Magic Millions Gold Coast March Yearling Sale
Zousain colt takes centre stage as Magic Millions March sale comes to a close
Tayla Dyke
ANZ News
A colt by Widden Stud resident Zousain (Zoustar) looks bound for Hong Kong after he topped the second and final day of trade at the Magic Millions March Yearling Sale when knocked down to Campton Racing and Stable 23 for $250,000.
At the close of trade on Friday, Magic Millions reported that 294 of the 443 at a clearance rate of 66 per cent. The turnover rose 31 per cent year-on-year to $10,908,500. The average price lifted 6.5 per cent to $36,944, while the median finished at $27,500, up ten per cent.
What's On
Bowditch described the market as selective, with buyers strongly favouring the right types.
“I thought today was very strong for the right horse,” he told ANZ News “Horses that were well inspected, that had good vetting and suited a trade market were very easy to sell. Unfortunately, there's no discretion in a selective market for horses that are a little bit off the pace or have anything in its x-rays or anything from a veterinary perspective, so that's slowed down the clearance rate a little bit.
Advertisement
“I think we're not immune to the fact that there are floods all over Queensland at the moment. There's scepticism around diesel prices or petrol prices at the moment, so we copped a bit of that today. People we were speaking to that are normally here and normally show interest, it's not as if they're not interested in the sale and not interested in buying horses, but they're just sort of sitting back for the moment and seeing what the next few weeks means for them.”
Advertisement
Despite the soft clearance rate, the company’s managing director Barry Bowditch said he was looking towards the positives.
“You can take a lot of positives. The gross is up well over $2 million, we've sold a lot more horses than what we did this time last year and the average is up.
“We'll look at what we do from a selection perspective for this sale next year, but I think fundamentally opening it up has worked. I think it's got more interstate interest in the sale.
“The vendors that are here from interstate have been relatively pleased on the whole with their results. We'll look to bolster this sale and continue with a very similar format and build confidence about what's going on here in Queensland. I think the QTIS system is underestimated when you look at what horses race for tomorrow at the Gold Coast, or QTIS in general.
“We need to ensure every buyer knows that this is where a QTIS horse's career starts and get as many of them here as possible. Disappointed in the clearance rate, but all other numbers we're pleased with.”
The expanded format of the sale, which included non-QTIS yearlings for the first time, also appeared to attract broader interstate participation, something Bowditch believes will help the sale grow in the coming years.
“If you can take a 25 to 30 per cent increase in price year on year for a sale like this, it's actually pleasing, but you'd like to have gone about it in a different way and had a better clearance rate.
“We think this has got huge potential. I think the timing of it works, especially when the sales season isn't as compressed - there's a real place for it. There's a lot of vendors down south that find it very convenient. They can do their horses for the early sales, go home, focus on this and then focus on the later sales.
“So it works well and we'll work with Racing Queensland and the Queensland breeders first and foremost, but then once we have a level of confidence from them we can go to our interstate vendors and try and build this catalogue.
“If you had decent colts here, the trade market was strong. I didn't hear a buyer that was here say they wouldn't be back next year. I think that'll grow on itself and snowball and we'll find this as a sale that people may well have found very good value, therefore next year more people will come mining here.”
Consigned by Toowoomba-based Robyn Wise, the top-seller is the second foal from the unraced mare So Cait (Smart Missile), herself a half-sister to Lindsay Park’s star juvenile of last season Shining Smile (Spirit Of Boom), who won five of his seven starts at two, including three at stakes level.
The family also includes Champion sprinter turned Coolmore Stud sire Starspangledbanner (Choisir) and Group 1 winner Amicus (Fastnet Rock).
Catalogued as Lot 416, bidding opened at $50,000 before quickly climbing to $250,000, with trainer Adam Campton ultimately securing the highly sought-after colt.
“There was plenty of interest in the beautiful colt,” Campton told ANZ News. “I knew we’d have to be pretty strong, but thankfully a great client over in Hong Kong was lucky to support us and we got the job done.”
The trainer admitted the colt stretched towards the upper-end of their budget but said his physical presence made the decision worthwhile.
