‘We’ll be right in the mix, I can say that’ – Henry Field and Newgate bid to land another top vendor title at Magic Millions
With a sparkling draft highlighted by an Extreme Choice (Not A Single Doubt)-I Am A Star (I Am Invincible) filly and the first foal out of outstanding New Zealand mare Play That Song (Showcasing), Magic Millions kings Newgate Farm have high hopes of extending their streak at what they expect to be a headline-making Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Newgate gained emphatic affirmation when they became leading vendor by aggregate at the sale in 2022, just 12 years after the farm was founded by Henry Field.
Since then they’ve kept their roll going to claim four such titles in succession, last year making it a one act affair by selling 53 lots for a gross of $18.58 million – more than $3.8 million more than second-best Segenhoe. Newgate also came in seventh by average, for 12 or more lots sold, with their draft the largest in the top seven by at least 19 lots.
At present, after four withdrawals, the Hunter Valley farm has a slightly more compact 47 yearlings on offer for this year’s auction, equal-fourth with Gerry Harvey’s Baramul Stud behind Yulong (69), Widden (65) and Arrowfield (52).
That represents a change from last year when it sold more yearlings than any other farm, their 53 outstripping second-highest Arrowfield’s 45 and with no other consignor above 34.
Yulong has produced a major surge towards this year’s edition of the sale season launcher, having sold just 23 lots at the Gold Coast last year – equal to just one third of their draft this year.
Still, Field is confident Newgate will at least be among the top few grossing vendors again at the earliest auction of the year, one to which he feels his farm is particularly well suited.
“We’ll be right in the mix, I can say that,” Field told ANZ News before boarding a flight to the Coast on Monday.
“It’s a sale we think suits us. We’ve got a very fast precocious mare band and it’s a sale we always enjoy trying to do well at and excel at.
“We’ve got a really good draft this year – we’re very proud of them. We’ve been leading vendor the last few years, and hopefully we can achieve that again this year. We’ll be trying our hardest, that’s for sure.
“Our draft this year is very comparable to last year. It’s a very good group of horses, and we’re certainly very excited about the quality of stock we’ve got on offer.”
Last year’s Gold Coast sale came in slightly softer than previous editions, with its Book 1 average of $269,000 down from 2024’s $276,000, which in turn was a decline from 2023’s $291,000.
That 2025 data, and soft results a couple of weeks later at Karaka, sent jitters through the breeding industry of a downbeat auction season ahead – worries that largely didn’t come to fruition.
Field believes this year’s Gold Coast sale may be “patchy”, but with huge results expected from its many highlight lots.
These include Segenhoe Stud’s full–brother to dual Group 1–winning sprinter In Secret (I Am Invincible), Widden Stud’s full–brother to triple elite winner – and now a stakes producer herself – Sunlight (Zoustar), and Newgate’s own Extreme Choice-I Am A Star filly.
However, Field expects buyers to have an advantage at the lower end of the market.
“I think the sale will be strong. There’ll be huge amounts of quality,” he said. “But I think there’ll be patches in the market.
“I’d say we’d be slightly nervous about horses under the $250,000 bracket, but certainly very bullish about the market above that figure. Or put another way, we’d be a bit nervous about horses selling under the sale average, and very bullish about those selling above the sale average.
“I think under the sale average, it’ll be buyers’ advantage, but I think the top end will be off the charts.”
Time will tell if that means a threat to the sale’s record price, set only last year, of $3.2 million for Coolmore Stud’s filly by first-season sire Home Affairs (I Am Invincible) out of Sunlight. Bought by Japanese trainer Mitsumasa Nakauchida, she’s now known as Lia La La and is awaiting her first start.
A slightly condensed catalogue could also help boost the sale’s average, with 1,221 yearlings entered in total, down from 1,401 last January. That includes 980 lots in Book 1 – down from 1021 – with 241 in Book 2, compared to 380 in 2025.
Newgate is buzzing about their standout yearlings for this year’s sale, which begins next Tuesday.
Bred by Newgate partner Matthew Sandblom, Lot 362 is the aforementioned fifth foal of I Am A Star, the nine-time stakes winner including of the VRC Myer Classic (Gr 1, 1600m).
The filly’s sire, Newgate’s sub-fertile sensation Extreme Choice, continues to post astounding results, with 17 stakes winners from just 143 runners at 11.88 per cent. His six top-tier victors range from the Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) winner Knight’s Choice to Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) hero Devil Night, and include Michael Freedman’s filly sensation of last spring, Apocalyptic.
I Am A Star’s two winners from three runners include Lot 362’s full-sister, Kia Ora Stud’s blistering Esha, who won her first two starts by a combined 6.94 lengths before going into the Moir Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m) as a three-year-old, where she led before running a 2.59-length eighth of 14, at $6.50.
“She’s a really good filly,” Field said of Lot 362. “She’s a full-sister to Esha, who’s one of the fastest fillies in Melbourne and led them up in the Moir.
“This filly is very much the stamp of her mother. She’s fast-looking and very fast twitch, so I’m hoping she’ll be early and sharp. She’s neat, just like her mother and Esha, but she’s as good a foal as the mare’s had, so we’re hoping she’ll sell really well.”
Field also has high expectations for Lot 680, the farm’s own colt by the late, great Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) who’s the first foal of Play That Song (Showcasing), the dual stakes winner who was New Zealand’s leading 2YO Filly on the 2019-20 International Ratings.
“He’s a beauty. He’ll be one of the absolute standouts of the sale,” Field said. “He’s by a champion sire out of a champion two-year-old filly, and a great first foal. He’s a real gun colt, and I think he’ll be one of the best on the complex.”
Newgate will sell for Ridgmont Farm Lot 938, a colt by Darley’s champion Australian first and second season sire Too Darn Hot (Dubawi). The colt is the first foal out of winning Queensland mare Utah Nash (Spirit Of Boom), who’s from the same family as Group 1 victors A Touch Of Ruby (Pins), Loire (Redoute’s Choice) and Vouvray (Zabeel), the granddam of 2023-24 Horse of the Year Pride Of Jenni (Pride Of Dubai).
“He’s a very good type, with more size and scope than your average Too Darn Hot,” Field said. “He’s a high quality individual that I think will be very well received.”
If that colt is not your typical Too Darn Hot, Newgate’s Lot 545 is, similarly, not a standard Frankel (Galileo).
Bred by Victoria’s Morningside Stud and associates, he’s the first foal out of Miss Alacrity (Munnings), who was bought by Morningside and James Harron Bloodstock for US$350,000 at the Fasig-Tipton broodmare sale of 2022.
Miss Alacrity mirrors the American speed mares who have been so important to Newgate’s breeding model, having won twice over 1000 metres in the US including in Listed class. As such, her first foal represents an attempt to put more speed into Frankel, whose Australian stock have tended to be more 1600-metre to middle-distance performers.
“This colt is very much a fast version of a Frankel,” Field said. “He’s a real Golden Rose or Caulfield Guineas type, more than a staying type. He’s a fast looking colt out of a fast American mare, he’s a very nice individual and I’m sure he’ll be very popular.”