Magic Millions Gold Coast March Yearling Sale
‘We're in good shape leading into the next two days’ – Magic Millions looking forward to revamped Gold Coast March Yearling Sale
Tayla Dyke
ANZ News
A healthy buying bench has been spotted inspecting yearlings around the complex ahead of the revamped two-day Magic Millions Gold Coast March Yearling Sale which gets underway on Thursday.
A total of 447 yearlings (508 less 61 withdrawals) are scheduled to go through the ring as this year’s renewal arrives with a refreshed format, with non-QTIS yearlings included for the first time.
What's On
The change is designed to broaden the catalogue and enhance its appeal to local, interstate and international buyers, while still maintaining the strong incentive structure that has traditionally underpinned the sale.
In total, progeny by 94 individual stallions are represented. The catalogue is headed by locally based sires Better Than Ready (More Than Ready) with 56 lots and Spirit Of Boom (Sequalo) with 26. A wide mix of proven and emerging stallions also feature, including Alabama Express (Redoute’s Choice), All Too Hard (Casino Prince), Capitalist (Written Tycoon), Home Affairs (I Am Invincible), Maurice (Screen Hero), So You Think (High Chaparral), The Autumn Sun (Redoute’s Choice) and Zousain (Zoustar), among others.
Of the 447 yearlings catalogued, 219 are fully paid or first-payment QTIS eligible, alongside 194 BOBS-eligible yearlings, 33 VOBIS Sires lots, 11 VOBIS Silver entries and one Westspeed entrant. All yearlings are also eligible for nomination to the lucrative Magic Millions Race Series.
Despite mixed feedback from vendors regarding traffic in the lead-up, those in attendance include Peter Moody and Wylie Dalziel, Bruce Slade, Will Freedman, Macedon Racing, Paul Moroney and Catheryne Bruggeman, Suman Hedge, Will Johnson and Craig Rounsefell.
The catalogue has also drawn new interstate participation, with 13 vendors from outside Queensland represented this year, including Alma Vale Thoroughbreds, Blue Gum Farm, Newhaven Park Stud, North Bloodstock and Valiant Stud.
Advertisement
Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch believes the expanded catalogue and broader vendor base have helped position the sale well heading into the two days of trading.
“We thought vendors could do with another sale, and we thought bolstering this sale with interstate horses would give the Queensland breeder more exposure on their yearlings instead of it just being seen as a Queensland sale,” Bowditch told ANZ News.
“It's always been a tougher sale to get interstate buyers to. We've extended the catalogue, it’s bigger than what it was last year. We feel like we've added more horses at all levels of the market. I think there's some good prospects at the lower end, middle end, and higher end. So I feel as if we've filled all voids of the market and, from a catalogue perspective and physically speaking, we're in good shape leading into the next two days.
“I think it's a buyer's bench that builds upon itself each day as you're closer to the sale. Like any sale, from a Queensland perspective they will come in from now until the sale. So it'll get busier coming into the morning and then into when Lot 1 enters the ring.
“In saying that, from our booking perspective it's acceptable. It is still a sale that, from an interstate perspective, will take a while to latch on and become a regular on the calendar. But we're pleased with the interstate buyers and the international buyers we have here. You could always have more, but from a local perspective we're satisfied that we've got a similar number to what we've had in years gone by.”
Bowditch said the timing of the March sale allowed vendors to present horses that may have benefited from additional preparation time after the major early-season auctions.
“I think there's a good number of horses at all levels. On pedigree, I find this a really good mid-range sale. That gives those breeders that have got a horse that needed that extra month or two months that timing without them having to hold it too long to let it grow out and be ready for a sale.
“On type, there are plenty of nice horses here. There's something that fits everyone's needs, whether you're trading or buying to race, whether you're after a filly or colt. I think there's enough horses at all levels of the market for the market that we have here to buy what they need to buy, and I feel like it's probably - if there's a sale that looks like it's going to offer value going into it - this is one that I feel will offer a lot of value for the market.”
The sale has proven a productive hunting ground in recent years, producing stakes winners including Hidden Wealth (Better Than Ready), successful in this season’s Favelon Stakes (Listed, 1200m), and talented stakes-winning juvenile Itchintogo (Sun City).
Bowditch is confident the 2026 edition will again deliver graduates capable of competing on the big stage.
