Cambridge Stud offers quality stock on gavelhouse.com

Virtuous Circle winning at Flemington on Saturday. Photo: Bruno Cannatelli

The 58 Lot catalogue for the latest fortnightly auction on gavelhouse.com features an outstanding selection of 22 horses from the globally renowned Cambridge Stud.

The famous nursery is giving buyers access to 11 weanlings, two yearlings and nine broodmares, representing the high-class bloodlines that Cambridge Stud is known for.

“We’ve used gavelhouse.com quite a few times to sell mares in the past, and we’ve noticed that the online market is gaining more and more traction,” Cambridge Stud’s sales and nominations manager Scott Calder said.

“Buyers are very comfortable bidding on horses online now, particularly since Covid. It also suits us well as vendors, because we can sell straight off the farm, which reduces the stress for horses – such as the mares who are in foal.

“We’ve traditionally taken a draft of weanlings to Karaka, but we’ve decided to offer those on gavelhouse.com this year as well. It allows us to keep them here on the farm, where people can come and have a look at them if they wish.”

Cambridge Stud’s weanling selection on gavelhouse.com includes six progeny of exciting young shuttle stallion Hello Youmzain. The multiple Group One-winning sprinter made a splash with his first southern hemisphere yearlings this season, selling for up to $425,000 in Book 1 of Karaka 2024.

“I think the Hello Youmzain weanlings are a really key opportunity for buyers among this group of horses,” Calder said. “His first yearlings sold very strongly at Karaka earlier in the year, and his first two-year-olds are off to an exciting start in Europe. He’s had nine starters up there for four winners and three placegetters.

“From talking to agents based in the northern hemisphere, there’s a really positive vibe around the stallion. So from a pinhooking point of view, I think there’s a lot of upside to purchasing weanlings from his second crop.

“We’re fortunate to have a large number of his progeny on the farm, so this is a good opportunity to give others the chance to secure some.”

The Cambridge Stud broodmares are also set to command plenty of attention.

“This is something that we do every year with our broodmare band,” Calder said. “We’re lucky to be in the position where Brendan and Jo have a large and successful racing team that’s made up primarily of fillies and mares. As those horses are retired off the track, we have to sell some of our other horses on a regular basis. If we don’t do that, the numbers just swell too much.

“In terms of the quality of the mares we’re selling, the bar is getting higher and higher every year. A lot of the mares that we’re selling here are very current and active.

Eliza Blues (NZ) (O’Reilly) was a Group One placegetter herself in the Queensland Oaks (2400m), and she had a Group One runner last weekend with her son Navy King (NZ) (U S Navy Flag) in the Queensland Derby (2400m). He was well supported in the betting market for that race but just raced way too keenly. He was a very impressive winner at Flemington before that, so he has a bright future in front of him.

Phenetic (Zamindar) has a three-year-old filly by Almanzor racing in Melbourne this weekend. Tipilk (NZ) (Volksraad) is being offered in foal to Almanzor, who’s just going from strength to strength with his progeny.

“We’re also selling mares in foal to Hello Youmzain, Sword Of State and Embellish (NZ), who all have a lot going for them as well.

“I think this selection of horses represents some very good quality opportunities and great value for buyers. People have had some real success from pinhooking our weanlings in the past, and I’d expect this year to bring more of the same.

“There have been some strong results with broodmares that we’ve sold online too, such as the mare Forest Of Seas (Sea The Stars), who’s the dam of our recent Group Two winner and Group One placegetter Aquacade (NZ) (Dundeel). We sold Forest Of Seas for $4,200 on gavelhouse.com a few years ago.”

Overall, the 58-lot catalogue is made up of 15 weanlings, six yearlings, 25 broodmares and assorted racing stock.

The sale features weanlings by the likes of Ace High, Almanzor, Embellish, Eminent, Hello Youmzain, Preferment, Turn Me Loose (NZ) and Wooded. The yearlings are by Embellish, Hello Youmzain, Jon Snow (NZ) and Turn Me Loose.

Mares are being offered in foal to Ace High, Almanzor, Armory, Embellish, Hello Youmzain, Sword Of State, Redwood, U S Navy Flag and Turn Me Loose.

Bidding is open now, with the first lot closing from 7pm on Monday June 10. Browse the full catalogue.

Meanwhile, entries are also open for the National Online Breeding Stock Sale on Gavelhouse Plus. This sale will go live on Friday 28th June and close on Wednesday 10th July.