Ignore the hype

There’s an old rule of thumb when attending a yearling sale with a pocket full of cash – there is no value in buying the “hype” horse.

The “hype” horse of the 2008 Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale was the grey daughter of Dash For Cash from the Octagonal mare Matter.

The good-looking filly was part of the Rosemont Stud draft, offered on behalf of breeder Gerry Ryan, of Limerick Lane Stud, Nagambie.

The day before the sale began, the filly’s half-brother Carnero impressively won the $350,000 Inglis Premier Classic (1200m) at Caulfield – a feature race restricted to horses sold at the 2007 Melbourne Premier Sale.

In the few weeks before the sale, there was only a smattering of interest in the Matter filly, but all of a sudden, the filly became an object of desire. Rosemont’s man on the spot Anthony Mithen was rushed off his feet organising viewings as if he was salesperson at a Myer Christmas sell-out.

In 2007, trainer Dean Binaisse paid only $30,000 for Carnero, a colt by Carnegie.

A year later, on the back of the Carnero hype, the colt’s half-sister sold to Newcastle trainer Paul Perry for $210,000 – about seven times more than Mithen was expecting before Carnero did his thing at Caulfield.

The filly was named National Gift, and today, at her 12th start, she broke through for her maiden win at Cessnock, over 1350 metres.

Footnote: Carnero, at his next start, ran second behind Von Costa De Hero in the Group 2 Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m, Flemington), but he failed to win another race, despite some promising efforts as a three-year-old in the spring – he was fifth behind Whobegotyou in the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m, Caulfield) and third behind the same horse in the Group 2 Stutt Stakes (1600m, Moonee Valley).

Carnero was retired after he finished 11^th behind Rebel Raider in the 2008 Group 1 Victoria Derby. He stands at Christoph Bruechert’s Bombora Downs, Bittern, on the Mornington Peninsula. His fee is on application.