Magic Millions HIT Sale holds firm as I Am Invincible colt tops trade
It was a selective day’s trade at the Magic Millions Horses in Training Sale on the Gold Coast on Thursday, but steady figures and robust international participation offered encouragement for the continued growth of Australia’s two-year-old breeze-up scene.
The auction was headlined by a $550,000 I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) colt, and as expected, Asian buyers underpinned the spend, in which a further six horses sold for $200,000 or more and another 16 changed hands for at least $100,000.
With 94 horses sold, the aggregate closed at $6.895 million, down just 3.8 per cent on last year’s sale, while the clearance rate was 68 per cent, up 2 per cent on 2024.
“I was satisfied with today, I think the right horse that walked in the ring, that breezed well and looked the part and vetted the part, there was good interest,” Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch told ANZ News.
“We sold more horses for six figures than we did last year, the average is comparable to last year, the clearance rate is comparable and the gross is slightly down. All-in-all I’m satisfied.
“There was a good cross-section of buyers, the locals and the interstate buyers played their part and we had an increased number of horses sell to Hong Kong and good numbers to China and the Philippines. I’m pleased with the result and it gives us impetus to go out and find better product for next year.”
“I feel as if with a better product you can continue to grow the two-year-old market, it’s viable in this part of the world, it’s strengthening year-on-year and we’re hungry to ensure we’ve got a good footprint on it.”
The sale reinforced the value of early identification and hands-on development, with growing recognition for breeders and vendors who prepare their own stock specifically for the two-year-old market.
“If you’re breeding good numbers and you can identify horses early in their life that you can break in and prepare through to a two-year-old sale, I think there’s huge merit in that,” Bowditch said.
“Obviously, we encourage pinhookers to get involved in the yearling and weanling markets and come along and buy horses to participate in the two-year-old sale, but in saying that the proof’s in the pudding, if you can earmark a horse early, I find that to be a successful way of going forward.”
Lamings fork out for I Am Invincible colt
Bevan and Richard Laming’s Laming Racing operation came out on top after a spirited bidding duel with Paul Shailer to secure one of the standout colts of the sale in Lot 113. The gavel eventually came down at $550,000.
The Baramul Stud-consigned son of I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) – who was passed in at the Magic Millions flagship yearling sale in January – is the first foal out of unraced Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) mare Ballet De Joie, herself a sister to multiple Group 1-winning sire Russian Revolution and a half-sister to the dam of Home Affairs (I Am Invincible).
“He had a great pedigree,” Richard Laming said of the colt, who breezed well on the Gold Coast when clocking 10.52s.
“He’s a beautiful individual. He’s got a stallion’s pedigree to go with it. You’ve probably got to pay a bit more than you’d expect – but you’ve got to buy the ones you want.”
“We’ve got on the front foot and already sold quite a bit of him. There’s still a little bit left as you’d expect. A horse like him will sell himself.
“I looked at his breeze up and then as an individual you’d think he would get up and go. There’s been good reports from the people who prepared him.”
“We’ve had a bit of luck buying horses off Gerry [Harvey, Baramul Stud owner], so we’ll keep supporting him as he supports us.”
Laming Racing had earlier parted with $200,000 for a Toronado (High Chaparral) colt (Lot 31) out of winning Swiss Ace (Secret Savings) mare Murkowski.
The day’s second-highest-priced lot was Lot 123, a colt by the ill-fated Wootton Bassett (Iffraaj) out of winning More Than Ready (Southern Halo) mare Bit Of Cheek, who was sold by O’Gorman Racing Stables to Adelaide-based investor Wayne Ormond for $400,000.
Originally sourced for $160,000 from the Adelaide Yearling Sale, the well-related youngster is a half-brother to stakes winner Blondeau (I Am Invincible) as well as three other winners.
Magic Millions China representative Amy Feng finished the sale as the leading buyer, signing for 13 lots at a combined outlay of $1.4 million.
Her purchases were headlined by Lot 143, a Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) colt out of Group 1-winning mare Diademe (Savabeel), offered by Baramul Stud, which she secured for $360,000. The colt added further strength to Feng’s growing profile as a major international player at the sale.
Kenmore Lodge finish top vendor with multiple six-figure lots
Despite a testing market for vendors, Kellie and Cameron Bond’s Kenmore Lodge once again achieved a 100 per cent clearance rate with their 11-strong draft. The Wyreema-based operation grossed $1.62 million – with six horses selling for more than $100,000 – to finish as the sale’s leading vendor by average ($147,500).
Lot 108, a colt by Yulong Stud’s Pierata (Pierro) out of multiple winner Angel Dane (Zizou) clocked 10.16s at the breeze ups and was the star turn of their draft when selling to Michael Chang for $320,000.
