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Lime Country-consigned yearling sells for $400,000 at the Classic sale
A colt from the first-crop of Almanzor (Wootton Bassett) proved popular on the first day of the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale after James Clarke, who was bidding on behalf of the stallion’s co-owners Haras d'Etreham and Cambridge Stud - went to $400,000 to secure the Lime Country Thoroughbreds-consigned yearling.
Catalogued as Lot 224, the colt is out of three time-winning Dubawi (Dubai Millennium) mare Perfect Offering, who is herself a three quarter sister to Listed winner My Country (Poet’s Voice).
Further back in the colts pedigree is Grade / Group 2-winning trio J’Ray (Distant View), Hawksmoor (Azamour) and Royal Dornoch (Gleneagles) as well as Grade 3 scorer Millennium Dragon (Mark Of Esteem).
Haras d'Etreham and Cambridge Stud were unable to make the trip to Sydney due to coronavirus restrictions and Clarke told Racing & Sports Bloodstock he has been asked to inspect the horse on their behalf and rated him as one of the best colts he had seen by the stallion.
“He was a horse that Henry Plumptre and the Cambridge team had seen in New Zealand a number of times as a young horse. He was bred by James Chapman of Jamieson Park, who have been a big supporter of Cambridge Stud and Almanzor.
“I inspected him on the farm about two weeks ago and Henry had asked my opinion on the horse and in my view he was one of the nicest Almanzors I had seen all year and I have been fortunate to see a number of his young stock, both yearlings and foals, throughout the course of the year.
“My role was just to assist with the purchase of the horse because I was the man on the ground in Sydney and obviously the Haras d'Etreham team couldn’t be here and neither could Brendan Lindsay of Cambridge Stud, so they asked me to have a look at the horse on their behalf and take care of the bidding.
“I was certainly very happy to recommend him, because he is an outstanding physical. He is a very well boned, mature and well-bodied horse. For a big strong horse he had a very good athletic action.
“He also had a very good temperament. I saw him a number of times throughout the course of the week and on the farm and every time he paraded flawlessly, so I think his attitude is going to stand him in really good stead for his career on the racetrack down here. He is an earlish foal and he is a mature horse and I think he has the physique to get to the race track as a two-year-old but also has the scope to develop into a nice three-year-old and beyond.”
The first crop of Almanzor have proved popular in the southern hemisphere with three of his yearlings selling for a gross of $1,520,000 at an average of $506,667 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, while at the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale he had 42 lots sell for a gross of NZ$8,130,000 at an average of NZ$193,571.
“His progeny have obviously been very well found and been very popular and given the types of yearlings he is producing it is not difficult to see why,” said Clarke.
A three-time winner at the highest level, Almanzor stamped himself among the best horses of his generation and Clarke said he had always admired him throughout his racing career and is confident he can inject that talent into his progeny.
“I have always had a big opinion of Almanzor as a racehorse because I saw him racing in Europe when I was working over there. He was an elite racehorse and one of the best of the decade in my opinion,” he said.
“I think he is a really exciting horse for the southern hemisphere because he is an out-cross and his sire Wootton Bassett has obviously gone on to be a successful stallion in his own right. Physically his yearlings have been very consistent, very impressive and well-grown and mature and I think they will suit the style of racing in Australia.”
The colt will remain in Australia and be trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace and Cambridge’s Brendan Lindsay said: “We saw him from when he was born here in New Zealand and we’ve followed his progress the whole way and he’s just a spectacular colt.
“We thought we might have to go to $400,000 but we didn’t have any more so we’re bloody glad it stopped when it did!’’
Similarly, Lime Country Thoroughbreds’ Jo Griffin told Racing & Sports Bloodstock the colt was not only a standout physically, but that he also possessed a lovely temperament which he believes will stand him good stead for his career on the racetrack.
“He is just gorgeous,” said Griffin. “He is a beautifully balanced, rock solid colt with good bone and a massive hip.
“Anyone could have handled him and reminded me of a good loose boxer, he has heaps of power but is loose and nimble with it. He really was bomb-proof, very composed and kind.
“I was surprised Haras d'Etreham and Cambridge Stud bought him, but we have some really nice Easter horses coming through and this colt would not have been out of place among them.”
Bhima Thoroughbreds offered the other colt by Almanzor on day one of the Classic Sale and that was purchased by McKeever Bloodstock for $70,000.
