Aussie Dollar Buys More at Keeneland 30 October 2003
This weekend I will travel to Kentucky for the 2003 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale (November 3 –13), the largest and most important sale of it’s type in the world.
For the first time in years the Australian dollar is riding high against the greenback, valued at nearly 70c per US dollar. More
This represents an increase of 25% in buying power on last year and with some 4000 horses on offer Australian breeders are presented with a golden opportunity.
Imported mares have made a huge contribution to our breeding industry.
Just think of such matrons as:
Dancing Show (USA) (by Nijinsky), dam of Hurricane Sky, Umatilla, and grand-dam of Redoute’s Choice, Platinum Scissors.
Rolls (USA) (by Mr Prospector), dam of Flying Spur, grand-dam of Encosta de Lago.
And more recently the dams of Hasna, Helenus, Elegant Fashion, Magical Miss, Republic Lass and this season’s star three year old Exceed and Excel – all North American bred.
The November Breeding Stock Sale features broodmares and race fillies by some of the leading stallions in America today including A.P. Indy, Carson City, Dynaformer, El Prado, Kris S, Saint Ballado, Smart Strike, etc.
Also daughters of world renowned sires Alleged, Alydar, Danzig, Deputy Minister, Diesis, Fappiano, Forty Niner, Gone West, Gulch, Halo, Irish River, Kingmambo, Known Fact, Majestic Light, Miswaki, Mr Prospector, Nijinsky, Nureyev, Phone Trick, Pleasant Colony, Private Account, Rahy, Relaunch, Sadler’s Wells, Seattle Slew, Seeking the Gold, Spectacular Bid, Storm Bird, Storm Cat, Strawberry Road, Unbridled, Wild Again, etc.
The entire catalogue is available for viewing on the www.keeneland.com website and if you feel intimidated by the sheer numbers…..don’t be!
There are user friendly indexes to narrow your search by sire, covering sire or first dam and if you need some advice don’t hesitate to give me a call.
The vast diversity of bloodlines on offer gives breeders endless options to consider and prices generally range from $US25,000 upwards for a quality commercial mare. Shipping costs to land your purchase back in Australia are approximately $US12,000.
In all honesty there has never been a better time to buy overseas and as your Keeneland representative for Australasia I would be delighted to assist in any way that I can.
Jolie Takes Aim at Inglis Classic 28 October 2003
The smart win of two year old filly Jolie at Rosehill on Saturday gave me a great deal of satisfaction.
She is a filly we purchased for $26,000 at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale this year with the specific goal of buying an early maturing two year old type.
She impressed me from the first time I saw her led out, a big strong athletic filly and being a daughter of Armidale you knew their was a limit to how much she could make.
Jolie has had two starts under the care of master trainer Jack Denham, winning some $37,750 in prizemoney for her owner George Altomonte.
She ran a promising third on debut after being cuddled in the lead, and then won easily on Saturday when allowed to run along at her own pace.
Jolie is paid up for the $610,000 Inglis Classic in January and I will be delighted to see her line up in the final field.
Forest Express First Foal Fetches 140,000 Guineas
8 October 2003
The opening session of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale continued in the same vein as last week’s record breaking Houghton Yearling Sale.
Some 54 lots fetched 100,000 guineas or more and I was delighted to see that the first foal of Forest Express was right up there with the best of them. The bay colt by internationally renowned sire Machiavellian was knocked down to R O’Gorman Bloodstock for 140,000 guineas, which equates to more than $A300,000.
Forest Express is a mare that I purchased for clients some years ago at the 1997 Inglis Winter Yearling Sale in Sydney for the ultimate bargain price of $2,400.
She was good sized, but a bit plain and by Kaaptive Edition, a sire who was (and still is) regarded as unfashionable to say the least. The bloke parading her didn’t even want to show her to me as he told me I was wasting my time!
In her favour, she was correct and a very good walker, plus she had this huge European Black Type family through her dam Myra’s Best (IRE), a stakes-winning half-sister to champion three year old filly Park Express.
To give some indication as to the worth of this family consider that a King’s Best colt from Park Express made 775,000 guineas at the recent Houghton Sale.
We’re talking seriously big family and seriously big commercial value!
No wonder my overseas clients couldn’t believe their luck when I told them I’d bought this filly (Forest Express) for a song.
She went into work with Gary Portelli and from day one she was just a natural.
Forest Express won two races including a memorable victory in VRC The Vanity Gr 3 at Flemington. However, she showed her true quality with five placings at Group Two and Three level, as well as finishing fourth in the AJC Champagne Stakes and AJC Flight Stakes, both Group One contests.
She retired with winnings of $309,830 and was quickly packed off to Europe with a lucrative stud career in mind.
People talk about “diamonds in the rough” and Forest Express is the case in point.
Easter and Magic Millions may be the logical place to look for fillies with a pedigree, but they can pop up anywhere if you are prepared to seek them out.
Winning Weekend for Before Too Long and Mimzical
8 October 2003
Everyone loves a long weekend, especially when you have a winner on both Saturday and Monday at Royal Randwick!
Brilliant sprinter Before Too Long has been off the scene for 12 months, her promising career put on hold by some niggling problems. Trainer Gary Portelli seems to have her sorted now and she certainly put the best foot forward to win over 1000 metres on Saturday.
We purchased Before Too Long at the 2001 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale in Melbourne for $40,000 and she’s been a bit of a star for us winning more than $260,000 to date.
Last season she competed against the best of her age down in Melbourne during the spring and ran record time in winning the MVRC Champagne Stakes Gr 2.
She has pulled up in great order and we plan on heading back to Moonee Valley for a crack at the MVRC Moir Stakes Gr 2 on Cox Plate day.
Little Mimzical may not be quite in the class of Before Too Long, but she’s certainly making a lot of people very happy.
She was a modest purchase at just $12,000 from the 2002 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale and with a winner’s cheque of $26,000 going into her kick on Monday, her total winnings now top $60,000
