Bigger is better for Magic Millions in 2024
Gold Coast January sale to have larger catalogue with increased Book 1 and Book 2 offering
Magic Millions has made the bold decision to change the format of next year’s Gold Coast Yearling Sale by increasing the catalogue’s size, providing more breeders with the opportunity to sell at January’s season-opening auction.
While the exact numbers for the rejigged catalogue have not yet been confirmed, Magic Millions will offer more horses in the five-session Book 1 sale, starting at an earlier 11am (AEST) on January 9, and it will extend its Book 2 catalogue to upwards of 400 horses to coincide with the rich racing carnival on the Gold Coast.
To cater for the increased Book 2 catalogue and logistics of stabling the extra horses, the Book 2 sale will be delayed by a day and start on January 15 and the curtain will come down on the eight-day extravaganza on Tuesday, January 16, a day later than in recent years.
The Sunday following the Magic Millions race day and Saturday night Book 1 session will be cleared to allow buyers to inspect the Book 2 horses.
Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch yesterday said it was not a big change to the successful formula that had served the Gold Coast sale well in recent years, with the increase in response to vendor demand.
“For many years we’ve kept extending the sale and, on the whole, vendors have been pleased with the results they’ve been getting out of the Gold Coast sales ring in January which I think was evident again this year,” he said.
“People are keen to get their horses up here and expose them to the market early and we had more yearlings entered for Book 1 than we’ve ever had in the past and more people are wanting to come this way.
“Some of those horses who would have made Book 1 in the past are being pushed into Book 2 and Book 2 has become plan A [for some vendors], so we think we’ve got an incredibly strong Book 1 catalogue and a bigger and just as much quality in Book 2 to what we have in years gone by.”
This year’s Gold Coast January sale had 979 lots catalogued in Book 1 and 294 in Book 2 and, despite the changes for 2024, the day sessions are still scheduled to finish no later than about 6pm with the Saturday night post-Magic Millions race day session still to be held.
“It’s a big Saturday night sale of some 90 lots and to then have the Sunday off, it gives the vendors in Book 2 more exposure and more time for inspections to take place,” Bowditch said.
“Given the fact we’ll have close to 450 yearlings for Book 2, it’s the logical way to go.”
The domino effect of the revamped January schedule means that some horses who would have been offered at other Magic Millions sales later in the year will instead go under the hammer two months earlier, a move Bowditch believes will be an advantage to vendors given the uncertainty over the economic climate.
“The sales overseas, particularly in America, have held up really well, so I am not predicting a significant downturn or anything, but I am mindful of the fact that we want to get in early and get our yearlings sold,” he said.
“It may get tougher as the year goes on, that’s the prediction some vendors are making, therefore if we have got a handful fewer horses in our Adelaides and Marches and a few more in January, we’re probably doing the right thing by the marketplace.”
It is unclear at this stage as to what impact the increased drawing power of the Gold Coast sale will have, if any, on the catalogues of rivals Inglis and New Zealand Bloodstock for next year’s suite of sales.
The yearling selection process that has served Magic Millions’ flagship sale so well hasn’t been compromised and Bowditch believes buyers will have plenty of choices across all budget levels.
“When you think of January, you think about type and breeders bring horses who are physically ready for a sale of this nature,” he said.
“The buyers turning up here are going to see a good line of yearlings across both books. You only have to look at the results on the racetrack. One of the favourites for the Coolmore [I Am Unstoppable] is a $60,000 purchase out of our sale, so there’ll be opportunities at all levels.
“It’s never any different, there’s just a few more to select from this year.”
Bowditch added: “We can’t predict what people are going to have to pay for these horses, but our job is to ensure there’s enough people here to facilitate most of the horses on the ground and, if that’s the case, both the aggregate and the clearance rate will be pleasing and the average will be assessed by the market.”
The final catalogue for the extended 2024 Magic Millions sale is expected to be released later this month.