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Miss Hellfire is hot property as curtain comes down on broodmare sale
Paul Symes
ANZ News
The immense regard in which Extreme Choice (Not A Single Doubt) is held was in evidence on the final day of the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale when his successful mating with Miss Hellfire (Hellbent) delivered a $2.05 million payday for Newgate Stud and their partners.
A trio of lots were offered by Newgate in foal to their freakish flagbearer, and two of the three mares duly surpassed the $1 million mark in a sure sign that the feverish demand for the progeny of Extreme Choice is showing no signs of abating.
The clear standout was Miss Hellfire, who was bred by SF Bloodstock at Newgate and returned to her birthplace when Henry Field swooped on the stakes-placed mare at last year’s National Broodmare Sale. The $640,000 Newgate paid that day for Miss Hellfire proved a masterstroke, as the triple city winner realised more than three times that figure just 12 months later.
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Shortly after the winning bid was placed online from China, Yulong’s Chief Operating Officer Sam Fairgray confirmed that Miss Hellfire would be joining the farm’s ever-expanding broodmare band.
Yulong’s seemingly extravagant $2.05 million outlay is put firmly into context by the desirability, and indeed relative rarity, of Extreme Choice’s offspring, with the Newgate resident’s yearlings selling for up to $3 million this year.
In addition to the positive test she was carrying following her date last October with the superstar stallion, who stands for a 2026 service fee of $385,000 including GST, Miss Hellfire’s physique and unflappable demeanour made her an irresistible package.
The team at Newgate, which sold her as a yearling for $60,000 to Triple Crown Syndications, was understandably delighted to consign the sale topper on the closing day of the Gold Coast auction.
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“She’s a special mare for us,” said Newgate’s stud manager Jim Carey.
“We bred her – she had the ‘N’ on her shoulder – and we bought her back last year. She was a
beautiful yearling, she was a hugely talented mare, we know the family well and her sister [August
Bloom] is in foal to Extreme Choice.
“She hasn’t turned a hair, she’s very
straightforward. She was an elite offering and the sire’s a freak, so if she throws one that looks
like herself, she’s onto a winner. It’s no secret that it’s a big effort to get mares in foal to
Extreme, but results like this make all the hard work worthwhile.”
Fairgray described Miss Hellfire “a beautiful mare”, and pointed to the fact that her half-sister Xtremetime (Extreme Choice) was a juvenile stakes winner as another factor in her favour.
“She is a very attractive mare, and Extreme Choice has already worked with the family so hopefully she leaves a yearling that looks as good as herself,” he said.
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“I’m sure it will head for a yearling sale, and hopefully sell well. Obviously a lot of breeders want to try and get a mare in foal to him [Extreme Choice] so you’ve really got to be able to go to the peak to secure them, and her being such a good-looking mare was a key to it as well.”
A short time later, Yulong again splashed the cash on a mare in foal to Extreme Choice when they acquired Amen Corner (I Am Invincible) for $1.3 million again from the Newgate draft.
The mare’s racing career was abbreviated by injury after just one start, but her dam Augusta Proud (More Than Ready) was an early sprinting star with six successive wins as a juvenile for her former trainer Leon McDonald.
She has passed that precocity onto her offspring - her first foal Thyme For Roses (Redoute’s Choice) was a stakes winner - so the family held plenty of appeal even before Amen Corner’s springtime mating with Extreme Choice.
Sales Statistics
2026 |
2025 |
|
|---|---|---|
Catalogued |
416 |
536 |
Offered |
377 |
451 |
Sold |
305 (80.90%) |
357 (79.16%) |
Aggregate |
$66,824,500 |
$86,668,000 |
Average |
$219,097 (-9.75%) |
$242,768 |
Median |
$105,000 (+23.53%) |
$85,000 |
Top Lot |
$2,800,000 |
$5,250,000 |
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“She’s a good, strong mare and if she leaves one similar to herself it will be a very popular yearling,” commented Fairgray.
“At this stage, the foals will come through the sales as yearlings. Once the foals are born we’ll assess what we do, but at this stage I think we’ll try and offer them back into the marketplace. Obviously we can put a reserve on them in the marketplace, and then see how we go.”
The best-performed mare up for auction was unquestionably Startantes (Star Turn) and she sold accordingly, as Widden Stud partnered with David Redvers Bloodstock to buy out their previous partners in the Group 1 winner - who is carrying a foal by Darley dynamo Anamoe (Street Boss) - with a bid of $1.4 million.
Two years on from her slashing win for trainer (and breeder) Robert Heathcote in the 2022 Tattersall’s Tiara (Gr 1, 1600m), Widden paid $1.15 million for Startantes at the 2024 Inglis Chairman’s Sale; but with some of their fellow investors subsequently opting to dissolve the partnership, the mare was placed back on the open market.
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Given that she won five times in the city and was Group 1-placed on two occasions in addition to her Tatt’s triumph, Widden principal Anthony Thompson valued the daughter of prolific producer Funtantes (Easy Rocking) up to $2 million - so he was a suitably relieved man when the bidding stopped well short of that lofty mark.
“It’s a rare thing to be able to buy a Group 1 winner in foal to a very promising stallion,” said Thompson, an avid admirer of Anamoe with Widden having sold one of his colts to Ciaron Maher for $1.1 million earlier this year.
“We owned a share in the mare but a few people in the partnership wanted to dissolve it, so we were very happy to increase our stake and take her home to the farm with us. We’ve loved having her on the farm, she’s one of the real favourites with the staff so we’re excited to have her.
“Realistically I thought she was a $1.5m to $2m mare, when you compare her to what some of the mares off the track made yesterday. So we’re thrilled to pay less than that for her. She would be a lovely mare for Zoustar and she’d suit a number of our stallions. She’s very easy to mate so our options are wide open, and I’m sure you’ll see lots of lovely mares out of Startantes coming back through the sales here in the near future.”
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Other notable lots on a solid day of trading included dual stakes winner Thalassophile (Not A Single Doubt), who was purchased in foal to Vinery’s Ole Kirk (Written Tycoon) by Julia Ritchie’s Bangaloe Stud for $850,000.
Bangaloe Stud secured a prized share in Extreme Choice for $735,000 on the opening day, it seems almost certain that Thalassophile will be booked in for a date later this year with the hottest property on the stallion market.
“I’ve been investing in some really lovely stallion breeding rights, and I’m looking to buy more
quality mares to enhance those purchases,” she said.
“As a type,
she will let down into a really nice mare. She’s still in the early stages, but she has a lot of
upside and her family is great as well.”
