Day 2 of the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale may have lasted close to 12 hours, but the top two lots sold within five minutes of one another at around 8:30 p.m. local time when Imperium Sales presented the headline offerings from its debut draft.
Rival camps representing Australia clashed when the progressive Balance Play came under the hammer, with Will Bourne, head of bloodstock for the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace stable, lining up against agent Johnny McKeever and Claudia Miller, bloodstock manager for the all- conquering Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott team.
The price barreled through the high six figures until Bourne turned and disappeared down the stairs when McKeever, standing on the opposite side, indicated a bid of 575,000 guineas (US$643,885, 1gn=US$1.1198)
Balance Play was added to the portfolio of ownership entity Valmont at 280,000gns at Book 1 in 2021 and has gone on to land three races for trainer Ralph Beckett. He was sourced by agent Alex Elliott, who is also at the helm of Imperium Sales. The most recent of Balance Play's wins came in a class 2 Newbury handicap over 1 1/4 miles that was allotted a Racing Post Rating (RPR) of 106.
"He was our highest-rated horse in the sale and we were under strict instruction not to leave without him!" said Miller. "He's a lovely 3-year-old, lightly raced, very consistent and effective on all going. He's the exact profile that we look for at this sale."
Miller continued: "We kicked the bidding off at 100,000gns, although we actually meant to go a bit higher as we knew there was always going to be strong competition for him. He could be anything for us, though, and he's easily a stakes horse. I think there's a lot of improvement in him in terms of form and physically. These European horses seem to explode when they get down into a bit of sunshine and the warmer weather. We're expecting the same from him."
McKeever also landed the very next lot into the ring when he bid 280,000gns for Imperium Sales-consigned Bear On The Loose. The 3-year-old son of Footstepsinthesand has won three times for Kevin Philippart de Foy, having been signed for by Elliott at €100,000 at Goffs two years ago. The KB Thoroughbreds color-bearer has won his last two starts, with his three-length success at Chester last time out earning him an RPR of 97.
Miller explained Bear On The Loose had been sourced in partnership with microshare syndicator MyRacehorse, which is also involved in the stable's Metropolitan (G1) winner Just Fine.
"He's a lovely horse who we purchased in partnership with MyRacehorse," said Miller. "He's nice and lightly raced, there's plenty of improvement to come, and he's a beautiful type. He came highly rated on form from Rob Waterhouse. Hopefully, we can do the same as we have with Just Fine."
On the European buying mission, Miller added: "There is so much interest in Australia for these types of horses. Obviously, we're racing for huge amounts of money in Australia and we've had so much success with European horses, particularly from this sale. It's been a very happy hunting ground."
