Extreme Choice colt the star of Gold Coast 2YOs In Training Sale
Magic Millions’ juvenile auction exceeds expectations in face of closed border with three youngsters breaking $300,000 mark
A colt by sire of the moment Extreme Choice (Not A Single Doubt) will head to Victoria after Baystone Farm’s Dean Harvey made a strategic call to target the juvenile at yesterday’s Magic Millions 2YOs In Training Sale on the Gold Coast in a market which proved stronger than many were expecting.
The $350,000 colt, the highest-priced lot at the one-day sale and one of six two-year-olds to make more than $200,000, will be trained by Leon and Troy Corstens, who have bases at Flemington, Geelong and a private property near Benalla in North East Victoria.
Magic Millions had played down expectations prior to the sale and, while it was one of the more challenging markets the company has presided over in the past 18 months, last night managing director Barry Bowditch was satisfied with the results given the obstacles faced by the auction house.
Assembling a smaller catalogue than in recent years, 85 horses were sold yesterday for total revenues of $5,831,000 at an average of $68,600 and a median of $45,000, the latter two metrics revealed figures up on the past two Magic Millions two-year-old sales, with a rise of 32 and 28 per cent respectively on 2020.
“I’m delighted, to be honest. The horses that were earmarked for this sale, bought as yearlings or prepared as this being their end goal, were very well supported in the sales ring here today,” Bowditch said.
“Those professional breeze-up vendors had a great sale and they deserved to. It’s evident in the market, as it has all year, that there is a great craving for product in Australia right now and I am pleased that the locals got in behind the sale and stumped up.
“There’s still plenty going on and so to clear 70 per cent and average $70,000 was a pleasing result and the clearance rate is only going to get better over the next day or two.”
Despite a number of agents, trainers and owners being absent who would normally be in attendance due to border restrictions, some still chose to participate such as Baystone Farm’s Harvey, Wattle Bloodstock’s Peter Twomey and trainers Ciaron Maher, Kim Waugh and Tony McEvoy.
“This was one of the more challenging sales we’ve run over the last 18 months,” Bowditch admitted.
“It was a very tricky sale to get organised given the fact that you were pretty much reliant on a Queensland market on-site, but the results when I reflect on them are solid and, as I say, the local market got behind the sale and really supported it.”
Extreme Choice colt heading to Flemington
It was no surprise that the only Extreme Choice (Not A Single Doubt) two-year-old in the sale would be popular, such is the success of the Newgate Farm stallion’s first crop two- and three-year-olds, which is demonstrated by his remarkable 24 per cent stakes-winners-to-runners ratio.
He already has six stakes winners from just 25 runners, including Golden Slipper- (Gr 1, 1200m) winning colt Stay Inside and Group 2 winner Tiger Of Malay in a foal crop of just 46.
Harvey jumped at the opportunity to buy a son of the in-demand stallion without having to encounter competition from the ever-growing number of colts syndicates that he would be up against in the yearling market.
“I can’t play in that market with all the stallion funds at yearling time and I just thought a lot of those guys wouldn’t be playing in the breeze-up market,” Harvey said yesterday.
“There’s not many Extreme Choices around and he’s an elite stallion. What he’s done so far has been unbelievable and they’re going to make double that in the yearling market, if not more, for horses with his pedigree and type.”
Breezing up in 11.27 seconds, the A List Stud-consigned Extreme Choice colt is the first foal out of winning mare Arnault (Fastnet Rock), a half-sister to Yesterday’s Songs (Henrythenavigator) and Wakeful Stakes (Gr 2, 2000m) runner-up Rahveel (Zabeel).
He was purchased by A List Stud’s Chris Lee for $130,000 from the Yarran Thoroughbreds draft at the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale earlier this year.
Harvey had Magic Millions managing director Bowditch inspect the horse on the grounds and once he received the endorsement it came down to price.
“I liked him as a yearling – I should have bought him then, I would have saved myself a couple of hundred grand – but Extreme Choice hadn’t done then what he’s done now,” the Baystone Farm proprietor said.
“He’s gone to a new level, so he’s entitled to make more (than he did as a yearling). He’s ready to go, he’ll have three or four weeks off at Kolora Lodge up there (Queensland) and then come down to Troy’s and jump into his program.”
Harvey and Corstens have a trading portfolio aimed at selling horses to Hong Kong but the Extreme Choice colt will not be one of them.
Among the pair’s trades are three-year-olds Horse In Rock (Awesome Rock), a Tatura trial winner in September, and a son of Dundeel (High Chaparral) named Gary, a Tatura barrier trial winner in August, who has been purchased by agent George Moore. Both geldings will be trained by Caspar Fownes.
“We have got a horse called Fantastic Treasure who’s had six starts for five wins and we sold a really nice horse who is there now called Silent Theory, a Nicconi horse,” Harvey said.
“He had one start for a second in a Listed race (the Without Fear Stakes in Adelaide in May). Caspar Fownes is going to train him and we just sold a really nice Dundeel horse called Gary.”
Yiu and Clarke make their mark on the Gold Coast
While the top-priced colt will remain in Australia, the next two most expensive juveniles are bound for Hong Kong after champion trainer Ricky Yiu combined with Queensland agent Jim Clarke to land a colt by Capitalist (Written Tycoon) for $330,000 and a son of Smart Missile (Fastnet Rock) for $325,000.
Yiu and Clarke also bought a Rothesay (Fastnet Rock) colt for $120,000 from the Nolen Racing draft earlier in the session, who in recording a time of 10.20 seconds posted the quickest breeze of the sale.
