HORSE trainers and agents from Australia’s leading thoroughbred auctioneer are hopeful to find the next champion horse as they tour studs across the valley.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Tuesday marked the start of Inglis’ tour of the Hunter’s studs, as more than a dozen trainers and agents carefully viewed and inspected the area’s best yearlings in search for a champion.
The tour started at Davali Thoroughbreds stud in Luksintyre, which hasn’t missed a sale in 15 years under the operation of David and Alison Hush.
Ten yearlings were paraded in front of the hopeful buyers in preparation for the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale held in Sydney in February.
“They’re looking for an athlete,” Mrs Hush said.
“Everyone looks for something different, but most will look at the traits of the horse followed by its pedigree.
“These yearlings are the hopes and dreams.”
Most of the horses will be just older than 12 months when the sale comes around, so a lot of work and training is needed within that first year to get them prepared for the sale.
Preparation includes feeding to have the yearlings in top physical condition, coat cleaning and trimming and regular hand-walking to get the horses in prime condition for sales.
Of course, after a year of getting to know each horse, Mrs Hush has her favourites.
“Lot 557 by Epaulette is producing well, 362 by Written Tycoon is very hot at the moment and we have high hopes for 511 by Sizzling,” she said.
There’s a lot at stake for the stud owners, with a million dollar bonus on offer by Inglis to be split between the owner and seller if the horse sold at the sale wins the 2018 Golden Slipper.
And according to Inglis bloodstock consultant and auctioneer Harry McAlpine, the chances are pretty high.
“Last year we had one come second - Yankee Rose, so it’s pretty do-able,” Mr McAlpine said.
From the 600 yearlings in the catalogue, the Hunter is home to about half and Mr McAlpine has great expectations for the region to produce a champion.
“The Hunter breeds great horses,” he said.
Just in the last two years, the Hunter has had three standouts including Yankee Rose which was purchased for $10,000 in 2015, I Am A Star, purchased for $45,000 in 2015, and this year’s pick for the Golden Slipper, She Will Reign, purchased for $20,000 in 2016.
Hopeful for another standout, Mr McAlpine said the trainers and agents were looking for physically strong horses, their size, the way they walk, temperament and how they would cope in a racing environment.
The tour, which features the successful Melbourne trainer Robert Smerdon, will continue across the Hunter Valley’s studs for the rest of the week.
From the 600 catalouged horses, trainers and agents will make a short-list, before viewing them again at the Classic Yearling Sale at Randwick on February 11-13.
The opening night will feature the inaugural Gold Riband Session, a session for select yearlings with the pedigree and conformation to exceed in the elite two-year-old races.
The catalogue features 43 relations to stakes winners, 42 relations to stakes placegetters, 52 yearlings from stakes-winning mares and 52 from stakes-placed mares.
Popular third-season sire Smart Missile tops this year’s Classic stallion list with 30 progeny entered, ahead of Epaulette and I Am Invincible.
The sale has seen much growth in recent years and has more than doubled in the past two years to $27 million.
It follows the Magic Millions sale held in Queensland earlier this week and marks the start of a busy 10 weeks of major Inglis auctions.
In late February the Premier Yearling Sale in Melbourne will be held and Sydney’s Australian Easter Yearling Sale is scheduled for April.