Breeding & Racing Magazine

Inglis Easter Yearlings Day-1: $1.5m Makybe Colt

Melbourne trainer Danny O'Brien paid top price of $1.5 million during yesterday's opening session of the 3-day Inglis Easter Yearling Sale at Newmarket in Sydney for the keenly-awaited 1st foal from triple Gr1 Melbourne Cup winner & dual Australian Horse-Of-The-Year Makybe Diva (Desert King-Tugela, by Riverman) whose 15 wins from 1400-3200m included 7 Gr1s & 3 Gr2s for $14,526,685 earnings. The colt (consigned by Tony Santic's Gnarwarre-based Makybe in Victoria) is by former Coolmore shuttler & Gr1 English Derby winner Galileo. Santic commented: "The market is pretty difficult at the moment & if he didn't make that sort of money I was very happy to take him home, because he's such a great type. But he made his money. This is one of my biggest thrills, to see her 1st foal go for a lot of money & hopefully down the track he's able to win some great races & hopefully, you never know, he might become a stallion. You've got to dream." O'Brien added: "She was the best race mare probably to race ever in Australia. It is such a volatile market at the moment. No one knows where it is heading. All I know is that there may never be another colt out of Makybe Diva offered for sale & we now have it."