Belle shines on Magic day at the Gold Coast
Fourteen-time Group 1 winner tops day one of National Broodmare sale as records tumble after extraordinary session’s trade
It promised to be a day like no other and it delivered, so much so it prompted industry figures to label yesterday’s opening session of the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale as the most extraordinary they had witnessed in decades.
Eighteen mares sold for $1 million or more yesterday, 11 of them in the Shadwell Stud Australasia dispersal sale, and champion New Zealand mare Melody Belle (Commands) could lay claim to being the head of the pack one more time when she topped the day at $2.6 million.
There was $68.888 million spent on 210 lots in the race fillies and mares session, the highest single day’s trade in the southern hemisphere at a breeding stock sale, at an average of $328,038, up 59 per cent year on year.
The median of $145,000 was up 93 per cent on last year and up from $70,000 achieved in 2019.
The clearance rate was set at 91 per cent as breeders looked to cash in on the booming market after record yearling and weanling sales.
“I am speechless. We’d hoped to achieve something extraordinary, but to do so is a remarkable result. It’s a remarkable result for the team and it’s a remarkable result for the industry here in Australia,” an elated and clearly emotional Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch said.
“The industry’s in great shape here, isn’t it? It’s buoyant, there were so many people trying to get in and bidding was healthy from start to finish.
“It just shows that if you bring a premium product to a horse sale, we’ll ensure that the buyers are here to bid on these horses. Today reflected that like never before.
“I think we’ve had ten lots make over $1.5 million and I’d hate to know how many made over seven figures. It’s a huge number – 18 in one day.
“I don’t think that’s been done in the history of a mares sale and definitely not here.”
The figures, even taking into account the once-off Shadwell dispersal sale, could have been greater had Arcadia Queen (Pierro) been sold.
Onlookers were left stunned when Arcadia Queen, arguably the sale’s biggest drawcard, was passed in for $3.4 million after her Western Australia owner-breeder Bob Peters was unwilling to part with his star homebred mare. Her reserve was listed at $4 million.
Further underlining the dramatic day, the sale was halted for about 45 minutes after a car crash nearby cut power to about 370,000 residents from the Gold Coast to Caboolture and also brought the Magic Millions sales ring to silence.
A back-up generator was called upon to allow the sale to resume.
Belle rings at $2.6 million for Fortuna’s champion New Zealand mare
The first big-name mare through the ring on day one was star mare Melody Belle (Commands) and it was Yulong’s Written Tycoon Syndicate which landed the brilliant six-year-old for $2.6 million to liven up a remarkable day’s trade.
She was the most expensive of 26 mares bought by the partnership on day one, which also included Greysful Glamour (Stratum) for $1.5 million and another Stratum (Redoute’s Choice) mare Positive Peace for $800,000. The high-investing Victorian-based stud spent a total of $12.2 million yesterday, the majority for their new high-profile stallion recruit, Written Tycoon (Iglesia).
With Kiwi Steve Davis ushered onto the rostrum to auctioneer New Zealand’s champion 14-time Group 1 winner Melody Belle, the bidding opened at $1 million before an investor bidding online went toe-to-toe with Yulong Investments, who is buying under the Written Tycoon Syndicate in support of their acquisition of the champion stallion.
“We are looking at mares of this quality now we have got Written Tycoon standing at the farm,” Yulong’s chief operating officer Sam Fairgray said.
“She was an obvious mare that we will look to put to him and we think she will suit him ideally.”
Catalogued as Lot 510, the Marie Leicester-bred Melody Belle won 19 races and she is one of two winners for Meleka Belle (Iffraaj), a half-sister to four stakes-placed horses.
“We thought she would be around that ($2.6 million) mark,” Fairgray said.
“She is a Group 1 winning two-year-old and went on to win 14 Group 1 races, so a mare of that quality doesn’t come on the market very often.
“She was bred by a very good breeder in New Zealand. She’s been trained by New Zealand’s best trainer.
“She came over and raced against the best in Australia as well.”
