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Victorian farm adds quality to his broodmare band at Chairman’s Sale.
Victoria's Longwood Thoroughbred Farm bolstered its broodmare band with a couple of star lots from Friday night's Inglis Chairman's Sale in Sydney.
Michael Christian was the first bidder to crack $500,000 when he paid $550,000 for Avenue Of Pleasure just five lots into the sale and then paid almost three times that for Group 3 winner Ellicazoom just under an hour later.
Christian, in partnership with Sheamus Mills, went to $1.45 million for the daughter of Testa Rossa and Group 1 winner Ellicorsam, who he knew from her racing days and has followed closely as a broodmare.
"I know her quite well as we had a horse called Fuhryk who we bred and raced and they raced against each other a few times," Christian said.
"The first two foals she's produced have been absolute beauties and we just thought she was an outstanding quality mare, a great race mare with a wonderful pedigree."
Ellicazoom is in-foal to I Am Invincible, who was her first mating in 2019, while she also has an Exceed And Excel filly on the ground.
Christian said the eight-year-old will return to Yarraman Park's champion stallion later this year.
"The first foal is an absolute beauty who made $625,000 as a weanling and hopefully her third foal can be as good, if not better," Christian said.
"We won't try and reinvent the wheel. I'll be speaking to Harry Mitchell very shortly to get her back into I Am Invincible."
Avenue Of Pleasure, a daughter of I Am Invincible and Fitna, is in-foal to Wootton Bassett and Christian said one of his most pressing tasks is to work out where the rising five-year-old will head next.
"We will probably make a decision tonight so that we can hit up whoever we need to hit up to get the nomination," Christian said.
"With some of these good stallions, they get sold out pretty quickly, but because we've bought the quality mares we should be OK with whoever we want to go to."