If there is one person you could invite for dinner, who would it be?
Donald Trump. Why? Isn’t it obvious
How have the huge increases in prize money, particularly in NSW, affected racing in your area?
The Country Championships and the increases in prizemoney in NSW have had an amazing effect on the psyche of the racegoer, whether they be a breeder, an owner, a trainer or anyone involved Ö. there is a positiveness that I have not seen ever before in the industry.Do you do much Internet shopping, and if so, what for?
I have never ordered anything online but I do know that it works because no one picks up more parcels (for my wife Sarah) from the mailbox than me…some days I actually overfill the back of my Landcruiser!
What have been your racing and breeding highlights over the past year?
Earlier this year we purchased Xtravagant to stand at Newhaven Park. We are very excited to see what he will produce, he was a breathtaking racehorse with phenomenal speed. Xtravagant is the highest rated 3YO in New Zealand since Bonecrusher and won two Group One races by a combined margin of 16 1/2 lengths (Guineas and the Waikato Sprint against older horses).
This will be the last Inglis sale at historic Newmarket. What is your favourite memory there?
It will be a surreal moment leaving the Newmarket complex on the Thursday night after the last lot has been sold. The fortunes of Newhaven Park and the Kelly family have been inextricably linked with that of Newmarket and the Inglis family for four generations. My grandfather bought his first horse at Newmarket in the 1940s, setting himself on a journey that would consume and define his life and the destiny of his family.
The mix of emotions that I feel every time I enter Newmarket, of excitement, trepidation, hope and the sniff of a battle, I imagine are felt by every person who has walked through her historic gates since the first sale was held there. No matter if you are a breeder, buyer, trainer, strapper, Inglis employee or just a casual observer, as you enter that place you know it is somewhere special – it’s where fortunes have been made and lost, champions bought and sold, careers defined and destroyed, for so many of us it was where we learned our trade, where we got our first opportunity, our first success, our first loss and where we made friendships to last a lifetime.
So, for me, it is a place that holds many special memories, but the future looks after those who plan for it and the plans for the new complex at Warwick Farm look sensational, we are moving to a new world class sales complex could there be a better place to make new memories?
If you could have retained one horse, instead of selling, which horse would that be?
We like selling good horses and when we go to the sale we hope to sell every horse. We have had a bit of luck with some we have passed in but at the end of the day we would have always preferred to sell them.
Where do you like to go after each sale day?
To the bar to have a drink with the staff and then home
What is your favourite holiday destination?
Anywhere with my family
What is your favourite saying?
I have two. “Guts, determination and the family spirit” and “Out of every bit of bad, comes a little bit of good”.
Absolute Champion
English
John Kelly (left) with John Inglis
PeepingLet’s take a look at the draft as individuals.
LOT 50 b.c Redoute’s Choice-Beauty Belle (Ideal Planet)
Full brother to multiple Gr.1 winner WYLIE HALL and half-brother to Hong Kong Champion Sprinter ABSOLUTE CHAMPION.
LOT 87 b.f Redoute’s Choice-Court (Anabaa (USA))
This could well be the best bred filly we’ve sent to a sale, she is a half-sister to ENGLISH, the champion 2YO and 3YO filly in Australia.
An August foal, she is a really beautiful filly that could well emulate the feats of her sibling.
LOT 111 b.c Medaglia d’Oro-Don’t Blink (Redoute’s Choice)
This is the second foal of a winning Redoute’s Choice mare and bred on the same cross as Gr.1 winner ASTERN.
LOT 134 b.c Reset-Fiction (NZ) (Redoute’s Choice)
This colt is by the very underrated sire Reset whose Gr.1 stars include FAWKNER, REBEL RAIDER, HAURAKI and PINKER PINKER.
He’s bred on the same cross as FAWKNER and PREFERMENT.
LOT 224 b.f Snitzel-Maritime by Falbrav (Ire)
This filly is a half-sister to the Gr.2 winner, Gr.1 placed CHARLIE BOY, winner of over 800K. She’s by Snitzel and out of one of Newhaven’s best families with notable fillies such as PONTAL LASS and QUAYS.
LOT 232 ch.c Sebring-Miss Marielle by Encosta de Lago
This colt is a half-brother to Gr.1 winner PEEPING.
This is the cross that has produced Gr.2 winners SEABURGE, CATCH A FIRE, BELIEVE YOURSELF and the very promising SIR BACCHUS.