Musk Creek Farm took four yearlings to the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale and returned with a near-perfect clearance rate. Their successes were book-ended by the Lonhro x Footprint filly on Day 1 of the Premier Session and the Magnus x Bianslick filly during the Showcase Session on Day 3.
The team reported strong interest for both home breds during pre-sale inspections at Oaklands (the other yearling being the Zoustar x Mumtaazah colt). This lifted general optimism and raised expectations of a good outcome when the yearlings entered the ring on Sunday.
The Lonhro x Footprint filly entered first, as Lot 39, and despite a modest opening bid, her price quickly climbed through six-figures and beyond, before a final bid of $180,000 was taken and sold to Graeme Causer’s Aspen Bloodstock Ltd, based out of New Zealand.
There were mixed feelings for the Zoustar x Mumtaazah colt, who entered later in the afternoon as Lot 204. Bidding stalled at $140,000, with Inglis making the decision to pass him in. We remain bullish about the opportunities for this impressive colt; therefore, we are considering another auction in the not-too-distant future.
The Inglis Premier Yearling had only just ended, but buyers would soon be reminded how influential Zoustar can be. His progeny have just won the Newmarket Handicap, the VRC Sires’ Produce Stakes and the Reisling Stakes in a two-state black type blitz. Precocity and toughness at the highest level.
On Day 2, the first of our client-representative yearlings faced the ring. He was a colt by Coolmore’s first-season sire Churchill x Rock Princess, and a half-brother to Rock Tycoon, who ran well in a Benchmark 78 handicap at Moonee Valley only two nights prior.
Despite encouraging numbers from Churchill yearlings earlier in the book, the Rock Princess colt was initially unable to reach reserve. He was eventually knocked down to Chris Hyland at CF Hyland Racing for $40,000. Chris trained the dam, who won eight races and nearly $250,000 in prizemoney.
It was a fitting outcome. But it is equally pleasing to see a trainer get the chance to carry on the legacy of a mare who gave him repeat success on the track. We wish Chris and his owners the very best.
The final entry from the Musk Creek Farm draft waited until the Showcase Session on Day 3. Lot 768 was the Magnus x Bianslick filly, a half-sister to multiple two-year-old winners including La Rocque for trainer John McArdle. For this reason, and her physical, we believed she had no business in the second book.
Nonetheless, the Bianslick filly was well received and was sold for $65,000 to Matthew Brown Racing. Magnus yearlings reached as high as $320,000 during the Premier Session, so this filly represents enormous value as a racing prospect alone.
But another pleasing aspect of this sale was the buyer. Matthew Brown is a Cranbourne-based trainer with a bright future. He purchased our homebred Written Tycoon filly out of Sublimity in 2019, and returns to buy a Musk Creek Farm sales graduate outright.
We speak highly of our graduates taking the eye of buyers, who are then turned into repeat customers. Matthew Brown joins a growing list of loyal clients, and for that we are truly grateful.
The boutique stable’s young recruit received a deserved vote of confidence when La Rocque dominated in the Group 3 TBV Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes at Flemington only four days later.
