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Blue Gum Farm finish Premier Session as leading vendor.

First Light Racing broke new boundaries at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale on Monday as they beat out prominent owner Brae Sokolski to buy a colt by Coolmore Stud sire Pierro (Lonhro) for $575,000 - the most they have ever paid for a yearling. 

Bought in conjunction with Paul Willetts Bloodstock and recent Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winning stable Busuttin Racing, who will train the colt at Cranbourne, the son of Pierro is out of two time-winning More Than Ready (Southern Halo) mare Pass The Parcel, who has already produced two winners to date.

The colt's third dam produced Group 2 winner So Gorgeous (Brief Truce) - the dam of Golden Shaheen (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Sterling City (Nadeem) and Group 2 winner Tipungwuti (Fusaichi Pegasus). Meanwhile, So Gorgeous is also the dam of Wild Queen (Loup Sauvage), who in turn produced Group 1 winner Kementari (Lonhro) and Listed winner Telperion (Street Cry). He was catalogued as Lot 349 and offered by Blue Gum Farm. 

Ashleigh Dowley, bloodstock manager at First Light Racing, said she knew from the moment she saw the colt she wanted to add him to their portfolio. 

"I'm shaking a little bit to be honest," said Dowley. "He is a colt that when we first looked at him, myself and Paul Willetts, we saw him for 60 seconds and asked for him to be put away and then we whispered to each other 'that's the the best colt we'd seen all year'. We were just so blown away by this colt. We've worked pretty tirelessly over the last 24 hours to put a group of owners together and we've had wonderful support."

Dowley said she was impressed with the yearlings temperament and was confident his laid back nature would take him a long way during his racing career. 

"On type he is perfectly conformed and he is a big strong colt, with a big girth and big hind-quarter," she said. "The way he moved really impressed us, he has the most fluid walk on him and the most incredible attitude we have seen in a colt - he was like a five-year-old gelding out there and you know that takes them a long way. 

"I have been down to see him three or four times and every time he has stepped out of the box he has walked along with no issues."

First Light Racing have enjoyed a good relationship with Busuttin and Young, most notably with Group 1-placed gelding Savvy Oak (Savabeel) and Jim Moloney Stakes (Listed, 1400m) winner I Am Eloquent (I Am Invincible) and Dowley said the ownership group includes a mixture of the co-trainers clients and some of First Lights. 

"We bought him in partnership with Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young and we've had wonderful support from them, so we had a lot of confidence to go as high as we did with the team of our owners and Trent and Natalie's owners as well. We expected him to make that much and we knew we would have to be pretty strong on him. We did go two bids over what we initially thought. But we loved him that much and didn't want to go home without him. 

"He is not your natural two-year-old sire, so he looks a typical late two-year-old, three-year-old type and a mile plus starting prospect, which is what Pierros have shown they need a bit of time, so we will be patient with him and won't be pushing him too early."

Pierro finished as the leading first season sire by aggregate selling 13 progeny for $2,210,000, while the leader by average (for 3 or more sold) was Snitzel (Redoute's Choice) who had four lots sold at an average of $381,250.

Philip Campbell said the colt's popularity did not surprise him and had expected him to sell well and was delighted to see him join the Busuttin and Young stable. 

"The Pierro colt was an absolute cracker. He had a great page and was a great physical. He put up with so much here last week, he had over 200 parades and I believe he was the most inspected horse on the grounds and he came up here and acted like an absolute professional," said Campbell. 

"There was some great bidding on him and he is going to a great stable with Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young, you just want your horses to go to homes like that. It has been a very pleasing day indeed."

Over the two days of trade the Blue Gum sold 23 yearlings for an aggregate of $4,505,000 at an average of $195,870 - including the top lots of both sessions - which saw them top the leading vendors table by aggregate for the third time in six years. 

Philip Campbell said the results had been very satisfying and was particularly pleased with the consistent results across the board.  

"It's been an unbelievable two days," said Campbell. "We have grossed over $4 million and that's our second highest gross at the sale ever. We had a beautiful bunch of horses and they sold terrifically well and they have found great homes. 

"The results were just positive the whole way through. We put 26 horses through the ring and sold 23 of them and sold eight for $200,000 or more. They are results that anyone would be rapt with and we are not the only vendors that have done well - there are plenty of vendors that have had good sales because they have been prepared to back the sale and bring the stock here you are going to get rewarded with and this is just one of many years we have been rewarded and we will keep coming back because of it."

Campbell said it was very satisfying to finish leading the vendor at the only sale they target and have been richly rewarded for that decision.  

"We target this sale, we want to bring horses here which mean that we will be at the top end of the market. What does it mean to us? It is unbelievably satisfying because so many people put in so much work," said Campbell. 

"Wendy Smith and Chris Kent back at the farm deserve so much credit for these results. The work they do to have the horses conditioned to put up with what they have to go through with the showing and the way they perform up here people are happy to bid on them and buy them. We just can't thank the people at home on the farm enough, we are privileged to be working with them and we can't wait to get stuck into the next lot of yearlings." 

On the health of the market, Campbell commented: "If you bring the correct product here you are going to get rewarded. I think Inglis' should be congratulated on the buying bench they assembled. 

"There was talk about virus' and stock market crashes - I tell you what the top end bloodstock has held up unbelievably well. We bring our best yearlings to this sale and we come here knowing that people are going to come here to buy the horses if you have the right product and that has been born out today."