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Lightning Trio have chance to enhance standing of Victoria’s No 1 yearling sale.
The name of the Black Caviar Lightning is a permanent reminder of the impact the Premier Yearling Sale has had on Australia's pre-eminent speed test and Saturday's edition has the chance to enhance the Inglis offering's impact on sprint racing.
Three of the leading contenders for the $1 million Group 1, including $2.50 favourite and defending champion Nature Strip, were offered at the major Victorian sale of the year.
Masked Crusader and Gytrash are the other Premier graduates engaged and should one of them win, they will make it seven Lightning wins in the past 12 seasons for the Premier Sale, which is just over a week away.
Premier poster girl Black Caviar, who cost $210,000 at the 2008 sale, won it from 2011-13, followed by Snitzerland ($125,000) with Gytrash and Nature Strip winning the past two.
They are results that emphasise Premier's reputation as a great source of sprinting quality. Hong Kong legend Sacred Kingdom, Newmarket Handicap winner Weekend Hussler, dual-Hemisphere Group 1 sprint star Starspangledbanner and Santa Ana Lane are other Premier graduates.
"It's been synonymous with top-class sprinters for a long time and doesn't look like there's any sign of it stopping," Inglis chief executive of bloodstock, Sebastian Hutch, said.
"If anything, it's probably accelerated it a bit in recent years with Nature Strip, Masked Crusader, Gytrash and Lost And Running, who might be the 'coming man' of the sprinting ranks.
"It's amazing really and it's a credit to the Victorian breeding population, primarily because they are responsible for those horses. It's a testament to the fact it's a sale you've got to take very seriously."
Nature Strip, a son of Nicconi and Strikeline, was offered by Golden Grove at the 2016 Premier Sale but was passed in after bidding stopped $30,000 short of his $120,000 reserve before later being sold privately to a group headed by prominent Melbourne-based owner Rod Lyons.
Hawkes Racing and Cameron Cooke paid $340,000 for Masked Crusader, a Gilgai Farm-bred member of the first crop of Swettenham Stud shuttle stallion Toronado, in 2018, the year after Gordon Richards paid $40,000 to Maluka Thoroughbreds for Gytrash, who is by Lope De Vega.
Hutch can't identify a specific factor that would explain Premier's ability to churn out such high-quality sprinters, but he does think the sale is favourably-placed at the end of February into March.
This year's offering, which 793 yearlings, starts on Sunday, February 27 and runs until Tuesday, March 1.
"I think there's something favourable to the sale being a little bit later in the calendar," he said.
"Horses get to spend a bit more time in the paddock in the spring as opposed to being in boxes for a sales prep and I think that can only be a positive in terms of how the horses are growing out.
"Now, I couldn't say why that would specifically lend itself to breeding faster horses, but in terms of breeding horses that are tough, sound, durable horses, I think that's a positive factor."
Nature Strip, Masked Crusader and Gytrash are part of a remarkably strong hand for Inglis in this year's Lightning. Home Affairs was an $875,000 buy from the Easter Yearling Sale, while Profiteer is a $165,000 Classic Yearling Sale graduate.
