Breed Shapers, Life Changers at Magics

The Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale has been on a steady upward trend over the last five years and Australasia's season-opening yearling sale, set for Jan. 10 to 16, is set to stay true to its mantra “breed shapers and life changers.” The gross for Book 1 of the sale hit A$135,188,500 in 2017, up from A$67,984,500 in 2013. While the numbers catalogued have also risen so too has the quality, with the average reaching A$205,142 last year, having been A$134,092 five years ago. Perhaps the most significant figure is the sale's clearance rate: it has been at least 85% the last five years and last year was 88%.

It is well-documented that this healthy market is not singular to this sale alone in Australia, or even to Magic Millions; the racing and bloodstock industries are booming Down Under, and this is likely due to a myriad of factors, like a healthy prizemoney structure across all levels of racing, the popularity of syndicates that help fill out all levels of the market at the sales, and a heavily commercial breeding industry that sees many of the best yearlings offered for sale. A number of the truly top stallions over the last 20 years–the likes of Snippets (Aus), Snitzel (Aus), Not a Single Doubt (Aus), General Nediym (Aus), Testa Rossa (Aus), Savabeel (Aus), Written Tycoon (Aus) and Sebring (Aus)–have come out of the Gold Coast sale, and the fact that those kinds of multi-million dollar stallion prospects are available for purchase at all levels of the market has seen overseas buyers flock to Australia in recent years for a chance to get in on the action. It is also a rather unique feature of the Australian bloodstock market that its horses have a strong resale value to Asian markets, so even those that don't hit the top tier still have a chance to pay for themselves.

Barbara Banke's Stonestreet Stable has been both a buyer and a seller at the top of the market at Magic Millions in recent years, and in a promotional video produced by Aushorse, Stonestreet representative John Moynihan said, “so many of the horses that the Australian breeders as a group raise come to the marketplace. You get a shot at buying what is considered the best down there and that was very appealing to us. They sell such a good product and they have so many offshoots for their product. People can buy that product and race it in Australia. They can go to Hong Kong and Singapore and be top-tier horses there.”

Sheikh Fahad's Qatar Racing has become increasingly active Down Under with the first crop of its young sire Zoustar (Aus) now on the track, and his racing and bloodstock manager David Redvers said, “The really exciting thing about the sales is you're going to get a large number of the best-bred horses in Australia there. The majority of the breeders are commercial so they send their best stock to the market, whereas it's very difficult for example in the UK to buy the best Dubawi or the best Galileo, because those are almost all in private hands.”

WinStar Farm has made a big splash in Australia, mainly in partnerships with China Horse Club, and it was rewarded earlier this year when Gold Coast graduate Invader (Aus) (Snitzel Aus}) stamped himself a serious stallion prospect with a win in the G1 Sires' Produce S. WinStar's Elliott Walden explained the investment to Aushorse, saying, “one of my first entries into Australia was going down to try to buy Pierro, and I found it extremely difficult, extremely competitive and extremely expensive. All three of those things led me to think it's a good place to try to get some stallions.”

Results in the Ring and On The Track…

Fast-forward to the 2018 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, and some serious stallion prospects–Pierro (Aus), Vancouver (Aus), Capitalist (Aus) and Dissident (Aus) also came out of this sale–and some genuinely great racehorses–think Winx (Aus), who cost A$230,000 here, and Redzel (Aus), a A$120,000 graduate–will once again be on offer for those savvy enough to find them. The catalogue is up in numbers for the third straight year, with 1,062 youngsters set to be offered in Books 1 and 2 through Jan. 14.

“'Breed shapers and life changers' is our line this year, and the breed shapers is what we're about, to be able to sell these colts,” said Magic Millions Bloodstock Manager and soon-to-be Managing Director Barry Bowditch. “You have so many of these guys–the Henry Field syndicate, James Harron, Guy Mulcaster, Michael Wallace–stepping into the market to buy a racehorse that can potentially become a stallion. It must make them feel good about what they're doing when they see so many stallions coming out of this sale. And it's been from the start, starting with Snippets and then Snitzel, Not A Single Doubt, Written Tycoon–the list goes on. Now we have your Vancouvers, your Pierros, your Capitalists, Dissidents. To be able to sell horses for good money but then they go on to be successful on the racetrack and end up being sold for enormous money or stand for great money, it's quite fulfilling what we're doing. It makes us feel like we're doing a great job selecting a catalogue and the vendors are supporting us with their very best stock, which is probably the biggest token of our appreciation to them.”

