Playing God yearling sets new colt benchmark at Magic Millions Perth sale
Records tumbled in the first hour of the Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale on Thursday when a son of Playing God (Blackfriars) was purchased by local businessman Idan Young for a record price of $450,000, making him the most expensive colt ever bought at the sale and also handed the stallion a new benchmark price.
Catalogued as Lot 15, the colt was offered by Alwyn Park Stud on behalf of his breeders, Robert and Ann Anderson’s Anita Vale Stud, and he will head into training with Perth-based Daniel Morton.
Playing God was the buzz stallion heading into the sale and his stock proved popular throughout the day, with the stallion responsible for three of the day’s four top lots. At the close of trade, the Darling View Thoroughbreds resident finished the sale with 20 lots having sold for a leading aggregate of $3,085,000 and recorded an average of $154,250.
A colt by Zoustar (Northern Meteor) prevented Playing God from filling the top three spaces, with Neville Parnham paying Ridgeport Holdings $400,000 for the youngster, while Parnham, who trained Playing God, also forked out $300,000 for a colt by his former stable star. The duo headlined Parnham’s ten purchases which saw him crowned leading buyer, having spent $1.42 million on Thursday.
At the close of trade Magic Millions reported that 152 lots had sold at a healthy clearance rate of 85 per cent, which is an improvement at the same point 12 months earlier when 143 sold at a clearance of 79 per cent.
The aggregate dropped 6 points to $13,343,500, while the average also took a hit, falling over ten per cent and sitting at $88,368. The median was recorded at $70,000, having been $80,000 at the same point in 2024.
David Houston, manager of Magic Millions’ Perth operation, said, given the current economic climate, he was pleased with Thursday’s results.
“It’s very strong today,” he said. “Everybody pretty much said how strong it was, they were battling to buy the horses. Given that across the country things have probably softened a bit, we have had a very good sale.”
The day’s top-priced Playing God is out of the unraced mare Clear Blue Sky (Sessions) who is herself a half-sister to the fellow Andrerson-bred Portland Sky (Deep Field), whose dead-head with Celebrity Queen (Redoute’s Choice) in the 2021 Oakleigh Plate (Gr 1, 1100m) and a brace of Group 3 wins earned him a spot on the Widden Stud roster. Portland Sky himself is a graduate of the Perth sale, having been purchased by his trainer Matt Laurie for $85,000 in 2019.
Further back in the family is multiple Group 1-winning champion Scenic Shot (Scenic), another bred by the Andersons.
Young told ANZ Bloodstock News that the colt stood out during the inspections and was keen to snare him.
“I’ve seen a few [Playing Gods] in my time, but he floats,” he said. “He doesn’t walk, he floats. The Andersons breed and everything they touch turns into gold, there’s only so many you can look at and he just stood out to me and I just had to have him.”
Blackfriars is the sire of 22 individual stakes winners, headed by two Group 1 winners in the shape of Kay Cee and Bustler, and Young said he wasn’t expecting the colt to sell for $450,000.
“I didn’t think it would make that much, but I wasn’t going to walk away and miss a Derby winner, a Railway winner. I think he’ll get a mile and beyond, but we’ll find out, time will tell. But as an individual, he’s the best I’ve seen for a while,” he said.
“Oh, just the long stride, the beautiful head, most Playing Gods haven’t got the nicest of heads, with all due respect. He’s got the Lonhro / Octagonal cross and I like the Blackfriars / Sessions cross. It was all the ticks for me and I looked at him several times and as I said, I had to have him. He is just a beautiful type.
“This is the first [Playing God bought]. I’ve had a lot of others, but not a Playing God and when you go to a Saturday, if there’s three or four Playing Gods and a race there is every chance they will either quinella it or even trifecta it. So I’m surprised I didn’t see Neville [Parnham] bite, but I’m glad he didn’t.”
Young said the racing industry in Western Australia is in good shape.
“I think WA racing, every business and every economy has its ups and downs and I think we’re going okay at this stage. I think WA racing, for someone like me, I’ve got a younger son and I’ve got mates going into it where you can go and you don’t have to compete with with the Wallers or the Mahers or the Bussutin Youngs, the trainers here are more than capable, but I think everybody who stumps up a bit of money has a fair opportunity to be successful,” he said.
