A trio of fillies lead the way on a ‘tough’ day at the Magic Millions Tasmanian sale
Vendors reported a “tough day at the office” while Magic Millions reflected on a day that was disappointing but “not too far below our expectations” after a difficult Tasmanian Yearling Sale on Monday.
Fears that this year’s yearling market downturn would be brutally exposed at the Launceston auction largely came to fruition as all markers sagged on a day when the top price of $80,000 was the lowest it has been since 2013.
After the last of the catalogued 126 lots passed through the ring, the sale’s clearance rate stood at 66.07 per cent, with 74 lots sold and 38 passed in, and with the average and median of $24,345 and $20,000 well down on last year’s final figures of $29,984 and $24,000.
Four hours of concerted deal-making later, the clearance rate had climbed to 74.11 per cent, with nine more lots sold, but the average and medians had dipped further – to $23,488 and $18,000.
The gross of $1.95 million, off 83 lots sold, was markedly down on last year’s $2.82 million from 94 sold, and substantially down on 2023’s $3.85 million and the $4.32 million in the post-Covid boom year of 2022.
And the highest price of $80,000 – shared between three fillies by Gold Standard (Sebring), Satono Aladdin (Deep Impact) and Needs Further (Encosta De Lago) – was the lowest since a $55,000 top lot 12 years ago.
It was also only the second time in the past 11 editions of the sale the top price had failed to reach six figures, with the last being a $95,000 lot in 2020, when the impacts of Covid were beginning to bite.
While some described the sale as a ‘bloodbath’, Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch said the flat results had been anticipated given the yearling market downturn evident through earlier sales in Australasia this year.
“We’ve come down a few cogs over the last couple of years from a gross perspective, which is disappointing,” Bowditch told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“But while it was a disappointing sale, it wasn’t too far below our expectations.
“We’ve managed a clearance rate of above 70 per cent in the end, though obviously the average has come back, but all in all, I’d say it’s disappointing but satisfactory.”
That appraisal contrasted that of the sale’s regular leading vendor Armidale Stud, which by Monday night had grossed $815,000 through 20 lots at $40,750, down from their 2024 numbers of $954,000 via 22 lots at $43,364.
Armidale’s managing director David Whishaw said the sale’s poor results had stemmed from a “perfect storm” of factors, not merely a nationwide downturn but issues peculiar to Tasmania.
“It was a very tough day at the office,” Whishaw told ANZ.
“The sale rate through the ring was very poor, and the bottom end of the market – as we’ve been aware through other sales through Australasia – was nearly non-existent.
“Armidale’s fared better than most. We managed to get most of our horses sold, and we worked hard not to bring too big a tail to the sale. Plus, we’re. lucky to have loyal supporters who back us year in and year out.
“But it was a very tough day for most breeders.”
Whishaw cited nationwide causes.
“Inflation, cost of living, high interest rates, and there’s probably a hangover from Covid,” he said. “The industry was pretty strong post-Covid, so we’re getting probably what we expected during Covid before the government started throwing stimulus money around.”
But Whishaw also highlighted Tasmanian factors – including the tarnished reputation of the industry amidst a spate on integrity issues in all three codes.
“Sadly there’s a lack of confidence in our racing industry down here due to a huge array of integrity issues that have taken far too long to sort out,” he said.
“We were lucky to see the industry thrive through Covid, but that probably put a band aid on a lot of our problems, but that band aid’s now been pulled off.
“Thankfully [governing body] Tasracing have brought racing integrity under their banner now. We’ll see a changing of the guard, and a change in the way integrity is handled, and it’ll clean up some of the mess. But sadly there’s been a real lack of confidence down here.”
Whishaw said breeders had also lobbied Tasracing to reduce the amount of benchmark racing in the state, replacing it with more class racing, to shift the balance from a recent surge in Tasmanian trainers buying tried benchmark horses from the mainland, rather than source yearlings locally.
“A lot of our trainers are buying from online digital sales for low sums of money, rather than investing in yearlings,” he said.
