GROUP 1 winning trainer Ciaron Maher made his biggest yearling purchase yesterday, buying a filly by Exceed and Excel out of the high-quality mare Truly Wicked for $420,000 at the Melbourne Premier Yearling sale.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Bidding for the yearling started at $120,000 but quickly went to $400,000 before Maher trumped his rivals with the $420,000 bid for stable clients.
The four-day sale ended yesterday with Maher’s buy being the equal top seller at the Oaklands Junction sales complex which saw a record $48,651,000 for 584 yearlings sold at an overall clearance rate of 83 per cent.
Exceed and Excel was the champion Australian sire in 2012-13.
He has sired 1180 runners which have resulted in 804 winners, including 87 stake winners. Truly Wicked won five races and is the dam of two winners, including the top international group 1 sprinter Amber Sky.
Maher, 33, rated the filly as the best in the sale after weeks of inspecting yearlings at various studs and farms across the state and during the sale.
“She’s a cracking type. I could not fault her pedigree or confirmation,” he said.
“Her full brother has won group 1 races in Hong Kong and Dubai. I made two trips to Blue Gum Farm in Euroa over the past few weeks to inspect her and inspected her again at the sales.
“A lot of other trainers and owners inspected her at the sales before she was sold.
“I just fell in love with her. She ticks all the boxes. I was lucky that some stable clients agreed that she was a standout filly. She’s a lovely walking filly who is very strong.”
Maher, who trained Set Square to win the group 1 $1million VRC Oaks at last year’s Melbourne Cup Carnival, said the yearling would have a break for a week to 10 days before being broken in.
“I reckon she’s a bit tired after being taken in and out of her box for a week at the sales,” Maher said.
“We’re in no hurry to break her in. I’m confident she will develop into a high-class filly.”
The former jumps jockey turned successful trainer also purchased a colt by Reset, a filly by Not A Single Doubt and a filly by Denman. Maher, who has established himself as one of the best young trainers in Victoria, tasted success at Sandown yesterday when the lightly-raced six-year-mare Chiquada won a 1400-metre race.
Local trainers including Matthew Williams, Patrick Ryan, Mitch Freedman, Daniel Bowman, Jarrod McLean, Symon Wilde and Aaron Purcell also purchased yearlings at the sale.