Soon after the sale of Melody Belle, and on his way to enjoy a celebratory champagne next to Melody Belle’s box at the Blue Sky Premium Consignment area near the centre parade ring, Fortuna Thoroughbreds’ John Galvin admitted to feeling a sense of relief.
“There’s quite a bit of pressure leading into a sale like this, of course. There’s all sorts of things to do, managing her campaign, managing the sale, managing shareholder expectations, etc, etc. It’s happened, she’s sold, and $2.6 million is a lot of money,” Galvin said.
“While there was talk, perhaps, of figures higher than that, we’re very, very happy to have brought her here. Yulong will give her a great home, they’ve got some great stallions, so it’s done and dusted.”
Galvin was front and centre to the ring, on a table flanked by trainer Jamie Richards and Te Akau principal David Ellis, as other syndicate members sat nearby.
Ellis was one of those bidding on the mare, using the online platform to make a play for Melody Belle.
“The bidding was a little bit slow, to be honest, but with the inspections over the past few days we detected there was strong interest from a number of players and we were happy to go unreserved,” Galvin said.
“I think that was the right way to sell this mare. It probably just needed another player or two to be in there bidding for her to reach a higher figure, but as I say, we’re pretty happy to get $2.6 million on the back of a $57,500 purchase, not to mention $4 million in race winnings.”
Greysful Glamour heads to Victoria
Darby Racing was another beneficiary of the large investment by the Written Tycoon Syndicate with the Group 2 winner and VRC Oaks (Gr 1, 2500m) placegetter Greysful Glamour’s looks and temperament not going unnoticed by those interested in the Widden Stud-consigned mare.
Catalogued as Lot 679, the former Mark Newnham-trained on-pacer is a half-sister to the stakes-placed mare Celestial Falls (Hinchinbrook) and is out of Dalakhani (Darshaan) mare Rippled.
“She started as a two-year-old and she’s still racing at five. She’s been in umpteen stakes races, she’s pretty much raced in stakes races all her life,” principal Scott Darby said.
“She’s got a cult following and the owners are very emotional selling her, but to get a result like that for a Group 1-placed mare, a Group 2 winner, is phenomenal.
“We didn’t pay big money for her at the Easter sale ($90,000) but she’s grown into a beautiful mare. You only have to take a look at her – she’s amazing looking and she was sound.
“Mark Newnham said she never had an unsound day in her life, really, never been treated, and winning from 1400 metres and Group 1-placed over 2400 metres, it appealed to many buyers.”
Darby has been lucky enough to race some high-class fillies such as Yankee Rose (All American) and Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner She Will Reign (Manhattan Rain) and he put yesterday’s market into perspective.
“We had a reserve of $600,000 on her, we thought she’d comfortably get to the $800,000 and maybe a million in this crazy market,” he said.
“I threw a few figures around this morning saying, ‘in this market she can make $1.2 to $1.5 million’ so we were on the money. I thought we had the product, but $1.5 million is enormous.
“We sold Yankee Rose for $2 million and She Will Reign for $2.3 million (to Japan) and they had a much better race record than what she had. It’s just a huge result in this market.”
Like Melody Belle, Greysful Glamour will head to Written Tycoon this year.
“She was just a lovely mare when we saw her. She’s another great racemare and physically she’s a mare that we thought would suit Written Tycoon really well, being by Stratum, the pedigree works as well,” Fairgray said.
“She’s just a beautiful mare to have on our farm, and another white one. We’ve got Utzon, who’s a white one and so she is now going to have a buddy, which is great.”
Widden buys back speedster Humma Humma
Soon after selling Greysful Glamour, Widden Stud played vendor and buyer on Humma Humma (Denman), a mare they co-owned and raced to Group 3 success with trainer John McArdle in Victoria.
Widden Stud principal Antony Thompson paid $1 million to buy out his partners in the rising six-year-old, who won six of her 32 starts and $656,000 in prize-money.
