More Gilgai Magic headlines bumper Inglis Premier Sale

The curtain came down on a vintage edition of the Inglis Melbourne Premier Sale on Tuesday afternoon, an auction which saw all the key metrics well in advance of last year’s figures as the buzz around Victorian racing and breeding continues to gather momentum.  

At the conclusion of Book 1 on Monday evening, the sale gross of more than $60m represented a 15% year-on-year increase on the corresponding figure from 2025, while the median of $120,000 (up 20%) and average of $146,990 (up 5%) also enjoyed healthy increases.

Having produced champions of the ilk of Black Caviar, All Too Hard and Jameka over the years, it was no surprise to see Victoria’s Gilgai Farm enjoy another fruitful Premier Sale in 2026, selling 13 out of 13 yearlings for $3.74m to be crowned leading vendor by aggregate. Gilgai’s Book 1 average of $287,692 was bettered only by Bell River Thoroughbreds, who sold all four of their offerings at an average of $301,250. 

It was Mornington Peninsula-based vendor Two Bays Farm, however, who consigned the sale-topping Zoustar filly out of multiple Group 1 placegetter Nudge, who was purchased by that mare’s trainer Chris Waller in conjunction with Guy Mulcaster, Group One Bloodstock and leviathan owner Ozzie Kheir for $850,000. 

Gilgai Farm were responsible for the second and third highest-priced yearlings during book 1, the latter of which was the first foal out of the Group 2 Let’s Elope Stakes winner Turaath. Purchased by Astute Bloodstock’s Louis Le Metayer for $625,000, the filly delivered a landmark result for her Victorian-based sire Kermadec, having been conceived off a service fee of $16,750 at Darley’s Northwood Park property. 

Like many Astute Bloodstock-sourced horses, the filly will be trained by champion handler Ciaron Maher, who signed for 11 horses under his own banner - more than any other buyer during book 1 of the sale. 

The most expensive of those purchases - the $480,000 half-brother to Group 1 winners Baraqiel and Autumn Angel from the family of Saturday’s red-hot Newmarket Handicap favourite Tentyris - hails from the first crop of Maher’s three-time Group 1 winner Hitotsu, whose Victoria Derby and Australian Guineas-winning exploits were repeated by star colt Observer at Flemington last weekend. 

Observer’s sire, Darley shuttler Ghaiyyath, also enjoyed a successful Premier Sale, spearheaded by the $520,000 half-brother to Victoria Derby winner Extra Brut. The colt was knocked down to the auction’s leading buyers by aggregate - Lindsay Park Racing and Dean Hawthorne Bloodstock - who teamed up to purchase nine yearlings for total receipts of $2.33m. 

Buyers of Ghaiyyath’s progeny also included the Shane McGrath and Clinton McDonald combination, who fresh off the back of their recent Blue Diamond success with Streisand,  were busy bolstering McDonald’s Cranbourne-based stable, signing for a suite of well-credentialed youngsters by internationally acclaimed stallions.

Third on the leading buyers by aggregate standings, the duo’s purchases included a $420,000 colt by leading Northern Hemisphere stallion No Nay Never, a $375,000 Frankel filly out of Group 2 Sunline Stakes heroine Quantum Mechanic, and a Dundeel filly out of multiple Melbourne Group 2 winner Don’t Doubt Mumma. 

Leading sire honours stayed in Victoria, with Swettenham Stud flagbearer Toronado emerging top of the pile having seen 31 of his yearlings sell for a total aggregate in excess of $5m. 

The usual suspects of Zoustar, I Am Invincible, Extreme Choice and Frankel topped the leading sires by average metric for those stallions represented by three or more yearlings, with Darley quartet Anamoe, Too Darn Hot, Ghaiyyath and Street Boss hot on their heels. 

Tuesday’s Book 2 session at Oaklands Junction saw two yearlings share top billing at $220,000 apiece, including a colt by Rosemont Stud stallion Extreme Warrior, whose first-crop representative Eternal Warrior endured a luckless passage in last month’s Blue Diamond Stakes. 

Unsurprisingly it was Lloyd Kennewell, the trainer of Eternal Warrior, who emerged as the colt’s purchaser alongside Group One Bloodstock and SP Bloodstock.