FROM STUD AND STABLE Melbourne Successes Set Tone For Sale

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31278, 26 January 1967, Page 5

FROM STUD AND STABLE Melbourne Successes Set Tone For Sale

It is generally agreed that the success, and a fantastic success it was, of the forty-first national sale of yearlings was assured by the results of major races at the last spring carnival in Melbourne.

Some of the spectacular records of the Trentham sales this year probably stemmed from a setback which affected the programme of one South Australian stayer.

Until Ziema (by Summertime) went wrong a few weeks before the last Melbourne Cup a start in the Flemington twomiler was not on Galilee’s programme.

Galilee had been prepared for the Epsom Handicap, in which he was second, and for the Caulfield Cup, which he won. But Mr and Mrs Max Bailey and their trainer, J. B. Cummings, had pinned their hopes of winning the Melbourne Cup with Ziema, which had been runner-up to Light Fingers a year earlier. Emergency’s Role It is now history how brilliantly Galilee played the

emergency’s role in his first attempt at two miles. The Caulfield Cup victory of this son of Alcimedes, after brilliant deeds by Prince Grant in Sydney earlier in the year, made it certain that there would be strong Australian interest in the stock of the Trelawney sire at the sales this year. But when Galilee added the Melbourne Cup and a brilliant victory at weight-for-age at the V.R.C. meeting the climate was created for new records at the sales. Seventeen sons or daughters of Alcimedes changed hands at the sales for 85,200 gns. The vendors and auctioneers would have been delighted with such an aggregate when they sold 69 lots at the inaugural sale at Trentham in 1927. Instead, they

had to settle for 60,000gns less. Newcomer No-one was surprised when Galilee’s famous young Adelaide trainer, J. B. Cummings, “sailed in” on the top Alcimedes youngsters, but no-one expected main opposition to come from the 31-year-old Mr Lloyd Foyster. Mr Foyster came to Trentham without any experience of buying horses at auction, and with no ideas as to who would train the horses he intended to buy. He did his own bidding on the Alcimedes—lrish Laughter colt on the first day of the sales, and J. B. Cummings would have never taken this colt at 10,000gns only for a quick turn in events while bidding had paused momentarily at 8500gns.

Mr Foyster felt that Cummings’s bid of 10,000gns and the fall of the hammer were too close together. He told the Sydney trainer, T. J. Smith, soon after, that he would have gone to 20,000gns! There was no stopping Mr Foyster when the Alcimedes— Miss Florabunda colt came up last Friday, but this time he left the bidding to Mr G. D. Shepherd, who, incidentally, bred Ziema, and also the Alcimedes—Cocachin fillybought by Mr Foyster earlier at the sale.

In going to 12,000gn5., Mr Foyster put an individual record into sales history. And again he said he would have been prepared to go 20,000gns. Big Spenders Mr Foyster spent 33,000gns on seven youngsters, making him the second most valuable client behind “Bart” Cummings. Cummings paid 47,300gns for 13 lots. On his last three visits he has spent 109,000gns for clients of his Adelaide stable. Mr J. Shannon, who was the most active visiting buyer in 1966 with 20 lots for 22,375gn5, spent 28,400gns this year on 15 youngsters. Mr S. Fox, who is expected to spend freely again at the Sydney sales at Easter, paid 27,350gns for eight lots at Trentham. Mr Fox, who comes from Sydney, and is a comparative newcomer to racing, spent more than 20,000gns on his first visit to Trentham last year. 5012gns Average Alcimedes was always assured of top ranking on the

sires’ averages. His average was 5012gns, with 5427gns for the colts and 4250gns for the fillies.

With this result he deposed Summertime, which headed the sire averages in 1966 with 2837gns for eight lots. Ten of the stock of Summertime were sold this year for an average 3035gns. Le Filou, sire of the champion Australian race mare Light Fingers, the Wellington Cup winner Michael Molloy and several other fine stayers averaged 3395|gns for 11 lots. Agricola, second to Summertime last year when his third crop was in the ring, had another good sale this year with an average of 3100gns for 10 lots.