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Co-trainers spend $1,925,000 on day one at the Gold Coast.
Victorian co-trainers Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young made their presence felt on the first day of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale and added three yearlings to their portfolio, including headlined by a filly by I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) whom they paid Widden Stud $975,000 for, but the trainer also left the first session of the Queensland sale with a filly by Fastnet Rock (Danehill) and a daughter of late Widden sire Sebring (More Than Ready).
Catalogued as Lot 46 and offered by Bhima Thoroughbreds, the training partnership paired up with bloodstock agent Jim Clarke to secure the yearling for $550,000.
The filly is out of two time-winning stakes-placed High Chaparral (Sadler's Wells) mare Anchor Bid, who is herself a daughter of Group 3-winning Zabeel (Sir Tristram) mare Zapurple.
Zapurple herself is a daughter of Listed winner Purple Groove (Rhythm) and hails from the family of Group 3 scorer Irises (Tate Gallery).
Young told Racing & Sports Bloodstock that the filly has the making of an Oaks contender and physically reminded her of Fastnet Rock's high-class daughter Atlantic Jewel.
"I was at Bhima and I popped my head around the box and I just thought she had a really nice temperament and when she walked out of the box, she had Oaks written all over her and if they get that stage they generally win as a two-year-old too," said Young.
"She had a lot of scope and was definitely the sort of horse that we target. We didn't train her, but she really reminded me of Atlantic Jewel. I remember being at Flemington when she was there and this filly does look similar to her. She has a lovely big overstep and is a beautiful filly that we will have a lot of fun with. You can't really go wrong with a Fastnet Rock filly."
A few lots later, the training partnership etched their name on the buyers sheet for a second time, when they purchased a filly from the final crop of Sebring for $400,00 from the draft of Widden Stud- where the stallion stood before his untimely death in 2019.
The yearling is out of the winning Zabeel (Sir Tristram) mare Arianne, with Zabeel consistently proving himself one of the very best broodmare sires in the world, with his daughters producing 214 stakes winners and Young said that was one of the main attractions when purchasing the filly.
"The Zabeel factor really appeals to us, we are Kiwis and have a lot of horses in the stable out of Zabeel mares and he is a great broodmare sire and there was just something about this filly," explained Young.
"She wasn't your typical Sebring and was very scopey - she just really caught our eye. There was just something about her, we were happy to get her. She has a lovely big girth and is really strong."
Catalogued as Lot 58, the filly's dam Arianne is out of Justa Tad (Istidaad), whose two victories at elite level came in the New Zealand Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) and New Zealand 1,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) and she is also the dam of Listed winner Move Faster (Keeper).
