AUD$1 Million Colt Leads Justify Charge At Inglis Easter

Triple Crown winner Justify’s first Australian crop was in high demand at this week’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale with an AUD$1 million (US$757,000) colt helping him earn first crop sire honors by average.

Purchased by Hawkes Racing from Kia Ora Stud’s draft, the $1 million colt is out of multiple group-placed Maastricht. Purchased for AUD$2.25 million (US$1.7 million), Maastricht had already proven to be a talented producer as the dam of Australia’s 2019-2020 Champion 3-Year-Old Filly Loving Gaby. That mare is a two-time Group I victress.

With Loving Gaby’s victories, Maastricht became a second-generation Group I producer with her own dam producing Group I Goodwood Handicap winner Velocitea. Fourth dam Ingres is also the granddam of Group I winner Orange County.

“He was a belter,” said Wayne Hawkes. “We trained Mum (Maastricht) and she was pretty good and placed in a couple of Group II races, so we knew she had the quality. This colt is the best Justify of the year.”

Loving Gaby’s half-brother wasn’t the only big money yearling by Justify during the two-day sale. TFI, Kia-Ora Stud and Dermot Farrington secured a colt out of Formality for AUD$950,000 (US$720,000) from the Coolmore Stud consignment on the first day.

The colt is the second out of Fastnet Rock’s multiple Group II winner and two-time Group I-placed Formality, who also has a juvenile filly by American Pharoah, and a weanling full brother to this colt to come. Formality is a second-generation stakes winner with her dam Jolie’s Shinju a Singapore Horse of the Year, who has produced six winners from six to race.

Formality is the only mare not to produce a stakes winner on the page with the colt’s third dam So Endearing the dam of Grade I winner Qualify with multiple daughters also producing U.S. stakes winners.

That $950,000 colt was joined by a $900,000 (US$681,000) filly on the first day of selling with Kia-Ora Stud also purchasing a daughter of Fastnet Rock’s Group III winner Ennis Hill. This is the second foal by the mare, who has a 2-year-old colt by American Pharoah in training with Chris Waller.

Consigned by Coolmore Stud, this filly’s Group II winning granddam Hips Don’t Lie has produced seven winners from seven to race. That group includes stakes winner and multiple Group I placed Lake Geneva, who also has a Justify yearling and an American Pharoah 3-year-old filly, and Coolmore Australia’s new stakes winning stallion Acrobat. In all, four of Hips Don’t Lie’s seven runners are stakes placed.

“She’s out of an outstanding family with stakes-winner after stakes-winner on the page,” said Shane Wright of Kia Ora Stud. “Every year it keeps expanding and now it has a stallion with Acrobat going to stud, so we’re very happy to be entering into it.”

Justify’s others to sell included a $500,000 (US$380,000) filly purchased by Ciaron Maher Bloodstock, a $320,000 (US$242,000) colt out of a full sister to Group I winner Foxwedge headed to Domeland Pty, and a half-sister to three-time Group I winner Le Romain selling for $300,000 (US$227,000) to Bahen Bloodstock and Lees Racing.

Justify’s first Australian-bred 2-year-olds will hit the track this fall.