Lead Story
Gingerbread Man colt leads the way as Magic Millions Perth sale ends on a high
By Tayla Dyke
@ANZ_News
Buoyant trade carried through to Book 2 of the 2026 Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale, where a colt by Yarradale Stud’s Gingerbread Man (Shamardal) provided the highlight at the Swan Valley complex when selling to Peter and Luke Fernie for a session-topping $190,000.
The second session built strongly on last year’s figures, with improved returns across most key metrics reflecting renewed buyer confidence.
A total of 133 yearlings sold at a clearance of 85 per cent. The gross finished at $6,358,500, up 31 per cent year-on-year while the average climbed to $47,808 an increase of 19 per cent and the median weighed in at $35,000, a 16.5 per cent rise.
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Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch said the results reflected a market that found strength from both interstate participation early and strong local support through the latter stages of the sale.
“It's been a sensational two days,” he told ANZ News. “Obviously we went in with a little bit of trepidation. Leading into the sale, we knew a couple of the bigger players may not play their part as big as they had, but I think the market on a whole stepped up.
“I thought yesterday the interstate and international participation was almost double what it was the year before and that really made up for any difference we had here in the local market.
“But then today, I felt like the locals really stepped in and bought their quota of horses and to have the average up close to 20 per cent on day 2 from last year and a clearance rate is really acceptable at 85 per cent and the gross is up. It's record breaking so it's an outstanding result for the state.”
Sale statistics - Book 2
2025 |
2026 |
|
|---|---|---|
Catalogued |
176 |
160 |
Offered |
157 |
155 |
Sold |
133 (85%) |
121 (78%) |
Aggregate |
$6,358,500 (+31%) |
$4,849,500 |
Average |
$47,808 (+19%) |
$40,078 |
Median |
$35,000 (+16.5%) |
$30,000 |
Top Lot |
$190,000 |
$185,000 |
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Bowditch noted the depth at the top end of the market as a key driver of the session’s momentum, with a significant increase in six-figure results compared to 12 months earlier.
“I think on top of that, I think we had nine, six-figure horses on day two last year and sixteen today. That's a genuinely good increase. It just shows when you've got the right horse, there is an intense appetite to play on those horses and that was evident all through today. Quality horses were well sought after.
“When you think over the two days we're clearing basically 86 per cent, it just shows that the vendors here in the west are very willing to meet the market. It is a genuine real feel and the vibrancy over here is big, it can't be underestimated. It's a great place to come and it's something we look forward to building on, off the back of this year, because it's a great platform to have these guys reinvest in better stock and continue to thrive here in the west.”
Yarradale’s Gingerbread Man has his day in the sun
The top-seller produced one of the most emotional moments of the sale when a colt by Yarradale Stud’s resident sire Gingerbread Man (Shamardal) soared to $190,000, delivering a life-changing result for breeders Davy and Susan Hanratty.
Purchased by Peter and Luke Fernie, the colt is the fifth foal from the winning Ad Valorem mare Lady Valorem, whose only runner to date is stakes placegetter Red Fifty Three. For the Hanratty family, who bred and raised the colt themselves, the result carried deep personal significance.
“It was a massive result for us,” an emotional Davy Hanratty told ANZ News. “We had a $60,000 reserve on him, so for him to make $190,000 is life changing for our little family.
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“It's actually quite an emotional sale for us because we bred him ourselves. We've only got a mare each, myself and my wife, so it's life changing for us and the kids. My daughter was there when he went through the ring and she was there when the foal was conceived and when he was born. I'm getting quite emotional even talking about it.
“The kids went out every second day and they pet them as foals, pet them as yearlings. My daughter actually came up to the prep and was grooming him during his prep, so it was quite an emotional sale for us, but definitely life changing for our wee family,
“He was a great physical, the price was no fluke. Everyone that saw him loved him. He had probably 100 parades. He was very busy on x-ray hits and scopes and everything was perfect with him, so it was an easy sale.
“We knew he was clean. He was a good type, walked well, everyone that saw him just wanted him, we knew he was going to make his reserve, but to get $190,000 was a massive shock to us.”
Fernie said the colt stood out physically across both books of the sale and required strong bidding to secure in a competitive market.
“He is a nice horse, very athletic. I thought he was the nicest one here over both days. He wasn't as commercial as some of the other ones, but I thought that his physique and the way he got around was beautiful. So pretty happy to get him.
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“We probably paid a little bit more than what we thought we would have had to, but there's obviously a lot of good judges that thought the same of him, so I'm very happy to secure him.
“I only got five yesterday, a couple today, so we have done a bit of shopping, and I'm excited to get them all back to the stables. It's been a very strong sale for the good ones, and the lesser ones are a bit easier to get, but you've got to be very strong on the ones that everyone's on, like the one today, we had to be extra strong there.”
The purchase added to Fernie’s growing Gingerbread Man contingent after he also secured a colt by the sire during Book 1.
“I only bought one yesterday and he got away in the ring and ran away. So he looked fast. That's the closest I've been to a Gingerbread Man. So hopefully both of these ones are quick,” Fernie joked.
The six-figure result also provided a significant boost for Gingerbread Man, who stands for $5,500 (inc GST) at Yarradale Stud, reinforcing his credentials in the Western Australian market.
