Bloodstock agents purchases headed by pair of Shadwell offerings
Suman Hedge etched his name on the buyers’ sheet eight times during the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale on Tuesday, with his octet of purchases headed by Listed-winning Sebring (More Than Ready) mare Futooh who he secured from the Shadwell dispersal for $1.2 million.
The daughter of More Than Ready (Southern Halo) was offered in foal Yarraman Park’s resident superstar stallion I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) and she was catalogued as Lot 836.
The mare is out of the Listed-winning Dubawi (Dubai Millennium) mare Golden Millennium and she is herself a half-sister to the dam of Listed-winning duo Miss Kariba (Lunchtime) and Supersnack (Lunchtime).
Hedge was working closely with Milburn Creek’s Scott Holcombe to secure the mares and he told Racing & Sports Bloodstock that with the mares pedigree and race record he believed she was a very good investment.
“She is a beautifully balanced type of mare, who was really well performed,” Hedge said. “Importantly for us she won at two and showed precocity and trained on at three and was Group-placed in the Silver Shadow.”
Hedge said they were trying to source mares with Yulong Stud-based Written Tycoon (Iglesia) and Widden Stud sire Zoustar (Northern Meteor) in mind and he believed Futooh would be a good fit for most sires.
“With her pedigree we thought was very diverse, we are primarily using Zoustar and Written Tycoon, so she suits both of those stallions and we were keen to get her,” he said.
“She also has a nice early cover to I Am Invincible, we thought she was the one we wanted to get. The cover to I Am Invincible was an attractive prospect in itself and we have secured some nominations to other stallions in Ole Kirk and Extreme Choice and just having a nice early foal for this mare, it just gives the ability to go to a variety of different options.
“We were rapt to get her. Her pedigree has a lot of depth and it offers a lot of different options.”
Earlier on in the afternoon, Hedge went to $1 million to purchase well-bred Listed winner Hindaam (Savabeel) - another that was offered as part of the Shadwell dispersal.
Catalogued as Lot 805, the mare is out of Bayrock (Fastnet Rock), who is herself a daughter of Group 3 winner Legally Bay (Snippets).
Legally Bay produced seven winners - headed by dual Group 1 winner and now Coolmore Stud sire Merchant Navy (Fastnet Rock) and Group 2 winner and Group 1-placed mare Jolie Bay (Fastnet Rock).
Legally Bay herself is a three-quarters sister to Group 1 winner Bonaria (Redoute’s Choice), while she is a half-sister to Group 3 winner Time Out (Rory’s Jester) and the dam of Group 3-winners Tessera (Medaglia d’Oro) and Montsegur (New Approach).
Hedge said he fell in love with the filly and was expecting to have to pay more to secure her, while he also believes that Savabeel (Zabeel) in time will end up being a first-class broodmare sire.
“There was a lot to like about Hindaam,” said Hedge. “She was an extremely talented racemare and for a Savabeel she showed a lot of speed and she had a very high win to run ratio, out of six starts she won three, including a Listed race.
“I spoke to her trainer Ben Hayes after the purchase and he heaped a lot of praise on her, saying she was extremely talented, but injury cut her career short.
“She is from one of the best families in the country who continue to provide high-quality horses. Scott Holcombe from Milburn helped with the selection and we went through all the mares together and he knows this family from when he worked at Woodlands and he was very keen to get hold of them.
“We thought she might make a little bit more than that, but we felt that with the family and the ability the mare possessed we were happy and I think it represented very good buying.
“I think Savabeel will end up being a very good broodmare sire, because he works well with a lot of the dominant sire lines and he is a very well bred horse, who does well with his fillies. Also having Fastnet Rock and Snippets in the pedigree as well, there are a lot of things to like about it.
“We will have to think and let the dust settle and have a chat with Scott to work out matings for her.”
On the first day of the National Broodmare Sale, Hedge purchased eight lots for an aggregate of $4,655,000 at an average of $581,875.
Yarraman Park’s Harry Mitchell told Racing & Sports Bloodstock he was pleased with the way the buying bench responded to the Shadwell dispersal and was happy to see so much of Sheikh Hamdan’s investment into Australia repaid at the sale on Tuesday.
“We got through unscathed and we were very pleased with the results overall,” he said. “It was a bit bittersweet to see the mares go, I have to admit the eyes were a bit emotional. But I was very proud of our team and the horses looked fantastic.
“It was great to get the results for the late Sheikh Hamdan and his family and I think it proved that what we were doing in Australia was pretty good - it was a pity it had to come to an end, but I suppose everything does!
“We would have loved to have bought a few more home, but it just wasn’t to be, given their popularity. We bought Reemah, who we thought was good at $200,000 with her having run second in a Blue Diamond and we tried to buy a few others and got shot, but I guess that just shows the strength of the market.”
Mitchell said that they had left a few nominations to I Am Invincible open to accommodate some of the mares that were purchased at Tuesday’s auction.
“A few of the mares today will be visiting Vinnie, we left a few spots open for them because we realised how many good mares were going to be here,” he said. “We’ve had a couple of conversations with some of the major breeders and buyers about sending their mares to him.”
Away from the Shadwell dispersal, Yarraman Park sold 12 mares for an aggregate of $4,347,500 at an average of $362,292.
