It’s Imperatriz’s time!
Million-dollar mares to light up the Gold Coast
Seven Group 1-winning fillies and mares, one who could set a new Australasian record price, and an array of potential elite level winners and producers of the next sales ring and racetrack stars of the future are expected to set the Gold Coast alight on Tuesday.
The opening race fillies and mares session of the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale, the southern hemisphere’s biggest on the calendar, could see records broken with the offering of ten-time Group 1 winner Imperatriz (I Am Invincible) at approximately 4.30pm.
Set to be sold in absentia, Te Akau’s brilliant mare is in New Zealand basking in the glory of her glittering race career that was brought to an end last month.
There is justified optimism that Imperatriz can break the $5 million record for a mare sold in Australia.
“She’s probably the benchmark of mares to have ever been sold in Australia,” an excited although nervous Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch said.
“Globally, she could be the best mare to go to market this year. She won ten Group 1s, one of the world’s best sprinters and one of the world’s best mares on ratings at this point in time. It’s seriously significant.”
About an hour after Imperatriz is auctioned, fellow supplementary entry Ruthless Dame (Tavistock), last season’s Robert Sangster Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner, will be offered by Ciaron Maher Racing as a racing and breeding proposition.
In between the pair, Ruthless Dame’s 2023 Australasian Oaks (Gr 1, 2000m) winning stablemate Affaire A Suivre (Astern) will be offered by First Light Racing.
TJ Smith Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Chain Of Lightning, who remains in training and is entered for the upcoming Royal Ascot meeting in the UK, is another mare with global appeal as is Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Madame Pommery (No Nay Never).
Although not a filly with the ultimate win on her CV, Gimcrack Stakes (Gr 3, 1000m) winner Platinum Jubilee (Zoustar) is certain to demand a high price tag given her half-sister Lady Of Camelot (Written Tycoon) won this year’s Golden Slipper and her half-sister Queen Of The Ball (I Am Invincible) is a four-time Group 3 winner Queen Of The Ball (I Am Invincible).
Out of Miss Debutante (Fastnet Rock), who was recently crowned as the HTBA champion broodmare, the rising four-year-old Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Platinum Jubilee will walk into the ring about 1pm.
“It’s always a fantastic day and we’ve got to thank our vendors and the owners and syndicate managers of these horses for entrusting us with what I see as an extraordinary day of selling,” Bowditch said.
“Each and every year it builds upon itself and to have some of the best race fillies of their generation here is very exciting.
“But in saying that there’s a lot of faith being put in us to get a result for these owners and what the day requires is great participation from the breeders of Australia.
“I think we realise a lot of these horses go through and this is the end of their careers for these people.
“They want to sell them, they’re very realistic with their expectations and I think there will be great participation from the breeders and we expect the sale to attract global attention.”
The level of inspections being undertaken over the previous few days, before and during the weanling sale, indicated that the level of interest “will be really good for trade”, according to Bowditch.
“If you’re not here and you’re not participating and you look at the results at the close of trade, you’ll kick yourself for not doing your due diligence and getting involved on mares in the lower end, the middle end or the higher end of the market,” he said.
“On type, I think it’s as good a collection of mares that you’d see in any one day and then you look at the race records and bloodlines of these horses, it gives people the opportunity to play at all levels.
“There’s 40, 50, 60 horses that could go on the racetrack and serve their new owners well. I urge the Australian and international industry to get behind it because it’s an outstanding group of race fillies.”
The race fillies and mares session starts at 11am. It will be followed on Wednesday and Thursday by the mares in foal sessions.