Armidale Stud’s Home Affairs Colt Tops Inglis Great Southern Day 1

A Home Affairs colt offered by Armidale Stud topped a strong opening day of the Great Southern Weanling Sale at Oaklands today, selling for $330,000.

Tamworth trainer Mel O’Gorman and her partner Duncan McRae teamed up with close friend James Carolan to secure the colt (ex Myhro) in what was a “life-changing result for the Tasmanian nursery Armidale.

“You can breed a life-changing horse or you can own a life-changing horse and something like this is huge for us,’’ Armidale’s David Whishaw said.

“We brought him here knowing he was the right product. Home Affairs is very hot, and he’s out of a Lonhro mare who’s doing the job.

“We had a reserve of $150,000 and we disclosed that to anyone that asked, we’re realistic vendors and we come here to sell.

“It’s a huge result for (breeders) Ken and Jen Breese, to get a result like this for them is just huge.

“The Inglis team is working really hard, not just at the weanling sales but Will Stott and Britt Hussey from Inglis have been doing a great job coming down and inspecting and they’ve certainly given us the confidence to bring the right product here, as we do when we bring yearlings to the Premier Sale.

“For small breeders like us, this is the reason we stay in the game, you can get that life-changing horse and it gives you that confidence to buy a new mare and bat up and go to these expensive stallions and hope you get a huge result like this.’’

Carolan conceded he went beyond budget to secure the colt (pictured) but didn’t want to go home without him.

“There’s plenty of buoyancy in the market when you’re paying $330,000 for a weanling but he’s got the pedigree so hopefully he can do the rest for us now down the track,’’ Carolan said.

“You’ve got to buy quality in this market. Mel has a great eye for a young horse and she’s looked at every lot in the catalogue and really homed in on this colt so we’re thrilled to have got him.

“We thought he was worth around the $300,000 mark, we’ve obviously had to cop a bit more but it’s a partnership between myself, Mel and Duncan and that’s all part of it sometimes.

“Home Affairs is one of the most exciting young sires around and as for this colt, we might race him, we might trade him, we’ll just get him back to Tamworth where we all live and let him grow out and make that decision later in the year.’’

Story from Breednet