Out of the four-time winner Humma Mumma (Bel Esprit), Humma Humma is a half-sister to this season’s McArdle-trained Listed-winning two-year-old Tycoon Humma (Capitalist).
“We have been involved in the ownership and racing her with John McArdle. It’s been a great ride and we know how good she is as we are very close to her,” Thompson said.
“So it was an honour to be able to sell her on behalf of the owners and I am even more thrilled to be able to buy her.”
Thompson suggested Zoustar (Northern Meteor) would be high on the list of stallion candidates this year, but he was also keeping his options open.
“She’s a complete outcross. I love the fact she is in-bred to Vain, like Black Caviar, and of course Vain is very dear to us at Widden, having stood there.
“Honestly, when you look at her, she just suits so many stallions. Zoustar is front of mind but she can go to Trapeze Artist, or any of that line.”
Mizzy heads to Coolmore
It was no surprise to see Coolmore playing a key role at the top-end of the market and it was Mizzy (Zoustar) who Tom Magnier had his eye on less than an hour into the sale, going to $2.2 million to secure her.
Mizzy is the second high-priced daughter of Zoustar (Northern Meteor) bought by Magnier in as many years having gone to a Magic Millions record of $4.2 million for the three-time Group 1 winner Sunlight last year.
The Anthony Cummings-trained Mizzy, a daughter of the Robert and Sylvie Crabtree-owned Listed winner Missy Cummings (Magnus), won four of her 25 starts, three of them at Group level, and she was also twice Group 1-placed to earn $1.69 million in prize-money.
Offered through the Newgate Consignment as agent for her syndicate of owners, Mizzy finished well back in the Robert Sangster Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) in Adelaide on May 1 and will now join the Annabel Neasham stable as she’s targeted towards next month’s Tattersall’s Tiara (Gr 1, 1400m) at Eagle Farm.
In 2019, Coolmore bought Eckstein (I Am Invincible) for $750,000, transferred her to Chris Waller and was able to win a Winter Stakes (Listed, 1400m) and a valuable placing in the Tramway Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) before being retired.
Bidding on Mizzy opened at $500,000, with the rising six-year-old commanding interest from local and international buyers while Crabtree, who was standing out the back of the sales ring, revealed he also bid on the mare in the hope of buying out his racing partners.
“It’s extraordinarily hard to let her go, I’ll be frank, I did have a bid, and was close to the mark, but not quite good enough,” Crabtree said.
“Coolmore is a wonderful organisation and they will give her every chance she deserves.
“She’s quite a beautiful horse. We just love to have lovely horses. The money is incidental, it’s good when you get it, but it’s the horse you produce which gives you the thrill.”
He added: “There were people from America, England and Australia on her. She’s an international mare and our little stud Dorrington is very proud to have bred her and raced her with our partners.”
Magnier, who bought the mare for a new partnership, was in little doubt that Mizzy could have laid claim to being a Group 1 winner had she had a bit more luck. She was twice Group 1-placed and finished fourth in two other races at the highest level.
A mating for Mizzy has also not been confirmed but it would be fair to say Wootton Bassett (Iffraaj) will come in for strong consideration.
Her price tag, he says, is reflective of the prosperity of the Australian racing industry.
“It just shows the strength of the market at the moment in Australia. You have to put a zero behind your first valuation at the moment. It’s a great indication for Magic Millions that they have one of the best sales going on in the world right now,” he said.
“We’ve got a really exciting stallion roster this year. We’re obviously bringing Justify back and we’ve got Wootton Bassett coming down this year and he’s already fully booked.
“We’ve bought a lot of big mares over the past couple of years, so we’ll be heavily supporting Wootton Bassett.”
Recently, Magnier bought Celebrity Queen (Redoute’s Choice) for $2.5 million, El Dorado Dreaming (Ilovethiscity) ($1.35 million) and Savanna Amour (Love Conquers All) ($1.25 million) at the recent Inglis Chairman’s Sale and last year he purchased Sunlight, Champagne Cuddles (Not A Single Doubt) ($2 million), Invincibella (I Am Invincible) ($1.3 million).
