Trotting bred yearlings accounted for the four highest priced lots at the 2026 Melbourne Yearling Sale conducted by Nutrien Equine at Oaklands Junction on Sunday.
A fresh Australian record for a trotting filly sold at auction of $250,000 was paid for the lovely Walner filly out of the dual Aged Trotting Mare of the Year Dance Craze, consigned by Pat Driscoll’s Yabby Dam Farms and bought by leviathan Sydney owner-breeder Mick Harvey.
The filly was initially passed in for $225,000 at auction and secured later in the day by Harvey.
Harvey, whose racing interests include the 2025 NZ Cup and Victoria Cup winner Kingman and exciting three-year-old filly Ripples, described the filly as a rare opportunity that was impossible to ignore.
“She is one of, if not the best bred trotter you’d want anywhere. She’s got enormous upside, particularly being bred on northern hemisphere time. She’s a gorgeous filly with everything you look for physically and on pedigree,” Harvey told Harnesslink.
A further two yearlings from Walner’s first small ‘down under’ crop realised the next two highest prices at the sale. Aldebaran Tobbe, a colt out of the Swedish mare Aldebaran Teal and offered by Duncan McPherson’s Aldebaran Lodge, was knocked down for $180,000 to the powerhouse Lee team from Terang, while the filly out of the Group 2 winning Love You mare Arboe NZ, also consigned by Yabby Darm Farms, was sold to prominent NZ North Island owner-breeders Braeden and Caroline Whitelock for $140,000.
Rounding out the leading trotting quartet was the Orlando Vici half-brother to the Vicbred champion I Am Wilma, offered by Wimmera enthusiast Wayne Schulze and bought by leading Cranbourne horsewoman Jayne Davies.
The highest price paid for a pacing yearling was $110,000 for the Art Major filly from the talented racemare Beach Music, nominated by Bill and Anne Anderson’s Lauriston Bloodstock and haltered by prolific Leeton owner Mick Boots, who shelled out a hefty $303,500 for seven yearlings.
A pacing bred colt, by Bettor’s Delight from the multiple Group winner Bamako Mali, one of the large Benstud Standardbreds’ contingent, was purchased by Robert Watson’s Soho Standardbreds for $100,000.
Forty-three trotting yearlings sold averaged out at $36,395, while 57 pacers brought an average of $31,877.
A total of 100 of the 156 lots presented sold for a gross of $3,382,000, an average of $33,820. The colts averaged $33,861 and the fillies $33,771.
“The sale attracted strong support from buyers across all mainland States, as well as Tasmania. There was also notable interest from New Zealand with three yearlings now en route there,” Nutrien Equine Standardbred manager Mark Barton said.
“Overall, the 2026 sale gross is expected to finish almost in line with our 2025 result. We look forward to seeing these yearlings progress through the ranks and eagerly anticipate their transition to the racetrack in early 2027.”
