Interesting they decided to have three Cullens and two Grins in the first six lots. I guess it's easily to speculate without seeing their conformation. The best-bred lot in the sale could quite easily have conformation flaws ... but they'll undoubtedly still sell well.

I'm always amazed how yearlings that are 'flavour of the month' (for example, a close relation to a horse that's racing really well at the time of the sale) attract so much attention despite their physical qualities.

Without wanting to unfairly label on situation, I remember a few years back a Falcon Seelster filly out of Sassy Gina (making her a half-sister to Sassy Sarah) that went through the APG sale in Melbourne. I had a good look at her and, in my opinion, she had some significant physical shortcoming that would severely restrict her racing ability. yet she still sold for something like $50-60k, simply because she was a half-sister to a top mare.

I always struggle to understand how some buyers are prepared to splash lots of money without doing their homework.

Obviously there's no guarantee you're going to buy a good horse ... but I reckon it's not too tough to be confident some will never make it as racehorses, simply because of their conformation.