Coolmore also bought Global Glamour (Star Witness) ($1.55 million), Invincible Star (I Am Invincible) ($1.45 million) and Savvy Coup (Savabeel ($1 million) in 2019.
Bella Vella the queen of Rosemont’s collection
Rosemont Stud’s goal of becoming a leading player in the sales ring, as well as on the racetrack, took another big-spending turn yesterday with principal Anthony Mithen and his brother-in-law Nigel Austin spending almost $10 million on ten mares to boost the quality of its broodmare band.
The most expensive of the haul was Group 1 winner Bella Vella (Commands) who was knocked down to Rosemont Stud for $1.9 million to provide her connections with their biggest return to date and Mithen was more than happy to play his role in the tried horse fairytale.
Rosemont Stud also paid $1.8 million for Minhaaj (Exceed And Excel), $1.35 million for Fiesta (I Am Invincible) and Bulabula (Shamardal), who is in foal to Epaulette (Commands), for $1.35 million.
Austin and Mithen also paid $800,000 for Bulabula’s Group 3-winning filly Aryaaf (Epaulette) during the Shadwell dispersal session.
Top of the tree for Rosemont’s haul, Bella Vella, was initially sold by Sir Owen Glenn through an Inglis Digital auction in April 2019 for just $22,500 to a syndicate involving trainer Will Clarken, his racing manager Lachie Weekley, follow South Australian trainer David Jolly and Rushton Park’s David and Kayley Johnson.
She was on-traded as the winner of three restricted races after missing to Glenn’s stallion Criterion (Sebring) in 2018.
“It’s great when dreams like this can come true for great people and people who are having a crack. We are very lucky to be bestowed the honour of owning Bella Vella,” Mithen said.
“I was nearly out of bullets, but those competitive juices kicked in. When the auction started I said to Nige (Austin), ‘the heart rate is starting to go; and at about $1.6 million, I said ‘it’s really going now’.
“It is a lot of money, but she is a quality product. She is by a quality broodmare influence in Commands.
“She has got a beautiful family and how they got her at that price online a couple of years ago, is beyond me.
“I expected her not to be as good a type as she is. I thought she might be a bit scrappy because they didn’t pay much for her online. It just shows that if you do your homework, and you get around, you can find a nice horse at all levels in the market.”
The Rosemont Stud team will consider a mating plan for Bella Vella “over a nice bottle of red”.
“There are a few options and probably we have to consider all options, all stallions across the board and make sure we get that mating right, because there’s a bit of money to bring back,” he said.
“We are very keen as a racing farm as well as a selling farm, we might indulge ourselves and race out of Bella Vella, wouldn’t that be nice to see her progeny run around in the Rosemont silks?”
Under Clarken Bella Vella won seven races, the 2020 Robert Sangster Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) and two other stakes races chief among them, during the two years under his care and sells as a rising seven-year-old.
“Obviously the money’s fantastic, but it’s the appreciation of how good a horse she was and also how good a physical she was,” Clarken said.
“I love horses and she’s as good a type as you will see and I am just so happy that people have respected that and respected how much ability she had.”
Clarken credited an extended spell, which was enforced after not getting in foal, for Bella Vella’s form turnaround.
“Sometimes maybe having a decent spell by accident can really help horses. She got better and bigger as I had her in my care,” he said.
“She became a bigger and more robust mare, so maybe there’s something in that having that long time off.
“She always had good ability and mentally she needed a bit of coaxing to teach her to win and once she got that confidence up, nothing stopped her.”
Out of Forget The Weather (Stormy Atlantic), a half-sister to stakes winners Ever After (Kris S), Wedlock (Maria’s Mori) and Extrovert (Wild Again). Bella Vella was consigned by Randwick Bloodstock’s Brett and Rachel Howard, who also had a share in Bella Vella. She was catalogued as Lot 643.
