Inglis Chairman’s Sale takes shape as elite fillies and mares go up for auction

Inglis has catalogued almost 80 high-class fillies and mares, including four Group 1 winners, as part of its 2024 Chairman’s Sale.

She’s Extreme, Startantes, Pennyweka and Spright have been entered to go under the hammer among 56 stakes winners or black-type producers during the May 9 sale.

The Chairman’s Sale was introduced in 2017 and has built in prominence every year since.

In 2020, the two-time Group 1 winner Samaready sold to Coolmore’s Tom Magnier for $1.8 million.

Samaready was put up for auction as the dam of Godolphin’s Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner Exhilarates but Coolmore struck the jackpot with the Snitzel foal she carried at the time of the sale.

The subsequent colt turned out to be the 2023 Golden Slipper winner Shinzo.

Magnier and Coolmore have continued to figure in the top end of Chairman’s market, paying $2.5 million for Celebrity Queen in 2021 and $2.7 million for Shout The Bar in 2022.

Upping the ante even higher in 2023, Coolmore paid $3.6 million for Nimalee, a daughter of its decorated stallion So You Think and winner of the Group 1 ATC Queen of the Turf Stakes.

“It’s a boutique sale and we’re thrilled with the variety and depth of quality on offer, it’s a sale sure to attract engagement from every major breeding operation in the world,” Inglis Bloodstock chief executive Sebastian Hutch said.

“It is so incredibly rare that so many good fillies and mares would come up for public auction in a given year anywhere in the world – let alone all in the one place on the one night – so it is really very exciting.

“The Chairman’s Sale has grown into a must-attend event in a very short space of time.

“I think it’s fair to say it’s recognised as the most enjoyable evening on the Australian sales calendar, it’s a lot of fun, effectively a cocktail party with a horse sale added in which is a concept the marketplace has really warmed to.”

She’s Extreme, a daughter of Extreme Choice, promises to be a highlight Lot as the winner of the ATC Champagne Stakes and the VRC Oaks at Group 1 level in 2022.

High Emocean, the minor placegetter behind stablemate Gold Trip in the 2022 Melbourne Cup, is also among the 79 entries.

The dams of Group 1 stars including the recent Sistema Stakes winner Velocious (Parmalove), ATC Oaks heroine El Patroness (Sure You Can) and Oakleigh Plate dead-heater Portland Sky (Sky Rumba) will also be sold.

There are also be sisters to The Everest winner Think About It, brilliant sprinter Star Witness, the exceptional Loving Gaby and Group 1 winner Truly Great.

A three-quarter sister to Golden Slipper winner Capitalist and half-sisters to Deep Field, Mosheen are also catalogued.

Mares in foal to Frankel, Snitzel, I Am Invincible, Zoustar, Extreme Choice, Kingman, Justify, Proisir, So You Think, Wootton Bassett, Russian Revolution, Cracksman, Home Affairs, Stay Inside, Anamoe, Jacquinot, Satono Aladdin also figure in the sale.

In a late boost to the catalogue before its online release, Pinocchio, the dam of The Everest hero Classique Legend who is in foal to I Am Invincible, has been entered.

Via Africa, the dam of Group 1 Golden Rose winner In The Congo as well as Breakfast In Bed, the dam of dual Group 1-winning two-year-old and now young stallion King’s Legacy who is in foal to Anamoe, are also among the select Lots.

Last year’s sale grossed $45 million at an average of $554,000 for a median of $375,000 from 101 Lots to go through the ring.

Inglis’ Australian Broodmare Sale, for which 211 Lots have been catalogued, will held the day after the Chairman’s Sale.

The auction house has also catalogued 448 Lots for its Australian Weanling Sale on May 6 and 7.