Australian Easter Yearling Sale In Sydney

Sydney's anticipation of another record-breaking sale seemed well-founded after a half-brother to champion mare Winx was knocked down to trainer Gai Waterhouse and agent Julian Blaxland for A$2.3m on Tuesday, 5 April.

Winx blitzed a strong field in Saturday's Doncaster Mile on the first day of The Championships at Randwick and looks destined for Horse Of The Year honours. She has recorded nine wins on the trot but misses the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on the second day of the meeting this weekend and has been sent to the paddock.

There is huge international interest in the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale in the historic sale yards at Randwick. Times have changed, the dates have undergone tinkering, but tradition remains.

This is Australia's last major yearling sale, and, many would argue, the best. It is certainly the showcase for young horses with big price tags.

A total of 580 lots go under the hammer over 3 days, offering buyers at the prestige end of the market a final opportunity to purchase.

Australian owners and trainers tend to look for young horses with the physique and pedigree to make their mark as two-year-olds, though the influence of the shuttle stallions, plus a few yearlings from New Zealand shipped over, mean those with designs on Derbys and Cups can also be accommodated.

All sales companies love advertising their past successes, and William Inglis & Son Ltd, who have been auctioning horses for 5 generations, are no exception.

Their most recent star is Chautauqua, the gelded son of Encosta De Lago, who recorded one of the most incredible wins seen at Randwick in the past two decades when flying home late to notch a second successive win in the G1 T J Smith Stakes on the first day of The Championships last weekend.

Chautauqua was sold at the 2012 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale. Another graduate, Flying Artie, went under the hammer last year and was quick to make his mark. He finished an outstanding second in the G1 Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield prior to his third in the G1 Golden Slipper Stakes at Rosehill.

Tried and tested local stallions such as Darley's Exceed And Excel, Street Cry (sire of champion Winx), Commands and Medaglia d'Oro, as well as popular Snitzel, Sebring, and Fastnet Rock, are all well represented.

But from an international perspective, the two colts and three fillies by Frankel are certain to draw most attention. The first of the Frankels will go under the hammer on Wednesday, but for many, pride of place is held by Lot 423, a colt out of More Strawberries, who is a G2 winning half-sister to the talented miler All American.

All Australia's top trainers are in attendance but other major stables from overseas are represented, including His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum's Shadwell operation, Aga Khan Studs, Niarchos Family, Coolmore, and many others.

Shadwell purchased a bay colt by Redoute's Choice for A$1.5m. The blend of European bloodlines, in many cases on the distaff side, with successful Australian stallions, makes this an outstanding sale.