Bowditch brimming with confidence ahead of National Weanling Sale
Half-siblings to Hong Kong champion Golden Sixty (Medaglia D’Oro) and Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) hero Knight’s Choice (Extreme Choice) headline a catalogue Magic Millions believe will further enhance the reputation of their National Weanling Sale, which will be held on Sunday.
A total of 304 weanlings will go under the hammer on the Gold Coast, at the auction that’s produced such stars as Pierro (Lonhro), Stay Inside (Extreme Choice), Zoustar (Northern Meteor) and Autumn Glow (The Autumn Sun).
And given such on-track success, the sale is expected to show a continuation of the end-user buying activity from trainers and owners which has grown in recent years, to complement the usual interest from traders.
More than 100 sires are represented including the finest proven stallions on the Australian scene along with local newcomers including Anamoe (Street Boss), Artorius (Flying Artie), Hitotsu (Maurice) and Jacquinot (Rubick).
The sale is set to start with a bang when Queensland’s Figtree Thoroughbreds offers Lot 16, a half brother to three-time Hong Kong Horse of the year Golden Sixty from the second crop of Coolmore’s in-demand new sire Home Affairs (I Am Invincible).
Later in the one-day sale, the Hunter Valley’s Taghadoe Stud offers Lot 106, a half-sister to Knight’s Choice by another surging young sire, The Autumn Sun (Redoute’s Choice)
Close relations to other Group 1 winners Chain Of Lightning (Fighting Sun), Royal Merchant (Merchant Navy), Shadow Hero (Pierro), The Mission (Choisir) and Vibrant Sun (The Autumn Sun) will also go through the ring.
Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch said the combination of a quality-packed catalogue and busy foot traffic since inspections began on Wednesday had expectations high for another strong edition of the sale.
“We’re very happy with the catalogue, and now that I’ve seen the horses I’m even more happy with it,” Bowditch told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“The quality both on paper and on type is extremely strong, and some of the pedigrees really do marry up with the types here.
“There’s a very good middle to the catalogue, and a lot of really good trade horses here – pinhooking horses who’ll go through to the major sales next year.
“We’ve got a good group of buyers here from all the major areas of Australia and New Zealand, plus interest from Hong Kong and other parts of Asia. We’ve had a strong turn-out for inspections since Wednesday, and it’s getting busier as we get closer.
“So whether it be trade buyers or end users, I’d expect some very strong numbers here on Sunday.”
Bowditch said a high representation of end user buying was expected.
“We’ve marketed the sale towards the end user more so than in other years,” he said.
“Given the success of the sale on the racetrack, I expect the end users to complement the trade market. Among two-year-olds this season, there’s been eight stakes winners out of the sale. There’s plenty of major yearling sales that would struggle to get that by this time of the year.
“So we’re seeing that cut through, and we’ve had quite a few trainers here looking at weanlings, and plenty of owners and syndicators here as well.”
Figtree Thoroughbreds’ manager Ashleigh Webster has high hopes for Golden Sixty’s half-brother, the 12th foal of dual Irish stakes winner Gaudeamus (Distorted Humour), even if he’s on the young side having been born on November 15.
He’ll attempt to follow a trail blazed at yearling sales this year by other offspring of Home Affairs, whose first crop hatched the top lots at the Magic Millions Gold Coast and Inglis Easter. Home Affairs has eight lots in the sale.
Webster is well acquainted with the family, having also nurtured Golden Sixty when working at Element Hill, before he was sold from that farm’s draft at the Gold Coast Yearling Sale of 2017 for $120,000.
“He’s just a baby, but he’s going to be something really nice,” Webster said of the colt.
“He just needs a bit of time. He has an awesome walk on him, really long legs, and he’s got enough bone. He’s got substance, and he’s a very nice colt.
“He’s a good size for his age, and he really stands out in this weanling sale.”
Figtree offers eight weanlings, also including a colt from the second southern crop of Darley’s Victor Ludorum (Shamardal) (Lot 198) (whose fourth dam is Canny Lass (Bletchingly). The draft also includes a colt (Lot 80) and a filly (Lot 142) by Aquis Farm’s debutant stallion Stronger (Not A Single Doubt).
Taghadoe’s Peter Burke said interest had been high in Knight’s Choice’s half-sister, the sixth foal of Midnight Pearl (More Than Ready). The September 23 filly will be offered amongst the farm’s four-strong draft.
“She’s been really well received – the busiest horse in our draft,” Burke said.
“She’s doing everything we expect of her. She’s behaving very well and taking everything in, which you like to see a young weanling do.
“She’s a nice type and she’ll have nice improvement in her going forward. She’s by the right sire in The Autumn Sun, out of a More Than Ready mare, and is obviously a half to a Melbourne Cup winner.
“She’s been looked at by a lot of people, whether they’re looking to buy her to race or improve her and sell her as a yearling.
“It’s nice to have a horse of her calibre in our draft.”
Amarina Farm’s expansive 24-horse draft includes Lot 96, a colt by Jacquinot who’s a half-brother to ATC TJ Smith Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) heroine Chain Of Lightning.
The Amarina draft also features Lot 201, a half-brother to SAJC Goodwood Handicap (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Royal Merchant (Merchant Navy) by Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice), the Arrowfield flagbearer who has three lots at the sale.
Newgate’s 14-horse draft includes Lot 221, a colt out of the Group 3 winner Sookie (Casino Prince) who’s a full-brother to dual Group 1 victor Shadow Hero (Pierro).
South Australia’s Cornerstone Stud has an eight-horse draft including Lot 120, a half-brother to ATC Champagne Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) winner The Mission by So You Think (High Chaparral), a sire who has a strong representation with ten lots.
And one of the six lots offered in the Canning Downs Dispersal Sale is Lot 262, a half-brother by Jonker (Spirit Of Boom) to SAJC Australasian Oaks (Gr 1, 2000m) heroine Vibrant Sun.
Among new sires, Anamoe has eight lots, Artorius two, Hitotsu six and Jacquinot seven. Proven sires represented include Ole Kirk (Written Tycoon) with eight lots, The Autumn Sun (Redoute’s Choice) with four, Toronado (High Chaparral) with six, Wootton Bassett (Iffraaj) and Zoustar, with two lots each, and I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) with one.
Five lots from the last Australian crop of Coolmore’s former shuttler Justify (Scat Daddy) are also catalogued.
Last year’s National Weanling Sale had an average of $76,604 through 246 lots sold, down from 2023’s $82,118 through 272 sold weanlings. Last year’s clearance rate was 81.19 per cent, up from 72.92 per cent a year earlier.
The National sale has had the only two million-dollar weanlings in Australia, with the record of $1.15 million for a half-brother to Dance Hero (Danzero) sold from the Vinery Stud draft to Coolmore in 2007. He was bought at the Gold Coast a year later by Patinack Farm for $2.2 million.
In 2021, Ciaron Maher paid $1 million for an I Am Invincible colt from Gilgai Farm’s draft, out of the stakes-winning Ocean Jewel (Ocean Park).
The National Sale also holds the Australian record price for a weanling filly, with a daughter of I Am Invincible netting $800,000 last year when sold as part of the Element Hill Dispersal to William Johnson Bloodstock on behalf of American concern Hill ’n’ Dale Farm.