Keeneland November 2008
As expected in the current environment, the Keeneland Breeding Stock market was well down on last years figures. It doesn’t matter which way you slice it, the market is off around 45%. The greatest impact is largely felt in the lower middle and lower end of the market, where in a lot of cases this market was bottomless. Interestingly there was still strong demand for good quality mares and strong demand for quality weanlings, where pinhookers seemingly confident in the 2009 yearling market.
Vin Cox Bloodstock was able to secure 3 stakes winning mares. Two stakes winners off the track and a stakes winning mare in foal.
Sprung (Hip 197), a Grade 3 winning mare by Grand Slam, was purchased for $270,000.
Swiss Current (Hip 1279), an extremely well performed racemare, was purchased for $110,000.
Becky In Pink (Hip 971) was the in foal to high profile stallion Stormy Atlantic, she is from the family of Face Value, Wolf, etc and therefore has particular relevance to the Australian market. This mare being a stakes winner, out of a stakes winner and a half-sister to stakes winner makes her purchase price of $100,000 seem cheap even on a soft market.
Keeneland September 2008
As has been widely reported, we were active in the market, purchasing 6 yearlings for Nathan Tinkler’s Patinack Farm, 2 colts and 4 fillies.
Hip 789 – Bay/Brown Filly by A.P. Indy out of Golden Sonata
A filly by the best stallion in the world from a pedigree like this….. for how much???
Purchase Price: US $80,000
Hip 855 – Bay Colt by Smart Strike out of Lan Kwai Fong
By the sire of US Horse of the Year Curlin out of the very good Australian racemare, Lan Kwai Fong. Beautiful big colt who will run with his looks.
Purchase Price: US $475,000
Hip 1582 – Bay Filly by Awesome Again out of Folly Dollar
By the sire of Champions Ghostzapper & Ginger Punch out of a Stakes winning and Group 2 placed granddaughter of Seattle Slew.
Purchase Price: US $60,000
Hip 1860 – Bay/Brown Colt by Forestry out of Weekend Gold
By Successful sire Forestry out of a Seeking the Gold mare that is a half sister to one of the most exciting colts in training in the USA, Mambo Seattle a Group 2 winner and last start beaten a lip in a Gr 1… Watch this space.!!! The 3rd dam is Weekend Surprise (dam of A.P. Indy, Summer Squall, etc).
Purchase Price: US $60,000
Hip 2098 – Bay Filly by Theatrical out of Miasma
A three quarter sister to the dam of Big Brown winner of the 2008 Kentucky Derby and 2008 Preakness Stakes.
Purchase Price: US $140,000
Hip 2360 – Bay Filly by Aldebaran out of Dance of Sunshine
By a young sire that has had a nice start to his stud career, whose female line traces back to Best In Show. This filly is a half sister to a Stakes winner, from one of Darby Dan’s traditional families
Purchase Price: US $30,000
It is the intention for these yearlings to begin their careers stateside, with a view to improving their value and eventually bring them to Australia.
