Inglis Easter sale sees $2.6M filly

Black Caviar’s yearling half-sister sold for the record-equaling price of $2.6 million (Australian) Wednesday as the Inglis sale company’s important Australian Easter yearling sale completed its second of three sessions with a gain in average and a level median.

BC3 Thoroughbreds bought the filly, a Redoute’s Choice daughter of Helsinge, by Desert Sun. The seller was Gilgai Farm. The price, equivalent to about $2,680,105 in United States dollars, equaled the previous record for an Australian filly at auction, set in 2006 when Coolmore paid $2.6 million Australian for Perfect Persuasion at the Inglis Easter yearling sale. That Encosta de Lago filly, a full sister to dual Australian champion filly Alinghi, went on to be stakes-placed.

At Tuesday’s opener, Coolmore paid a session-topping $1 million Australian, or about $1,030,000 U.S., for a Fastnet Rock colt out of Tale of the Cat’s stakes-winning daughter Catreign. Through the sale’s second day, that was the auction’s second-highest price and highest figure for a colt. Newgate Farm was the seller.

Wednesday’s session sold 120 of 190 yearlings offered for a total of about $29,488,900, down 3 percent from last year’s gross for 129 horses at the equivalent session. But the average price gained 4 percent to end at about $245,740. The median was the same as at last year’s second day, about $185,400. But buy-backs rose from 20 percent to 25 percent. There were 29 outs at the session, as compared with 18 at last year’s second session.

The auction was to end Thursday with a two-part final session at the Inglis Newmarket sale complex in Sydney.