Choisir colt tops Inglis Premier on Monday

A colt from the second crop of top sprinter Choisir topped Monday's second

session of the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale at Oaklands Junction, selling for

A$300,000 to Paul Messara. The flaxen chestnut was consigned by Glentree Downs.

The session's second-highest price was A$270,000 for a colt by Delago Brom, whose first foals hit the

races this season. From the Glenwood draft, the bay is the second foal from the

Thunder Gulch mare Clouding Over, whose first foal -- a three-quarter sister to this colt

-- is listed winner Press the Button (Encosta de Lago). Nick Williams signed the

ticket for the colt on behalf of Lloyd Williams.

"The colt is a real athlete," said Luke Campbell, Williams' racing manager

and veterinarian. "He'll go into the system and we'll look forward to eventually

getting him into the stable."

Williams also owns the two-year-old Choisir colt Incumbent, who

collected the rich Inglis Premier at Caulfield Saturday. That youngster's

younger half-brother, by Royal Academy, sold for A$170,000 Monday to South

Africa's Form Bloodstock. Form's Jehan Malherbe said that his trainer Dean

Kannemeyer had a pair of Group 1-winning Royal Academys in South Africa last

year, and that the Incumbent half-brother was "a truly lovely type."

Malherbe added, "I have purchased yearlings previously at Easter, but this

was my first trip to Melbourne and I've been highly impressed with the quality

of bloodstock presented."

Inglis Director Peter Heagney was pleased with the sale's results.

"By the

close of (Monday's) session, we have sold 371 lots for an overall sales

aggregate of A$25,027,500 at an average of A$67,460," he said. "Encouragingly,

the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale has still realized an increase on

last year's sale despite the number of Encosta de Lagos dropping from 32 entries

in 2006 to just eight this time around.

"Furthermore, we have been buoyed by the interest from overseas

with the South Africans being very active, while the Hong Kong Jockey Club has

also weighed in with two six-figure purchases. It's a clear indication of the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale's position on the international

bloodstock calendar."

The third and final session of the auction begins Tuesday.