The bidding at Sydney’s Inglis Easter Yearling Sale opened at $2 million, and ended just three minutes later with a winning offer of $5 million. Never before in Australia has a thoroughbred yearling sold for such a price.
The colt, a half-brother to the world-beating Black Caviar, sired by champion stallion Redoute’s Choice had made history, but only after BC3 Thoroughbreds’ Bill Vlahos stepped in to pip competitor Swettenham Stud to the post with the 15th and final bid.
Last year Vlahos bought a $2.6 million filly later registered as Belle Couture, who is also out of Black Caviar’s mother Helsinge.
This week, just as he headed off to Singapore on business, he told Neos Kosmos that part of his motivation for his record-breaking bid was to keep the purest Australian thoroughbred blood lines in Australia.
“It’s a landmark for us, we need to nurture our industry,” said the former CEO of BC3, who recently handed over the reins of the company to ex Richmond Football Club chief Craig Cameron.
Vlahos, who remains on the board, says that whilst buying a racehorse is always “a bit of a punt”, from a pedigree perspective his new acquisition couldn’t be bettered.
“We’d done quite a bit of homework on the horse, the sister that we bought last year is showing us a lot on the track, and she’ll be getting to the races soon.” Vlahos confirmed that before this week’s sale BC3 had pre-sold 75 per cent of the colt already.
“Straight after we were inundated with enquiries. The horse is totally sold out now.”
Asked what’s the chances of its new owners returning a profit on their $5m investment, Bill says racing prize money could be the least of it.
“When you look at a horse that’s bred by the best stallion in Australia, if it wins a Group One race it’s probably worth 50 or 60 million dollars as a stallion prospect”.
“When you buy a horse you’re always looking for that horse to tick a number of boxes. Hopefully it goes into a good system to get the best out of it.”
Vlahos is yet to choose a trainer. Black Caviar’s Peter Moody or John Hawkes who trains star colt All Too Hard are reportedly in the frame.
The previous record for a yearling in Australia stood at $3 million, an amount paid twice previously. On both occasions the horses failed to deliver on the track.
The world’s most expensive yearling, The Green Monkey sold for $US 16 million in Kentucky in 2006. The colt retired winless two years later after only three starts.
Described as one of the fanciest players in Australian racehorse industry, BC3 appeared on the Australian racing scene five years ago, after Vlahos met the company’s Utah-based founder John Brocklebank at a horse sale.