'That's life-changing for us' - Irish vet enjoys $625,000 sale as records tumble

Champion trainer John Moore is noted for his patience with horses but he is in no mood to play the waiting game now that he is domiciled in Sydney, with his agent son George helping young sire Capitalist set a new Inglis Classic Yearling Sale record in as many days.

The Team Moore operation of John, Gary, George and James, backed by prominent Hong Kong and Australian clients, has made its mark during the opening two days of the sale and they upped the ante in the early afternoon on Monday with a $625,000 (£350,000/€400,000) colt by the Golden Slipper-winning young stallion Capitalist.

Another family training partnership, the powerful Michael, Wayne and John Hawkes team was the underbidder on the Kitchwin Hills-consigned colt who hails from the family of Group 1-winning sprinter Pierata.

Capitalist also had a yearling sell for $600,000 on Sunday, which surpassed the previous record held by a $550,000 Brazen Beau colt who was sold in 2019.

“In my opinion he is the right size for a Capitalist. He is not overly big, he is just a powerhouse and he’s got a great temperament,” said George Moore, who signed for a $375,000 Invader colt and a $140,000 son of Maurice on day one and a $220,000 Merchant Navy colt late on Monday.

“As James Harron said the other day, the Capitalists have got the right head for racing in Hong Kong and every time I saw him he was professional, he has a great hip on him and he is a correct horse. He had all the right attributes, but we paid quite a lot for him.”

The colt, catalogued as Lot 374, is the first foal out of the twice-winning Theatric, who is from the same family as Aquis Farm sire Pierata, Group 3 winner Ashokan and this season’s Stan Fox Stakes placegetter Jet Propulsion.

“We have noticed right now that we have got a lot of late two-year-olds in the stable and I said to dad, ‘Let’s go to the sales and buy those early, precocious two-year-old types, so we can race them early next season, rather than constantly waiting to try and win races with our older horses right now’,” George said.

“We are just buying the best types in the sales, like we usually do. We look at pedigrees but it is mainly a type thing.

“We are going to buy a lot more at Easter, too. We will probably buy six or seven at Easter, so we are going to have a good string of two-year-olds to target the races in October and November.”

The Classic expenditure by the Moores coincides with the arrival in Sydney of John, a 39-time Group 1 winning trainer, who is in partnership with his brother Gary.

“Everything is coming together for the stable. Dad’s been in town for about a week now and I came in about two weeks ago,” he said.

“I was dad’s travelling assistant trainer for about eight years, so I know his attention to detail and exactly what he wants, so we have changed quite a lot in the stable to dad’s standards, which are very, very high.”

The record-holding colt was consigned by Kitchwin Hills on behalf of Scone veterinarian Richard McClenahan who, along with his wife Kim, oversaw the preparation of the colt.

Capitalist wins the 2016 Golden Slipper - and he is proving a star in his second career tooCredit: Jason McCawley

What transpired with Profiteer winning Saturday’s Inglis Millennium had helped boost the profile of Capitalist’s second-crop yearlings, according to Kitchwin’s Mick Malone.

“It is a perfect storm, isn’t it? The horse wins the Millennium and here we are - Profiteer just added so much value to the colt,” said Malone.

“It would be interesting to know what that horse was worth if that horse hadn't won. It probably added $200,000 to $300,000 to his price.

“The other thing about him was he never put a foot wrong. He just walked up and down and every parade was the same and there were huge numbers, there were massive x-ray numbers, so he was always going to make a lot of money.

“The reserve played no role because we knew it wouldn’t, it was just wherever it ended up.”

Irishman McClenahan was in disbelief after the massive result after buying Theatric from agent Damon Gabbedy.

“It’s been stressful getting him here, we knew he would be a popular horse and everybody that looked at him seemed to like him, but I never in my wildest dreams believed we could get a result like that,” he said.

“That’s life-changing for us. It literally is life-changing. I liked Theatric’s family and know it well through Kitchwin Hills and we bred her to Capitalist.

“He’s always been an outstanding colt from the day he was born. Sorry, I’m just speechless, I can’t believe this has really happened. It’s unbelievable.”

Breeders have held Capitalist in high esteem from the time he retired to stud in 2017, covering in excess of 200 mares each season, but the whispers around the early talent being shown by his first crop were well and truly taken notice of by breeders, who sent him 237 mares in 2020, his biggest book to date.

