Solid Trade Highlights Strong Inglis Classic Day 1

Media Release - Sunday February 9

Vendors who targeted this year’s Classic Sale with ‘standout’ yearlings were strongly rewarded on Day 1 as Inglis’ first live sale of the season started on a high.

Willow Park Stud’s Glenn Burrows described today’s top lot – the Wootton Bassett x Elegant Air colt which sold for $400,000 – as “an extraordinary outcome’’ while Yarraman Park’s Matt Scown used superlatives like “huge result’’ and “awesome’’ to describe their I Am Invincible x Choose  filly which realised $360,000.

$400,000 Wootton Bassett (GB) colt from Elegant Air topped the Sunday session.

Both lots sold to McEvoy Mitchell Racing and Damon Gabbedy.

Burrows was stunned by the price the Wootton Bassett colt (pictured) fetched, despite being blown away by how busy his draft had been all week during inspections.

“To get $400,000, we’re over the moon, we put a reserve of $150,000 on him, thinking he might make $250,000 so to get $400,000, it’s a huge result,’’ Burrows said.

“Full credit to [Inglis Bloodstock CEO] Sebastian, he saw the colt on the farm and said, ‘instead of going to Easter, why don’t you bring him to Classic and stand him out’. I was in two minds…but we came here and it was bang on, he’s been the leading horse in our draft all the way through, in fact yesterday he broke a record [for inspections] for a Saturday and my stats go back 20 years so we knew we were cooking with gas.

“Inspections all week have been remarkably strong. After we finished up north [at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale] where it was a bit patchy and going by my stats we were down about 20% on inspections but from the get-go here at Classic, it was like back to the boom times in terms of the number of parades we had. I felt sorry for my manager Jade and the staff, they honestly didn’t stop all week, they had to eat lunch on the run, it’s been phenomenal.’’

$360,000 I Am Invincible filly from Choose

Scown – who also admitted Yarraman specifically targeted the Classic Sale with their I Am Invincible x Choose filly – was equally as busy throughout the week leading into sale day.

“You build confidence with a sale through foot traffic and the Inglis team has done an amazing job to make sure everyone was here, both internationally and locally, it’s a huge effort and it’s a real credit to them that the sale is going so well,’’ Scown said.

“Getting $360,000 is a huge result. She was a gorgeous filly and we really wanted to bring a gun Vinnie filly down here to Classic with a beautiful pedigree to really stand out and she did.

“She was our busiest horse by a mile, she had plenty of vet action, Inglis has done an outstanding job bringing all the people to the sale, the foot traffic has been amazing and she’s sold accordingly. We’re over the moon.’’

Calvin McEvoy and Damon Gabbedy were active on Day 1 of the sale.

Tony McEvoy – who along with his son Calvin and bloodstock agent Damon Gabbedy ended day 1 as leading buyer with a spend of $1.22m on four lots – said they wanted to strongly support the sale due to its incredible recent success rate.

“The Classic Sale has been really good to us, horses like recent Group 1 winners Veight and Coco Sun and potential Group 1 horse Rue de Royale, it’s been a great sale for us, I’ve been able to sell them out of this sale and you can get a bloody good horse from this Classic Sale. That’s why I’m here and I’ll keep coming back,’’ McEvoy said.

“I’ll be honest, we’ve found it hard to buy in the middle here today, we had six or eight goes in the horses we valued around $150,000 and we’ve found it very difficult, they were all bringing much more. There’s a lot of people here trying to buy, that’s for sure.’’

On today’s two top purchases, McEvoy added: “The colt, I mean wow, what a stallion Wootton Bassett is and what a colt this guy is. I knew he’d be hard to get but he’s such a quality horse out of a good family that is happening.

“He looks tough to me and that will take him a long way.

“And the Vinnie filly, you look at these horses all the way through the week and sometimes even before you get to the sales grounds and she just kept growing on me, kept getting better.

“I just went and took a video of her again post-sale for a prospective client and her attitude - right at this late stage and the week she’s been through - was so magnificent. She’s got class.’’

