First Hitotsu weanlings well-received

Eight lots offered, 7 sold for an average price of $61,000 – three times service fee – and a six-figure top price.

That’s the summary of Hitotsu’s very pleasing results from this week’s Inglis Australian Weanling Sale.

All but two of those 7 Hitotsu foals achieved better than the sale average of $53,047, selling for $60,000 (2), $70,000, $75,000 and the top price of $140,000 paid by Blackrock Nominees for the colt out of Zhaojun (by Choisir). A grandson of French Group 1 winner Imperial Beauty, he was offered by Davali Thoroughbreds.

Hitotsu’s top-priced filly, out of stakes producer Cheyenne Sue (by Zizou), was a $75,000 buy for Mattmartin Global from the Rheinwood Pastoral draft.

A feature of Hitotsu’s first sale-ring results is that the pedigrees of his four top-priced weanlings all show 4×4 in-breeding to Danehill in two patterns that have proved successful across a large number of runners. Recent performers bred like this include Group 1 winners Jacquinot, Schwarz & Skybird, and Group winners Growing Empire, Cifrado & Storyville.