‘I am sure there’s going to be plenty of strong competition for the better horses’
Queenslanders called on to do the heavy lifting at Magic Millions 2YOs In Training Sale
A number of familiar faces synonymous with the Australasian breeze-up scene are notable absentees from the Gold Coast this year, but regular Queensland-based industry professionals are going out of their way to help fill the void at today’s Magic Millions 2YOs In Training Sale.
With Queensland locked to the rest of the nation until next month, and exemption requests made by Magic Millions to Queensland health to allow some interstate buyers to fly in to inspect horses rejected, agents on the ground and auction house consultants have been called on to provide advice to interested parties in both the rest of Australia and overseas.
Agent Jim Clarke, one of those who was undertaking inspections yesterday and will be on the ground today, relocated to his home state from Sydney to Brisbane in August, joining the migration north of industry professionals who have moved to Queensland in recent years and, particularly, in the past 18 months.
Clarke revealed buyers from Hong Kong and Victoria had called on his services for the Gold Coast two-year-old sale, a format he is familiar with, in addition to the work he does for leading Sydney trainer Bjorn Baker.
“I have been a regular at the ready to run sales here (on the Gold Coast), Sydney and New Zealand,” Clarke said.
“We didn’t buy anything at the Gold Coast sale last year, but we bought a few for Bjorn at Inglis and in New Zealand, and we are certainly having a good look through the catalogue this year.”
As part of Clarke’s due diligence, and making the most of his move back to Queensland, he was on the Gold Coast for the breeze-up sessions to see the horses go through their paces first-hand, although the time recorded is not the only thing he considers when assessing potential purchases.
“I certainly like to have a really good look at anything before we buy them, so the physical is very important,” he said.
“A number of these horses I’ve seen as yearlings already from earlier sales, so I have got notes on them before I go and see them. Often there are horses who have matured and changed for the good and some that may not have progressed as you would have liked and it is certainly good to be able to refer back to the database from the yearling sales.
“Obviously the breeze is very important and I guess the advantage of buying from two-year-old sales is that you’ve just got a bit more information at your disposal, so being able to see their action and their attitude and all those sorts of things is a big help.”
Hong Kong agent George Moore, son of now Gold Coast-based trainer John, recently completed a stint in hotel quarantine to return to Australia for the first time since March.
He has inspected the horses at the complex and compiled a short list, but it remains to be seen whether Moore will be active or keep his powder dry for the looming yearling sales, starting with the Magic Millions in January.
John Foote and Kestrel Thoroughbreds’ Bruce Slade have also been casting their eye over the catalogue and carried out on-the-ground inspections, as have Gold Coast trainers Michael Costa and newcomer Adam Campton.
The in-form Costa, who won the Missile Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) in Sydney in August with Phobetor (Dream Ahead), has shortlisted a few potential candidates ahead of today’s auction.
He bought four now three-year-olds from the 2020 Australasian two-year-old sales series and is buoyed by their progress so far, which is likely to see the trainer active at this year’s Magic Millions sale.
“The way I look at it, I think you can maybe find some horses that you may not look at as yearlings,” Costa said yesterday.
“You can be a little bit more forgiving when you’ve got a breeze to go off whereas as a yearling you’re buying on type and pedigree and that’s your selling point to the owners.
“You’ve got a little more data with the breeze-ups, so you can probably be less commercially minded as you’ve got that breeze and video content. That’s a key factor.”
One factor for many domestic buyers, particularly trainers, when considering their budget is that they have to butter up again in two months’ time at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Costa said: “You have still got to stick to the budget and you’ve got to keep in mind that January’s just around the corner, but for the right one, they’ll be well enough found as it can be a little bit of a licorice allsorts type of sale.”
Clarke believes there “are going to be plenty of good opportunities on the buying side”.
“The fact that there are people who can’t be there physically themselves may soften the market a little bit, but taking a line through the Sydney (Inglis Ready2Race) sale, I am sure there’s going to be plenty of strong competition for the better horses,” Clarke said.
“I am not expecting that it is going to be easy to buy the ones that we really want, but that is the case at every auction I’ve been to in the last few years.”
Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch said it was his team’s job to ensure as many buyers are engaged in the sale as possible despite having to adapt to travel restrictions for the second year in a row.
“The team and I have been through all the horses over the past couple of days and we are very pleased with the quality of horses physically that we have got here,” Bowditch said yesterday.
“On a whole they have been extremely well prepared. They have breezed up in great fashion, all the work’s been done and our vendors seem to be sellers, so the market can bid with confidence.
“The fundamentals here in our industry are so strong at the moment and the way prize-money is, I think this sale is a great way of being able to be a part of it and an opportunity for trainers to buy a horse at value.”
The Magic Millions 2YOs In Training Sale starts at 12pm AEST today.