A TRIO OF seven-figure youngsters burst onto the scene on the first day of the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, at Newmarket on Tuesday, with the top $1.6 million.
Sold by Yarraman Park, Scone, the top-priced filly, by Fastnet Rock, was only small change for purchaser Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, a member of the multi-billionaire Dubai Royal family and cousin of ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, another figure at ringside.
Grooms, Matt Scown and Eddie Fanning from Yarraman Park, Scone, are pictured putting the finishing touches on the $1.6m filly.
Australian and international buyers competed for the plum buys on the first day with Irish bloodstock agent Adrian Nicoll bidding successfully for another Fastnet Rock filly, from Mennetou, sold for $1.3m by Coolmore Stud.
Mr Nicoll bid for the Niarchos family, whose principal Stavros Niarchos built one of Greece's largest shipping businesses.
Buyers outlayed $38.5m for the 132 lots sold from the 182 offered, for an average of $291,667, up from $260,800 on last year's day one sales average.
The best-priced day one colt was $1m for a youngster by Street Cry, from Noesis, which sold from Scone's Willow Park Stud to international bloodstock agent George Moore.
As predicted, the international buying bench was strong, however, Sydney's leading trainers, including Chris Waller, Gai Waterhouse, Hawkes Racing, and Anthony Cummings, assisted the bidding in a game which is not for the faint-hearted.
Coolmore Stud leads the vendors' table by aggregate, selling 11 of 13 lots for $5.15m.
Their headline sire Fastnet Rock was dominant, selling five of the top 10 highest-priced lots for an aggregate of $8.44m on 16 lots.
The sales conclude today.
