High Chaparral mare Roses For Deb – in foal to Merchant Navy – and Bernardini mare She Said No, in foal to No Nay Never, shared top billing of the broodmares on offer at Riverside Stables today, selling for $220,000 apiece.
Offered by Segenhoe Stud, Roses For Deb (lot 388) was purchased by Fernrigg Farm, who are "trying to put together a group of nice young foundation mares for the farm'', according to Fernrigg's Rae-Louise Farmer.
"She is such a beautifully balanced mare who is really attractive with a great hip and shoulder and in foal to a stallion who went across to Royal Ascot and was pretty impressive,'' Farmer said.
"Coming from Widden, the Leonie Chiara is a family that caught my eye from there. We are trying to keep growing our broodmare band with mares who have that sort of profile. It is also an active family as well - there is a lot going on.''
Segenhoe's Peter O'Brien targeted today's auction rather than Friday night's Chairman's Sale with the mare.
"We could have gone to the Chairman's but we placed her here deliberately to try and stand her out a bit and it seems to have paid off,'' O'Brien said.
"The market, it's really good. It's an evolving market. You walk in and you look at the sales ground and auditorium and think 'gosh there's not many people here' but it's deceptive because it's so big.
"There's much more people here than you might think, plus there's more people bidding online, it's great.''
Lot 406 , She Said No, in foal to Coolmore's No Nay Never, also realised $220,000.
It's a figure buyer Yuesheng Zhang of Yulong Investments – who ended the day as leading buyer by aggregate, purchasing four lots for $517,000 - conceded was more than he had planned to pay.
"But the market is very strong for these good mares and we are happy to have her join our broodmare band,'' Zhang said.
"We are obviously very keen to support Grunt with a significant number of nice mares in her first season. A number of those we have already bought will go to him and we will be looking for more.
"This Bernardini mare, in terms of physique and pedigree, matches our standards and requirements, plus in No Nay Never we believe he will prove to be a world-class stallion of the future.''
It's a sentiment Tom Magnier of vendor Coolmore agreed with.
"She's a beautiful young mare from a good current family, in foal to one of the most exciting young sires in the world,'' Magnier said.
"The first Southern Hemisphere-bred No Nay Never yearlings sold for up to $400,000 this year and he has over 10% Stakes winners to runners, despite his oldest only just turning three.
"She will be a great addition to Yulong's exceptional broodmare band and we wish them the very best of luck with her."
To enquire about a passed in lot from today, contact Matt Scown on 0481 989 661.
The third and final day of the Australian Broodmare and Weanling Sale begins at 10am tomorrow, Monday May 6, for which 175 mares have been catalogued.
To view the catalogue,CLICK HERE.
To view the full statistics from today's action,CLICK HERE.
