Goes to $380,000 for a son of Deep Field.
Ricky Yiu came to the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale on the hunt for a colt by Newgate Farm-based sire Deep Field (Northern Meteor) and he completed his mission on Monday when he purchased a colt by the sire for $380,000 from the Torryburn Stud draft.
"I thought he would be roughly $400,000 because he is a lovely individual," said Yiu. "If I couldn't get him there are a couple of lots by Deep Field later on in the sale and I would have gone for either one of them, I just wanted to get one nice yearling by the stallion.
"I think this was a very athletic one and he is a runner. He looks like he has a good attitude, he was locked up yesterday [Sunday] with all the rain, but I went to see him this morning and he seemed well and I think he will be alright in general."
Catalogued as Lot 398, the colt is out of four-time winner Raheights (Rahy), who has already produced four winners including Group 3 winner Diddums (Snitzel).
Raheights herself is a half-sister to Listed-winning Moulin Lady (Reset) and Bannock (Bertolini), while Grade 1 winner Never Retreat (Smart Strike) features under the colt's third dam.
Yiu said he was unsure when the colt would be exported to Hong Kong and it would all depend on how much he showed in Australia.
"When he goes to Hong Kong all depends on how he does here, if he can mature we will bring him back earlier otherwise he will stay in Australia a bit longer," said Yiu.
Deep Field has only had four runners in Hong Kong which has yielded one winner coming in the form of Californiadeepshot who won the Queen's Road East Handicap (1200m) on January 29.
"In Hong Kong there are only a few by Deep Field, but they are doing well and are very popular and everyone wants a nice yearling by Deep Field," said Yiu.
The colt's Shooting To Win (Northern Meteor) half-brother was the first yearling to ever be sold at the Riverside Stables complex and Mel Copelin of Torryburn said it was a thrill to have a horse top Monday's trade.
"It was a fabulous experience to have the first lot to ever sell at Riverside and now to have his half brother come and be top lot today and hopefully top lot for the sale is really, really good," said Copelin.
"I didn't expect him to go for that much, I thought maybe half of that figure but obviously the stallion is doing a good job, the horse has been brilliant the whole time here. Everyone fell in love with his walk and he's just so sound and everyone wanted to buy him.
"The sale has been brilliant. Despite the weather our inspection rates are up, our vet inspection rates are up. We had a really good feeling coming in and as we continue on into the sale it's getting better and better."
So far this week 16 yearlings by Deep Field have sold for $2,350,000 at an average of $146,875. He stood his first four seasons at Newgate Farm for a fee of $22,000 (inc GST) before his fee doubled to $44,000 in 2019.
