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Moore digs deep for Hinchinbrook colt.
With Beat The Clock currently dominating the Hong Kong sprinting ranks, it was no surprise to see George Moore striking for a son from the last crop of the late Yarraman Park Stud sire Hinchinbrook (Fastnet Rock) at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, eventually beating off the competition to secure the youngster for $360,000.
"Hinchinbrooks do well in Hong Kong and he's got Beat The Clock who is the champion sprinter, so it was a pretty easy sell," said Moore.
Consigned by Yarraman Park Stud and offered as Lot 328, the colt is the 11th foal out of winning Desert King (Danehill) mare Morinda, making him a half-brother to seven winners including stakes-placed pair Prix Du Sang (Red Ransom) and Happy Hussy (Hussonet).
Meanwhile the colt's second dam produced Group 2 winner So Gorgeous (Brief Truce) - the dam of Group 1 winner Sterling City (Nadeem) - and Wild Queen (Loup Sauvage), who in in turn produced Randwick Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Kementari (Lonhro).
Moore said there had been no decision made yet whether that colt would head straight to Hong Kong or kick off his career in Australia first.
"We haven't figured out if he's going to come to Hong Kong yet," said Moore. "He was bought for a Hong Kong client, but he might race him here first to qualify him for a Hong Kong private purchase.
"He is out of an older mare but being out of an older mare, he still had a lot of substance and I liked the way he moved. Harry (Mitchell from Yarraman Park) said he thought he could almost have been in the Easter sale but he thought that being out of an older mare this sale might be a good target for him."
The agent said the colt's price-tag was slightly more than he had valued him at, but said the competition on the top lots had been very strong.
"I was thinking he was $250,000 to $300,000," said Moore. "He had quite a lot of hits on x-ray. He had 13 x-ray hits and once you're getting anywhere over ten, you have got quite a lot of people on the same horse.
"We are happy to get him. We had about $350,000 to spend, so we went just a little bit over our budget. I am sure the clients will be happy.
"The average is up slightly on last year and you're always going to have to pay for the nice horses. I was hoping to get him a little cheaper but it's not rocket science at this sale. Hinchinbrook has done relatively well in Hong Kong and he has done well in Australia, so he was always going to command quite a bit of money.
"I have only seen him three times. Obviously it's been raining all week, so I saw him twice and then once again this morning. He was walking a lot better this morning. He wasn't in the rain and I could actually get a very good look at him.
"He has grown quite a lot on me, this horse. I have a Deep Field later in the sale that I quite liked also, but I compared both of them this morning and Hinchinbrook grew on me a little bit more."