Scott Darby’s extraordinary affinity with the Classic Yearling Sale continued at Flemington on Saturday when A$30,0000 bargain buy Within The Law (Lucky Vega) won the A$500,000 Listed Inglis Banner.
The Darby Racing team has enjoyed amazing success with their Classic graduates over the years, headlined by A$20,000 Golden Sipper-winning filly She Will Reign and A$10,000 buy Yankee Rose, a dual Gr1 winner in Australia before selling for an undisclosed significant sum to Japanese interests as a broodmare.
Within The Law (Ben Melham) wins the Listed Inglis Banner (Pic – Inglis)
And now they may just have their next Classic star in Within The Law, who trainer Bjorn Baker snuck down to Victoria this week to steal the riches on debut.
The victory earned the Darby Racing owners a A$300,000 first prize cheque – 10 times the filly’s purchase price – and there are far greater riches in sight for the talented filly in the new year.
“Another Classic bargain buy. Gee I love that sale,’’ an elated Scott Darby said post-race.
“We bought her purely on type, which is why I love Classic so much, you can just head to Riverside and not worry about pedigree as much and just buy the types you like and not have to pay through the roof all the time and this girl is just another example of that.
“She’ll have a freshen up now and come back and try to win some more of that extraordinary Inglis prizemoney in the Millennium next and then onto the Slipper all going well.’’
Darby purchased Within The Law out of the draft of her breeder Yulong at this year’s Classic Sale.
Yulong will offer a draft of “25 or 26 very nice yearlings’’ at Classic next year.
“It’s a really nice draft and we can’t wait for February to roll around again,’’ Yulong’s Sam Fairgray said.
“Within The Law is a great result for Lucky Vega and a great result for Scott Darby, he knows how to pick a nice horse and he’s got another nice one on his hands with this filly.’’
Baker described the win as “a massive thrill’’.
“This Inglis Race Series really does give the owners and us more incentive to buy from the Inglis sales,’’ the trainer said.
“As well as these 2YO races there’s the 3YO race and the Bracelet and the Xtra Maiden bonuses as well so it really gives the opportunity to get a quick return on our investment.
“It’s great to buy from Inglis and I’ll be back at the Classic Sale next year, a sale I’ve also had great success out of.’’
The catalogue for next year’s Classic Yearling Sale – which will be held at Riverside from 09 to 11 February 2025 – will be released within the next 10 days.
Baker also won a pair of Swarovski Optik binoculars for training the winner of an Inglis Race Series event.
Within The Law defeated race favourite Chisholm (I Am Invincible), with Rohesia (Hanseatic) in third place.
Rohesia’s performance led to a significant windfall for her connections too as the filly was the first Inglis Pink Bonus-eligible runner home and hence earned her ownership group a A$200,000 bonus.
Rohesia nosed out Bubion in a thrilling ‘race within the race’ for the Pink Bonus.
Bred by Fernrigg Farm with Paul Lofitis’ Lofty Thoroughbreds Group, Rohesia cost her trainers Ben, Will and JD Hayes A$150,000 at this year’s Premier Yearling Sale, where she was offered by Rosemont Stud.
She earned A$245,000 for running third on Saturday.
Rohesia is raced by a syndicate set up by and including the Lindsay Park Ladies, whose representative Grace Ramage was thrilled with today’s performance.
It’s the third consecutive year the Lindsay Park team has won the Pink Bonus in the Inglis Banner following previous ‘wins’ by Arkansaw Kid in 2022 and Blue Allure last year.
“At Inglis sales now, this is our number one brief, to buy horses to win this Pink Bonus and to think that we’ve done it three years in a row now is unbelievable,’’ Ramage said.
“We’re having so much fun, the social networks we’ve already been able to create, the journey of taking a share, meeting the horse and seeing what it’s all about, and then to have this as the cherry on top, it’s just incredible.
“We’ll be back at Inglis sales next year bigger and better than ever before.’’
Fellow co-owner Jenny McAlpine added: “Between Grace and I we’ve got all these wonderful girls into racing, some of them had never owned a horse before and now they’re winning the Inglis Pink Bonus with their very first horse.’’
The A$1m Inglis Pink Bonus is the most lucrative women’s ownership incentive in world racing.
To be eligible, a runner must simply be minimum 75% owned by females and be paid up to the Inglis Race Series.
The next Inglis Pink Bonus is in the Inglis Nursery at Randwick on 14 December.
The payouts didn’t just extend to the horses in the Inglis Banner.
The Best Turned Out Award – judged today by Inglis’ Victorian Bloodstock Manager James Price for the best presented horse in the mounting yard pre-race – was won by the Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained juvenile Bubion.
Bubion’s strapper Rhianna Adamson won A$500 as her prize.
