Gotcha moment for Coolmore on opening day of Magic Millions broodmare bonanza
A date with Wootton Bassett (Iffraaj) awaits Zougotcha (Zoustar) after the triple Group 1-winning mare was acquired by Coolmore Stud for a cool $5.25 million on a day of titanic trading at the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale.
Familiar foes Coolmore and Yulong traded early bids on opposing sides of the sales ring, with Twin Hills Stud’s Olly Tait forcefully entering the fray before Tom Magnier eventually prevailed with a bid which made Zougotcha the second most expensive broodmare sold in Australia behind Imperatriz (I Am Invincible), who was purchased for $6.6 million at this very sale last year.
On that occasion, Magnier was the underbidder as Mr Zhang’s seemingly limitless reserves saw Yulong emerge victorious for the ten-time Group 1 heroine; but 12 months on Coolmore were not to be denied having identified Zougotcha as the perfect match for Wootton Bassett, who returns to Jerry’s Plains this breeding season for a record service fee of $385,000 (inc GST).
Zougotcha’s $5.25 million fee eclipsed the $5 million paid for Milanova (Danehill) in 2008, and with Zoustar (Northern Meteor) well on his way securing his first leading Australian Sire crown as well as enhancing his reputation as a broodmare sire of some considerable standing, a sizeable fee was all but assured.
Having paid $4.2 million for Sunlight in 2020, Magnier was understandably delighted to acquire another champion daughter of Zoustar.
“She was a beautiful mare and everybody was on her this week,” said Magnier, who having earlier paid $1.35 million for Moesha (I Am Invincible) from Rosemont Stud subsequently took Coolmore’s spending past the $8 million mark on the opening day courtesy of a successful $2.1 million bid for Climbing Star (Zoustar).
“We’re very, very fortunate to get her. There were some great judges on her and they obviously thought she was worth that sort of money.
“Having Wootton Bassett back this year, it gives us the confidence to find these mares for him. Considering what he is doing both here in Australia and over in Europe, we’re really going to go after him this year and I think what he’s going to do this year and into the future is going to be very special. So we are very fortunate to be in this position with him because it gave us the confidence to go and get this mare.
“It makes it even more special to buy her from Chris and his team, because we’re very close to Sophie Baker [Waller’s Racing Manager], Charlie Duckworth [assistant trainer] and the whole Waller team. When you look at these top ones that they keep putting through the sale, they’re blue chip mares for everyone and hopefully they might be buying the offspring in years to come.”
An emotional Baker paid tribute to the hard-working team behind the country’s leading trainer, who purchased Zougotcha for $500,000 in partnership with his trusted bloodstock agent Guy Mulcaster at the 2021 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale.
They subsequently syndicated her to a group of regular stable clients including fruit and veg market magnate Noel Greenhalgh and his wife Maria, whose list of achievements include winning the Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) with Gold Trip (Outstrip).
“It’s overwhelming,” said Baker.
“There’s a big team of staff at the stable who have all made this possible, from her strappers to her trackwork riders and everyone who’s had anything to do with her. It’s been a really big build-up and I’m just so pleased for her owners that we managed to get a result like this, because it’s testament to the efforts of all the staff that have looked after her.
“The mare has made our lives easy. She’s eaten everything and paraded so beautifully all week, she’s bright and happy and looks outstanding so she sold herself really.”
Christine Cook, one of Zougotcha’s delighted part owners during her racing career, wiped away tears when the gavel fell.
“I only ever cry happy tears,” she said. “It’s the end of one era and the start of another.”
“That’s crazy stuff [the sale price]. It’s just what every racehorse owner ever dreams of doing.
“It’s not what you think of when you buy them, but it’s so lovely to see that she’s so well thought-of as an animal, as a horse, that somebody thinks she’s worth that.
“She was just such an amazing animal. The people we were in her with were just incredible, we had so much fun with her – there was never any arguments about where she was going and what she was doing. We just went on her ride, which was wonderful.
“It’s just unbelievable, genuinely unbelievable. I just hope she makes beautiful babies.
Shortly afterwards, the Waller team were celebrating again when Atishu (Savabeel) fetched $2.7 million, with Yulong set to take her home to their Nagambie farm.
Savabeel’s (Zabeel) unrivalled reputation in New Zealand led to his induction into the nation’s Racing Hall of Fame earlier this year, and with Yulong holding shares in the Waikato Stud stalwart, it made perfect sense for them to pounce on his three-time Group 1-winning mare.
