By Duane Ranger
APG Sales manager, David Boydell, believes the quality of maternal families will make this Sunday’s (January 27) APG Yearling Sale at Albion Park as good, if not better than last year’s successful one-day event.
Victoria-based Boydell said the Sale might be small in numbers (46), but believed it was large in quality.
“Statistically, this Sale ranks alongside last year’s Brisbane Sale as two of our strongest catalogues ever presented in Queensland," he said.
“With the extra money earning opportunities available courtesy of Albion Park’s $100,000 Sales Race and QBRED's amazing win bonuses, the earning opportunities for this year’s yearlings are simply outstanding."
Boydell said almost 80% of this year’s Brisbane yearlings hailed from winning dams, which was the highest in the Sale’s history.
“Only 36 of the dams have foals of racing age, but they’ve already produced fifteen $100,000 earners. That a great ‘strike rate," he said.
“The Brisbane catalogue excites me. Over the last few years, the quality of the maternal families in our Brisbane Sale has really improved, and you can see the results on the racetrack, with graduates like Muscle Factory and Park Life and performing so well on the national stage."
Muscle Factory has gone on to win six of his 11 starts and placed in four others for $146,255. He has Won a Group One and Two races and placed in two Group One races and a Group Two.
On August 11 last year he nailed the $100,000 Albion Park Gold Brisbane Sales 2yo Graduate Final. The following race he went a scorching 1:49.6 mile when winning the Group Two $50,000 Club Menangle Simpson Memorial in Sydney.
Boydell said Muscle Factory never got a bid at the Brisbane SAPG Sale and in April last year he was sold privately for a six figure sum. The brown colt is the second of four foals out of the unraced Jereme’s Jet mare, Malena.
Meanwhile, Park Life, who was sold at the 2015 APG Sale in Brisbane for $16,000 is the second of five foals out of New Zealand-bred mare, Strawbs Interact.
She placed in a Group Three event and then went on to win the Group One $300,000 Australia Pacing Gold (APG) 2yo Fillies Final at Tabcorp Menangle in 2016.
Last year's ‘Series 29 Sale’ was the first time Brisbane had staged the APG sale before Melbourne, Sydney, and Perth. Boydell believed this was an advantage.
The four APG Sales to be staged in January, February, and March are:
Brisbane - Sunday January 27 at Albion Park starting at 12 noon.
Melbourne – Sunday February 3 at Oakland’s Junction starting at 11am.
Sydney – Sunday March 3 at Warwick Farm at 11am.
Perth – Sunday March 10 at the State Equestrian Centre at 1pm.