Photo: Inglis
Maastricht proved to be the prized gem of the Inglis Chairman's Sale on Friday night topping the auction when sold to Coolmore for A$2.25m.
Maastricht is the dam of star filly Loving Gaby who is the current second highest rated 2YO filly in Australia.
Currently in foal again to champion stallion I Am Invincible (who is also the sire of Loving Gaby), Maastricht is destined for a date with Coolmore's Triple Crown winner Justify in his first season at stud in Australia later this year.
“She’s a quality mare in foal to a good stallion and has a progeny record as well. With a bit of luck, she will be perfectly suitable for Justify. We thought she was one of the highlights of the sale and all the right people were on her,” said Tom Magnier.
Part-owner Alan Bell, who purchased Maastricht as a yearling for $220,000 out of Curraghmore's 2013 New Zealand Bloodstock draft, was philosophical about parting with the seven-year-old dapple grey mare.
"She made that because she deserved to. She doesn't have a chink in her armour, she's got the lot," said Bell.
"I'm a colt buyer and I have been blessed to have a mare like her but it doesn't fit what I do because I race colts and try to make stallions out of them. So, it makes sense for me to monetise her and roll back into the colt market."
Maastricht was bred by Shelley Frost and the late Raewyne Ramage and is out of the late Cat Shmea who is also the dam of Group One winner Velocitea.
Curraghmore graduates have a strong record at the Chairman's Sale with Provocative, who was sold through the farm's 2014 Karaka yearling draft, topping the sale in 2017 when knocked down to Paul Willetts for A$1.2m. Both mares where sold through the draft of Newgate Farm-TDNAUSNZ
