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Yearling hands Bell River Thoroughbreds another fine result at Classic
Bell River Thoroughbreds enjoyed a stellar weekend on track and those good results carried on at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale on Sunday as a colt from the first crop of Aquis Farm-based Invader (Snitzel) was purchased by George Moore Bloodstock / Team Moore for $375,000.
Andrew and Georgie Ferguson’s Bell River Thoroughbreds were celebrating on Saturday having bred Prophet’s Thumb (I Am Invincible), who landed the Rubiton Stakes (Gr 2, 1100m) at Caulfield and Inglis Millennium (RL, 1100m) runner-up Baranof (Hinchinbrook), while their son James purchased Saturday’s Inglis Sprint (1200m) winner Rocketing By (So You Think) and he described Sunday’s result as the ‘cherry on the top’ of a brilliant weekend.
“Yesterday was huge, we had three plans with three racehorses and they almost all came off, which we still can’t believe,” James Ferguson told Racing & Sports Bloodstock.
“To have Baranof finish second and Prophet’s Thumb and Rocketing By, who I purchased as a yearling, both win and now this result today - I still can’t believe it all happened, but it is very rewarding for us as a family and it gives you great satisfaction for all the hard we put in.”
Catalogued as Lot 41, the son of Invader is out of the once raced Hussonet (Mr Prospector) mare Hussidora, who Bell River bought for $62,000 at the Inglis Great Southern Weanling and Bloodstock Sale in 2019 with the colt in utero.
Hussidora has produced three foals to race for three winners, headed by stakes-placed pair Schilldora (Artie Schiller) and Dreams Of Platinum (Dream Ahead) and further back in the pedigree is Group 3 winner Green Destiny (Marju).
Ferguson said they were confident the colt would be well received by buyers, but that the price-tag massively exceeded their expectations.
“He was one of the toughest, most genuine horses we have ever had the pleasure of dealing with,” said Ferguson. “We knew he was a good colt and we had him around the $200,000 mark. The more work you gave him the more he would give you. He really has the most wonderful attitude, he is just a horse you would love to breed and whoever he ends up with will give them his absolute all, he is just a machine overall.”
To secure the colt, Moore had to fight off fierce competition from James Harron and Ferguson said it was satisfying to see two quality judges fight to take the colt home.
“There were two quality judges on him, who we have a huge amount of respect for and when they are going to head-to-head you know you are doing something right with your breeding and your business,” said Ferguson.
“It is very rewarding, especially given that we purchased the mare with the colt inside her for $62,000. He is obviously a late October foal and there is so much more to come from him.”
After day one, Bell River had sold three yearlings for an aggregate of $705,000 at an average of $235,000.
Meanwhile, Moore said the colt would stay in Australia and that he was willing to stretch their budget to secure the youngster.
“We have got one client that wants to buy one or two horses, granted we wanted to spend no more than $300,000 but we just had to have this horse,” said Moore.
“He looks like he will be an early two-year-old and we were looking for early precocious types and right now the stable is made up of a lot two-year-olds and we want to target the Invaders, Capitalists that will be early and will be ready at the end of this year. You have to pay for the nice types.”
