Unnamed colt sold off for a staggering $5 million to Australian firm.
The half-brother of unbeaten Australian world champion sprinter Black Caviar sold at auction for a record $5 million (US$5.2 million) smashing the best estimates leading up to the sale.
The colt, to Redoute’s Choice, was bought at the Australian Easter Yearling Sale in Sydney by Australian bloodstock firm BC3 Thoroughbreds after a bidding war,staving off competition from around the world.
Bidding opened at $2 million and jumped in $500,000 increments before the hammer came down.
The horse, which is yet to be named, was the star lot at the sales which reports said attracted some of the biggest racehorse investors from the Middle East, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, France, England and the United States.
“You don’t let families like this leave Australia,” BC3 Thoroughbreds chairman Bill Vlahos said, adding that a decision on who will train the colt has not yet been made.
The sale, an Australian record, also makes the colt the most expensive yearling in the Southern Hemisphere, with its bloodline to Black Caviar the selling point.
Former top jockey Simon Marshall, now BC3 sales manager, told ABC radio the colt would not be rushed onto the racetrack.
“He’s typical to the family and has a lot of growing to do, so he’ll let us know when he’s ready to rock and roll,” he said.
Black Caviar, unbeaten in all 24 races she has run, is widely considered the best female sprinter the world has seen, and her trainer Peter Moody has been impressed with what he has seen from her half-brother.
“He’s like poetry in motion when you see him move,” Moody said. .
“Every muscle moves at the right time with the next one.
“When you see Black Caviar when she moves, you can see he’s inherited a lot of that athletic ability that she’s got.”
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