Hanratty said: “I've been saying this for years, Gingerbread Man is the best value stallion in Western Australia. It's a no-brainer. At $5,500, if you send multiple to the farm, we'll do them for $4,400. But he's a very good sire. He has sired a Karrakatta Plate winner and a Belmont Oaks winner. It's very, very good for the stallion. To sell for $190,000 off a $5,000 service fee. It's a massive margin and it's a great result.
“Luke's flying at the moment and he's a very nice fella. He trains a couple for us, we've got Spicy Thang with him, and I'm sure we'll probably have another couple with him by the days out. It's great for him to get a horse like him. I can imagine he'll be a very nice horse next year.”
Ridgeport sign off strong sale
Ridgeport Farm’s emergence as a major force in the Western Australian sales scene continued after the operation were crowned the leading vendors by aggregate, capping a rapid rise since owner Santo Guagliardo established the farm in 2021.
“It's been great - a really good sale,” he told ANZ News. “We are really happy with the sale, especially this draft here. It’s just been magnificent. We built [the farm] up to try and be competitive and get some decent horses. So, I've purchased some weanlings, and broodmares in foal, to build up a decent draft.
“Last year we had eight horses go through and it just wasn't cutting it. So I thought, I'll just try this and see and it's worked, because what we've bred here has gone well, and what I've brought across has gone really well too. So it's been really successful.”
Speaking shortly before departing for Melbourne, Guagliardo said his focus quickly turned from the sales ring to the racetrack, where his colours will be carried by Watch Me Rock (Awesome Rock) in Saturday’s Futurity Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) at Caulfield.
Formerly trained by Grant and Alana Williams to victory in the Railway Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m), the Awesome Rock (Fastnet Rock) gelding has since joined the stable of Mark Walker in Victoria and is rated a $10 chance.
“I'm pretty confident. I think he'll run well. I think he'd be right up there with them. If he runs in the first three, that's where I think he'll fit,” he said.
“We are really happy with the horse. He looks great. He just flew over there and the video I saw this morning was just magnificent. His coat has come through. He's just looking absolutely fabulous. They're very happy with him.”
Guagliardo will also have a keen interest one race later when Alibaba (Alabama Express) lines up in the Blue Diamond (Gr 1, 1200m), with the Alabama Express (Redoute’s Choice) colt continuing to build momentum after a win in the Blue Diamond Preview (C&G) (Listed, 1000m) and a luckless third placing in the Inglis Millennium (RL, 1100m) at Randwick.
Drawn in the outside barrier of 16, the colt will need luck in running according to his part-owner.
“He's drawn extremely wide,” Guagliardo said. “I'm a bit more confident with Rocko than him because of this draw, but who knows what happens there.
“He drew wide and he was unlucky in the Millennium. So with both I'm hoping we get some luck.
Guagliardo said he would be thrilled to see Alibaba succeed, particularly after initially missing the colt at the yearling sales before later buying into him.
“I was underbidder on him and the yearling sales, and I saw him for trial and was able to get into him. So I own a leg of him, which was great and I'm thankful for that, because now he is going really well. And he's still a colt, so it's good for my Ridgeport breeding here.”
Final-lot filly delivers emotional farewell moment at Magic Millions Perth
The final lot through the ring at the 2026 Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale carried far greater significance than the closing fall of the hammer, as emotion and history converged when a grey Gingerbread Man filly out of local favourite Gunmetal Grey (Bradbury’s Luck) sold to Tom Wolfe for $107,500.
The filly represented a deeply personal chapter for connections at Greenfields Lodge and their long association with the late Yarradale Stud owner Ron Sayers. The youngster is the first foal from Gunmetal Grey, a mare who captured the imagination of local racegoers and whose future had been carefully planned following Sayers’ passing.
Greenfields Lodge owner Tony Patrizi said the decision to lead the filly through the ring himself was an easy one given the emotional weight behind the moment.
“I walked the horse in the ring for my mate,” Patrizi said. “This horse meant a lot to us, both to our family and also our next-door neighbour.”
Gunmetal Grey had been raced in partnership before Sayers’ passing, with connections honouring a promise that the mare would remain in Western Australia and be bred to Gingerbread Man.
Patrizi was visibly emotional as the youngster entered the ring, reflecting the deep personal ties behind the offering.
“There's no question that whatever comes out of this mare, there's going to be a superstar amongst them, 'cause that's what he's gonna organise, and he was the best organiser in the world,” Patrizi said.
The story extended beyond pedigree, with the filly accompanied by a unique tribute to Sayers’ larger-than-life personality, a bundle of the famed “potato peelers” closely linked to his legacy.
“He did nothing by halves,” Patrizi said. “He went on a mission, bought every type of potato peeler in Western Australia, tested them all and decided these were the best. He ended up ordering 10,000, and I think every kitchen in Western Australia has got one.”
Auctioneer Grant Burns shared the story during proceedings, adding a layer of theatre to the closing moments of the sale as bidding gathered momentum around the popular grey filly, whose strong reception reflected both her physical appeal and the sentiment surrounding her pedigree.
For the team behind her, the final lot of the catalogue represented far more than a commercial offering, it was a tribute, a promise fulfilled, and a fitting conclusion to the 2026 edition of the sale.
“She’s a very special horse,” Jane Donnelly said. “Dad did it for Ron. That's as easy as that, I think. Last lot of the day, a beautiful grey filly, and a story that goes back a long way.”
