Book 1 of the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale came to a close on Thursday evening on the Gold Coast, and it certainly ended on a high, with the final lot through the ring, the supplementary entry Courgette (Aus) (Charge Forward {Aus}) (lot 1670), attracting a final bid of A$2.1-million from Tony Bott of E Thoroughbreds. That sum was good enough to top the session, and was the second-highest price of a blockbuster week of trade.
The 10-year-old Courgette has little to fault her on paper. Her first foal was last year's G1 Golden Slipper winner She Will Reign (Aus) (Manhattan Rain {Aus}), and she was sold in foal to rising star sire I Am Invincible (Aus)-in fact, three of the 10 top-priced mares on Thursday were in foal to him, and his Book 1 average for six in-foal mares sold was A$937,500-tops among all sires. It doesn't hurt, either, that Courgette's sire Charge Forward is enjoying a growing profile as a broodmare sire; he also supplied the dam of this year's Golden Slipper winner Estijaab (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}). Courgette has an as-yet unraced 2-year-old filly by Shamus Award (Aus) named Rosina Kojonup (Aus) that was a A$425,000 yearling, a yearling colt by Time For War (Aus) who made A$325,000 at the Gold Coast Yearling Sale and a filly foal by that same late sire.
“It was a long day for everyone with her being the last lot, but we thought she was the prized lot today,” said Tony Bott. “She's the only horse we have bought [at the sale] for our syndicate at Evergreen Stud Farm in the Hunter Valley. She's the dam of a Group 1 winner–a Golden Slipper winner–they don't come along that often. We studied up the pedigree and we loved her on type and everything about her. She's a young mare and to have thrown a Group 1 winner with her first foal we believe is possibly the making of a very good broodmare and she's in foal to the champion sire in I Am Invincible. She ticked all the boxes for us.”
“It was a sensational end to the day,” Magic Millions Managing Director Barry Bowditch said. “It was fantastic theatre and it kept people right around to the end. As I've been saying all week you don't find the dam of a Golden Slipper winner, a young mare and in foal to a champion sire like I Am Invincible–you don't get those through the ring too often. Tony Bott is a great supporter of our National Broodmare Sale at the top end. He was underbidder on Listen Here a couple of years ago at A$3.3-million so for him to take [Courgette] home, we're thrilled for him.”
Figures at the close of trade for Book 1 were on par with last year's renewal of the sale. A total of 683 were sold for A$102,831,000, which was down 2.5%; however, the catalogue was smaller and the number sold was down 4%. The clearance rate, at 84%, stayed the exact same, while the average climbed just a tick at A$150,553, and the median was equal to last year at A$70,000.
“Our bloodstock team did a great job to bring these mares together and then to work on getting so many buyers to the sale was a great team effort,” Bowditch said. “To be clearing some 84%, for the average to be up on last year and with a gross of over A$102-million is a fantastic effort and we couldn't be more pleased.”
“This is the epicentre in the Southern Hemisphere for breeding stock,” Bowditch added. “We had a strong weanling sale and for Book 1 of the Broodmare Sale to round out like this is just fantastic.”
Baramul's Buys…
Magic Millions proprietor Gerry Harvey was busy this week buying up mares for his Baramul Stud, and while he ended as underbidder on Courgette, he had been successful earlier in the day on a pair of prized lots: the A$1.2-million Shamal Wind (Aus) (Dubawi {Ire}) (lot 1644), and the A$650,000 Precious Lorraine (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}) (lot 1315), both from Newgate Farm.
The 8-year-old Shamal Wind, winner of the G1 Oakleigh Plate, was sold in foal to Redoute's Choice carrying her third foal. Her first foal, a colt by Sea The Stars (Ire), was a A$325,000 purchase by Godolphin at this year's Gold Coast Yearling Sale, and she has a weanling colt by Redoute's Choice.
“I thought she was a really good mare,” Harvey said. “I'm hoping she can do it [at stud]–some of them do and some of them don't. But she's a good mare, she's an outcross and she's in foal to Redoute's Choice. If I get a filly I will keep it, if I get a colt I will sell it and I will put her to Fastnet Rock.”
Dubawi was also the sire of the A$900,000 Arabian Gold (Aus) on Wednesday.
Newgate Farm went to A$1.5-million to take Precious Lorraine home from the Teeley dispersal at this sale in 2014. They sold a Snitzel (Aus) filly out of her for A$500,000 at this year's Inglis Easter sale, and got A$650,000 when sending her back through the ring here in foal to I Am Invincible. The 10-year-old Precious Lorraine is out of the five-time stakes producer Monsoon Wedding (Aus) (Danehill), herself a full-sister to Redoute's Choice, fellow Group 1 winner and sire Platinum Scissors, and a half to Manhattan Rain as well as the dams of racetrack standouts Rubick (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}) and Shoals (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}).
Also sold in foal to Yarraman Park's I Am Invincible on Thursday was the listed-winning and multiple group-placed Marianne (NZ) (Darcia Brahma {NZ}) (lot 1640), who is headed to Coolmore Australia after being knocked down to Tom Magnier for A$1.1-million from the Kitchwin Hills consignment. The 7-year-old was offered carrying her third foal, and it would be tough to knock her record with I Am Invincible, with her first foal, a colt by him, selling to the Hong Kong Jockey Club for A$1-million at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale in April. She has a colt foal from the first crop of Vancouver (Aus).
“She's a quality mare,” Magnier said. “It's a good page and the team were very keen on her all week. We're delighted to have her.”
“We're very lucky at home,” Magnier added. “We have an exciting roster at the moment, there's a few exciting sires amongst them, so we'll take her home like the rest of them and decide what we'll do.”
American Pharoah Leads Rookies…
American Triple Crown winner American Pharoah had nine of his Australian in-foal mares sell this week (from 10 offered) for an average of A$412,222-not a bad return for breeders considering he stands for A$66,000 Down Under. The highlight among those came on Thursday when Kia Ora Stud went to A$850,000 for the triple group winner and Classic-placed Sabatini (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) (lot 1363), who was offered by Coolmore as part of the Alpara Lodge breeding stock dispersal. The 6-year-old mare produced her first foal, a filly by Redoute's Choice, last spring.
American Pharoah was the leading first-season covering sire by average at Book 1, and was followed by Capitalist (Aus) (A$230,417), Astern (Aus) (A$149,659), Flying Artie (Aus) (A$106,737) and Shalaa (Ire) (A$106,250).
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