A Dundeel colt that reminded Dean Hawthorne so much of his son Super Seth – the exciting young Gr1-winning stallion Hawthorne purchased at Riverside in 2018 – topped another strong day of trade at Monday’s Classic Yearling Sale.
Lot 455 tops day 2 at A$440k (Pic – Inglis)
Lot 455, a Dundeel x Mother’s Mercy colt from Arrowfield, sold to Hawthorne – on behalf of GSA Bloodstock’s Jonathan Munz – for a day-high A$440,000.
While conceding it stretched his budget to the max, Hawthorne was awestruck by the colt (pictured) that he said had eerily similar traits to Super Seth, which he purchased at the first Easter Sale at Riverside seven years ago.
“I bought Super Seth at this complex from the same, Arrowfield draft, and when I saw this bloke during the week, I rang the boss and said ‘I’ve found another one’. Whether he is or not remains to be seen but I just absolutely loved him,’’ Hawthorne said.
“Balance, he had the same balance as Super Seth. Seth had great balance, hind quarter, middle and front end, and this colt also has the same sort of head and same sort of markings. And his attitude, he moved well this colt, I snuck out into the back parade ring before he got sold and he just moved so well there too which is what you like to see in a colt so we were not going home without him.’’
The result capped a huge day for Arrowfield, who also sold the equal-second top lot late in the day, a Dundeel x Pretty Elsa filly for A$400,000.
Arrowfield’s Jon Freyer was thrilled with how the day – and week – was faring for the leading Hunter Valley nursery.
“We’ve been up on last year across the board for inspections and the sale is going well for us. We’ve had a lot of people doing second and third looks too, we couldn’t be happier with that side of things,’’ Freyer said. “You’re getting very well rewarded here. The ones we thought would sell well have sold really well and above expectations.
“The colt was just an exceptional colt, I think he had a record number of parades for us pre-sale, around 250 which is unbelievable, and he handled it with such aplomb, he never turned a hair at any point.
“We thought he was a standout and we wanted to have some really nice horses in the draft which I think we’ve achieved.’’
Arrowfield’s Dundeel filly sold to Matt Laurie and ARJB Racing’s Adam Brandwood as lot 537, the fourth-last lot to enter the ring on Day 2, a point that wasn’t lost on the buyers.
“We had to wait and wait and wait and wait and wait until the end of the day, but we’ve got the one we came to get so we’re going home happy,’’ Brandwood said. “Great page, great type, she’s the horse we came to get and we got her, I couldn’t be happier.’’
Monday’s other A$400,000 lot was a Wootton Bassett x Monegal colt of Ridgmont, which sold to Japanese buyer Koji Oka. Oka is the owner of Obamburumai, the Japanese superstar which won the 2023 $10m Golden Eagle.
Speaking through interpreter Daiki Chujo, who trains in Ballina, Oka said: “I liked his walk and his movement, it was very dynamic. I also love Wootton Bassett and there are a lot of Wootton Bassetts now coming into Japan. This colt is a first foal out of the mare but for a first foal he has a lot of quality, that’s why I like him so much.
“I love Australian racing and I love Australian horses. This is my first time at Classic but I was at Easter last year and loved it so much. At this Classic Sale there are a lot of nice horses for value, it’s very good. Even compared to Japan I can find a really nice horse here.
“I was underbidder yesterday on a Wootton Bassett colt so I really wanted this colt today. I have a horse in Australia with Daiki and some yearlings at Widden which will be racing in Australia as well.’’
Ridgmont’s Mitch Cunningham was far from surprised by the outcome, given the colt’s popularity in the lead-up.
“He’s been a great model from birth, the stallion’s done remarkably well in the Northern Hemisphere and is looking to do the same thing here so we came here confident and he sold accordingly,’’ Cunningham said. “We knew he was popular. Most of the people we thought were on him, were on him when he got into the ring which was good to see. The competition was there, and we got the result which we’re delighted about.’’
At the conclusion of Day 2 the sale is averaging A$97,153 with a median of A$80,000, almost identical figures to the corresponding time 12 months ago, which has Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch pleased.
“The sale had a good feel to it again today,’’ Hutch said. “There has been incredible variety in the buying bench, with buyers from Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand and Malaysia supplementing the strong participation from local and interstate buyers, which is really fantastic.
“There is no disguising that there is a selectivity to the market, but we are working hard to continue to drive the clearance rate up and that is a key objective for us at this stage of the sale. There are more great opportunities for buyers tomorrow to engage with the sale and we’re looking forward to coming back and doing it all again.’’
DAY 2 STATS (2024 Stats in brackets)
- Sold: 373 (396)
- Clearance: 77% (83%)
- Average: A$97,153 (A$97,338)
- Median: A$80,000 (A$80,000)
- Gross: A$36,238,000 (A$38,546,000)
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