‘Everyone is here that you like to see at a sale like Adelaide’

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Hancock’s confidence high for Magic Millions despite economic uncertainty

Adrian Hancock won’t be making excuses if the Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale fails to meet his expectations, but his confidence is buoyed by the strength of the catalogue and the amount of buyers at Morphettville ahead of today’s opening session.

But Magic Millions’ South Australia-based bloodstock consultant’s optimism is also tempered by the fact that the Australian yearling market is on the decline as rising inflation and interest rates start to bite the wider economy and impact discretionary spending.

The 452-lot Adelaide sale is unlikely to avoid following the downward market trend experienced at earlier Magic Millions and Inglis sales with pre-sale indications suggesting that trade at the City Of Churches’ auction could fall by ten per cent year-on-year. 

Last year’s two-day sale of 415 lots to be offered turned over $17.457 million at an average of $49,594 and a median price of $40,000.

“It’s the best catalogue we’ve had for many a year with stallion strength and pedigree and I know that because the number of updates that happen on a daily basis are way more than we used to get,” Hancock told ANZ Bloodstock News. 

“And, the day before the sale, you always hope that it’s busy and I’ve got to say it’s manic out there at the moment. It’s hard to get a runway for the horses, everyone is telling me how busy it is.

“Everyone is here that you like to see at a sale like Adelaide. I don’t think we’ve got any excuses. So, it is up to the horses now to be up to the standard that buyers want and let the market sort them out. 

“I’d be disappointed if we don’t have a sale that isn’t too far off what occurred last year, but we also have to keep in mind what has been happening at other yearling sales as well.”

The growing recognition of the Adelaide sale is also ensuring that the Morphettville-based sale was on the radar of Hong Kong buyers such is the deeds of the lightly raced Wunderbar (Rich Enuff) and Galaxy Patch (Wandjina), the latter a $50,000 purchase by trainers David Jolly and Will Clarken and agent Suman Hedge from the Summerset Park Stud draft in 2021. 

Galaxy Patch was runner-up in the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (Gr 1, 1400m) on March 10 with trainer Pierre Ng now potentially planning to aim the four-year-old at the Hong Kong Derby (Listed, 2000m). 

Ng, along with his retired trainer-father Peter, is among the Hong Kong participants in attendance in Adelaide.

“We’ve got two very good horses in Hong Kong – and maybe there’s four or five at the moment – that all didn’t cost a lot of money at the Adelaide sale,” Hancock said.

“That’s the thing with Adelaide, you can come here and buy a nice horse for $20,000. It might not have a pedigree or it might be the sixth or seventh foal of the dam but it’s a really nice horse and you can do things with it.

“You can win a race with it and make money or you can trade it, or even buy a horse for $150,000 or $200,000 and it’s a top-of-the-tree horse and there’s upside, be it with prize-money or in trading. We get a lot of pinhookers here because of that room to move. They can buy a nice horse at an affordable price and do business.”

Angas Bank’s Paul Crawford bred and sold Wunderbar to premiership-winning Adelaide trainers Richard and Chantelle Jolly for $140,000 at the 2022 sale.

The three-year-old has won four of his five starts in Hong Kong for trainer John Size. 

Crawford has a draft of seven at this year’s sale, three fillies and four colts, including a second season son of Group 1-producing stallion Royal Meeting (Invincible Spirit), who is a half-brother to Adelaide Listed-winning sprinter Grey River (Al Maher).

Crawford, who first sold at the Adelaide sale in the mid-1990s, also has a classy Toronado (High Chaparral) filly and a daughter of Star Turn (Star Witness) out of prolific producer Hidden Message (Pentire).

He said inspections had been “really busy and shaping up well”, adding weight to his and Hancock’s confidence levels.

“The market’s obviously been softer leading into Adelaide, particularly for fillies, but we feel the quality of our draft will mean that we will still be OK and we’ve been encouraged by the interest,” Crawford said.

“Generally, we have strong interest from the local trainers and quite a number of ours will probably stay local.”

While Crawford has been a familiar face in Adelaide for the best part of three decades, he hasn’t been around as long as Kadina-based Peter Toole of Ducatoon Park, which has a draft of three for this year’s sale.

A doyen of the South Australian breeding industry, Toole, 83, will bring up 70 years of attendance at the Adelaide yearling sale when selling gets underway this morning.

Ducatoon Park will offer a Vino Rosso (Curlin) colt, a son of resident sire Barbados (Redoute’s Choice) and a filly by first season sire Doutbland (Not A Single Doubt). 

The small numbers, however, aren’t a sign that Toole or Ducatoon is winding down.

Far from it, with his wife Valmai by his side and their son Mark at the helm, with a larger weanling crop on the ground for the 2025 Adelaide sale.

“It’s been 70 short years, but that’s not counting Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast sales that I’ve gone to as well,” said Toole, who bred 1974 and 1981 Queen Of The Turf-winning mares Favoured (Privilege) and Ducatoon (Gay Gambler).

On this year’s small draft, he said: “We had a poor year. Some years you can’t take a trick.  The mares slipped or they got hurt or they’re not up to scratch, so we’ve only got three but next year we’ll have a pretty good line-up.”

Hancock, meanwhile, believes that Magic Millions can also capitalise on a renewed zest for the South Australian racing industry, which last week had prize-money doubled for the Robert Sangster (Gr 1, 1200m), The Goodwood (Gr 1, 1200m), Australasian Oaks (Gr 1, 2000m) and South Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2500m).

“Right now, we are probably as progressive as any state in Australia with what’s happening with the recent announcement of the $1 million Group 1 races,” Hancock said.

“Racing Rewards is also a really good bonus that does have an influence and makes racing very viable in this state. 

“Trainers and owners appreciate it and, yes, what Racing SA has done for this industry in the past two or three years has been well received and acknowledged.”

The first of two days of selling will start at 10am (CDST).