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Some outstanding results were returned on Day 1 of the Australian Weanling Sale.
An I Am Invincible filly for the Alma Vale/Kitchwin Hills partnership which realised $575,000 capped off a record opening day of Inglis's Australian Weanling Sale, which was held in Sydney on Monday.
The filly out of Shoko, offered on behalf of Ridgmont Farm and described by Alma Vale/Kitchwin's Verna Metcalfe as "a queen'', sold to Nick and Nicky White's Kaha Nui Farm for the day-high figure.
She was one of 35 lots to sell for $100,000 or more today, compared with 24 for the same day 12 months ago.
The filly also played a role in today's opening day aggregate of $11,112,500 being the highest single grossing day in the sale's history as the first weanling sale of the Southern Hemisphere season started with gusto.
Metcalfe wasn't surprised to see her filly sell so strongly today, given how strong the market was.
"I started off thinking we could get $200,000 for her but then I had a couple of people come up to me today and I thought then that we could get $300,000 or $400,000 for her,'' Metcalfe reflected post-sale.
"Was I surprised to see her get $575,000? No, because she's a Vinnie filly and a really quality filly at that.
"She was our top lot as far as inspections went, she was never in the box. It's brilliant.''
It was an equally outstanding result for Andrew Dunemann, who bought the mare Shoko – in foal to Home Affairs - for $245,000 on Inglis Digital just last month.
For buyer Nicky White, any decision on whether the filly is retained to raced or sold at a yearling sale in 2025 won't be made in the immediate future.
"The [I Am Invincible] fillies are doing well and at the end of the day if I want to keep her and race her, I've got a filly to race. I loved her,'' White said.
"We ended up keeping a filly last year so we'll get her home and just see how she goes, take a breath and calm the nerves and get on with it.
"You've always got residual value with a filly like her, which I really like…and I love developing young athletes myself.''
Monday's second-top lot was a Capitalist x Knit 'n' Purl colt of Macquarie Stud which sold for $370,000, also to Kaha Nui Farm.
That was $10,000 more than Boomer Bloodstock paid for an I Am Invincible half-brother to Shades Of Rose, while there were two $350,000 lots; a filly by Written Tycoon and a colt by Zoustar.
At the conclusion of Day 1, the sale gross sat at $11,112,500 (up 40% year-on-year), average at $63,500 (up 25%) and median at $36,000 (up 20% YOY).
AUSTRALIAN WEANLING SALE DAY 1 STATS (2023 in brackets)
Sold: 175 (156)
Clearance: 75% (71%)
Average: $63,500 ($50,827)
Median: $36,000 ($30,000)
Gross: $11,112,500 ($7,929,000)