Advertisement

At the conclusion of day 1 the sale average sits at $99,952 and median at $80,000.

Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch was pleased with how the sale started.

“It has been a very satisfactory day, if you told me at the start of the week that we would end Day 1 with an average and median either above or the same as last year – given what we’ve seen at other sales this year so far in 2025 – I would certainly have taken that,’’ Hutch said.

“Today was a really fun day, there was a lot of people here – both clients and general spectators just enjoying their time at a yearling sale which is great to see – and some of the bidding was frenetic.

“We have plenty more nice horses to sell over the next two days and if today is any guide, there’s some great buying to be done at all levels of the market.

“We operate in what is generally a very savvy market and I think buyers have become very aware of the merits of this sale in terms of producing top-class graduates at home and abroad, which in turn is generating strong participation.

“It has been an encouraging start to the sale and we’ll be working hard over the next couple of days to continue the momentum that today has generated.”

To enquire about a passed in lot from today’s action, contact Brittany Hussey on 0409 333 823.

The remaining two days of the 2025 Classic Yearling Sale will begin at 10am and will again be broadcast live on the Inglis website and Facebook page via our Sale Day Live broadcast.

Coverage begins daily at 9.30am with the Preview Show.

To view the catalogue, CLICK HERE.

2025 CLASSIC DAY 1 STATS (2024 stats in brackets)

Sold: 177 (197)

Clearance: 73% (83%)

Average: $99,952 ($94,929)

Median: $80,000 ($80,000)

Gross: $17,691,500 ($18,701,000)

Advertisment
More Reading...
JRHA Foal Sale – Equinox Fever and Aussie Star Mares
The JRHA Select Sale continued on Tuesday with the prized foal session and while the sale-topper always looked an obvious one with the Equinox colt from Champion US Mare Midnight Bisou widely tipped to star, our Aussie bred mares still made their presence felt.
G1 Placed Lavalier Tops Inglis Digital for Godolphin
The fourth most successful Inglis Digital auction in history tonight concluded with 15 lots realising $100,000 or more, leading to a gross in excess of $7m.
Season Finale Flourish for So You Think
Coolmore stalwart So You Think is powering to the end of the Australian racing season with a six winner flurry on Saturday highlighted by a winning treble at Randwick led by his progressive mare Oh Diamond Lil.
Zousain Sunday 2YO Double
Zousain is surging to the end of the season with a double of new 2YO winners on Sunday bringing his seasonal tally of juvenile winners to 13.
Consecutive Black Type Victories For Snitzel Filly Bridal Waltz
Stepping up to open company is always a tough task, but 3yo Snitzel filly Bridal Waltz graduated from a last start Listed win over her own age to win the $200,000 Group 3 MRC Bletchingly Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield.
Inglis Digital Now Online - G1 Winner Velocious the Star
The G1-winning Champion 2YO Velocious (Written Tycoon) has been joined by a host of outstanding racing and breeding prospects in a tantalising Inglis Digital July (Late) Online Sale catalogue.
Incredible Quality in Magic Millions Virtual Sale
A breeding right to the world's most prolific sire - by elite level strike rate - will stand alongside a swag of stakes performed fillies and mares in next month's Magic Millions August Virtual Sale, with the initial catalogue unveiled today.
Zoustar Filly Wander Dune Impresses On Debut In South Africa
Making her debut as favourite in the Race Coast Maiden Juvenile Plate (1200m) at Kenilworth, South Africa on Saturday, 2yo Australian-bred Zoustar filly Wander Dune impressed with an emphatic victory.
Two New SW's for Too Darn Hot
Too Darn Hot is set to be crowned Champion Australian Second Season Sire and is headed back to Darley Australia this spring at a fee of $275,000 and overnight he produced two new stakes-winners in the UK and Ireland.
First SW For So You Think Stallion Tamasa As Cicala Takes Out Lightning
One of just three named foals by the So You Think stallion Tamasa, the Will Clarken and Niki O’Shea trained 3yo filly Cicala remained unbeaten, going three from three by winning the $120,000 Listed SAJC Lightning Stakes (1050m) at Morphettville.