Sire power to fore as ‘quality’ National Yearling Sale begins
Rocket Man (Viscount), Mornington Glory (Shalaa) and Tarzino (Tavistock) are just some of the success stories buyers will be seeking to emulate at the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Yearling Sale over the next two days.
A bumper selection of 374 yearlings will go under the hammer, up from 333 last year, with 119 sires represented and horses on offer by some of the finest stallions in the country, including Zoustar (Northern Meteor) (5), I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) (3), Too Darn Hot (Dubawi) (1) and Ole Kirk (Written Tycoon) (7).
There are also five yearlings by sire sensation Extreme Choice (Not A Single Doubt) with, intriguingly, three of them bred to northern hemisphere time.
Yearlings from black type mares including Ellicazoom (Testa Rossa), Night Raid (Zoustar), and Ticket To Ride (Proisir) are among the catalogue, from which 289 lots are BOBS eligible, with many more QTIS and VOBIS qualified.
Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch said the quality of the catalogue had spurred hopes of a buoyant National Sale, where the average last year was $42,551, up from $39,582 in 2023.
“Off the back of some really solid sales both through weanlings and mares, and the yearling sales holding together pretty well this year, I’m optimistic without being completely buoyant,” Bowditch told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“I can see we’ve got some lovely horses on the place. To have five Extreme Choices bred to southern and northern time adds a real highlight to our catalogue, and there are some nice horses amongst them too.
“Overall, the quality of the catalogue has increased on what we’ve had over the past couple of years. At the top end, and in the middle to the top end – I suspect the horses in that level are better than they have been in previous years.
“That gives me confidence those horses should sell well.”
While the last yearling sale of the season always brings doubts over how much money would-be buyers still have to spend, Bowditch believes a diverse buying bench can help produce a robust auction, while there should still be value to be had.
“It’s always a tricky sale in that it’s at the end of the year, and there’s more opportunity than there is demand,” he said.
“Buyers and syndicators have gone through five or six thousand yearlings. They’ve either bought enough or they’re still selling what they’ve got. So there’s always that little bit of cautiousness around this sale, because you don’t know how much money’s left.
“But I feel we’ve got a good representation from international markets, whether that be South Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia, Hong Kong or New Zealand.
“We’ve got some good trainers here from a breeze-up perspective, and as with any sale we’re relying on good domestic presence. We have some, we could always do with some more, but the ones that are playing this market and have an appetite to buy horses will find vendors are very willing to meet the market.
“This is the last chance vendors have to sell these horses as yearlings, and I think there’ll be plenty of value to be found.
“We had a fairly significant lot of rain on Saturday which slowed us down, but Friday and Sunday were good for foot traffic, and bookings are in line with previous years.
“On face value I feel the sale is in a position to be in line with, or even slightly better than, what it was last year.”
Of the catalogue’s six yearlings by Newgate Farm’s sub-fertile super sire Extreme Choice, four are from the draft of Magic Millions boss Gerry Harvey’s Baramul Stud.
One is a potential sale topper in Lot 1282, a half-brother to Group 2 and Group 2 winner Prost (Snitzel). The December throw has been turning heads at the complex over the past few days and could pressure the sale’s record price – the $850,000 paid in 2019 for a Dundeel (High Chaparral) colt bought by Team Hawkes.
Baramul offers another Extreme Choice expected to command attention in Lot 1334, a filly out of ATC Cup (Listed, 2000m) winner Telepathic (Mossman). Foaled on February 11, she is one of the three Extreme Choices at the sale born to northern hemisphere time, which stems from extra bookings having to be taken to accommodate Extreme Choice’s low fertility, and explains why the three were given as long as possible to develop before the final yearling sale of the season.
Three yearlings by triple champion sire I Am Invincible will go under the hammer – all from Victoria’s Longwood Thoroughbred Farm, and all from Group winning mares.
They comprise: Lot 1468, a filly out of MRC Cockram Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) heroine Ellicazoom; Lot 1269, a colt from Group 3 winner Rimraam (Commands), who’s a half-sister to dual stakes winner and current successful sire Sweynesse (Lonhro); and Lot 1281, a filly out of Blue Diamond Prelude (f) (Gr 2, 1100m) heroine Samara Dancer (Hinchinbrook).
Current general sires’ table leader, Widden Stud’s Zoustar, has five offspring at the sale, including Lot 1229 – KBL Thoroughbreds’ colt first foal of dual Listed winner Night Raid (Vancouver).
Widden offers one of the best credentialed yearlings by their flagbearer in Lot 1311, a son of Listed winner So Far Sokool (Showcasing), while Fernrigg Farm has Lot 1123, a filly out of US stakes-placed winner, Gone Glimmering (Tapiture).
The sole Too Darn Hot yearling comes under Infinity Thoroughbreds’ draft in Lot 1306, a gelding second foal out of the unraced Smarter Than (Ghibellines), a half-sister to dual stakes winner Yogi (Raise The Flag).
First season sires’ table leader Ole Kirk has seven yearlings in the catalogue, including Baramul’s Lot 1181, a colt eight-time stakes winner Lady Lynette (Ladoni), who took the VRC Blazer Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) and also ran second in the VRC Myer Classic (Gr 1, 1600m).
Nineteen first season sires are represented including Coolmore’s sensational Home Affairs (I Am Invincible), who’s sure to be in high demand after his yearlings topped Magic Millions Gold Coast and Inglis Easter this year.
The young Coolmore stallion has four lots on offer including Lot 1276, a colt out of Melbourne Listed winner Roulettes (Flying Spur), who’s already thrown two stakes winners in Sun City (Zoustar) and Parlophone (I Am Invincible).
Newgate’s Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Stay Inside (Extreme Choice) has three of his first crop on offer, including Lot 1174, a first foal of an unraced mare from the same family as ten stakes winners including Group 1 victors Casino Prince (Flying Spur), Prince Fawaz (Fastnet Rock), and Singapore Green Birdie (Catbird).
Darley’s Pinatubo (Shamardal) has two offerings from his first crop including Newhaven Park’s Lot 1436, a colt out of an unraced daughter of SAJC Australasian Oaks (Gr 1, 2000m) winner Invest (Dehere).
The sale’s best known progeny include Rocket Man, perhaps the finest horse in Singapore racing history, with wins in Dubai’s Golden Shaheen (Gr 1, 2000m) and the KrisFlyer International Sprint (Gr 1, 1200m). The gelding went through the National sale of 2007 for $60,000.
Moir Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m) hero Mornington Glory topped the sale in 2020, selling for $360,000, while VRC Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) victor Tarzino was bought by trainer Mick Price for $60,000 at the 2014 edition.
Day one of the two-day sale gets underway on Monday at 11am (AEST).