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Baystone Farm’s Dean Harvey was a top buyer at the Mag Magic Millions 2YO’s in Training Sale when he purchased the first foal of winning Fastnet Rock mare Arnault by Extreme Choice for A$350,000 from A-List Stud’s draft.
The colt was a successful pinhook having been sourced from Inglis Premier for $130,000 from the Yarran Thoroughbreds draft.
“He’s an elite stallion and I thought this sale was a good opportunity while the stud farms weren’t buying,” a delighted Dean Harvey said.
“I liked the colt as a yearling and missed him there.
“The colt breezed really well, has a great action and I was really keen to secure him.
“Leon and Troy Corstens will train him. He’s pretty much syndicated already. He’ll have three to four weeks off and then head to Flemington,” said Harvey.
The Impact caught up with Harvey recently to review his purchase and plans for the colt.
Q: Please tell us about the Extreme Choice colt you recently purchased. What are your plans for this horse?
A: Extreme Choice, who, if he did not have fertility issues, would be challenging for a champion sire title at some stage in his career. He has thrown a Golden Slipper in his first crop and is a stallion I wanted some exposure to. The colt goes directly into training with Leon and Troy Corstens and we will see where he takes us.
Whether he is an out and out 2YO I am not sure but we will give him his chance and go from there. He was a horse that I purchased myself but have since syndicated so there are probably six of us involved in him now.
In terms of the race distance, his father was a champion sprinter and he is out of a Fastnet Rock mare, I would say he will be a sprinter.
Q: Did you get a chance to sight the horse or did you watch him breeze before the sale?
A; I liked the horse as a yearling in Melbourne, his father was somewhat unproven at that stage so I was not overly strong on him in the ring. Fast forward six months and the deeds his father had accomplished I was very keen to secure him.
I had watched his breeze ups and had spoken to Chris Lee from A-List stud as to his thoughts on the horse but unfortunately, I was unable to go to the sale to see him myself. I did however have Barry Bowditch from Magic Millions look at him for me and also Shane McGrath, both of which gave glowing reports on him.
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Q: What did you think of prices vs the quality of horses on offer?
A: I have been a fan of the 2YO breeze-up sales and have been a vendor for the last five or so years. I believe the sale is now gaining momentum through the results of the stock that pass through the sale. We are seeing better quality stock engaged and I believe the sale will get stronger and stronger.
These kinds of sales still do not have the firepower of some buyers from the yearling market so there are opportunities to buy quality horses and the right sort of money.
Q: How long have you been buying at this sale? Please tell us about your more successful purchases from this sale.
A: I have been more of a seller rather than a buyer at these sales and trade into Hong Kong a little, some of the recent horses we have sold to Hong Kong are Fantastic Treasure who is a very exciting horse and Silent Theory who has not started up there as of yet but one to keep an eye on.
Q: Which yearling sales will you be preparing for and what is your plan/ process when you typically buy at these sales?
A: I will be attending nearly all of the yearling sales this year and will try to buy in the vicinity of 6-8 yearlings who will go into training with Leon and Troy Corstens, hopefully, some fast ones.
We have a really nice bunch of 2YO's from last season and a couple to keep an eye on would be the Capitalist x Loiret colt and the Smart Missile x Five Card Charlie gelding