Bought by Ryan Balfour for $370,000 from draft of Willow Grove Stud
A filly by Sun Stud-based first-season sire Palentino (Teofilo) will join her talented half-brother Outlaws Revenge (Reward For Effort) at the Ryan Balfour stable after the trainer went to $370,000 for the Willow Grove Stud-consigned yearling at the Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale on Tuesday. She became the most expensive filly ever sold at the South Australian auction.
Ralph Satchell of Willow Grove Stud told Racing & Sports that he had expected the filly to sell well and was happy that she would be staying in South Australia.
“We were expecting good competition on her and she exceeded our price expectations and it’s great to see her stay local. It just goes to show that if you sell your best in Adelaide you can get money for them. We sell our best here and we’ve been rewarded for it.”
Catalogued as Lot 79, the filly is out of the winning Testa Rossa (Perugino) mare Wings Of Alice and her four winners are headed by Listed winner Violet (Mint Lane).
The filly’s third dam is unraced mare Zippast (Lord Seymour), the dam of Listed winner Firenza (Kenny’s Best Pal) - the dam of Tuscan Sling (Danehill Dancer).
Zippast herself is also the grandam of Group 3-winning quartet Lite’n In My Veins (Henrythenavigator), Written Beauty (Written Tycoon), Hi World (High Chaparral), Loveyamadly (Bel Esprit).
Outlaws Revenge has won three of his four career starts and is likely to head to the Redelva Stakes (Listed, 1100m) and Euclase Classic (Gr 2, 1200m) and Balfour believes the three-year-old son of Reward For Effort (Exceed And Excel) is a top-class Group horse in the making.
"I've got full confidence in the half-brother," Balfour said. "He's going to the Redelva and then the Euclase and I'm confident he'll be making his presence well felt and this filly should have a black-type brother.
“When we saw her we were determined not to leave without her. We think Outlaws Revenge is going to be a really top-class Group horse and she absolutely replicates him. She is athletic and I love her and I didn’t want to go home without her.
"When I saw her, I thought she just looks identical to him and I think that's a really important part, when the mare stamps them like that and you know that they've got that going through them."
Palentino - who has only had two runners so far - had three yearlings sell for a gross of $445,000 at a leading average (with three or more lots sold) of $148,333. He stood his second season at stud for a fee of $17,600 (inc GST).
Willow Grove Stud sold seven yearlings during the open session for an aggregate of $707,500 at an average of $101,071, which was only bettered by Goldin Farms (with three or more lots sold) and Satchell said that the South Australian industry was in a good situation.
“It’s very positive here at the moment,” Satchell said. “Racing SA have got some good strategies and with the prize money increases and re-inventing the Racing Rewards it’s all very positive. There are a lot of people wanting to be involved and we are on an up in South Australia for sure.
“We sold seven horses and averaged $101,000 in our draft,” said Satchell Again, obviously, you have some lows, we sold one for nothing but really across the rest of them it was up. It’s been very strong at all levels I think.”