“This is one that I feel will offer a lot of value for the market
“Of the graduate success, I've got a lot of confidence again this year,” Bowdich said. “There will be plenty of nice horses and there'll be plenty of horses running in Magic Millions next year and in the right races come next year. You only have to look at this Saturday, the Jewel meeting's worth $1.8 million and a filly every Saturday runs for over $110,000 to the winner in Brisbane.
“The prize-money these horses race for is extraordinary. I think from an interstate perspective it's a busy year. It's a compressed sales catalogue this year. It's hard - they've obviously got business to run, they've got horses to sell. They can't be everywhere.
“But I think we've engaged with a lot of people that are either still to turn up or showing interest remotely, and we feel as if we've done all we can to give them all the information they need to do their work. We have got a good level of confidence that we've found a horse for anyone that's in the market to buy.”
Hunter Valley operation Attunga Stud will make its debut at the revamped Magic Millions March Yearling Sale this week, presenting a draft of 11 youngsters set to go under the hammer on the Gold Coast.
Owner Brian Nutt said the revised format of the sale had opened the door for operations like Attunga to participate, while also providing a more manageable timeline for preparing yearlings following the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in January.
“Logistically, it suited us to do a sale like this when they opened it up to all-comers and it wasn't just a QTIS sale,” he said. “We could get home from the Magic Millions in January and it would give us seven or eight weeks to prepare these horses.”
Nutt believes the earlier timing could also prove beneficial for buyers, particularly traders looking to source horses for breeze-up sales.
“By the time you get to June - which is the other yearling sale that we used to attend - they're a lot bigger and a lot stroppier. We thought we'd give this a go. In this sale we've got seven colts, and it gives those traders a bit more time to work with them, if they want to go to a breeze-up or what have you, as opposed to bringing them up in June, then getting them broken in.
“It suited us to do a sale like this when they opened it up to all-comers
“Everything's got to go right, you can't have a set back. Whereas this gives those traders an extra three or four months to work with the horses and not put as much pressure on them as they would have had to, if we had bought the draft of June. And those later foals especially, it gives them a bit more time.”
Despite welcoming the new format, Nutt admitted he was unsure whether the expanded catalogue would translate into a deeper buying bench.
“The foot traffic on Monday was pretty much nonexistent, because the weather was absolutely terrible. Yesterday, it was much improved, and today it's been very steady all day and we're really happy with it.
“We're not seeing a lot of interstate trainers here. There are a few Sydney agents here, Jim Clarke, Will Johnson and Jamie Walter. Those are just people that I've seen, so that is encouraging. It is a new format, and we'll just have to wait and see how it goes. I think it's gonna take some time to build momentum.”
Among the highlights of Attunga’s draft is Lot 214, a filly by Yarraman Park’s Brave Smash (Tosen Phantom) out of Jacqueline (Zoustar), a lightly raced placed half-sister to Listed winner Mrs Kipling (Exceed And Excel).
Nutt said the filly had benefitted from the later sale date.
“We've always liked her, she was born in November, and I've always said to myself and clients, ‘I think you waste your time bringing a November foal to January,’” Nutt said. “So, it's given her an extra three months to develop, and I think we should reap rewards for that.
“If she was six weeks older, we would have brought her to January. It's given us another three months to allow her to mature. She is a particularly nice filly with a good temperament and she is a good walker. She's probably the pick of our fillies.”
Another notable offering is Lot 90, a colt by Newgate Farm freshman Wild Ruler (Snitzel) out of the unraced mare Capalina (Capitalist), herself a half-sister to the stakes winner Insurrection (Russian Revolution).
Wild Ruler has made a promising start to his stud career, with 13 runners producing three winners to date, including stakes-placed Savage Look and Silver Slipper Stakes (Gr 2, 1100m) winner Stretan Ruler, who sits as an $11 chance for the Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m).
“Wild Ruler is doing a pretty good job as a stallion at the moment,” Nutt said.
“This colt is actually bred by someone who we think is one of the best breeders in Australia, Bob Hannon. Bob bred Shamus Award, Shaquero and Insurrection, and those horses are in the pedigree of this horse. When you buy something with his brand on them, you tend to have a really good chance of getting a really good racehorse.”
The sale gets underway at 10am AEST on Thursday March 12.
 2.jpg)
.jpg)