“Myself and my racing manager Lachie Weekley and two of my oldest and best friends in Patrick and John Kelton and obviously my mentor David Jolly are all in her and so are the Rushton Park guys who have been with me from the start when I had five or ten horses in work,” Clarken said.
“It’s a really pleasing result and it’s an honour that we had her in our stable and we’re able to present her the way that we did.”
Rushton Park’s Kayley Johnston was in tears after seeing Bella Vella sell and she is already making plans to visit Rosemont Stud to give the mare a pat while inspecting the farm’s stallion roster.
“I didn’t feel nervous at all this morning, but the last ten minutes coming in, I started to get the shakes a bit and felt a knot in the pit of my stomach,” Johnston said.
“I was just a bit overawed because it’s the end of an amazing ride for us, to have her win a Group 1, from where she has come from, is just phenomenal.
“We haven’t been lucky enough to sell a million-dollar horse and this is just amazing for us, It’s an unbelievable experience. We had a massive range of prices on her. It’s hard to know at that top end, where she would end up. To be here is just incredible.
“We were hoping for anything over $1 million, so $1.9 million is just amazing.”
Minhaaj to stay in training
Mithen revealed that his $1.8 million purchase Minhaaj, the first lot sold through the Shadwell draft, would remain in training next season rather than be retired to stud.
The VRC Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) winner, who has raced just nine times for Lindsay Park, is out of Telaawa (Lonhro), a winning, city-placed half-sister to Group 3 winner Charmed Harmony (Hussonet) and South Africa Grade 3 winner and Grade 1-performed Suyoof (Magic Albert).
Bulbula’s addition followed on from Rosemont’s love of the family, having paid $1.2 million for her Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) colt at the recent Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale and $700,000 for her Zoustar (Northern Meteor) yearling colt at last week’s Magic Millions National Weanling Sale.
“(Bulbula) was a Shadwell family and I’m hoping in time that it might be referred to as a Rosemont family,” Mithen said.
“It’s an amazing job that Shadwell has done with breeding these mares. The opportunity to buy Minhaaj, a fast three-year-old filly by Exceed And Excel, one of the best stallions in the country, what an amazing opportunity.
“We’ll rub our chin and think about what we do with her and what we set her for. Those fast fillies are hard to get.”
Earlier in the day, Rosemont Stud acquired the Star Thoroughbreds-raced mare Fiesta, a Silver Shadow Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) winner as a three-year-old. During that spring campaign she then ran three consecutive seconds in the Furious Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m), Tea Rose Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) and the Flight Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m), a campaign which netted connections a free service to a Darley stallion.
“She was a high-class two-year-old and, for an I Am Invincible, she trained on as an older filly and mare,” Rosemont Stud’s general manager of bloodstock Ryan McEvoy said.
“She’s a big, strong, roomy mare who will carry a good foal.
“I just love that race record that will go and produce those two and three-year-olds and that’s, ultimately, what we’re trying to do by getting a broodmare band that allows us to do that and have horses running in those big two-year-old races.
“Fiesta comes with a free nomination to a Darley stallion after winning the Princess Series, so maybe we’ll look at sending her to Dubawi!”
In summary, Mithen said: “That was an extraordinary day really. To add a collection of mares, and we bought ten mares in all, to be able to add that sort of quality, the opportunity was there with the Shadwell dispersal, but there was some beautiful mares before the dispersal as well,
“We couldn’t resist and we are very pleased. We have put a line in the sand about how serious we are about Rosemont.”
Buyers make most of Shadwell Dispersal
Expectations were high for the Shadwell Stud Australasia dispersal, but 11 million-dollar mares changing hands in not much longer than an hour still had many experienced participants in awe of what had just occurred.
Such was the appetite from buyers to take advantage of the rare event, brought on by the ill-health and then death of Shadwell founder Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, it led to major players joining forces in order to secure their chosen lots.
South Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) winner Qafila (Not A Single Doubt), who was offered in foal to Dundeel (High Chaparral), garnered the most attention, with GSA Bloodstock’s Jonathan Munz partnering with Coolmore to buy the talented mare.