2008 Magic Millions June Weanling, Yearling and Mares
Weanlings
| Price | Breeding | Details |
| $300,000 | Filly by More Than Ready x Langness | Beautiful bodied filly from the More than Ready x Danehill cross, out of a Listed winner |
| $180,000 | Filly by Elusive Quality x Abbotswood | This filly is a half sister to a Listed winner out of a good Black type family |
| $170,000 | Filly by Exceed and Excel x Boardwalk Bell | Good looking filly out of a half sister to a Group 1 winner, by the exciting Exceed and Excel |
| $130,000 | Colt by General Nediym x Forever Midight | A colt with a good presence out of a half sister to a Listed winner and a half brother to a Group 2 winner. |
| $34,000 | Filly by Snippetson x Monsoon Smytzer | Beautiful Snippetson filly, amongst the best of them! |
| $26,000 | Filly by Johannesburg x Little Pattie | Lovely leggy filly out of a Listed winner by the handy Johannesburg. |
| $16,000 | Filly by Viscount x Fashion Wee | A lovely looking, big, strong filly out of a half sister to a Group winner and comes from a nice Black type family. |
Yearling
| Price | Breeding | Details |
| $32,000 | Colt by Canny Lad x Sovereign Road | Big, Strong, Forward colt that we are looking forward racing. Out of a well performed mare by the evergreen Canny Lad. |
Mares
| Price | Breeding | Details |
| $80,000 | Gainesville by Afleet In foal to Fastnet Rock | By Afleet this mare has produced a Listed winner and Group placegetters. |
| $55,000 | Espuela by Flying Spur In foal to Benicio | In foal to the same cross a Sebring, she is out of a Group placegetting mare. |
| $50,000 | Absolute Lure by Lure In foal to Charge Forwardwith Street Cry foal at foot | Half sister to a Group winner and came with a very attractive foal at foot. |
| $45,000 | Diva’s Magic by Redoute’s Choice In foal to Dubai Destination | By a leading sire and a half sister to a Listed winner and in foal to a young horse that is doing a god job. |
| $26,000 | Eimeo Bay by Western Symphony In foal to Snippetson | Six time winning mare out of a Group placegetter and in foal to an exciting young Stallion. |
| $25,000 | Claws by Flying Spur In foal to Reset | By a champion stallion she is a half sister to 2 Group placegetters and is in foal to a young stallion on the rise. |
| $17,000 | Lady Lindara by Flying Spur | Out of a half sister to a Group 1 winner from a good Black type family. |
| $12,000 | Describe by Red Ransom In foal to Ferocity | A half sister to a Group 1 winner in foal to an exciting young QLD horse. |
2008 Easter Yearling Sale
| Price | Breeding | Photo | Comment |
| $700,000 | Lot 388 Filly by Redoute’s Choice x St. Therese |  |
One of the best Redoute’s Choice fillies in the sale. She is big and bold not unlike Miss Finland and we can not wait to see her run. |
| $500,000 | Lot 15 Colt by Encosta De Lago x Bulla Borghese | Beautiful moving son of Encosta De Lago out of a Group 1 winning mare… need we say more. | |
| $280,000 | Lot 158 Filly by More Than Ready x Homecoming Queen | Sire cam | Bred on the cross that is working very well at the moment and she looks to be a real runner. |
| $160,000 | Lot 324 Filly by Not A Single Doubt x Regal County | Speed to Burn! | |
| $85,000 | Lot 658 Filly by Danzero x Diva Belle | Sire cam | A very likeable, sound racing prospect by the evergreen Danzero |
2008 Classic Yearling Sale
| Price | Breeding | Photos | Comments |
| $100,000 | Lot 226 Filly by Cape Cross x Flinders | This big & strong, athletic filly is out of a Royal Academy mare, by the proven sire of Gr1 winners Cape Cross. | |
| $90,000 | Lot 110 Colt by Beautiful Crown x Boom Boom Baby | Sire Cam | This very athletic forward colt is a half brother to a group 2 placegetter, who was also 4th in the Golden Slipper. |
| $60,000 | Lot 106 Colt by More Than Ready x Blue Mink | Sire cam | This big attractive colt is by the sire of the moment More Than Ready, producer of this years golden slipper winner Sebring. |
| $38,000 | Lot 476 Colt by Arena x Scandal At Court |  |
He is a big imposing athletic colt by a very consistent stallion from a nice female family. We should see this guy before Christmas. |
| $25,000 | Lot 195 Colt by Secret Savings x Durrah | Sire cam | He is a cracking, well sized colt, who is by the very consistent stallion Secret Savings. |
| $25,000 | Lot 355 Colt by Magic Albert x Markings | He is a well put together 2yo type, by the fashionable stallion Magic Albert, who is a consistent winner getter. | |
| $25,000 | Lot 374 Colt by Jeune x Miz Riocee | He was a big, scopey, imposing type. Typically found by the proven sire Jeune whose progeny include Gr1 winners Mummify and True Steel. | |