The Capitalist colt, by the same sire as Group 1 winner Captivant and high-class sprinter Profiteer, breezed up last month in 10.43 seconds at Newcastle, the fastest time of the NSW session.
Yiu already has a Capitalist in his stable and he was impressed by the manner in which the O’Gorman Racing-prepared colt handled the occasion.
“In his breeze-up he showed a very good turn of foot and his conformation is the type that I like,” Yiu said from Hong Kong yesterday.
“I think he’s about the right size and Capitalist is doing really well in Australia.”
Mel O’Gorman, who offered the top lot at last year’s Magic Millions two-year-old sale, bought the colt for $90,000 from Book 2 session on the Gold Coast in January from the Murrulla Stud draft.
Catalogued as Lot 26, he is the first foal out of three-time winner Solar Burst (Northern Meteor), herself a daughter of Lekhani (Imperial Ballet), a half-sister to Group 1-producing stallion Myboycharlie (Danetime).
“The stallion is flying and the horse breezed well – he ticked so many boxes,” Clarke said.
“I liked the horse at the yearling sale here in January and Ricky really liked his breeze – he picked him out and I was delighted to be able to work with him at the sale today.”
Solar Burst, whose second foal is a Super One (I Am Invincible) yearling colt, was sold for $5,500 via the Magic Millions Online Auction in May to Mossvale Pastoral.
Twin Hills Stud stallion Smart Missile’s progeny have proven popular at two-year-old sales for a number of years owing to their success in Asia and that fact was not lost on Yiu when splashing $325,000 for a colt by the sire yesterday.
Breezing up at the Gold Coast in 10.86 seconds as Lot 39, he is a half-brother to three winners from three to race for dam Twin Star Rocket (Bel Esprit), herself a half-sister to Listed winner Ever The Same. Twin Star Rocket was sold at the 2020 Inglis Australian Broodmare Sale for $15,000 carrying a sister to the $325,000 colt.
He was a pinhook result for A List Stud’s Chris Lee who paid $230,000 for him from the Gooree Park Stud draft in January.
Yiu said: “Smart Missile is very, very popular in Hong Kong and they do the job. They like the environment in Hong Kong and so this one ticked all the boxes for me and I like him a lot.”
Smart Missile is the sire of 24 individual winners of 51 races in Hong Kong, including the Group 3-placed Fat Turtle.
Early in the session, Clarke and Yiu signalled their intent with the acquisition of the Rothesay colt who ran a slick 10.20 seconds in his breeze-up at Seymour.
The Nolen Racing-consigned colt is the first foal out of Rhodopis (Real Saga) and was purchased by Mitchell Williams for $16,000 from the Vinery Stud draft at the Magic Millions National Yearling Sale in early June.
“I think he was a very reasonable price and is a good investment and he will have a bright future,” said Yiu.
“Generally speaking, the quality of the two-year-olds at the Magic Millions has improved significantly compared to last year. I think the vendors and the farms are sending their better quality two-year-olds to the Magic Millions sale.
“There are quality horses there and, with a bit of luck, I’ve been able to buy three.”
Yiu was also active at the Inglis Ready2Race Sale last month, relying on Dean Hawkes for guidance when going to $320,000 for a son of Vancouver (Medagalia d’Oro).
The quartet will be spelled before continuing their education in NSW at Muskoka Farm prior to being sent to Hong Kong in July or August next year.
Like almost every racing industry participant, Yiu has been forced to adapt to buying horses from afar and instead relied on the likes of Hawkes and Clarke to help assess horses to potentially buy.
“Normally I’d be at the two-year-old and yearling sales, so I would come to Australia roughly five to six times altogether each year, but because of Covid-19 I’ve been unable to travel. I always love to come to the sales to see the horses myself,” he said.
Leading buyer Clarke, meanwhile, also combined with Sydney trainer Bjorn Baker and Cunningham Thoroughbreds to take home a daughter of Zoustar (Northern Meteor) for $220,000 from the Nolen Racing draft.
Catalogued as Lot 60, the filly is out of Avenue Whisper (Street Cry), making her a granddaughter of Group 3-winning sprinter Avenue (Anabaa) who, in turn, is a sister to Group 1-winning mare Virage De Fortune. She breezed up in 10.42 seconds at Seymour.
A List leading Gold Coast vendor
A List Stud was the leading vendor by aggregate ($1.105 million) and average ($221,000) after selling five of its 11 juveniles offered.
Baramul Stud’s Gerry Harvey, also the owner of Magic Millions, will always have a big say in the overall figures of the 2YOs In Training Sale because of the size of his draft and the fact that he races a large number of horses in Australia and New Zealand, so does not necessarily need to part with them.
As of last night, however, Baramul Stud had sold 26 of its 35 two-year-olds from prices which ranged from $2,000 to $100,000.
“Considering we didn’t have the amount of buyers that we normally have there, to get that amount sold was a huge accomplishment. Magic Millions did a really good job in promoting every single horse and getting the footage we need up on to the sale site,” Harvey’s racing and bloodstock manager Luke McDonald said.
“Gerry doesn’t like giving them away, but I felt we set some reasonable reserves and some horses that we are taking home, we’re happy that we are.
“They are going to be extremely good racehorses and we’ll place them in the correct stables and go onto bigger and better things.
“The ones that we did sell were really nice horses as well and they found the right homes at the right prices.”
New Zealand Bloodstock will hold its Ready to Run Sale next week, November 17 and 18, from Te Rapa in a virtual auction format.