Booming finish to Western Australian auction with two six-figure lots
The popularity of emerging stallion Playing God (Blackfriars), the sire of this season’s Kingston Town Classic (Gr 1, 1800m) winner Kay Cee, was on show on the final day of the record-breaking Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale, with the three of the four highest-priced lots by the Western Australian sire.
Neville Parnham, the trainer of Playing God and his best-performed offspring in Kay Cee, came away with a colt by the Mungrup-based stallion for $140,000 and a filly for $90,000 in the Book 2 session where the aggregate of $3.923 million was up a staggering 69 per cent year on year.
Fellow Perth trainer Dan Morton also parted with $90,000 to secure a colt by the Blackfriars (Danehill) stallion yesterday, in a session that was significantly up on last year’s corresponding session.
A colt by So You Think (High Chaparral), who also had a filly make $170,000 on day one, made $110,000 to the bid of trainer Paul Jordan, becoming the second highest-priced yearling sold yesterday.
The larger Book 1 session, held on Monday, was also up year on year while yesterday’s trade came in well above 2019, with the average of $31,894 up 41 per cent where the most expensive price in Book 2 was $60,000.
There were 14 yearlings to make $60,000 or more with the suggestion that Books 1 and 2 be combined in future years as local, national and international investors embraced the Perth sale.
Parnham, understandably, has an affinity with Playing God and his progeny and was pleased to be able to land the $140,000 colt after missing out on the $150,000 brother to his four-time winner Platoon, a winner of $442,659 in prize-money.
“Most of the (Playing Gods) were in on the second day of the sale and I guess at the time that was where their pedigrees suggested they go but they are beautiful types,” Parnham said.
“The one I really loved was the one out of Reillyanne. I race his full-brother with Bob Pearson and a few other clients and he is a much nicer horse than him and he really replicated Playing God himself.
“I was pretty keen to get hold of him and I actually liked him better than Platoon’s brother and I was under bidder on him.
“This guy I felt he was the pick of the Playing Gods.”
Offered by Mungrup Stud as Lot 260, the colt is the fifth foal out of the O’Reilly (Last Tycoon) mare Reillyanne who is a half-sister to the Group 3 winner Pump Up The Volume (Savabeel) and a sister to the stakes-placed New Zealander Vera Pro Gratis.
The colt’s brother, the mare’s only foal to race, won recently at Pinjarra to break his maiden for Parnham.
Parnham also bought Lot 238 from the Mungrup Stud draft, with the filly the first foal out of the 1000-metre winner Mosstiara (Mossman).
She in turn is a half-sister to the Group 3 winner Kencella (Exceed And Excel) and the stakes-placed Bontiara. Another half-sister, Rubitawny (Rubiton), is the dam of Perth Listed winner Misty Metal (Oratorio).
Parnham bought five yearlings yesterday for a total of $333,500 to go with the seven lots he purchased on Monday for a further $637,500.
Morton lands first Playing God yearling
Meanwhile, Dan Morton struck first for a yearling by Playing God for $90,000, having watched on as the sire started to make his mark, predominantly in his home state, with his now four and three-year-olds.
Group 1-winning trainer Morton thought the colt was worthy of being in Book 1 and was delighted to be welcoming the colt into his Ascot stable.
“He was one of my top picks and I was surprised that he wasn’t in on day one but he has obviously come a long way since they did the catalogue selection,” Morton told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“I haven’t had one by Playing God yet, so he will be my first to go around. He is off to a flying start at stud and they are presenting really well as yearlings, so I needed to have one.”
The colt is a half-brother to recent winner Alaskan Aura (Oratorio) while his dam Lady Alaska (Reset) is a half-sister to the Group 2 winner and Group 1-performed Great Glen (Regal Classic). He was catalogued as Lot 226 and consigned by Mungrup Stud.
“He is out of a young mare, so most of them are still yet to hit the track, but I thought he was a cracking type,” Morton said.
“He is a big strong thing that might take a little bit of time but he was a classic sort of horse I thought.”
Playing God’s nine Book 2 yearlings averaged $70,389 while two sold in Book 1 for $150,000 and $50,000 respectively.
“It’s been a really fantastic sale and not just for us, but for the whole WA industry in general,” Mungrup Stud’s Gray Williamson said.
“To see the Playing God progeny so well received was fantastic. He’s a former sale graduate and now his yearlings are proving popular in the sale ring.”
Harvey and Corstens team up for Awesome Rock colt
Ready to run traders also came to the fore on the second and final day of the Perth sale, with a colt by first season sire Awesome Rock (Fastnet Rock), likely to be bound for an eastern state two-year-old sale.
Dean Harvey from Victorian operation Baystone Farm went to $85,000 in partnership with Troy Corstens’ Malua Bloodstock to secure the colt by the Mackinnon Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m)-winning sire son of Fastnet Rock (Danehill) who was consigned by Gold Front Thoroughbreds.