| $16,000 | Lot 220 Filly by Lion Heart x Figure Of Eight | Sire Cam | This is a well put together, athletic filly by the young prospective stallion Lion Heart out of an Octagonal mare. |
| $12,000 | Lot 351 Filly by Lucky Owners x Malayo Girl | A good looking scopey filly by the young sire, Lucky Owners who is doing a good job with his first season 2yo’s. |
2008 Inglis Broodmare
| Price | Breeding | Comments |
| $260,000 | Lot 6 Shasta
By Encosta De Lago x Quiz In foal to Pins |
Shasta is a 5 time winner herself and a full sister to a stakes winner. By the popular sire Encosta De Lago, Out of Quiz, a sister to a Gr1 winner. This is her first season at stud. |
| $230,000 | Lot 271 Sunriseontheoasis (USA)
By Gilded Time x
Midnightontheoasis In foal to Tale of the Cat |
Sunriseontheoasis is a 6 time winner, including a stakes race. She is by Gilded Time, out of a winning mare. Her first season at stud. |
| $150,000 | Lot 273 Livonia (GB)
By Polish Precedent x Mill Path In foal to Singspiel |
Livonia (GB) was unraced. She is a half sister to group winners. By the dam sire of Snowland, Snippetson and Portillo. |
| $110,000 | Lot 78 Red Rapture
By Red Ransom x New Acquaintance
|
Red Rapture was unraced. She is a half sister to Gr1 Blue Diamond winner Knowledge. By the consistent stallion Red Ransom. |
| $90,000 | Lot 471 Silk and Money
By Frisco View x Seen Before In foal to Magic Albert |
Silk and Money was a 12 time winner earning $383,360. By the handy sire Frisco View. |
| $80,000 | Lot 6 Whatyoudoin
By Rory’s Jester x Maralda In foal to Holy Roman Emperor |
A winning 2yo by Rory’s Jester from the great Corn family. |
| $41,000 | Lot 588 In
The Money
By Snippets x Miss Clifton In foal to Beautiful Crown |
Winning Snippets mare from a consistent winning family. she came with a Beautiful Crown colt at foot. |
| $24,000 | Lot 513 Ta Ta
By Royal Academy x Light Action In foal to Dane Shadow |
Ta Ta a winner of 2 races. She is a half sister to a stakes winner, out of a group winning mare, by Royal Academy. Comes with a Filly at foot by Dane Shadow and her yearling made $38,000 at the Classic sale. |
| $15,000 | Lot 477 Singadonna
By Danasinga x Donnas Gold In foal to Canny Lad |
Singadonna by Danasinga producer of numerous GR1 Winners, out of a consistent broodmare, Donnas Gold with 5 winners out of 6 runners. |
| $10,000 | Lot 361 Nylon
By Quest for Fame x Collant
Noir In foal to Domesday |
Nylon was unraced. She is a full sister to a stakes winner and group place getter. By Quest for Fame, out of consistent broodmare. |
Magic Millions 2008
14 April 2008
The 2008 Magic Million yearling sale will be a sale that will be etched in history for a lot of different and varied reasons. These included the timing of the sale; Patinack's continued dominance of the market; the length of the sale and the announcement of Woodlands selling out to Darley. The later timing of the sale was largely well received given the extreme circumstances the industry faced with the EI crisis. It wouldn't surprise anyone if the sale slotted straight back into its usual January position.
Nathan Tinkler's Patinack farm absolutely dominated the market from the outset. When the dust settled Patinack had signed for just short of $20 million on 70 yearlings, that is some play. The outright strength of Patinack made it difficult on other buyers that were being beaten and were finding themselves cascading onto other yearlings. The end result being the better class of yearling sold very well.
Despite the strength of the market, there were major holes in the market. The proprietors of Magic Millions took on 900 yearlings in the "select" part of the catalogue, the attitude being to pad the catalogue out with numbers at the expense of quality. Magic Millions will never be a truly international sale until they do away with this crass mass marketing. Nobody objects to having 2000 or more yearlings entered for the sale, it needs to be graded. If the Vendors and Magic Millions want to attract the big end players from around the world, they can't in all conscience subject people to the extreme periods of boredom spread throughout 4 days of a "selected" catalogue.
The biggest play in the history of the thoroughbred world was announced/ leaked during the Magic Million sale. Darley buys Woodlands lock stock and barrel, walk in walk out. Good luck to all concerned. The line played out is that it was a huge vote of confidence for the Australian industry, maybe so. What about Coles and Woolworths?