“Savabeel is a fantastic stallion from a great family, so if she leaves a yearling that looks like she does, then I’m sure it will be very popular at the sales,” said Yulong’s chief operating officer Sam Fairgray, who revealed that a date with the farm’s emerging stallion Alabama Express (Redoute’s Choice) would be pencilled in for later this year.
“We have some really nice Savabeel mares on the farm that have produced good foals. He’s a great broodmare sire, it’s great to have a mare like her joining the team and Mr Zhang was very impressed when he saw her.
“She’s a beautiful type, so it’s great to have her in our broodmare band. She doesn’t need to take on Via Sistina [on the track], so she’ll be going straight to the breeding barn.”
Earlier in the day, Triple Crown Syndications celebrated a remarkable result for the owners of Revolutionary Miss (Russian Revolution) after she was knocked down for $1.6 million (online) to Northern Farm proprietor Katsumi Yoshida, who also acquired Group 1-winning mare Socks Nation (Sioux Nation) for $1 million and Alsephina (Star Turn) for $1.1 million.
Revolutionary Miss, whose dam Purcentage (Onemorenomore) was stakes performed, had already changed the lives of her 20-strong ownership group having accumulated in excess of $1.8 million in earnings throughout her racing career.
After traversing the country acquiring the six stakes wins – and two Group 1 placings – which made her such an attractive breeding proposition, Revolutionary Miss returned to the Bundall complex where she had been purchased for $195,000 from the Sledmere Stud draft at the 2021 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Tears flowed in the ring as the gavel dropped following a feverish bidding battle, with Japan’s biggest breeding operation – who parted with $2 million to secure Ruthless Dame (Tavistock) at this sale last year – eventually coming out on top.
Chris Ward, who founded Triple Crown in partnership with his brother Michael, hailed a “massive result” for the syndication company and the mare’s owners, many of whom were there to witness the sale.
“It’s a fairytale result and just such a wonderful experience for all the owners here,” he said.
“They came to experience a different side to the whole industry today, which is great. I think there’s probably around 20 owners of all different share sizes. Even if you only own 2.5 per cent, it’s still a massive result and a lot of lifelong friends have been made amongst this group, which is just as important.
“Not many horses go and win Group races as an early two-year-old filly, then as a three-year-old, a four-year-old and even a five-year-old mare. So it’s pretty rarified air. She was pretty unlucky not to get a Group 1 result on the track. She came awfully close [in the 2022 Blue Diamond Stakes], but we effectively got a Group 1 result today.”
Fellow syndicators OTI Racing also celebrated a pair of seven-figure sales from the Supplementary Book late in the day when their South Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) heroine Femminile (Dundeel) – who will now race in Yulong’s bottle green colours in this Saturday’s Queensland Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) – and stakes winner Lady Laguna (Overshare) fetched a combined $4 million.
James Harron made a determined play for Lady Laguna, eventually paying $2.5 million for a mare whose crowning glory came in the Canterbury Stakes (Gr 1, 1300m) last year.
“She’s an outstanding mare,” said Harron.
“She’s been really tough, durable and resilient across all age groups. She’s just a stunning individual who presented in incredible health, so I’m very excited to get her. I think that is what we’ve come to learn these mares are worth. We’ll get her back home, work out a mating and go from there.”
Magic Millions’ managing director, Barry Bowditch, was a predictably pleased man after the opening day of the sale achieved some impressive metrics.
“I thought it was an unbelievable day. There was great confidence and electricity in the ring from the start of the day. There were horses that were buyable at all ends of the market. It was great to see a huge cross-section of buyers and not a single buyer dominating the market.
“From the time we knew she was going to go to the market, we thought Zougotcha would be the number one seed and so it proved. Tom Magnier is always hard to beat on the best mares, it’s fantastic to see him continuing to contribute and I’m delighted for Chirs Waller and his whole team, because they bought some fabulous fillies and mares here.
“There were eight different buyers purchasing the 14 million dollar lots that were sold, so it was great to see such a big spread of buyers and a fantastic thirst for quality. I’m delighted for my team and I would like to thank the vendors who supported the market. It’s an unbelievably pleasing result for everyone.
“The gross at this point in time is $47.5 million, I think we catalogued 40 more lots last year and we’re only $4 million down, which is a great result. The average price of $363,000 is well ahead of last year’s, the clearance rate of 81 per cent is in line with last year’s rate of 83 per cent, and the median price of $160,000 is considerably up on last year’s figure of $120,000, so we’re very happy overall and have had some good solid increases where it matters.”