The turning heads from all around the world no doubt help, too.

“You have the WinStars, John Moynihans and Jon Kellys from America and in Europe you have Shadwell, and a lot of those good agents like Johnny McKeever and John Warren stepping down to have a look at what we're doing and participate in our market,” Bowditch said. “From where the sale was to what it has become is due to the fact that we are selling good horses, but all the best buyers in the world are turning up here now. It's a great look for us and we want to keep building on that.”

The catalogue includes plenty of pages that will be familiar to buyers from around the globe, including a Fastnet Rock (Aus) colt from the family of Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) (lot 188); a first-crop Deep Field (Aus) filly out of a daughter of the great producer Monsoon Wedding (Aus) (Danehill), a full-sister to three-time champion sire Redoute's Choice (Aus) (lot 196); an Exceed and Excel (Aus) colt from the family of Fastnet Rock (lot 225); colts out of three-quarter-sisters Ashley's Kitty (Tale of the Cat) (by Deep Field, lot 514) and Heart Ashley (Lion Heart) (by Snitzel, lot 795), both stakes-winning sisters to this year's GI Gold Cup winner Cupid (Tapit); a Medaglia d'Oro colt from the prosperous Niarchos family of champions Spinning World, Pathfork and Aldebaran (lot 760); a Snitzel (Aus) half-sister to world champion sprinter and effective dual hemisphere sire Starspangledbanner (Aus) (Choisir {Aus}) (\fs21cf2lot 767) and a Fastnet Rock granddaughter of Angelic Song (Halo), a Grade I-producing half-sister to the great producer Glorious Song (lot 776).

The catalogue includes 60 yearlings that are out of or siblings to Group 1 winners, and those include a full-sister to Pasadena Girl (Aus) (Savabeel {Aus}) (lot 132); a Fastnet Rock (Aus) colt out of Pear Tart (Aus) (Dehere) and therefore a full to Group 2-placed 2-year-old Italia Bella (Aus) (lot 172); a full-brother to Single Gaze (Aus) (Not A Single Doubt {Aus}) (lot 229); a Snitzel (Aus) filly out of the dual Group 1 winner Response (Aus) (Charge Forward {Aus}) and therefore a half-sister to the stakes-placed Alter Call (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) (lot 235); a full-sister to G2 Silver Slipper S. winner Headwater (Aus) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) out of River Dove (Aus), whose progeny have sold for up to A$4 million (lot 240); a Snitzel filly out of Samaready (Aus) (More Than Ready) (lot 269); the first foal of Shamal Wind (Aus) (Dubawi {Ire}), a colt by Sea The Stars who is the lone representative of his sire in the sale (lot 292s21 ); a Pierro filly out of four-time Group 1 winner Streama (Aus) (Stratum {Aus}) (lot 352); an I Am Invincible (Aus) half-brother to Sepoy (Aus) (Elusive Quality) (lot 435); a full-brother to Sizzling (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}) (lot 480); a half-brother to this year's Golden Slipper winner She Will Reign (Aus) (Manhattan Rain {Aus}) by first-season sire Time For War (Aus) (lot 635); a Fastnet Rock half-sister to Classic winner Fiveandahalfstar (Aus) (Hotel Grand {Aus}) (lot 642); a half-sister to Caulfield Cup winner Fawkner (Aus) (Reset {Aus}) by first-season sire Shooting To Win (Aus) (lot 651) and a full-sister to Sweet Idea (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}) and Showtime (Aus) (lot 733).

Bowditch said record numbers of buyers have been inspecting the yearlings that reside in the Hunter Valley in recent weeks. “We had a lot of people in the Hunter Valley looking at yearlings with us,” he said. “I heard there were up to 80 people going around the Valley looking at the 550 yearlings within the Valley, so that's record numbers. It just shows the interest in the sale and the catalogue, and the reports coming back from most of those guys is that they're happy with what they've seen; they've seen horses they'd like to try to buy. It's a good starting point.”

