Chayan Caps Inglis Chairman's Sale in AU$5.6M Coup

Promising 2-year-old Chayan (AUS) (I Am Invincible (AUS)) became the second-most expensive horse sold at a breeding stock auction in Australia at the Inglis Chairman's Sale May 7. The Annabel and Rob Archibald-trained filly—a group 2 winner from just four starts and was eighth as the favorite in the Golden Slipper (G1)—was eventually knocked down to Coolmore's Tom Magnier for AU$5.6 million (US$4,048,436, AU$1=US$0.72), after a tense 10-minute bidding duel with Yulong for the last lot of the night. A day after his 49th birthday, businessman and former Singapore Turf Club steward Eric Koh received a timely gift when selling Chayan, whom he bought at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale 16 months ago for AU$250,000. Her sale price, on top of the AU$335,000 prize money she won for Koh in a career highlighted by her 3-length Reisling Stakes (G2) win, places her second on the Australian breeding stock sales pecking order behind star sprinter Imperatriz (AUS), bought by Yulong for AU$6.6 million at the 2024 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale. While those two prices represent a boon for Yarraman Park's triple champion sire, I Am Invincible, Chayan's sale also completed a glorious double for Longwood Thoroughbred Farm. Michael Christian's Victorian stud bred and raised Chayan, as well as the mare whose 2025 Chairman's Sale record price of AU$4.2 million she eclipsed Thursday night—Bella Nipotina (AUS). While Chayan will likely have much racing ahead of her, Magnier indicated it was likely her first cover would come from Super Seth (AUS), who Coolmore bought from Waikato Stud for more than AU$50 million in February. Added as one of 11 supplementary lots, sold from Newgate Farm's draft, and scheduled with a flair for the dramatic as the last of 115 fillies and mares offered, Chayan was comfortably the top lot on the glamour night of the Australian auction scene. Second-highest price on the night was star sprinter Benedetta (AUS), daughter of I Am Invincible's son and stud mate Hellbent (AUS)—who was bought by Yulong for AU$1.9 million and held the clubhouse lead for most of the night after selling from Widden Stud's draft as Lot 35. Yulong also bought the third-highest-priced offering in triple New Zealand group 1 winner Provence (NZ), the lone offering from the Newgate-Milan Park consignment as Lot 100, for AU$1.8 million. Zhang Yuesheng's empire emerged as the leading buyer, snapping up eight mares for a combined AU$8.45 million. Magnier leapt into second in making Chayan his second purchase of the night, with an aggregate of AU$6.4 million. Those two heavy hitters left a long gap to the third-place buyer, Japan's Katsumi Yoshida of Northern Farms, who bought three lots for a total of AU$2.4 million. Bella Nipotina and Amelia's Jewel both eclipsed the auction's previous record—fetching AU$4.2 million and AU$3.8 million respectively, while 14 lots fetched seven figures, smashing the sale's previous high of nine from each of the prior two years. The 2026 Chairman's Sale finished well down on last year across all key measures, with its gross and clearance rate landing much closer to 2024 levels than the exceptional 2025 edition. At the close of business, the average sat at AU$495,000 (US$357,853), down from $707,000, while the median was $300,000 (US$216,881), down from AU$400,000. The clearance rate of 73% compared unfavorably to last year's 87%, and the gross was AU$39.08 million (US$28,252,300)—28% below 2025's figure of AU$54.43 million, despite two more lots having been sold (79/77). Nine seven-figure lots were moved, down from last year's 14. While the 2026 catalog may have lacked the depth of 2025's, the clear conclusion was that global economic instability had a palpable impact, including a knock-on effect for breeders and prospective buyers who endured a softer-than-expected Easter yearling sale. Inglis will still take encouragement from the broader progress the Chairman's sale has made over the past decade. Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch also pointed out that the relatively high number of pregnant mares offered Thursday night will have weighed on the clearance rate. While pleased with the appeal of a sale which he believed would convince more owners to sell at Chairman's in the future, Hutch said: "I think we probably saw some evidence of what was in play at Easter this evening. "The necessary confidence for people just to step in and go wasn't there," he said. "There are plenty of challenges in the market, but they shouldn't be pertinent factors on a night light like this. We're talking about high-end quality stuff. Ultimately, it comes down to confidence, and people stepping in to bid the number they need to bid to buy mares. "I think that's an inevitable consequence of the Easter Yearling sale playing out the way it played out." Hutch said had the Chairman's been held immediately after the Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale, which began the weekend the United States and Israel started attacking Iran, it would have been "outrageously" successful.