American Pharoah Leads Way at Inglis Easter
The second day of the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale proved to be just as fruitful for U.S. Champion Freshman sire American Pharoah as the first on Wednesday.
Lighting up the board early in the session when hammering to Sheamus Mills Bloodstock for A$500,000 was Aspen Falls’ regally bred half-sister to Group I winner Irish Lights.
Consigned by Coolmore Australia, the filly is from an internationally successful family with her Group I winning half-sister also producing Group 2 winner and Group I-placed Omei Sword with their dam also producing Irish Lights’ Listed-placed full sister Movie Role.
The international feel of the pedigree starts under the filly’s second dam River Crossing, with Japanese Champion Asia Express produced by another granddaughter. River Crossing is also a half-sister to prolific producer Fall Aspen and Pour Moi’s dam Brackish.
The filly’s page earned some major updates after the catalogue was released with Rapier Wit running third in a Japanese Group III two weeks before the sale and Matterhorn winning the Group I Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 in Dubai in early March. She also hails from the family of Australia’s recent Listed winner and Group III-placed Bangkok with two other relatives placing in stakes around the world in recent months.
Coming in the second half of the session was Lot 454 selling to Lindsay Park Racing and Andrew Williams Bloodstock for A$300,000.
Also consigned by Coolmore, the filly is the second foal out of a Fastnet Rock full sister to Group I Blue Diamond winner Catchy. The pair hail from Fusaichi Pegasus’s Group 2 winning Cats Whisker, who has five winners from six to race.
American Pharoah’s first crop has lit up the ring around Australia with the stallion again leading all freshman sires and standing among Australia’s leading sires in the sales results.
The Triple Crown winner led all first-crop sires by aggregate and average (for more than two sold) during the two-day sale.
The sire of 15 stakes horses and six stakes winners in the Northern Hemisphere, American Pharoah sees his first Southern Hemisphere 2-year-olds hit the track later this year.