“Benchmark racing is encouraging tried horses to come down, not encouraging the progression of the animal from maidens to open class, and I believe our quality of racing is suffering dramatically from that.
“Our breeders’ association has been lobbying Tasracing for some time to increase the number of class races and decrease the number of benchmark races. They’re finally listening, but sadly there’s such a lag period between the races that are on today and the numbers of horses that are born and bred.”
Whishaw also said Tasmania’s thoroughbred industry would benefit from an injection of new stallions and younger mares, but had found it increasingly difficult to source both amidst inflated prices in recent years.
“Armidale has been looking actively for stallions the last couple of years, but to be able to find one we believe in and can afford is increasingly difficult,” he said.
“The number of stallions controlled by big studs and stallion syndicates is huge. The number of horses gelded to to sell to Hong Kong, or to race on here when the prize-money’s so great on the mainland, is also huge.”
Prime Thoroughbreds managing director Joe O’Neill – who bought the equal sale-topping Needs Further filly from Armidale – said it would be “nice if Tasmanian breeders would invest in a few younger mares”.
Whishaw agreed, but said the state’s breeders were finding that increasingly difficult owing to spiralling prices in recent years.
“It’s a very buoyant broodmare market, particularly those young mares snapped up by huge investments by businesses like Yulong,” he said.
“That’s dragged the broodmare market up. Now studs in the Hunter Valley can’t buy what they want, so they’ve jumped down a tier, and that’s made it very difficult for smaller breeders from smaller states to invest in those mares.
“Armidale loves investing in broodmares but we’ve found it very difficult to find value in the broodmare market because it’s been so inflated.”
Bowditch, meanwhile, said Monday’s results would have been better – just as next year’s Tasmanian auction would be better – if the state’s breeders had entered more of their top-end yearlings in their home sale, rather than mainland auctions.
“I want to create a confidence from the breeders here to leave a horse or two here – not all of them – but one or two,” he said. “That’s because I believe we can get the buyers here that can support those horses and help them sell well.
“They’re the horses who make a difference to the average, the clearance rate, and enormously the gross of a sale and make it a success.”
Leading sire at the auction was Needs Further, with seven sold lots averaging $34,000, ahead of Stratosphere (Snitzel), with eight lots sold at $25,250, and Hanseatic (Street Boss), with five sellers averaging $25,200.
As they were at Inglis Classic earlier this month, the leading buyers by aggregate were McEvoy Mitchell Racing in partnership with Damon Gabbedy of Belmont Bloodstock, who bought four lots for a combined $215,000.
One of these was the equal sale-topper from Macleay Thoroughbred Stud’s draft – the only lot at the sale by New Zealand farm Rich Hill’s Satono Aladdin, out of a four-time winning mare in Shining Star (Exceed And Excel).
“She’s a nice, athletic filly, out of an Exceed And Excel mare, which is a tick, and I like Satono Aladdin,” co-trainer Tony McEvoy told ANZ. “We’ve liked a few Satono Aladdins before but hadn’t been able to buy one, so it was nice to strike one today.”
McEvoy said he was pleased with his stable’s haul of four yearlings from Tasmania, which followed nine at Classic.
“I think we’ve picked our market pretty well,” he said. “It’s going to get a bit tougher at Easter. I think they’ll be expensive. We’ve bought horses that are as good a type who’ll be at Easter but haven’t got the page of course. I think we’ve shopped well.”
Star Thoroughbreds’ Denise Martin said she was delighted to secure her equal sale-topper, in tandem with Randwick Bloodstock, also from the draft of Armidale, who sold seven of the top ten lots. The Gold Standard filly is a half-sister to exciting Tasmanian two-year-old Zany Girl (Needs Further), who’s won three out of four starts, including a Listed victory.
“She’s a strong, well-made filly who looks likely to race early,” said Martin, adding the sale’s results were in keeping with others this year.
“Many vendors found the market difficult. We’ve felt all year to date that buyers have reacted well to horses that they want, but horses they don’t want are being passed in at a fairly substantial rate.”