But that failed to eventuate when the Street Cry (IRE) colt was passed in well short of his reserve of $3million.

Despite the hiccup, the sale overall recorded strong results with a number of youngsters selling for $1million or upwards during the three days.

Setting the standard on Tuesday, the opening day, was an outstanding colt by Fastnet Rock from Perfect Persuasion that fetched $1.6 million for Coolmore. 

The colt is the third foal of a full sister to former champion filly Alinghi in Perfect Persuasion, who back in 2006 was purchased by Demi O’Byne for $2.6 million from the Yarraman Park draft.

One point five million were the knock down prices for colts by Snitzel and Street Cry. 

Emirates Park and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum combined to take home the Street Cry colt who set a new benchmark for his sire in this country and is from the blue-blooded import Star on High (USA). 

This same partnership bought the $4 million Fastnet Rock x River Dove colt a year ago and he is yet to race.

The overall success of the sale could be put down to the impact of the Dubai Sheikhs with great support from the Middle East and American buyers, with many of their purchases being shared among Australian trainers.

The American drug debacle

Some weeks ago I wrote of the stand Australian racing has taken on the use of anabolic steroids.

This comes as a direct contrast to the American system that still maintains the use of certain drugs in racing, and now once again the cat has been put among the pigeons with an investigation    carried out by PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) into the day-to-day happenings in the stable of leading American trainer Steve Asmussen.

Asmussen has been phenomenally successful, having trained 6727 winners, including a world-record 650 in one year (2009) alone. 

However, Asmussen’s future must currently be up in the air because, even allowing for the fact that PETA has gone out of its way to portray his methods in a light damaging to the reputation of  racing, some of the scenes caught on film seem fairly sickening, as the trainer’s staff scratch their heads trying to work out what drugs they can give lame horses to make them seem sound enough to continue racing.

Racing in America is really struggling, as the huge appeal that it used to have with the general public has already all but evaporated. 

The complete lack of feeling for the animals which PETA’s secret films appear to have captured is likely to serve only to push public opinion in the states even further against the sport.

What disciplinary (never mind legal) action Asmussen will face remains to be seen, and his principal hope appears currently to lie in the fact that film generally does not show him, but concentrates on his assistant Scott Blasi. 

Asmussen is now trying to distance himself from Blasi, who has already been fired. 

The whole episode is just a terrible mess, on which presents America’s racing authorities with a major problem in working out how to solve the problem.

Good often comes out of bad, and this debacle serves as a worthwhile reminder to horsemen around the world that the safety and welfare of the horses is more important than the incidental factor of winning or  losing races.

The way I see it

World-class racing, big fields and a surging betting turnover - Sydney has backed a winner with the Championships. 

Champions of the future have been unveiled and history made with the power of the Chris Waller stable filling 1-2-3 and 4 in the famous Doncaster Mile.

One idea that is being bandied around is the moving of the Golden Slipper from its Rosehill home, adding it to The Championships at Randwick. 

Now Sydney racing is under the one banner of the Australian Turf Club I am sure the move will be given plenty of thought.

Another move that should be seriously thought about is slotting the Inglis Yearling Sale into the week between the two Championship Saturdays.

If you ever wanted proof The Championships wasn’t going to be all glitz and glamour, you only had to watch the emotional scenes after the running of the Widden Kindergarten Stakes on Doncaster Day. 

Standing in the middle of a bog, a tearful Winona Costin reached up to give I A Snippety one final hug before the filly was humanly put down after going amiss in the race.