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Trelawney Stud were quietly confident they had taken the right trio of yearlings across to the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale in Sydney this week and that was reflected with some outstanding results.
The Cambridge nursery were in the spotlight early in the first session, with Lot 20, their regally-bred colt by Per Incanto, reaching $650,000 to the bid of Yulong Investments. The result was the highest-priced yearling by Little Avondale Stud’s star sire, with the pedigree of the colt’s dam Lady Sayyida receiving a timely boost recently with the emergence of her Group One performing son Shanwah.
Trelawney Stud principals Brent and Cherry Taylor were on course at Randwick on Saturday to watch Shanwah finish a gallant third in the A$2 million Gr.1 Australian Derby (2400m), his swansong in the southern hemisphere before continuing his career in Hong Kong.
“Shanwah getting up and winning four in a row meant we had confidence in the Lady Sayyida colt, and we were thrilled with the result,” Cherry Taylor said.
“We were really happy with his run in the Derby, he probably didn’t quite get the 2400m but he’ll be perfect for the Hong Kong Derby at 2000m. That old family just gets stronger with age, and with another year on him, he’ll only keep improving.”
Herself a winner of three races, Lady Sayyida has also produced Group Two winner Excelida, while her dam Sayyida left Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m) winner and Group One-producing sire Ocean Park.
The Taylors were rapt with the sale result and are excited to watch his progression on the track.
“It was cool to see he was the highest-priced Per Incanto colt to ever go to an auction, so we’re thrilled for the stallion and absolutely thrilled that Mr Zhang (Yulong principal) has another nice colt with the Trelawney brand, as he already stands Grunt from the same family,” Taylor said.
Lot 31, a Frankel colt from another treasured Trelawney family was sought-after in session one and was fittingly knocked down for $500,000 to Ciaron Maher Bloodstock and David Redvers Bloodstock.
Out of Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) winner Loire, the colt’s page includes a number of top-flight performers, including last season’s Australian Horse Of The Year, Pride Of Jenni.
“I just love the Frankel colt, I thought he was a real athlete,” Taylor said. “I thought he was tough, but also really kind, he is lovely around people but won’t get pushed around a paddock with horses.
“I think he is going to be a real racehorse and Pride Of Jenni is very much like that. We’re thrilled that he’s gone to Ciaron Maher, it means he’ll get every opportunity.”
The sole filly of their draft fetched the highest price for the farm, with Lot 386, a daughter of Satono Aladdin out of Gallwitz reaching $725,000 to the bid of Ellerslie Lodge’s Bryce Heys, who had previously success with ill-fated sire Speith out of Trelawney’s Karaka draft.
Taylor said the well-built filly attracted plenty of attention, with Gallwitz already producing Group Two performer Witz End, while her half-siblings in Retrieve, Abduction and Reparations were all Australian stakes winners.
“She was such a beast of a filly and at Easter, they are certainly looking for that type,” Taylor said. “She was very popular from the moment everybody saw her and we can’t wait to see her running.
“We are absolutely thrilled that Bryce Heys bought her for Michael O’Keeffe, they purchased a horse from us years ago called Speith who only narrowly missed winning a Group One twice. He was able to stand at stud and unfortunately died young, so we didn’t get to see the best of him.
“It’s most important to get them out to good stables where they’ll have every chance, I think we’ve been very lucky that each of these horses have gone into fantastic ownership.
“They were so professional at the sales, they were so lovely and didn’t play up at all. They’ve all got great attitudes and will move on with life and do very well I’m sure.”
