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Trainer Mike Moroney went to $400,000 for a filly by Snitzel.
At the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale on Monday, Flemington-based trainer Mike Moroney finally got his hands on a family that he thought he was going to have some hand in years ago.
The trainer went to $400,000 for a filly by Snitzel (Redoute's Choice) out of Queensland Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Provocative (Zabeel), who Mike's brother Paul purchased for $250,000 at the 2014 edition of the Premier sale and she was sent into training with Tony Pike.
"Paul bought the mother as a yearling as well and I was actually meant to trainer her, but she was just one that got lost in the mix, but we have finally bought one out of her," said Moroney.
The Snitzel / Zabeel (Sir Tristram) cross has produced three stakes winners with the most credentialed of them being dual Group 3 winner Perast, while Zabeel's exploits as a broodmare are well documented and Moroney said the filly had a temperament more like her sire Snitzel rather than her "highly strung" dam.
"I thought there was a lot of residual value from a breeders point of view. But I love the filly on type, as did Paul, who is on the way to Las Vegas, otherwise he would normally do the bidding," said Moroney.
"It is a magic cross - Snitzel out of a Zabeel mare. There is a fair bit of Snitzel about her which is a big help, but I just really loved her from when I first saw her. I think she looks as strong as her mother did at the same stage, but she's more of Snitzel in the temperament as the mother was a bit highly strung and his filly seems a lot more laid back."
Catalogued as Lot 376 and offered as part of the Three Bridges Thoroughbreds draft, the filly descends from the family of Group 3 winner Betwixt (O'Reilly), who is herself a half-sister to Avondale Guineas (Gr 2, 2100m) winner Surely Sacred (Rock 'n' Pop) whilst her fourth dam produced Group 1 winner Taupo Retreat (Centaine).
Peter Liston, owner of Three Bridges, said he was delighted that the filly was heading to the Moroney stable believing she would be given every chance under his tutelage.
"Mike was very happy to be able to buy her Snitzel daughter with his clients," said Liston. "We couldn't be happier for any other trainer to get her but Mike because we just know he will have a bit of patience which she might need. He is a legend of a man and a legend of a trainer.
"She had a setback when she was a foal and coming into this prep, she has just blossomed and I am sure MIke's got the patience. She might get a run at two, but she will be a three-year-old and I am sure with that cross, she will be a star for him.
"She had about 14 x-ray hits. We put her on the market at $200,000 and let the market decide. There was a strong under bidder I think from New Zealand as well."
Paul Willetts bought the mare in foal on behalf Three Bridges for a whopping $1.2 million at the 2017 Inglis Chairman's Sale for Breeding Prospects Sale and she was offered in foal to late stallion Tavistock (Montjeu) and they subsequently sold the resulting colt for $260,000 at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale in 2019.
"We paid a lot for the mare, $1.2 million, which is a lot for us, with two clients. We just know that now and in coming years that the pointy end of the market is where you want to be," said Liston.
Liston said he believes this is just the start of good things to come from the mare, who has a colt by Yarraman Park's gun sire I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) at foot and is in foal to Darley's stalwart resident Exceed And Excel (Danehill).
"Buying a Group 1-winning Zabeel mare, we know it is going to take a while to pay her off, but we have a lovely I Am Invincible colt who is outstanding and the mare is in foal to Exceed And Excel I think we might even get out with the I Am Invincible colt next year - he is pretty special," said Liston. "I am looking forward to bringing him to a sale next year, too."
Three Bridges sold nine yearlings for an aggregate of $1,720,000 at an average of $191,111 and Liston said he was delighted with the results and was buoyed by the interest in their draft throughout the parades.
"We have had a sensational sale here. There's been a lot of parades, a lot of hits on x-rays and that is reflecting in our sales and the prices we are getting. It's fantastic.
"We've had the 'who's who' here - Australian and international. It's been great."
