Feeling of trepidation as Magic Millions readies for its 2YOs In Training Sale
Transparency the key as realistic vendors are prepared to meet the market
There is no sugar-coating the fact that vendors are likely to face a challenging market when the Magic Millions 2YOs In Training Sale is held on the Gold Coast this afternoon.
Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch yesterday warned that the pendulum for the 146-lot sale had swung firmly in the buyers’ favour, citing the precedent of Inglis’ Ready2Race Sale earlier this month and the prevailing economic downturn and the loss of key international jurisdictions’ participation.
“I am really pleased with the quality of the breeze-ups we’ve had over the past three weeks and the quality of horses we have here on the grounds, but the reality is, it’s going to be a buyers’ market out there,” Bowditch told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“You are always lacking a bit of depth when two of your major jurisdictions that you’ve sold horses to year in, year out aren’t playing – in Singapore and Macau – or not participating to a big level, and the the domestic market is a little bit thinner than we’d like, so we are walking into the sale with some trepidation.
“But in saying that, I feel as though the team has worked really hard to engage with as many people as possible and fingers crossed that it turns into sales [today].”
In the past fortnight, Magic Millions has provided as much information to buyers as possible, releasing stride data from the breeze-ups and comments from the people who have educated the horses.
“The vendors themselves are a professional lot and I think the market trusts them,” Bowditch said.
“They’re realistic people and I think they’re willing to meet the market where they can.
“In most cases, I feel as if there’s a market and genuine buyer to bid on their horses, they’ll be willing to assess where they are in the marketplace.”
Emerging vendor Ashley Glencross, who is heading into her fourth two-year-old sale and is now operating from a new base at Biddaddaba in the Gold Coast hinterland, has a draft of 15 lots to sell under her GlenX Lodge banner.
Among the GlenX Lodge draft are colts by Widden Stud’s young stallion Zousain (Zoustar) and a son of Bowness’ first season sire D’Argento (So You Think), as well as a powerful colt by Hellbent (I Am Invincible).
“We have quite a few two-year-olds who are ready to go,” Glencross told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“They’re well rested, they’re sound, they have had a spell and they’re ready to go into the stable and start some more work and then we have some that are later two-year-olds and some really nice three-year-old types.”
While there is understandably uncertainty from vendors and the auction house heading into today’s sale – the lower-than-expected clearance rate of 51 per cent at the recent Inglis Ready2Race Sale an example of the decreased demand for horses – Glencross is optimistic about the depth of the buying bench on the Gold Coast.
“I did come into this thinking that would be the case [a difficult sale] and we all mentally prepared ourselves to maybe be disappointed, but now that we’re here, I don’t feel that at all,” Glencross said of the level of interest from buyers leading into today’s sale.
“Our online x-ray hits have been bombed already, there are plenty of genuine buyers and our horses are priced very fairly.
“We buy them to sell them, we’re not playing games, and the other thing is, Magic Millions is really good at bringing the buyers.”
While the absence of the Singaporean market was evident at the Inglis sale, Kranji trainer Donna Logan was on the Gold Coast yesterday, while a strong contingent of buyers from Malaysia and Hong Kong, including trainers Benno Yung and Pierre Ng, have also made the trip to Queensland.
Flying Start Syndications’ Cameron Bennett, whose Justify (Scat Daddy) colt Scentify contested the recent Caulfield Guineas, also compiled a short list, while Kestrel Thoroughbreds’ Bruce Slade inspected the catalogue for his major clients, Sydney trainers’ premiership leaders Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.
In-from Brisbane trainer Chris Munce, Hall Of Fame inductee Lee Freedman, North Queensland’s Roy Chillemi and his prominent owner Tom Hedley, and Lindsay Park bloodstock manager Josh Rix were also sighted yesterday, potentially providing an important domestic element to the buying bench.
Chillemi and Cairns-based Hedley purchased Group 1-winning sprinter Tyzone (Written Tycoon) from the 2015 Magic Millions 2YOs In Training Sale, and the stakes-placed Grey Missile (Red Element), a ten-time winner, was a $35,000 purchase in 2016.
They will stick to their criteria of seeking QTIS-qualified two-year-olds to cash in on the lucrative two- and three-year-old bonus system.
“We have had a good run out of this sale. We haven’t been every year but each time we’ve come down, Roy’s done a good job with what he’s picked out of it,” Hedley said.
“Where we are [in North Queensland], we have a pretty big stable of 100-odd horses and we buy the cup horses, the stayers, you can buy them online every second week now, so I have really got to focus on getting some nice, quick QTIS horses to keep the bank going and help pay the way for the business.”
“There’s representatives from the major stables here, so there will be business being done in the domestic market and there’s good interest through our office from regional areas, be that Western Australia or Victoria or South Australia,” he said.
“Even if they can’t get here, we’re giving them as much information as possible. If they want to bid on a horse, there’s no reason not to. It’s all there in front of them. You can see as much at this sale as any sale in the world. They’ve run up, they’ve got all the data, videos, photos, weights, heights, you name it, it’s all there for the market to see.
“We hope that it gives buyers confidence to participate in a market that we saw two weeks ago is quite subjective.”
The sale starts at 12pm (AEST).