Colin and Janice McKenna raced the three-time Group 1-winning mare Jameka (Aus) (Myboycharlie {Aus}) in partnership under their Halo Racing Services, and the Warrnambool-based couple now owns their star mare outright after buying out their partners at A$2.6-million during the opening session of the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale on Tuesday. That figure was enough for the 5-year-old mare to top the session, which for the first time was devoted exclusively to race fillies and maiden mares and boasted some serious star power.
The fact that the session was restricted in such a way makes it difficult to draw comparisons from the same day a year ago, and thus full comparative statistics will be published upon conclusion of the sale on Friday. Nonetheless, 190 fillies and mares were sold on Tuesday for a total of A$31,727,500, at an excellent clearance rate of 85.2%. The average was A$166,987, while comparatively the median of A$51,000 highlighted the fact that there were a handful of breakout horses at the top of the market.
“It was a sensational day's trade,” Magic Millions Managing Director Barry Bowditch said. “With Jameka going in we said she was the star act. She's a quality mare and for her to make A$2.6-million was a great result for all and I'm thrilled Colin McKenna, who's had such a great affinity with her, was able to buy the rest of the syndicate out.”
“All in all we're really pleased with the day's proceedings and hopefully onwards and upwards over the next few days. We have some great offerings [on Wednesday] and Heatherly is expected to be one of the stars–above all that we're looking for solid trade and we want all the vendors who have supported us to get a win.”
McKennas Buy Back Star Mare…
Jameka (lot 1606) has proven the ultimate home run mare for her connections, having been bought by trainer and former part-owner Ciaron Maher for what now looks like a total bargain at A$130,000 at Inglis's Classic yearling sale in 2014. While it took her four starts to break her maiden at two, it didn't take her long to reach punters' radars thereafter, as she notched her first win in the G2 VRC Sires' S. Her first Group 1 win was in the VRC Oaks the following spring, and a year later she added the G1 Caulfield Cup before closing out her career on a high in the G1 The BMW. She was placed at the highest level a further five times.
“She's been very good to us,” Colin McKenna said. “She won nearly A$5-million so I don't think it [Tuesday's price] was a big outlay. We expected her to make somewhere between A$2.5- million and A$3-million–that's what I thought anyway. I'm very happy and the wife really wanted her back.”
The McKenna's also own a share of the G1 Coolmore Stud S. winner Merchant Navy (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), who was a winner in his European debut for trainer Aidan O'Brien over the weekend in The Curragh's G2 Greenlands S., and who will enter stud at Coolmore Australia later this year after a tilt at Royal Ascot. McKenna said Jameka could be bred to him, although a decision had yet to be finalized.
“We love these horses and they are our lives and Jameka was a pretty big part of that,” McKenna added. “She won the Caulfield Cup but I think her best win was the BMW at weight-for-age–there aren't too many mares that can flog the colts and geldings. She will go to a nice stallion and we'll see what happens from there.”
Double Delight For Hawthorne, Freyer…
Four years ago, Dean Hawthorne and Jon Freyer teamed up to purchase The Broken Shore (Aus) (Hussonet) at this sale from the Teeley Dispersal for A$1.9-million. As any breeder knows it can sometimes take a lifetime to reap the benefits of such an outlay, but in just four years, The Broken Shore has already proven worthy of her pricetag. The Fastnet Rock (Aus) filly she was carrying at the time of that sale has gone on to be this season's triple Group 1 winner Shoals (Aus), and that one's yearling full-brother topped last month's Inglis Easter yearling sale when fetching A$2.3-million from Shoals's trainer Anthony Freedman.
Hawthorne and Freyer teamed to buy two more seven-figure mares on Tuesday, and they would surely be thrilled with the same fate for them. The first was Segenhoe Stud's Group 1-winning Abbey Marie (Aus) (Redoute's Choice {Aus}) (lot 606) for A$1.4-million, and she was followed by Newgate Farm's Omei Sword (Aus) (High Chaparral {Ire}) (lot 747) for A$1.7-million.
Expectations were high for Omei Sword from the very start, the filly having fetched A$675,000 as a yearling, and she went on to capture the G2 Silver Shadow S. at three for owner CC Lai as well as finishing second to Astern (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) in the G1 Golden Rose S. Out of the G1 Thousand Guineas winner Irish Lights (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), Omei Sword traces back to the excellent producer Fall Aspen, whose influence has been felt all over the world through the likes of daughter Colorado Dancer (Ire) (Shareef Dancer), the dam of Dubai Millennium (GB) (Seeking The Gold), Group 1 winners and sire sons Fort Wood (Sadler's Wells) and Timber Country (Woodman) and many others.
Hawthorne revealed Omei Sword would go to the Northern Hemisphere to be bred.
“We thought she would be well sought after and we'd have to stump up to get her,” he said. “She went for a little bit higher than we thought originally but when you're chasing these big mares you've got to pay because everyone wants them.”
“She will go straight to stud,” Hawthorne added. “She will go to the Northern Hemisphere and then we'll sit down and work out her future from there.”
Abbey Marie was another offering with a stout pedigree in addition to an excellent race record: the G1 Schweppes Oaks winner is a full-sister to Absolutely (Aus), who won that same race in addition to the G1 Australian Oaks, and their dam, Catshaan (Aus) (Catrail {Aus}), is a half-sister to Japanese Group 1 winner and sire Kinshasa No Kiseki (Aus) (Fuji Kiseki {Jpn}).
