Magic Millions all set for two-day Adelaide Yearling Sale
The Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale, which has produced Group 1 winners Asfoora (Flying Artie) and Private Eye (Al Maher), as well as Hong Kong standout Galaxy Patch (Wandjina) in recent years, gets underway on Thursday with 359 yearlings (425 less 66 withdrawals) set to go through the ring across two days at the Morphettville complex.
A total of 54 vendors will offer progeny by 109 individual stallions, with the catalogue featuring proven names such as Zoustar (Northern Meteor), Ghaiyyath (Dubawi), Written Tycoon (Iglesia) and The Autumn Sun (Redoute’s Choice). Buyers will also be presented with 15 first-season sires, including locally bred Dalasan (Dalakhani), Hitotsu (Maurice) and Artorius (Flying Artie).
In 2025, the sale returned a clearance rate of 77.34 per cent, with 297 yearlings sold at an average of $48,463, a median of $32,000 and a top price of $350,000, with overall metrics marginally down on the previous year despite an expanded catalogue.
Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch said confidence was high heading into this week’s sale, citing both the depth of the catalogue and encouraging levels of buyer activity on the complex.
“I think there’s an exceptional quality of horse here on the grounds,” he told ANZ News. “I think the middle of the sale is very deep and all going well, and vetting in most cases being acceptable, I can see the trade market being exceptionally strong.
“I think today and yesterday the amount of inspections going on is pleasing, it’s in line if not better than last year. I think that, albeit, we’ve got a tighter catalogue this year, so we can’t expect the gross to be in line with where it was last year, but, we think, statistically speaking, the average clearance rate, pieces like that, are the bits that we aspire to hold a reasonable number with.”
Despite softer statistical results at last week’s Magic Millions March Sale, Bowditch believes the conditions surrounding the Adelaide sale are more favourable.
“I think last week had some boundaries. In fact, it was a larger catalogue, and probably the exceptional circumstances around floods and things like that took a bit of the confidence out of the market. Whereas this week, I feel we have got a very diverse group of buyers.
“Everyone loves coming to Adelaide, whether you’re a buyer or a seller, and I feel as if there’s good positivity here on the grounds. I don’t think we’re gonna be breaking any records, by any means, but I think we’ve got the right quality of horse here. We got the right type of buyer for the quality of horse we’ve got here, and we can have a solid two-day sale.”
With the sale continuing to build a reputation as a strong source of trade horses, Bowditch added that both international and interstate buying benches are well represented.
“I think we’ve got some good buyers from Hong Kong, and obviously New Zealand. David Chester [international sales director] has got some other areas of Asia covered, so I feel as if, internationally, we’ve got a good cross section of buyers, and then the diversity, whether it be Western Australia, Tassie, or all the main states, I think all will feature here on the results sheet as the sale goes on.”
Leading South Australian nursery Mill Park Stud will present a 16-strong draft at Morphettville, with general manager Chris Watson confident the farm has returned with a lineup comparable in quality to last year’s offering.
“We’ve got a nice lineup that will suit a lot of the prospective buyers, from sprinters, through to some horses that will get over a bit of ground and be better three-year-olds,” Watson told ANZ News. “We are very happy with what we’re presenting.”
Among the draft’s prospects is Lot 259, a colt by Russian Revolution (Snitzel) out of Group 3 winner Gogo Grace (New Approach), already the dam of Group 1 performer Hot Too Go (Too Darn Hot).
“He looks like a really sharp style of horse. He looks like he’s quite a compact racing style. So I would expect to see him getting up and going pretty early. He’s presented well,” Watson said.
Lot 287 is a filly by Spirit Of Boom (Sequalo) out of Ellerslie Railway Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner In Style (Fast ‘N’ Famous), a mare who has produced four winners from four to race, including Group 3 scorer Brazen Style (Brazen Beau) and the dual stakes-placed Total Babe (I Am Invincible).
“She’s a filly that we expect to need a little bit of time,” Watson said. “She’s got plenty of growing to do and filling out, so we expect her to really excel as a three-year-old.”
Few lots in the draft carry as much depth as Lot 236, a filly by Riverbank’s first-season sire Dalasan (Dalakhani) out of Fartoo Flashy (Galileo), offering a full-circle moment for the farm, which bred and sold the stallion.
The filly is a half-sister to two stakes scorers, Group 3 winner Waging War (Rebel Raider) and Group 2 winner Arctic Glamour (Frosted), who further enhanced the page when finishing runner-up in last Saturday’s Coolmore Classic (Gr 1, 1500m).
“We were watching closely last Saturday with Arctic Glamour running and so close to winning a Group 1, which she thoroughly deserves. But even such a nice second in a Group 1 has really updated the pedigree and made it very active and current. She’s a beautiful style of filly, probably one of our better Dalasan examples we’ve got here. So a beautiful type.”
Having supported Dalasan since his retirement to stud, Watson said the farm has been encouraged by the consistency and athleticism of his progeny.
“They’ve got plenty of scope. Big, long barrels and plenty of leg. We’ve usually got about half a dozen on the farm each year, and we think they’re real progressive styles of horses, very athletic types.”
Having finished second on the vendor table last year behind Baramul Stud, the Meningie operation is hopeful of another strong showing, buoyed by both local support and continued interstate and international participation.
“I think after last year where we had certainly a lot of traders, it’s always been seen as quite a trade sale,” Watson said.
“But there were certainly plenty of types last year that suited all those trainers looking for horses to go directly to their clients, and I think that gave a lot of vendors confidence to continue to bring good quality horses here, and we’ve certainly done that.
“From what I’ve seen around the grounds, it’s the same. So, I think, all in all, the types are good, and I think, hopefully, we can see that in the sales ring results as well.”
With the sale shifted to a later position in the week, Watson said inspection levels have remained strong despite a quieter on-course presence.
“It’s very hard to do an exact comparison to previous years since we were on some different days this year, being a Thursday and Friday sale. But looking at generally cards and inspections overall, we’re exactly on par to last year, so we’re very happy. There’s less people on the complex because it’s not over a weekend, but everybody here is a genuine buyer. We’re happy to see it as busy as it is.”
The sale gets underway at 10am (ACDT).