Australian sale on record pace

A three-quarter-brother to Holy Roman Emperor raised the bar during selling Wednesday at the Inglis Australian Easter yearling sale in New South Wales, which looked headed to record levels.

The Rock of Gibraltar-L'On Vite colt brought about $2.5 million to top the second of three sessions. The price equaled the Australian auction record of $3 million (Australian), set at last year's edition of this sale by a Redoute's Choice-Deja Slew colt.

Trainer Gai Waterhouse made the purchase. Coolmore Stud was the seller. Like Holy Roman Emperor, Rock of Gibraltar is a son of the late Coolmore sire Danehill.

The Rock of Gibraltar colt led a day in which 71 yearlings sold for approximately $20,794,229. Converted from Australian dollars, the average price was $292,877, and the median was about $173,114. So far, the auction has sold eight yearlings for $1 million (Australian) or more. Last year, the entire auction sold 14 seven-figure lots. The cumulative average for 244 yearlings sold through Wednesday was about $255,470. That was about 10 percent higher than last year's average price at the same point, putting the sale on a record pace.