Full brother to Arcee Phoenix headlines Nutrien yearling sale

A full brother to last week’s $NZ600,000 TAB Trot slot race winner Arcee Phoenix (Trixton) will be one of the most sought-after horses at the annual Nutrien Equine Melbourne Yearling Sale on Sunday.

Lot 235 in the catalogue, the Trixton colt is the seventh and last foal of his dam Justa Phoenix, who has so far left five to race for five winners.

The Oaklands Junction-based auction will present world class bloodlines to suit all buyers and budgets.

A total of 170 pacing and trotting yearlings will go under the hammer, representing the cream of the crop of many of the heavy hitters in standardbred breeding from Victoria and across the country.

The progeny of 48 stallions, headed up by Bettor’s Delight (five lots), Art Major (10), Captaintreacherous (7), Always B Miki (15), Sweet Lou (five), Downbytheseaside (eight), Rock N Roll Heaven (three), American Ideal (three) and Majestic Son (six), will go up for auction.

To further emphasize the quality of the sale, no fewer than 50 lots are from Group-winning dams or Group-producing dams.

Among the list of Group 1 winners are Life Inthefastlane, Momentslikethese, Kualoa, Red Hot Roxy, Saved A Corka, and the trotters Endsino, Shezoneoftheboyz, Kinvara Sue, Moonshine Linda, My Valerie, Betty Hall, Perfect Polly, Amour De Frere and Liberty Stride.

Besides Arcee Phoenix, the offering includes siblings to top horses the calibre of Expensive Ego, Act Now, Tough Tilly, Perfect Class, Petacular, Idyllic, Sweet Bella, Miki To Success, Joanna, Captain Bellasario, Centenario, Lightning Dan, Temporale and Parisian Artiste.

There’s close relatives to the Inter Dominion champions King Of Swing, Smolda, Maori Law and Sumthingaboutmaori, the Miracle Mile winner Spankem, and a swag of other top performers including Always Hot, Keayang Zahara, Vincent, Make Mine Cullen, Aardie’s Express and Aldebaran Zeus.

All yearlings sold at the sale will be eligible to compete in the rich Nutrien race series for two and three-year-olds in 2026 and 2027.

A parade of yearlings will be held at the Inglis complex on Saturday from 12noon. Complimentary nibbles and drinks will be served.

The sale is set to get underway at 11am on Sunday.

by Peter Wharton, for Harness Racing Victoria