Kenmore began their successful day when their speedy Written By (Written Tycoon) colt (Lot 43) out of winning Magic Albert (Zeditave) mare Now You See topped proceedings early in the afternoon, selling for $170,000 to Hong Kong-buyer Susanna Hui.
Herself out of a half-sister to two stakes winners, Now You See is the dam of winner He Goes Boom (Spirit Of Boom) and her Written By colt also impressed when running a time of 10.38s.
Not long after, the Bonds toppled their own benchmark with a colt by Written By’s Yulong-based sire Written Tycoon (Iglesia) sold to Amy Feng for $300,000. Consigned as Lot 84, the colt was another to show his precocity at the breeze-ups, covering the ground in a slick 10.14s.
The first foal out of the winning Not A Single Doubt (Redoute’s Choice) mare True Moonlight, whose dam Moonlight Hussey is a half-sister to Group 2 winner Moonovermanhattan (Manhattan Rain), Lot 84 was bought for $200,000 by Wei Jiaoqi at Magic Millions’ flagship yearling sale in January.
Kenmore had also sold a Farnan (Not A Single Doubt) filly (Lot 80) to Amy Feng for $70,000 and a Wild Ruler (Snitzel) filly (Lot 27) to Bingson Tecson from the Philippines for $50,000.
Speaking to ANZ News earlier in the afternoon, Cameron Bond said: “To be fair, we were probably confident before the sale started because we had a really nice bunch of horses, possibly as nice a bunch of horses as we’ve had.
“We are really, really satisfied with the results we’ve got so far.”
Kenmore Lodge sold Tyzone, a Group 1 winner by Written Tycoon at the same sale in 2015, and Bond said that while it was hard to compare the two, the team were full of confidence that Lot 84 would yield a positive result.
“It’s really hard to line these horses up, he’s probably a bit of a different type to Tyzone but he’s definitely impressed all the riders with his attitude,” Bond said. “He’s really good in the feet, and the whole way through he’s been a nice horse and we were confident about him.
“Here’s hoping he can [go on to racetrack success], and here’s hoping all of them can go on to racetrack success.”
After those results, the Kenmore camp were duly positive about the rest of their draft set to sell, which included a colt by Newgate Farm’s exciting first-season sire Stay Inside (Extreme Choice), a colt by Eureka Stud sire Spirit Of Boom (Sequalo), and the Pierata.
“I’m actually excited, I’ve got some really nice horses still to go,” Bond said. “The Stay Inside colt has been really popular – he’s a cracking horse, a really good specimen, a good advertisement for the stallion.
“The Pierata has given all the riders an amazing feel, and we’ve also got the Spirit Of Boom who was the fastest breeze up for two-year-olds in the sale [10.05s], so we really do have some quality animals still to come.”
The growing confidence was met with more fine results, with a son of Hellbent (I Am Invincible) selling to Hong Kong for $100,000 after being passed as a yearling online, before the Stay Inside, Pierata and Spirit Of Boom each made six-figure sums.
Lot 101 by Stay Inside out of Zoustar (Northern Meteor) mare Zing proved popular during inspections and delivered on the promise when being knocked down to Matt Hoystead Racing for $300,000, quickly followed by the Pierata selling for $320,000 – the fourth highest price tag on the day.
The speedy Spirit Of Boom out of Flaunt (Drumbeats) was the last of the draft to go through the ring, bringing $150,000, and another going the way of Amy Feng.
“We’re over the moon to have a good sale in tough conditions,” Bond said later in the afternoon.
“The Spirit Of Boom is a beautiful colt and we’re very happy with the price he made. We hope our product can get out there and win some good races and keep the brand going.
“The Pierata never got a bad comment from a rider, everyone was really happy, he’s a great mover, good temperament and a beautiful horse.
“The Stay Inside, by one of probably the hottest stallions in the country at the moment, out of a really nice Zoustar mare, and he was maybe a little bit underdone – he didn’t have the time in work the others did – but he impressed us from day one.”
Few vendors have a record at the Horses in Training Sale as consistent as Kenmore Lodge, who topped the auction in 2010 when turning a $15,000 Gonski (Danehill) yearling into a $180,000 two-year-old, and in 2017 when a Smart Missile (Fastnet Rock) colt sold for $320,000 after being passed in for $40,000 as a yearling.
Last year they prepared the $700,000 Justify (Scat Daddy) top lot, where they finished a top four vendor with another 100 per cent clearance rate.
Bond spoke to the team’s consistent results despite shifting market dynamics.
“We basically just do our best, we have other equine pursuits, we put our heart and soul into it and really have their racing future’s at our heart and that’s what we try to achieve – setting them up for a good career,” he said.
“It’s obviously a tough buyer’s market, everything is in favour of the buyers, but we have specifically targeted some of these horses at this sale because they are quality animals and it’s paid off.”