“You’ve got to pay for these nice mares. It’s been strong all day, hasn’t it? Everyone seems to be partnering up, so it seems, and we’ve partnered with Coolmore,” Munz’s representative, agent Dean Hawthorne, said.
“Qafila was a hell of a racemare who we followed (on the racetrack). She is a good type and ($2 million) is the market, really, and I can’t really see it stopping.
“She is a good long-term investment.”
Munz has a share in Coolmore’s dual Group 1-winning two-year-old and first season sire King’s Legacy (Redoute’s Choice) and Hawthorne indicated the two parties are likely to do more business together in the future.
“We’ve also been trying to buy mares together for King’s Legacy and we’ll be involved with Coolmore from now on,” he said.
“We will sit down with the (Coolmore) boys (about a mating for Qafila) but she will go to one of the Coolmore stallions, I’d imagine. There’s all sorts of options on the table for her.”
Go Bloodstock’s Sir Owen Glenn also combined with Coolmore to land a Shadwell mare, Minhaaj’s dam, Telaawa (Lonhro), for $1.7 million.
She was sold in foal with an early service date to Exceed And Excel (Danehill). Dean Hawthorne paid $900,000 for Telaawa’s Exceed And Excel yearling filly at the Inglis Australian Easter Sale last month.
“Sir Owen thought it was a great opportunity with the Shadwell Dispersal to add to the very top end of our band and she is a Lonhro mare,” Go Bloodstock’s Steve O’Connor said.
“We loved the yearling back at the Easter Sale that Dean Hawthorne bought, and of these Shadwell mares, she was our pick.
It was great to partner with Coolmore, who we own some great horses with, like Merchant Navy.
She’s a lovely mare to have and she is an outcross to all these Danehill-line stallions that will be retiring for us.”
Yarraman Park, where the Shadwell stock had been kept for many years, consigned the draft which grossed $25.135 million.
Despite the startling figures, Yarraman Park’s Arthur Mitchell was not completely shocked by what occurred in the sales ring yesterday.
“It’s been the culmination of 25 years of growing a broodmare band and nurturing them and buying the best yearlings,” Mitchell said.
“(Shadwell representative) Angus Gold has done an amazing job and this is the culmination. It is sad to see the end of Shadwell’s investment in Australia. Maybe there’s a chance they may come back, but it was obviously a phenomenal sale tonight.
“The mares sold really well, and we are so proud of our staff, they have done an amazing job.”
As for the overall race fillies and mares session, Mitchell backed up many opinions shared as the day progressed.
“I’ve been around the world for many years, and I’ve seen big markets in America, and this is as strong a sale as you’d see, all the way through,” he said.
“It wasn’t just the Shadwell dispersal … and it’s not just Australians buying, it’s people from across the world and this seems a very buoyant market to play in at the moment.
“Australia is in a good place, racing is in a good place and breeding is in a good place. It’s wonderful to see all these different people investing in these mares.”
Magic Millions’ Bowditch added: “Shadwell’s stock selling was one of the most emotional things you’ll see at a horse sale.
“It was truly special and we’re extremely grateful to be given the opportunity to sell these horses and it is a big reflection on Yarraman, Angus Gold and Sheikh Hamdan’s investment worldwide.
“These horses commanded respect and the buyers got behind them and gave them the respect.”
Day two, featuring broodmares in foal, starts on the Gold Coast at 10am today.
“There’s a lot of quality mares to come through. We won’t be reaching the heights of what we have today, but it’s going to continue to be healthy,” Bowditch said last night.
“The depth of the catalogue provides breeders at all levels with opportunities that will be seen over the next two days.
“Buyers will continue to keep their lists long and, even though the market is great, vendors will continue to be realistic.”