Alwyn Park Stud’s John Andrew said he was expecting the colt to be well received by the buying bench, but the eventual figure exceeded his expectations.
“I thought he was a very, very nice horse, a good walking horse, and I expected him to bring a good price,” he said. “I didn’t expect to get that sort of money, but he was just a cracking type. He’s a good walking horse, he’s a lovely natured horse and the amount of times that he has been out, he’s taken the whole lot in his stride. He hasn’t turned a hair. He’s just accepted everything that’s been asked of him. It’s been terrific to have him.
“He certainly will [get every chance with Daniel Morton]. I mean, not only me, but the people that bred the horse. They’d be over the moon. The fact that the horse is staying here and going to a leading trainer in Perth and I think that’s a massive plus for WA and the horse,” he said.
Alwyn Park Stud sold eight lots for $885,000 at an average of $110,625 and Andrew said he was pleased with the day’s trade.
“We’ve had a lot of people look at our horses, I’m pretty happy with the draft,” he said. “I don’t know whether it’s going to be as good as last year. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
SALE SNIPPETS
Lot 99: Written By ex No Looking Back colt
Price: $260,000
Buyer: Yenrise Pty Ltd
Vendor: Greenfields Lodge
Lachlan Donnelly of Greenfields Lodge said: “It is a mega result. Awesome for the farm, awesome for the brand, awesome for the buyer. We’re wrapped, it is a massive result. We sold one a few years ago to Grant and Alana Williams, which was a beautiful horse, Written Melody. But this colt was just quality. He could have been anyone, he’s just a beautiful animal, so it was just a really good result. We’re really happy. I try not to have too many expectations on sale day. It’s a good way to go home very, very upset, but we were very hopeful that he’d make a good good amount of money and that’s what he’s done, so we’re stoked.”
Lot 64: Toronado ex Keltara colt
Price: $250,000
Buyer: Corridor Bloodstock
Vendor: Forest View Farm
Ben Duncan of Forest View Farm said: “He certainly was one of the highlights of our draft, we still have a few to go. It is a very good result for Jo’s [Duncan, wife] favourite horse since he was born. She had always wanted a Toronado and we managed to pick the mare up on the Gold Coast which was a great win for us. He has always been a standout in the paddock. It’s been a really good result for the farm, Guy Mulcaster bought her so we are wrapped that she is heading east.”
Lot 86: Playing God ex Miss Brandywine filly
Price: $220,000
Buyer: Byerley Bloodstock
Vendor: Westbury Park
“Great result. She has always been a quality filly. We thought we’d get a good number for her and we did so we’re very pleased. Knocked down to Bob Peters’ family so we’re more than that, she will get every chance,” said Westbury Park’s Phil Ibbotson. “A bit up and down [the sale], but we have our better lots coming through now, so hopefully there’ll be a bit more to come. There are a lot of competitive buyers out there, it seems like they’re paying good money for the good horses and everyone’s getting their share.”
Lot 78: Doubtland ex Made For Glory filly
Price: $200,000
Buyer: Williams Racing WA/Suman Hedge Bloodstock (FBAA)
Vendor: Price Thoroughbreds
“She was just a bit of a standout for us from the start when we did inspections. She’s an extremely athletic type of filly. She’s got a really active walk on her and tracks very well behind, good extension and she looked quite sharp, so straight away she made quite an impression and a filly that’s got a lot of presence,” said Suman Hedge. “Doubtland couldn’t have really started much better. Three winners from four starters, and coming from relatively humble beginnings in terms of his service fee. I think there was good talk about them when the first lot of yearlings came through. The types, people like them, and we probably had a little bit of insight and knowledge in that William Pike rode the horse and he raved about him, so when the yearlings were available, he told Grant and Alana [Williams], ‘You want to watch those Doubtlands, he’s a horse that had a ton of ability.’ So we’ve been watching them and managed to buy this one so we were very happy. We have found it [the sale] very competitive. All of the lots that we’ve been interested in and trying to bid on, we’ve been well beaten on most of them, so I could only say that my impressions are that it’s very buoyant and strong and it’s probably exceeded everybody’s expectations. So that’s really healthy, racing is really healthy here in WA and it sort of provides that type of landscape for a really competitive buying bench.”