Capitalist, who has had 15 yearlings sell for an average of $226,000 after two days, also had a filly make $380,000 on Monday to Woodpark Stud’s Jean Dubois.

The Newgate Farm-offered filly, catalogued as Lot 396, is the first foal out of the US stakes-winning mare Tricky Zippy, who was bought by SF Bloodstock for US$135,000 at the 2017 Keeneland November Breeding Sale.

“She's by the right stallion at the moment, I guess, that's why I have had to pay that price and she is out of a very fast American family,” said Dubois.

“She is crossed four ways with Mr Prospector, so I like it. She looks precocious, you never know if they are going to be fast. City Zip bloodlines are full of speed and speed-on-speed was the idea.”

Almanzor craze continues on day two

Trainer Liam Howley believes a colt by Cambridge Stud shuttle sire Almanzor is the complete package and the best of the European champion’s first southern hemisphere crop, which has left an enormous impression on buyers this year.

Following a drawn-out bidding process, which started at $40,000 early on day two, an online buyer and Howley with the support of agents Andrew Williams and Bevan Smith went head-to-head before the tripartite eventually landed the colt for $360,000.

Almanzor: yearlings going down a stormCredit: Edward Whitaker

“The boys thought he was the standout of the crop, to be honest. We talked about him a couple of weeks ago and as soon as I saw him walk out of the box here, I was blown away by how good an athlete he is,” said Howley, who later bought an Ilovethiscity colt for $140,000 ten minutes before training Almighty Will to score at Wodonga.

“He certainly stacks up with the best of them, so It was a matter of coming here and having a good look at him. As soon as he walked out of the box, we were going after him.”

Almanzor yearlings have sold for up to $800,000 for far in 2021, while he was also the most sought after stallion at last month’s New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale, while he also had a colt fetch $400,000 on Sunday.

Coolmore bought Almanzor’s sire Wootton Bassett from Haras d’Etreham in France last year to stand him in Ireland and the stud hierarchy is considering him for shuttling duties to Australia later this year. He is one reason why Howley is far from shocked about the hype surrounding his sire son’s yearlings.

“Wootton Bassett is firing in Europe and he was a star racehorse himself and, when you see them, I am not surprised [by how well they are selling],” he said.

“Some look like they are going to run early, some look like they are going to be three-year-olds, but what people are struck by is the fact that they are athletes.

“We tried to buy a couple on the Gold Coast and we couldn’t get near them, but this one probably impressed us a bit more than those on the Gold Coast.”

Bred and consigned by New Zealand farm Wentwood Grange as Lot 309, the colt is the second foal out of the stakes-placed New Zealand mare She Is Stryking, while his third dam is the Maribyrnong Trial Stakes winner Fashion Victim.

She Is Stryking was purchased by agent Guy Mulcaster for NZ$70,000 at the 2018 NZB Karaka May Sale when in foal to Astern.

Wentwood Grange’s Dean Hawkins was delighted with the “massive result”.

“We watched the Sale Day Live coverage on our phones and it was just amazing to see it all unfold,” he said.

“It’s been a team effort by everybody, given the circumstances. The horses travelled on Sunday and we’ve had Brad Molamber and Mitch Roach looking after them for us and they’ve done a marvellous job.

“He was a lovely colt from the day he was born. He’s never missed a beat, always so relaxed and he has this great mental capacity that not all yearlings have.

“He hasn’t stopped all week with parades but he hasn’t put a hair wrong. Every parade he’s been a superstar.”

The man who will now oversee the colt’s racing career, Victorian Howley, won two Group 1s with Homesman and Almandin when he was the private trainer for owner Lloyd Williams at Macedon Lodge, but for the past 12 months he has been building up his own stable on a property near Kyneton.

He currently has 15 horses in work including an unraced Frankel two-year-old half-sister to Villiers Stakes winner All Legal, who was a $300,000 Inglis Premier graduate last year.

“I’ve got a good young team. Some guys have come across from Macedon with me and I’ve got a couple of great riders, so I am slowly building the stable. Start small and dream big.” he said.

The unnamed Frankel filly is set for a jump out at Kyneton.

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