A record breaking opening session at Inglis Classic on Sunday was a showcase for Newgate based sires who produced three of the top four lots headed by a stunning Extreme Choice colt from Murtle Turtle.
Extreme Choice has been a hot commodity at the sales this year and he put the spark into Inglis Classic when his colt from Murtle Turtle set a new record for this sale when selling for $775,000 to James Harron Bloodstock Colts Partnership.
Offered by Bell River Thoroughbreds, who also bred and sold his sire Extreme Choice, the colt is a half-brother to this season’s smart two year-old winner California Deeply and is the fifth foal from Group III placed Murtle Turtle.
“When the bidding got to the $600,000, $700,000, $750,000, that’s when it all started to get emotional and once it was sold I had to duck off to a quiet spot and just have a minute to myself, I don’t like to cry in front of people really,’’ said James Ferguson of Bell River.
“It’s unbelievable. It’s emotional, I tried to stop the tears but I failed on that account.
“You know, it’s more rewarding than anything. You spend years learning the game…you prepare for these moments to nail them on the head and I think we can say we did that this time around.
“I was always thinking he could get above $500,000, just the way the stallion is going and he’s a limited commodity but I tried my best not to get caught up in the hype and to just enjoy it.
“A lot of hard work goes into a result like this, it’s not just a matter of turning up to a sale and presenting a horse like this. You couldn’t do this without the family and our supporters and most importantly the people we’ve got back at the farm that aren’t here today, they’re the backbone of what we do.’’
The colt was a super successful pinhook having been bought by Bevan Smith Bloodstock/Ferguson Bloodstock from the Kenmore Lodge draft at the Magic Millions National Weanling Sale for $220,000.
He is now the most expensive yearling by Extreme Choice sold at auction and is one of seven yearlings at this sale by the champion young son of Not a Single Doubt.
“This horse could have been sold at any of the major sales this year so the fact he’s at Classic, if anything, is probably a testament to this sale and where it’s elevated itself to,: said his buyer James Harron.
“We judge the horse on their merits and can compare to what we’ve seen throughout the year and he stacked up extremely well.”
The second highest priced yearling was the Deep Field colt from Spellbinder offered by Newgate Farm and bought by Bon Ho’s Legend Racing for $550,000.
“The market is very hot, the good-looking horses fetch a very good price,’’ Mr Ho said.
“It’s very good for the vendors but for the buyers like myself, we have to pay more than our budget for the better ones.
“This colt was the best-looking horse at the sale for me and there were some very good trainers as under bidders so I’m very pleased to get him. He was recommended to me by William Freedman, so he will be trained by William.’’
He is the fourth foal of Group I placed stakes-winner Spellbinder, who produced a colt by Tassort last spring and is back in foal to him again.
Capitalist also made his mark with the Newgate Farm consigned colt from One More Tequila selling for $375,000 to James Harron Bloodstock Colts Partnership.
He was a successful pinhook, snapped up for $180,000 from the Fairhill Farm draft at the Inglis Australian Weanling Sale by Binalong Bloodstock.
Newgate sold 17 horses for $2,635,000 on Sunday to be the leading vendor by aggregate on Day 1.