Catalogued as Lot 222, he colt is a half-brother to three winners including dual juvenile scorer Amarillo Rose (Slater) and is the sixth foal out of the winning mare Kezzabelle (Zabeel). He is also from the same family as ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) winner El Dorado Dreaming (Ilovethiscity).
Corstens and his father Leon trained Awesome Rock to win four races and more than $2 million in prize-money during his racing career and the Flemington-based horseman was pleased to secure a first crop son.
“I have been really impressed with them. He has really thrown a really good style of horse with good bone on them with a little bit of class, so it was good to come over and see them,” Corstens said.
“I really loved the colt who sold to Shane Nichols (on Monday) as well and I rated them nearly equal, so when the Kezzabelle was in today I was quite happy because I thought we’d get him at a discount and we did.”
Corstens also bought a filly by Awesome Rock and a colt by Rommel (Commands) for $40,000 yesterday.
Baystone Farm sold colts for $220,000, $200,000 and $170,000 at the 2019 Magic Millions Gold Coast 2YOs in Training Sale and another colt, by Vancouver (Medaglia d’Oro), for $250,000 at the Inglis Ready 2 Race Sale
Another colt by Awesome Rock is also set to be offered at the two-year-old sales after making $57,500 early in the second session of the Western Australian auction.
Also consigned by Gold Front Thoroughbred Breeding and Racing, the Lot 189-catalogued yearling is the first foal out of the three-time winning Not A Single Doubt (Redoute’s Choice) mare Double Jester and was purchased by trader Roger Cooksley.
$110,000 So You Think caps satisfying sale for Mogumber Park
The Mogumber Park-offered So You Think colt, one of two yearlings to reach six figures yesterday, is the first foal out of the twice-winning mare Steps To Stardom (Stratum) who is a half-sister to Group 3 winner Pillar Of Hercules (Rock Of Gibraltar).
Catalogued as Lot 283, the colt’s third dam is the Listed-winning, Group 1-placed mare Fitting (Marscay), the dam of Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Catbird (Danehill) and his Group 2-winning brother Danbird.
Mogumber Park’s Colin Brown admitted the colt had developed a lot since the Magic Millions bloodstock team conducted their initial inspections in September and was optimistic about strong competition eventuating for the colt.
“He has changed a lot since then so that is certainly in defence of those who inspected him but he is furnishing into a really lovely colt,” Brown told ANZ Bloodstock News.
The $110,000 price tag was a handy return for the owner of Steps To Stardom after agent Damon Gabbedy of Belmont Bloodstock purchased the mare in foal to So You Think for $52,000 at the 2018 Inglis Australian Broodmare Sale.
“When we looked at her at the sale in Sydney we asked Damon, ‘how much do we pay for this mare?’ and he said, ‘as much as you can’. He really liked her, so we bought her to go to our stallions,” Brown said.
“He is a first foal and he is a big, strong horse, so we could not be happier.”
Mogumber Park’s first season sire Rommel, a WA Guineas (Gr 3, 1600m) and Zeditave Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) winner, was also well received by the market, with 13 lots selling across the two books at an average of $41,923.
“Overall, our new sire on the block Rommel sold really well. They have gone to all the good trainers here and one has gone to Victoria as well and Safeguard has stood up again,” he said.
Brown saw this year’s Perth sale as a step forward for the Western Australian breeding industry and suggested that there may not be the need for a Book 2 session in future given the depth of yesterday’s market.
“With our sale, there has been a lot of discussion in the past few days saying, ‘we are selling 300-odd yearlings, do we need to have two books?’ because it puts the pressure on those making the selections to have day one and day two when actually when some of the day two horses sell really, really well,” he pondered.
“Maybe we only need one book which has been some of the discussion going around.”
Brown also praised the WA buyers for the way they supported their local sale, which led to a Book 2 clearance rate of 87 per cent.
“The biggest worry is always the second day because we are looking more at the local market only, so there is always a bit of nervousness, but the local market stood up,” he said.
“The gross out of this will be up significantly on last year, the clearance rate will be strong, so Magic Millions and the vendors will be really happy with the outcome here.
“I think we have stepped up a bit, which is great.”
Mogumber Park had six yearlings sell yesterday for an average of $43,667 while the stud had nine yearlings sell in Book 1 to a top of $130,000.
Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch was “delighted” with the outcome of yesterday’s sale.
“Vendors have brought great horses, presented them well and the local buyers have got in behind the sale, supported the Westspeed product and, rightly so, with the prize-money they race for,” Bowditch said last night.
“Today we had a clearance rate over 85 per cent, which is sensational, the gross went up $1.5 million on last year to $3.9 million and for the sale to gross $13 million overall, up from $9.3 last year, we couldn’t be happier.”
The clearance rate for Book 1 sale, which saw the War Chant (Danzig) half-sister to Group 2-winning mare Quilista (Scandal Keeper) top the session at $240,000 on Monday, had climbed to 78 per cent last night at an average of $69,278.
The Magic Millions Tasmanian Yearling Sale will be held next Monday in Launceston before the build-up begins to the following week’s Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale.