Australian Broodmare Sale sees the conclusion of a busy week of selling at Warwick Farm
Candyland (Tavistock) was the most expensive lot to sell during Friday's Inglis Australian Broodmare Sale when bought by John Chalmers Bloodstock Services for $440,000.
A sister to multiple Group 1 winner Werther, Candyland was sold not in foal and has produced three foals already, all by Pierro (Lonhro).
Chalmers purchased Candyland for a syndicate of young investors just starting out in the breeding game.
"They wanted to get into breeding at a reasonable level and I thought she was the ideal opportunity for them,'' Chalmers said.
"We need to select a stallion for her now but there's plenty of options there. The price was about where I was going to have to finish, I had nothing left in the tank!'"
The mare was sold by Holbrook Thoroughbreds as agents for Peters Investments and Bob and Sandra Peters grandson Liam said: "We just decided to sell all the dry mares with no issues. We didn't want to put any problematic mares to the buyers, we wanted them to have as much confidence as they could.''
On Candyland he added: "We are very proud of her (to make) that money and her pedigree is amazing, being related to Werther and a lot of other Stakes winners, so it's a very deep pedigree.''
The next most expensive lot was Diamond (Fastnet Rock) who was bought for $400,000 by Tagaloa Syndicate. She was sold by Middlebrook Valley Lodge in foal to Newgate Farm's Russian Revolution (Snitzel).
"It's all about placing mares at the right sale. We could have put her in the Chairman's but I think she sold better in this sale than she would have last night because she really stood out in this catalogue and that was the strategy,'' Metcalfe said.
"She's got a nice pedigree and those are the sort of mares that people look for in a sale like this. She was very busy during the week with inspections as a result.
"I'm really happy with this sale. I love the sale because it's the right time of the year and it's not too far from home.''
Tagaloa Syndicate's Sam Fairgray added: "She was a lovely physical, she had a nice first foal, a So You Think filly who made $200,000 earlier in the week [in the Australian Weanling Sale] so we think she has a bright future.
"She looks a great match for Tagaloa so that's where she'll head next, physically she'll suit him really well, as well as on pedigree.''
During Friday's sale 106 of the 143 lots offered sold for $7,957,000, down from $8,668,000 a year ago when 134 lots sold. The average finished at $75,066, up 16 per cent from $64,687 last year and the median rose 22 per cent from $45,000 to $55,000.
Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch was happy with the results achieved at the sales over the past week.
"It's hard not to be really pleased with how the week has gone, from a really strong weanling sale to a record Chairman's Sale right through to today's broodmare sale which has produced some great results,'' Hutch said.
"To have grossed more than $65m since Monday feels very significant. The breadth of the buying bench has been most intense, so much international participation across the whole week and just a fantastic vibe at Riverside since inspections began a week ago.
"The Chairman's Sale was a really fun night again, it's a sale that's going to continue to develop as not only a sale for elite fillies and mares but also as a spectacle and event.
"We've had a huge amount of support from breeders, owners, vendors and buyers that have made this week possible, something we really are very grateful for.''