To say that Magic Millions 2008 was a unique sale would be an understatement.
| Price | Breeding | Photo | Comments |
| $310,000 | Lot 737 Filly by Hussonet x Femme Amoureuse |  | A filly with a nice pedigree by the sire of the moment Hussonet. |
| $150,000 | Lot 630 Colt by Danzero x Covet Thee | Video at www.stallions.com.au | An Athletic, running type of colt by an under rated sire. He will be aimed at the Magic Millions and Golden Slipper races next year. |
| $95,000 | Lot 888 Colt by Commands x Lithgow |  | A big strong attractive colt by a sire that has a fantastic winners to runners ratio. |
| $75,000 | Lot 830 Filly by Canny Lad x Ivory | Great Value with a residual pedigree like this. By Canny Lad out of a Slew USA bred mare, a cross that works well in Australia. | |
| $62,500 | Lot 791 Filly by Charge Forward x Halo Dehere | A Racy 2yo type by the fastest colt in Golden Slipper history. |
Melbourne Premier Positive
The Inglis Premier sale was a great result for all concerned. As has been well documented elsewhere, the sale was very strong in all areas. Again Patinack Farm were the strength of the sale buying numbers and at the quality end of the market. The knock-on effect for the rest of the market was dramatic, as it made it harder for other buyers to buy the horses they wanted.
As far as we were concerned we had a filly by Choisir knocked down to us by Choisir. A big forward and mature filly, as evidenced by her foaling date; that has pedigree and looks to get her on the track early.
As usual, we were behind the purchases for Gary Portelli. The Portelli stable securing 4 lots, a magnificent filly by More Than Ready that will win a race. The other 3 were colts, a Delago Brom, a Commands and a Testa Rossa. All were purchased at good value prices.
We are looking forward to these yearling getting to the breakers and seeing them moving.
Vin Cox Bloodstock Yearling Purchase
| Price | Breeding | Photo (click to enlarge) |
| $90,000 | Lot 324 Filly |
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Horses Purchased by Gary Portelli with Vin Cox Bloodstock
| Price | Breeding | Photo (click to enlarge) |
| $100,000 | Lot 404 Colt |
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| $85,000 | Lot 295 Filly |
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| $65,000 | Lot 160 Colt |
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| $50,000 | Lot 341 Colt |
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Vin Cox Bloodstock Active at Keeneland January
23 January 2008
The first major sale of the year in the Northern Hemisphere is the Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale and once again there was strong interest from Australians.
Vin Cox Bloodstock was successful on four mares purchased through the ring, plus another two that were secured privately after the sale.
Most expensive purchase was Lot 238, Forest Code (USA), a five year-old stakes-winner by Forestry that was secured for $US350,000. A half-sister to Group Three winner Desert Code and stakes-winner Soul Onarazorsedge, Forest Code will be heading to Australia for the 2008 breeding season.
Lot 668, Lake Dream (USA) was purchased for $US70,000 and is am unraced four year-old three-quarter sister to stakes-winner Maizelle, being by leading sire Gone West from the stakes-winning Storm Cat mare Corona Lake.
Another four year-old mare captured by the Aussies for just $US45,000 was Lot 1097, Ms Guacamole (USA), a minor winner and half-sister to two stakes-winners in Delta Wolf and Miss Wineshine.
She will remain in America for the time being and have a few runs for astute trainer Tom Proctor.
Cheap as chips was Lot 1683, County Mayo(USA), a four year-old half-sister by Grand Slam to four stakes-winners from a stakes-winner in Tracy’s Rock and knocked down to Vin Cox Bloodstock for just $US16,000.
Bought privately after passing in during the sale were Lot 1098, Ms Seneca Rock (USA), a stakes-winning mare from the family of the previous purchase County Mayo and Lot 721, Mountain Legacy (USA), a half-sister by Mt Livermore to Group Three winner Essence.
Also featuring on the buyer’s list were regular Keeneland visitors Lockyer Thoroughbreds, successful on Lot 523 at $US290,000, an Argentinian bred stakes-winner Beauty Halo (Arg).
A daughter of champion sire Southern Halo, Beauty Halo was a Group Three winner in her homeland and Group Two placed in North America. Already the dam of a colt by Speightstown and a filly by Successful Appeal, she was offered in foal to Bluegrass Cat.
