Esker Lodge-consigned filly makes $300,000 at Inglis Premier

The sole offering by Coolmore Stud’s former shuttler Camelot (Montjeu) proved popular at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale on Monday, with trainer Symon Wilde teaming up with Cameron Cooke Bloodstock to secure a filly by the son of Montjeu (Sadler’s Wells) for $300,000 from Darren Dance’s Esker Lodge draft. 

Catalogued as Lot 447, the filly is out of the winning Dansili (Danehill) mare Yours Ever, making her a half-sister to three winners. 

Yours Ever herself is a daughter of Group 3 winner Love Everlasting (Pursuit Of Love) - who is herself the dam of Listed-placed Acquainted (Shamardal) - the dam of Warrnambool Cup (Listed, 2350m) winner Furrion (Camelot). 

Dance told Racing & Sports Bloodstock he was happy with how much the filly made and said he had been very impressed with how she handled the whole sale process. 

“She was a lovely filly and a real staying type,” said Dance. “She presented really well at the sale and really thrived on the work and was just a real professional throughout the whole process. 

“She is really laid back with a lovely temperament and a terrific walker. I was really impressed with how she handled the workload and she sold accordingly really well. She was just a lovely, sweet filly who can really walk.

“I was delighted that Symon Wilde bought the filly. He is a very good conditioner of stayers and a very good upcoming trainer and I think he will do a terrific job with her.” 

Yours Ever was purchased privately in Europe and he said he did consider sending the mare to Juddmonte Farms stallion Frankel (Galileo), but decided on Camelot. 

“I saw Camelot win the Irish Derby at the Curragh and he is just a lovely individual and a beautiful animal. I really rated him as a racehorse and I love his pedigree,” said Dance. 

“I thought long and hard about breeding to Frankel, who I had used in the past, but we decided to buy some European mares and send them to Camelot southern hemisphere time. We keep our mares at Mayfield Farm in Ireland and the plan was always to bring them back to Australia at the yearling sales.”

Camelot has enjoyed success in Australia siring 47 winners from 65 starters, headed by European-bred Group 1 winner Russian Camelot and Sir Dragonet. 

Dance’s plan to offer progeny by the stallion out of European bred mares was born because he had been buying tried horses in Europe and aiming them at the main staying races in Australia, and he wanted to give buyers the option to by into these stoutely bred horses from well-bred European families as yearlings. 

“Over the past ten years I have been buying tried horses out of Europe for the Australian staying races, including the Melbourne Cup, where we have obviously competed with Jackalberry, Dandino and Heartbreak City, among others,” Dance explained.  

“I thought that we have been buying these stayers up there, why not try and breed some stayers out of superior staying European families and offer them in Australia as yearlings. I have a number of mares in foal and some Camelot weanlings for next year to sell.”

While Dance accepts the stallion’s success in Australia he does not believe the antipodean match up well with the Coolmore Stud stallion.

“The stallion has worked here, but both of his main horses are European bred and I just don’t think we have the suitable mares down here for a stallion like Camelot.”

Over the two days of trade, Esker Lodge has sold eight yearlings for an aggregate of $1,220,000, while the average was recorded as $152,500.