Eight mares in foal to Too Darn Hot are being offered at a unique Tattersalls and Inglis Digital online auction.
Australia’s reigning champion first-season sire Too Darn Hot covered 58 mares to southern hemisphere time from his Dalham Hall base in the United Kingdom over the past three months.
And eight of those mares who are in foal to the Darley-based stallion are being offered for sale at a joint Tattersalls-Inglis Digital online auction, providing breeders a rare opportunity to access stock by the rising stallion.
The sire of three-time Group 1-winning colt Broadsiding and Group 2 winners Too Darn Lizzie and Too Darn Discreet from just two southern hemisphere-bred crops to race so far, Too Darn Hot did not shuttle to the Hunter Valley this year after Godolphin and Watership Down Stud elected to rest him from travelling to Australia for a fifth year in a row.
He had initially been announced at a fee of $110,000 (plus GST), but the decision was made by Godolphin and owner Watership Down Stud in early August, just weeks before the start of the southern hemisphere breeding season, to not put the valuable stallion on the plane.
Instead, Too Darn Hot received support from some of Australia’s premier breeders who exported high-class mares to the UK to be served by him while European breeders also took advantage of the commercial opportunity that was presented when it was announced he was staying put.
Inglis Bloodstock chief executive Sebastian Hutch was in the UK last week for the Tattersalls sale and he was able to inspect all eight mares in foal to Too Darn Hot, the sire of five southern hemisphere-bred stakes winners from 62 runners, and he believes they offer huge value to buyers.
He is also the sire of another 12 stakes winners in the northern hemisphere.
“In the case of Too Darn Hot during his time shuttling (to Australia), he managed to sustain quite a high quality of mare right throughout his time,” Hutch told The Straight.
“With his three-year-old crop, his two-year-old crop, yearling crop, and obviously he's got foals on the ground, so he's got four crops that are conceived in Australia and there's significant volume and quality amongst each of those crops.
“For people looking to acquire pregnancies like these from his fifth crop, which are conceived in northern hemisphere to southern hemisphere time, they're going to have tremendous representation to continue to promote the horse over an extended period of time.
“It's an entirely conceivable position that whatever the perceived value of Too Darn Hot is today, that it will be increased exponentially in seasons and years to come.”
Two mares in foal to Too Darn Hot to southern hemisphere time were bought by Yulong at last week’s Tattersalls December Mares Sale for 330,000 guineas (A$690,289) and 280,000 guineas (A$585,700) respectively while a further two mares were passed in.
One of those mares who did not sell under the hammer, the Churchill mare Moraless, is being reoffered at the Tattersalls Online sale.
Also among the eight mares in foal to Too Darn Hot are Galileo mare Know Thyself (Lot 6), who is from the family of three-time Australian Group 1 winner Foreteller and JJ Atkins-placed Political Debate, and Savabeel mare Sedaka (Lot 8), a Group 2 placegetter in New Zealand.
Out of New Zealand filly of the year Fix, who has a Justify two-year-old on the ground, Know Thyself was a multiple stakes-placed mare who was trained by Francis Graffard in France for well-known American owner Craig Bernick, a long-time trader of quality bloodstock around the world including to Australia.
“She's kind of a rare opportunity to buy a Galileo mare. She’s good-looking, she's young, she's carrying a maiden cover and she's a good-sized mare with loads of scope, lovely quality. As you'd expect with Galileo, she moves pretty well,” Hutch said of Know Thyself.
Bren O’Brien
“She's a mare that has the capacity to add significant value to somebody's broodmare band beyond just carrying a Too Darn Hot pregnancy.”
Grade 1 winner Cloth Of Cloud, South Africa’s champion two-year-old in 2015-16, is also being offered in foal to Too Darn Hot at the online sale as Lot 3.
South African mares Via Africa and National Colour have proven elite-producing broodmares in Australia, with the former the dam of Group 1 Golden Rose winner In The Congo and the unbeaten Autumn Glow.
“It's an entirely conceivable position that whatever the perceived value of Too Darn Hot is today, that it will be increased exponentially in seasons and years to come” - Inglis Bloodstock chief executive Sebastian Hutch
National Colour is the dam of Redoute’s Choice’s Grade 1-winning son Raffeef and champion South African two-year-old Mustaaqueem, a $1.75 million Inglis Easter Yearling Sale graduate in 2016. She is also the second dam of this year’s Group 1 Doncaster Handicap and Randwick Guineas-winning colt Celestial Legend.
“Those good, fast South African race mares, for what little opportunity they've had to demonstrate their wares as producers in Australia, have done well,” Hutch said.
“Cloth Of Cloud has got stock to run for, with her Wootton Bassett foal making 200,000 guineas at the Tatts foal sale last Friday week.
“She's big and strong and she looks physically like a mare that'll complement Too Darn Hot nicely.”
The final countdown for the unique sale - it is the first time the two companies have worked together with their respective digital platforms - starts at 9pm on Thursday (AEDT).
