Kiwis active at Melbourne APG sale
Barry Purdon outlaid $53,000 for Lot 81 an Art Major colt from the 1:58.6 McArdle mare in She's Got It All.The first round of this years harness racing Australian Pacing Gold sales was held at the Inglis Sales complex at Oaklands Junction in Melbourne yesterday.
The catalogue this year didn't look as strong on paper as the upcoming Sydney round but there was still plenty of 'blue bloods' sprinkled throughout the offerings yesterday.
As has become the norm in the last few years, Mark Purdon and several of his long standing clients were in attendance and once again they purchased several well bred yearlings by a variety of stallions over the course of the sale.
Trevor Casey led the charge with his one purchase of Lot 55.
A son of Art Major, he is the first foal of Pembrook Caesar, a 1:53 winning daughter of Julius Caesar who won 10 from 22 in a brief career and $77,432 in stakes.
Pembrooke Caesar is a half sister to Barry's former champion pacer Pembrooke Benny 1:53.7 ($907,890).
Neil Pilcher was active, purchasing three lots on the day.
Neil outlaid $70,000 for a filly by Somebeachsomewhere from the brilliant Courage Under Fire mare Arctic Fire who took a record of 1:51.6 on her way to way to winning $394,262.
Arctic Filly is a three quarter sister to the former brilliant New Zealand three year old, Classy Filly 1:57 ($200,890) and the Somebeachsomewhere filly offered yesterday was her first live foal.
Neil also bought Lot 38, a colt by Somebeachsomewhere from the imported Camluck mare Mitzi M Hanover for $50,000.
The second foal from the mare, Mitzi M Hanover had already produced Fast Flyer 1:57.8 who won a heat of the Australian Pacing Gold before dying from a snake bite.
Mitzi M Hanover is a half sister to 5 in 1:55 including the champion pacer Noble Ability 1:49.1 ($1,748,890) so lacks nothing on the pedigree page
As Neil is prone to do at a lot of sales, he also bought a son of Courage Under Fire which sold as Lot 48
He is the first colt from his dam who is the imported Western Ideal mare O Narutac Bella 1:51.2 ($154,536) and cost Neil $28,000
There are no out and out champions in the pedigree up close but there are countless $100,000 winners who are closely related to this colt.
Kennard Bloodstock brought Lot 143 for $40,000 which was a colt by Bettor's Delight from the former smart juvenile Bendall Rose 1:59.4 (51,095) who won 10 from 22 on the track.
The dam is a half sister to Roses For Tash 1:59.4 ($115,188) and the colt is bred on the same cross as Arden Rooney so he ticks a few boxes.
Mark Purdon bought two on the day and as is his custom they were not related to previous stars he had brought in Australia.
Full brothers to All Stars champions such as Waikiki Beach and Border Control were on offer but were not on his radar yesterday.
The first colt Mark bought was Lot 46, a colt by Mach Three from the 1:54.4 Artsplace mare National Gallery ($90,600) for which he paid $52,000.
Crossing Somebeachsomewhere with Artsplace mares in North America has been very successful in taking a bit of heat out of the progeny by Mach Three and his sons.
This is a strong branch of the Armalight family and he looked a lovely type on the live stream yesterday.
The second colt Mark bought was Lot 92, a colt by Art Major from the Armbro Operative mare Spitfire Shadow who has already produced three winners in 1:58 including Christian Shadow 1:53.7 ($119,676), Art Shadow 1:57.5 ($114,488) and Lis Mara Shadow 1:56.3 ($39,355)
No stars up close but plenty of depth to the pedigree and again the colt looked a lovely type in the ring yesterday and cost Mark $46,000
Several Australian based clients of the All Stars barn such as Merv and Meg Butterworth and Kevin Riseley were active yesterday and no doubt some of those will also make their way to Rolleston as well.
The only other Kiwi to sign a docket sheet yesterday was Barry Purdon who outlaid $53,000 for a Art Major colt from the 1:58.6 McArdle mare in She's Got It All.
She's Got It All is a daughter of the New Zealand mare Gliding By 1:57.4 ($48,093) which belongs to a branch of the Black Watch family which the Purdons have had a lot of sucess with over the years.
Overall yesterday the sale would have to be rated a big success with the average up 12.5% to $28,733 and the clearance rate a very healthy 83% on the day.
The second round of the APG sales will be held at the Newmarket Sales Comples at Randwick in Sydney on Saturday, February 27th.
Harnesslink Media
