’’.
“We were happy either way because we were more than happy to take the mare home and retain her but if she was to meet her very healthy reserve and sell then it was going to be a really good trade for us and that’s how it played out,’’ Matthews said.
“We really enjoy selling through Inglis Digital, the transparency and amount of buyers in the database is huge, even with the sale pushed back a day due to the Optus outage and happening the same day as Oaks Day, it hasn’t affected trade, that’s for sure.’’
Today’s second-top lot was Zethus, which sold to Victorian trainer Steve Brown for $110,000.
Zethus was part of a 16-strong Godolphin draft, of which all 16 sold – to 15 individual buyers – for a combined $616,500.
Godolphin’s Jason Walsh said: “It was a really nice result, the horses are going to very good homes again and they’ve all made their money so from our perspective it’s been another successful Inglis Digital sale for us.
“I must also congratulate Inglis for making the sound decision to delay the sale by 24 hours amidst what was happening with the Optus outage, it was 100% the right call and it was made efficiently and the outcomes today prove it to be the correct call.’’
Brown said Zethus could target the Darwin Carnival.
“I’m obviously an ex Darwin trainer and I still take a lot of horses up there each year and a race like the Darwin Sprint could be great for him,’’ Brown said.
“A lot of the ones I take up there, they then come back and win at Flemington etc because the road trip can be the making of them.
“Inglis Digital is great to use to pick up these tried horses especially. It’s very easy, I ran out of credit but I called up and two seconds later that had been extended and I got the horse so I’m really happy.’’
The third-top lot in the November (Early) Sale was the Bob and Sandra Peters-offered Midnight Blue, which sold to David Ellis of Te Akau Racing for $92,500.
“The Ballarat Cup worth $500,000 is in a few weeks and is the race we’ve bought him for, we think it will really suit,’’ Ellis said.
“Often with these older horses you give them a new environment and they get a new lease on life and our trainer Mark Walker is a very good judge of looking at these horses and he really liked him so I bought him.
“We’ve bought a few for Singapore on Inglis Digital but this is the first time we’ve got one for our new Melbourne stable. The platform is great, it works really well, I’m more than happy to use it.’’
In total the November (Early) Sale grossed $2,334,900 at an 80% clearance rate.
Entries for the November (Late) Sale are now open and will remain so until midnight on Wednesday (Nov 15).
The sale will run from Nov 17-22.
To enter CLICK HERE.
