MEET THE STABLES
by Harry Woodart

These days Harry is a fulltime accountant and part time horse handler at Yallambee Stud. Each year however his mum Christie Woodard negotiates successfully to have him return to the Yallambee Stud team to assist with presenting their strong draft at the Melbourne Premier Sale.

Here is Harry's account of the 2013 Melbourne Premier sale from a farm's perspective.

This year saw some new initiatives at the Melbourne Premier Yearling Sales, such as the sales beginning with a short session on the Sunday Family Day and the introduction of the Blue Riband sale.

For many people the sales start after the 26th of February when inspections begin to take place. However for the farms, owners and yearling staff the sales begin weeks before. By the time the yearlings reach the sales complex they have received a full preparation and their coats are glowing and they're looking more like young racehorses rather than the fury teenagers they appeared as in the paddocks only weeks before.

Day one of inspections starts at the crack of dawn. You can arrive at 5am and see yearling workers waking themselves and the young horses up with an early walk, wash and groom. Before heading up for breakfast and a quick catch up with the workers from other farms.

Day one of inspections always brings a lot of excitement. It gives everyone in the preparation process a chance to stand back and watch potential buyers reaction to all their hard work.

The first few days of inspections we see a lot of full draft pulls, with buyers asking many stud managers "show me everything you have". To this you can watch an entire team of staff jump to their feet and head straight down the isles getting each yearling geared up and groomed ready for inspection.

As the week progresses the lists get shorter, the buyers have seen everything the Sale has to offer, certain horses begin to gain a reputation around the complex and some buyers are even back for their third or fourth inspection.

Finally the first selling day comes around and this year for the first time it began on the Sunday. There was a buzz around the complex as selling was about to begin, and you could see people getting involved in all sorts of activities organised by William Inglis, including lessons on purchasing horses, golf, seminars and of course the opportunity to bid on your own horse. The sale itself was a huge success. There was great representation from all major Victorian Studs including Three Bridges, Lauriston Thorouighbreds, Eliza Park, Swettenham Stud, Supreme Thoroughbreds and Yallambee Stud.

There were no surprises to see the Fastnet Rock colt out of multiple group winning mare Bird of Fire top the sale. The strong colt was taken through by Esker Lodge of New Zealand and reached a whopping $450,000.

If you haven't visited the Premier Sales before then make sure you don't miss it next year. Melbourne Premier Sale continues to produce great thoroughbreds for racing and breeding.