“We thought she was the filly of the day,” Hawthorne added of Abbey Marie. “She has so much quality. She has a great pedigree. She's a good, tough, sound mare. She just oozed class. To get the ones you want you're going to have to pay for them, especially in this market at the top end.”
Hawthorne confirmed that Abbey Marie had been bought for the partnership that races Shoals-Arrowfield and Pinecliff Racing-and he said a decision had not yet been made on whether the 5-year-old Abbey Marie would race on or head to the breeding shed.
“We've bought some nice mares together over the years and we're building up quite a nice partnership of broodmares. We're having a lot of fun with Shoals so let's hope that continues,” Hawthorne said.
Yoshida Gets Silent Sedition…
Katsumi Yoshida is another buyer who has enjoyed past success at this sale; he bought Response (Aus) (Charge Forward {Aus}), carrying this season's G1 Golden Slipper winner Estijaab (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}), for A$1.5-million here three years ago, and subsequently sold that filly on for A$1.7-million at last year's Inglis Easter sale. On Tuesday, he added the G1 William Reid S.-winning Silent Sedition (Aus) (War Chant) (lot 784) to his Australian broodmare band for A$1.5-million, and that daughter of Fiorentina (Aus) (Dubai Destination)-a half-sister to the dam of G1 Dubai World Cup winner Monterosso (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire})-proved a massive homerun for her owners, who had purchased her from the Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale four years ago for just A$45,000.
“I'm absolutely happy with it,” said former part-owner Tom Curnow. “She's been a wonderful horse for us. I must give great credit to Andrew Noblet, the trainer. He's been sensational in the way he's looked after her during her entire career.”
Yoshida boards his mares in Australia at Arrowfield Stud and has a longstanding, successful joint venture with that nursery, and Arrowfield's John Messara told Sky Racing, “She had what they look for in a filly. She had the conformation, she had the family and she certainly had the performance. They've been collecting these Group 1 mares and this is another one that joins the venture that we have with them. She'll be staying with us at Arrowfield will be bred, who knows, maybe to Maurice, maybe to Snitzel, we'll see.”
“The market is becoming quite polarized; the top end is very, very strong,” Messara added. “When a mare comes along like this is another country, you don't get the opportunity to buy her; they're owned by families who don't release them, so we're very lucky to be able to buy them. We've got three today, this one for Northern Farm, but we've got Abbey Marie and Omei Sword as well; this one is for a separate partnership. We're thrilled, they're the mares we wanted to get and we got them all.”
Another excellent turnaround was made by the team behind Ocean Embers (Aus) (Beneteau {Aus}) (lot 745). The 5-year-old mare was bought as a yearling for just A$23,000, and now a dual Group 3 winner, she made A$525,000 from Newgate Farm on Tuesday when consigned by Three Bridges Thoroughbreds. Trainer Shea Eden told Racing.com, “It's fair to say back when we bought her for A$23,000 it was probably the furthest thing from our minds. It was probably what we were hoping to achieve, but to be here today at the Gold Coast and selling for over a half-million dollars, it's a great result for the owners. She's a special mare and she'll always be dear to our hearts. She gave me my first Group 3 win and even the listed [win] on Melbourne Cup day was very special. It's been a great ride and it's nice to come up here today and support the team.”
Married To Monsoon…
Newgate Farm had made a very determined play for descendants of Monsoon Wedding (Aus) (Danehill) at the Teeley dispersal four years ago, and has subsequently done well selling the progeny of those mares. The Scone nursery went to A$950,000 on Tuesday to add another daughter of Monsoon Wedding, the 3-year-old filly Notting Hill (Aus) (Pierro {Aus}) (lot 743).
This was not the first time Notting Hill had been a star attraction in this ring: she made A$1.4-million as a yearling in 2014, and has since recorded a pair of wins for Coolmore connections, including just eight days ago at Muswellbrook. Notting Hill is a half-sister to stakes winners Precious Lorraine (Aus) and Lucky Raquie (Aus), both by Encosta de Lago, and three other stakes horses. Monsoon Wedding is a full-sister to Group 1 winners and sires Redoute's Choice and Platinum Scissors (Aus), and a half to Manhattan Rain (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}) as well as the dams of Rubick (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}) and Shoals.
Just seven lots before selling Notting Hill, Coolmore Australia had laid out A$875,000 for Rosemont's G1 Vinery Stud S. winner Montoya's Secret (Aus) (lot 736), a daughter of its late sire High Chaparral. High Chaparral's much-missed presence is still being felt Down Under, the Derby winner leaving four Group 1 winners this season, and his son So You Think (NZ) is also currently enjoying a fantastic run as a sire.
Among the international buyers on Tuesday was Phoenix Thoroughbreds. The investment fund had already made significant purchases at this year's Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Easter Yearling Sale and Chairman's Sale, and on Tuesday Phoenix partnered with Segenhoe Stud, breeder of Merchant Navy, to buy the 4-year-old filly Blazers (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) (lot 630) for A$110,000 from Bhima Thoroughbreds.
Phoenix also purchased a share in leading sire Sebring for A$290,000. Phoenix is building a strong portfolio of stallion shares Down Under; it owns a quarter of Invader (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}) with Aquis Farm, and also purchased a share in I Am Invincible (Aus) for A$575,000 at the Inglis Chairman's Sale.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
