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Secures a Better Than Ready colt with Edmonds Racing and Lucky Clover for $180,000

Bruce Slade of Kestrel Thoroughbreds teamed up with Edmonds Racing and Lucky Clover Thoroughbreds to buy a colt by Better Than Ready (More Than Ready) out of Vienna Queen (Jet Spur) for $180,000 on the second and final day of the Magic Millions Gold Coast March Yearling Sale on Tuesday. Catalogued as Lot 406, and offered by Kenmore Lodge, the colt was one of three lots to sell for that price on Tuesday, and Slade is hoping that the son of Better Than Ready will be as successful as a colt they bought by the Lyndhurst Stud-based sire last year. 

At last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale Kestrel Thoroughbreds, Edmonds Racing and Lucky Clover went to $160,000 to secure a colt from the draft of Yarramalong Park. Now named Alpine Edge, the colt won the Boom Stakes (Listed, 1000m) on debut and followed that up with victory in the BJ McLachlan Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) before finishing second in the Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) in January. 

Alpine Edge at the time he purchased was the most expensive yearling to sell by Better Than Ready and with Tuesday’s $180,000 sale, this colt now becomes a new record price for a yearling sold by the Lyndhurst Farm-based son of More Than Ready (Southern Halo). 

“I think that he is the highest priced Better Than Ready sold,” Slade told Racing & Sports Bloodstock. “I think last year that mantle was taken by another Better Than Ready colt from the January sale that we purchased with Lucky Clover for $160,000. 

“That horse turned out to be Alpine Edge and are very grateful that the Lucky Clover team, led by Chris Casey, were on hand today to help support us buying this colt for $180,000, making him the new record price for a Better Than Ready.” 

Slade said that he was a big fan of Better Than Ready.  

“They are a breed we like a lot,” he said. “I think the tagline that Lyndhurst use for him is ‘they jump, they run, they win’. This speaks volumes for the natural athleticism of his horses. Mentallly they just have their mind on the job, they know what they are there for and they are very professional and that takes them some way to winning races - natural speed and natural ability is the rest. 

“I can’t see this horse being any different and hopefully he’ll follow in the footsteps of Alpine Edge for us over the next 12 to 24 months.” 

Better Than Ready finished the Gold Coast March Yearling Sale as the leading sire by aggregate with 66 of the 77 lots offered having sold for $2,795,000 at an average of $42,348 and Slade believes the colt they bought was the best of the sires progeny at the sale. 

“He’s a horse we had a really high opinion of,” Slade said. “For us he was the best Better Than Ready in the sale and that was no mean feat. I think that there were 82 lots catalogued so there were a lot of them. 

“This horse was just full of quality. Sharp, beautifully balanced. A horse that you would expect to get to the races really early and we got a vote of confidence that he was from a really fast running mare in Vienna Queen and he came off a great farm. 

“He was bred by Kellie and Cameron Bond of Kenmore Lodge and there is a connection with them via Tyzone who also came off the property. He was the first Group 1 winner for the stable in the Stradbroke last year. It’s a nice connection there and he's a really good colt.”

The Toby and Trent Edmonds-trained Tyzone (Written Tycoon) was bought from Kenmore Lodge for $60,000 by Magic Millions as agent at the 2015 Magic Millions Gold Coast 2YOs in Training Sale and has gone on to win over $1.12 million in prize-money, with his 17 victories headed by a win in last year’s Stradbroke Handicap (Gr 1, 1400m). 

Kellie Bond told Racing & Sports Bloodstock that she was delighted the Better Than Ready colt is heading to the Edmonds stable. 

“He was a beautiful sharp horse,” Bond said. “People told us he was the nicest Better Than Ready in the sale and out of a good racemare, so we are happy with how he sold. 

“We are pleased he is going to the Edmonds stable. We previously sold Tyzone through Kenmore Lodge and he’s gone on to be a Group 1 winner for Edmonds Racing so we are thrilled that a horse we loved so much has gotten into that stable.” 

Kenmore Lodge finished the sale as the second leading vendor by aggregate behind Eureka Stud having sold all 28 of the yearlings they offered for $1,648,000 at an average of $58,857. Bond said just how remarkable the Australian bloodstock industry is, and was pleased to have such a successful sale after a difficult time at last year’s renewal. 

“The sale had remarkable depth to it,” she said. “The sale was just outstanding. It’s just a remarkable industry, it’s so resistant especially in the current climate. 

“Last year this sale fell right in the terrifying depths of the early stages of COVID and it was absolutely horrible for us. We took a hit everywhere. We just sold and moved on. We didn’t sell one horse for what we thought was reasonable so it was nice to come back and have a good sale.”

Much earlier on in the session Kenmore Lodge sold a colt from the first crop of Yarraman Park’s Hellbent (I Am Invincible) to Morrisey Racing for $180,000. Offered as Lot 272, the colt is the third foal out of the urnaced mare O’Reilly’s Charm (O’Reilly) who is herself a daughter of 2007 Queensland Guineas (Gr 2, 1600m) winner Sequential Charm (Sequalo). 

Bond said that she knew the Hellbent was a nice horse but leading into the sale, she was not expecting that sort of money for the colt. 

“We knew he was a horse that was above average, but we probably didn’t expect quite that much,” she said. “But when we got here we knew that he ticked all the boxes and I thought in the end he justified his price.” 

Having bought the sale topper on day one of the sale and the most expensive lot to sell on Tuesday - a filly by Russian Revolution (Snitzel) for $190,000 - Morrisey Racing finished as the leading buyer having spent $910,000 on four yearlings.