The fact that first-season sires generate plenty of interest and are sought after is a trend that transcends continental borders, but it is perhaps nowhere more true than at Magic Millions. Three years ago a Sepoy (Aus) colt topped the Gold Coast sale at A$1.3 million, a record public auction price for a first-season sire (before he himself bettered it at Easter three months later), and the following year Pierro (Aus) was responsible for a A$1.6 million colt and a A$1.4 million filly from his first crop. Last year Dundeel (NZ) featured with a A$900,000 colt.

A total of 104 sires are represented this year, with the 23 first-season sires making up 25% of the catalogue. Newgate's speedy Group 2 winner Deep Field (Aus) (Northern Meteor {Aus}) leads all sires with 56 catalogued, and also represented is his year-younger G1 Caulfield Guineas-winning full-brother Shooting To Win (Aus) (31 yearlings), who stands at Darley. It certainly doesn't hurt those two that the first crop of Zoustar (Aus), another son of Northern Meteor, was popular at this sale last year, and Zoustar's first winner, Sunlight (Aus), is the third favourite for the A$2-million Magic Millions 2YO Classic on Jan. 13.

Also expected to create a stir with his 44 first-crop yearlings is Australian Horse of the Year and Gold Coast graduate Dissident (Aus) (Sebring {Aus}), who also stands at Newgate. Newgate also stands Wandjina (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}). Other first-season sires include Darley's speedy son of I Am Invincible, Brazen Beau (Aus), with 27, and dual Group 1 winner Hallowed Crown (Aus) (Street Sense) with 10. Haras de Bouquetot shuttlers Olympic Glory (Ire) (Choisir {Aus}) and Toronado (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}) have 19 and six, respectively. Coolmore's speedy Rubick (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}) sits sixth among all sires with 38, and his barnmate, Galileo's G1 Cox Plate winner Adelaide (Ire), has four.

“The first-season sires this year are rather exciting,” said Bowditch. “I think it's a stronger, deeper crop of first-season sires than we've ever had. From a selling point of view first-season sires have done really well at this sale, and this year on the track Spirit of Boom, who is our leading first-season sire, he's done a phenomenal job. He's had three stakes winners in five days and last weekend we had the first Epaulette and the first Zoustar win, which is the third-favourite for the Magic Millions, so the first-season sires are doing the job on the track, which creates a good image going forward for the ones who are going to sell this year.”

Building A Brand…

After 12 years with Magic Millions, Bowditch will after this year's Gold Coast sale graduate to the position of managing director, with Vin Cox headed to Godolphin. Looking back on the evolution of the company's flagship sale, Bowditch said much of the credit can go down to its promotion as a brand.

“The brand has changed so much,” Bowditch said. “The image it's created and the amount of people we can get to the sale–on the Friday afternoon before the raceday we can't keep up with the catering. It just shows when you put a fair bit of effort into something and build the brand what a sale can become. Due to the fact we are selling the very best horses at the moment, we're having an outstanding run on the racetrack and it all bodes well for this sale in particular but the brand itself.”

The Gold Coast sale is a carnival that the local community and iconic Australian brands truly rally behind.

“Tourism Events Queensland are fantastic to us,” Bowditch said. “We've always got a great load of sponsors behind us, and then we build an event. We have a polo day to get people in town early. Then we go into the barrier draw on the beach, which is an amazing spectacle, and then from there into the sale and then the A$10-million raceday. I daresay the Gold Coast Turf Club will be booked out; I don't think you'll be able to buy a ticket for the raceday. This far out to have it at that level is phenomenal.”

The Magic Millions raceday, which precedes an annually electric evening of selling across the street on the Saturday of the sale, celebrated its first A$10-million renewal last year, when it became the country's first-ever A$10-million raceday. Bowditch said the interest in all this year's races, not just the A$2-million 2YO Classic and A$2-million 3YO Guineas, has been unprecedented, with connections clamouring to get an entry for their non Magic Millions grads in this past weekend's four Doomben wildcard races.

“We're another year on with A$10 million and the interest in every race, not just the 2- and 3-year-old races, is outstanding,” said Bowditch. “We have the wildcard races for the horses that aren't Magic Millions [they must be Australian-bred and not sold by another sales company]. There [were] plenty of people trying to get horses in by winning these races on Saturday. It's showing that the raceday is pulling horses to it.”

With a whole carnival of events, and almost assuredly a champion or a few, set to be at the Gold Coast the second week of January, there is a reason for everyone to make a visit to the sunny Gold Coast.