Lot 831 – Ektifaa
(More Than Ready ex Stellar Vinia by Redoute’s Choice)
Covering Sire: I Am Invincible
Vendor: Shadwell Unreserved Dispersal (Prepared by Yarraman Park)
Buyer: Kia Ora
Price: $1.7 million
What they said: Kia Ora breeding and bloodstock manager, Shane Wright
The whole Shadwell Dispersal was an amazing draft, but this is one mare we really picked out, being by More than Ready. More than Ready with Not A Single Doubt is a phenomenal cross when it comes to stakes results, which looks great for Farnan.
She’s in foal to I Am Invincible, and the foal last week was a lovely foal that made very good money as well. No mare today was cheap, but we think she’s a mare we can really appreciate going forward and Farnan will love.
It’s a beautiful family, she’s a great type, and we were very happy to get her.
You have to support new stallions and we want quality over quantity. That’s what we have always said. There have been mares today that we have had our eyes on, and we bid on some, but in fairness to Magic Millions it’s been an amazing sale with amazing results and it’s been hard to buy from. It’s a great result for vendors.
Lot 707 – Bonham
(Per Incanto ex Fortune’s Choice by Redoute’s Choice)
Vendor: Willow Park Stud
Buyer: Sheamus Mills
Price: $1.6 million
What they said: Purchaser, Sheamus Mills
“I just thought she was a pretty rare offering. How often do you get a mare with six starts for four wins who is a Group 1 winner and a Group 2 second at her last start and is a lightly raced three-year-old filly who is well looked after and is a really good type?
“She has a really fast, good Aussie pedigree. Those horses just don’t come on the market. I can’t remember a horse who was so lightly raced and so well performed coming through a broodmare sale.
“The plan was to try and buy her, but probably not quite at that price. I have never sat here trying to buy the really good ones and thought to myself, ‘wow, that was cheap’. You have the price you hope you buy them for, but the reality is, a very good judge said to me, ‘if you fall in love with one and they’re proper types, they’re the ones that make you money. Pin your ears back and buy them’. That’s what she was.”
“She will race on. She has had six weeks off at Willow Park, so she’s ready to go. The only problem of putting her in work now would be what you aim her for, so maybe we’re better off giving her a little pre-training prep and look at the calendar and see what races we could aim her for and plan her program around that.
“If I say it (who she will be trained by), they’re both going to ring me in the morning and say, ‘C’mon mate’ but the majority owner has all his horses with Mick Price or Tony Gollan, so she will either go north or south.
“I am busting her up, this will be a bit more syndicated. At the moment, there’s at least three people in her and there’s a bit of room to move there, so I need to find one more person.”
Lot 817 – Rimraam
(Commands ex Swansea by Singspiel)
Covering Sire: Dundeel
Vendor: Shadwell Unreserved Dispersal (Prepared by Yarraman Park)
Buyer: Sheamus Mills/Longwood Thoroughbred Farm/Peter Morgan
Price: $1.5 million
What they said: Longwood Farm general manager, Michael Christian
“She was just an outstanding mare just in terms of her physical attributes. I don’t think I’ve seen a better mare, so we were happy to go hard for the one we wanted and we were able to purchase.
“She will go to Longwood Thoroughbred Farm to foal down and get her back in foal to who knows what, we’ll probably go to I Am Invincible but we will see what happens.
“At the end of the day, pedigrees are great and it helps that this mare is a stakes winner but I think when it comes down to it, people are buying on type and physical attributes and that is where this mare absolutely excels, so it will be exciting to bring her home and see what she produces over the next ten years.”
“She is only a young mare and, as I say, if she can produce anything like herself going to top-notch stallions we’re going to have some nice foals over the next ten years.
“If you’re not at that end of the game it can be a struggle, so we’ve paid up for the one that we really like.”
Sale results – day one
2021 2020 2019
Catalogued 286 168 246
Offered 232 139 208
Sold 210 (91%) 117 (84%) 168 (81%)
Aggregate $68,888,000 (+184%) $24,185,500 $28,332,500
Average $328,038 (+59%) $206,714 $158,646
Median $145,000 (+93%) $75,000 $70,000
Top Lot $2.6 million $4.2 million $2.3 million