A colt of champion American stallion Medaglia d’Oro has been auctioned off for a hefty $2.4 million on the second day of the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sales.
The yearling, sold as Lot 178, fetched the highest price out of 226 sales over the opening two days, becoming the most expensive buy in four years for the Easter Yearling Sales.
Bidding started at $1 million, reaching the $2.4 million mark for a syndicate led by some of the biggest studs in the country.
The colt is out of Hoss Amor, a stakes winner in Queensland, by General Nediym.
Coolmore, Aquis Farm, and Stonestreet stud all have a piece of the colt now, who was highlighted as a front-runner leading into the sales.
Justin Fung, a member of the Aquis Farm stable, believes the opportunity to snatch up the highly favoured colt was simply too great to let slide.
“We’ve been in talks with all these groups for months, it wasn’t really a formal group for this horse, it was just us talking together and realising that we couldn’t pass up on the opportunity,” said Fung.
A trainer will be found in due course, with the syndicate hopeful of an early two-year old career.
A sire like Medaglia d’Oro – who has bred 129 winners, including 22 stakes winners – was an impressive stallion on the track, and has had a breeding pedigree to go with it.
“I’m a fan of Medaglia d’Oro, I’ve got an affinity for him, I love the pedigree and everyone who had seen him said he is a special colt,” praised Fung.
“We needed to go hard for him and we all made the decision to do it and we weren’t going to stop.”
Despite all the mammoth sale, Fung aired a hint of caution towards the running of the colt with so many studs vying for control.
“You don’t want to count your chicks before they hatch so we will have that discussion and give him every opportunity to succeed.”
The monetary figure overtakes last year’s record sale of $2.3 million, set by the half-brother of Winx.
He is one of 26 colts and fillies to come from the pedigree of Medaglia d’Oro who have hit the market at the Sales.
Medaglia d’Oro won just over five-and-a-half million dollars in his career, with eight wins, including the Donn Handicap, Strub Stakes, and the Whitney Handicap, as well as seven place finishes from 17 runs.
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