“I don't know how much was left in the juice,” he said. “We have to squeeze a bit out, but a beautiful colt, I don't need to describe how good he was. Every time he got him out, he just had swagger about him. He had a beautiful walk. I love the Zousains, I’ve got a number of them and a heap of them have gone to Hong Kong already.”
Campton added that the colt’s pedigree and the reputation of his vendor further strengthened his resolve to secure him.
“He's a well-bred colt,” he said. “He's a nice horse from a great farm in Robyn. She produces her horses well time and time again, and she's got another beautiful colt there. Hopefully he shows us how good he is.
“She's [Robyn] a beauty, too. I remember when I first started training, she was really good to me, and she gives you the time of the day, and she's honest too. She tells you a lot about her horses. She knows the horses from top to bottom, and she's a very good horsewoman, and you want to obviously buy good horses from good people.”
In what many purchasers described as a ‘buyer-friendly market’, Campton said he was pleased with the sale and the horses they have secured, signing for five lots either outright or in partnership for a combined $441,500.
Advertisement
He said: “It's a good sale. I love buying from Magic Millions. Barry and his team do a terrific job. They have been very supportive of me since I've come back from Hong Kong and started training. Obviously now I've been training for a few years and got some nice stock coming through and it's up to me and the team now to get them to win races, or winning trials, wherever they're going to go, and the future's pretty bright.”
The second highlight of the day came with Lot 295, a colt by Better Than Ready (More Than Ready) who was secured by Gollan Racing and Archer Park Racing for $200,000.
Bred and sold by Kynoch Thoroughbreds, the colt is a brother to Gollan’s $1.7 million earner and multiple stakes winner Hidden Wealth, who was also bred and sold by the farm.
Gollan Racing general manager Andrew Dunemann said the team had been taken with the colt from their first inspection.
“He was one that we had to have,” Dunemann told ANZ News. “Obviously, we've had great success and Hidden Wealth. It was quite ironic, when we first walked in on Sunday, he was the first horse that I saw walk in. We didn't know who it was, and we both said ‘that looks like Hidden Wealth.’ Anyway, we followed him and he was his full brother, so it was pretty cool.
“He is probably a little stronger version of Hidden Wealth, so we were thrilled to get him at $200,000. It's a little bit in this sale, but for quality, he will repay himself in the future.”
Dunemann confirmed the colt would race in the same colours as his older brother.
Sale statistics - Overall
2026 |
2025 |
|
|---|---|---|
Catalogued |
508 |
380 |
Offered |
443 |
328 |
Sold |
294 (67%) |
240 (73%) |
Aggregate |
$10,908,500 (+31%) |
$8,312,500 |
Average |
$36,944 (+6.5%) |
$34,635 |
Median |
$27,500 (+10%) |
$25,000 |
Top Lot |
$250,000 |
$290,000 |
Sponsored by IRT
“The Archer Park boys are in again so that's great, I spoke to Chris Wessel and they're great supporters of us and have been for a long time. They jumped straight in on him, so they’ll take half, he’ll race in their colours and we'll syndicate the rest to our owners. So all in all, a really good result for us.”
Dunemann also noted the sale presented great opportunities for buyers, with the stable outright securing six lots in total for a combined $398,000.
“It's a great sale. We started here on Sunday, and I think the quality is as good as last year. I think if you look and you try hard enough and you're happy to buy in all brackets, there's enough horses here for everyone.
“We've bought well this year, I think it is down a little bit in terms of, it's more a buyers market this year without a doubt. Something that you paid $120,000 for last year, you’re paying $80,000 this year. So it's definitely a buyer's market. We'll keep buying them because it is a buyer's market and it’s great value for our clients.”
Kynoch Thoroughbreds principals Jennie Fraser and Don Loomis, who breed only a small number of horses each year, were delighted to see the colt well received by the buying bench.
The colt is out of Miss Stash (Bradbury’s Luck), whom Fraser trained to five career wins.
“I think he was worth it, but we were happy to get that because his brother did so well,” Loomis said. “We’re very relieved, it is a tough sale so we didn't know where we were going to be, but we got what we wanted so that's the main thing. It is a huge relief because you put a lot of work into it.”
“We have another brother coming next year, and I think he is better than this one, hopefully next year but we may keep him and race him as we do train and race our own.”
 2.jpg)
