Justify juveniles in high demand at the Gold Coast
Coolmore’s US Triple Crown winner Justify (Scat Daddy) made his mark at the Magic Millions Horses in Training Sale on Tuesday with his two lots, a colt and a filly, selling for a combined $1.125 million at the Gold Coast.
Given his absence from Australian shores this breeding season, the progeny of Coolmore’s champion stallion are in even greater demand and the popularity of Lots 76 and 88 during the pre-sale inspections suggested they would both fetch a premium price.
That eventuated with Yulong shelling out $700,000 to secure the sale-topping bay colt after coming out on top of a fierce bidding battle with Hong Kong’s Lok Lor, son of Hong Kong’s champion trainer Frankie Lor.
Yulong have been active at the Australaisian two-year-old sales this season, with this result coming hot off the heels of Zhang Yuesheng buying four lots at the Inglis, headlined by a Written Tycoon (Iglesia) filly, who they bought for a record-breaking price of $1 million.
The Justify filly went the way of retired livestock and real estate agent Roy Bartholomew, a relatively new player in the market, when he paid Benalla-based Nolen Racing $425,000 for Justify’s athletic youngster out of Sacred Witness (El Moxie).
Consigned by KO Thoroughbreds and prepared for sale by Kenmore Lodge, the colt is out of the once raced mare Port Augusta (Encosta De Lago), making him a half-brother to stakes-placed winner Lady Young (Fastnet Rock).
Port Augusta herself is a half-sister to Group 1 winner and successful stallion Holy Roman Emperor (Danehill), Group 3 scorer Milanova (Danehill) and stakes-winning duo Heart Of Oak (Woodman) and Big Viking (Theatrical).
Further back this is the same family as New Zealand Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Sherwood Forest (Fastnet Rock).
The significant sale marked a much-needed reversal in the fortunes for KO Thoroughbreds founder Kobie O’Brien, who teamed up with Munce Racing and Arthur Hoyeau to buy the youngster for $300,000 from Coolmore at this year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale – only for his fellow investors to have a change of heart and subsequently back out of the proposed purchase.
That unfortunate turn of events left O’Brien with little option but to sell his prized asset, who had been due to join Chris Munce’s Eagle Farm stables.
Munce, who now trains in partnership with his son Corey, agreed to educate the promising juvenile and the notable impression he made at the recent breeze-ups held at the Gold Coast – where he clocked a time of 10.15 – certainly piqued the interest of potential buyers.
Yulong faced some stiff competition but Mr Zhang very rarely comes off second-best in the sales ring, with the mining magnate outlasting his rivals to purchase the colt.
A relieved O’Brien, who later sold his striking chestnut Street Boss (Street Cry) colt to Munce Racing for $240,000, was understandably delighted with his day’s work.
“It’s been an eventful year for me to say the least, but I’ve learned some valuable lessons and to sell the Justify colt for $700,000 was obviously a great result,” he told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“I would’ve loved to have kept him and raced him in my KO Thoroughbred colours, but it wasn’t meant to be and that’s all in the past now. These two sales have wiped the slate clean and given me the opportunity to be active at the upcoming sales.
“Both lots were unreserved, and to be honest I would have been very happy to get half a million for the Justify colt, so to get an extra $200,000 for him was massive. A lot of people in the industry had their doubts that Justify could produce an up-and-running two-year-old, but Storm Boy obviously put a dent in that theory and I’ve got no doubt this colt will do the business on the track.”
Justify shuttled to Australia for five seasons, covering his final book of mares at Coolmore’s Hunter Valley base in 2023, serving 188 mares that season at a fee of $77,000 (inc GST). However, the decision was taken for the prized stallion not to return in 2024 and the fact he no longer stands in Australia bolstered O’Brien’s confidence ahead of Tuesday’s sale.
“Given that Justify now only stands in the northern hemisphere, I was always pretty confident the colt would sell well and my confidence only increased after his performance at the breeze-ups. He’s a beautiful horse with a good action, and I’m sure Yulong will have a lot of success with him,” he said.
“I didn’t know how much these two horses would make and I faced a fairly uncertain future, so I had to make some tough decisions and sell most of the horses I owned through my KO syndicate. Shortly after I sold my favourite horse Nikau Spur, he won the Queensland Cup so it’s fair to say I had very mixed emotions that day.
“But that’s the great game for you, and I’m now focused on the future and hopefully we can get back into some nice horses with a more reliable group of owners. I’ll be much smarter in the future and, if anything, this experience has made me even hungrier to succeed in the industry.”
The colt was prepped for the sale by Kenmore’s Kellie Bond and she said she was confident he would be well received when he entered the ring on Tuesday, having been popular during the inspection process.
“He was a pretty easy horse to prepare,” Bond said. “He had so much quality, a beautiful pedigree and was just a ripping individual.
“It was pretty easy to see he was going to be a quality lot. They [buyers] were all over him the minute he got here.”
“His breeze up was exceptional – great stride length and he’s by a horse who can get an absolute superstar. You could easily see why he would get a good result and it was nice that Yulong was able to secure him.
Kenmore Lodge sold nine lots for an aggregate of $775,000.
Bartholomew takes to Justify filly
Queensland-based Bartholomew only made his first investment in a racehorse earlier this year and he hiked up his involvement in the game at Tuesday’s Magic Millions Horses in Training Sale when shelling out for Nolen Racing-consigned Justify filly.
Having prepped the top lot for sale, Kenmore Lodge’s Kellie Bond also had direct involvement in this the second top lot, with Bartholomew being one of her clients.
Bartholomew was keen to get his hands on a Justify and had been impressed with her Seymour breeze when she clocked 10.80.
“They liked her and we liked her when we first saw her,” Bartholomew said. “She’s a lovely, big-framed filly by Justify, and you can’t get any more of them. He’s not coming back from America.”
“It’s all in the lap of the gods from here,” Bartholomew added.
Originally purchased by Moorillah Pastoral from the Newhaven Park draft for $60,000 at the Magic Millions National Yearling Sale earlier this year, the filly is out of unraced mare Sacred Witness (El Moxie), making the youngster a half-sister to three-time Listed winner Religify (Choisir) and the dam of Group 2 scorer Chrysaor (Better Than Ready).
Nolen Racing finished the sale as the leading vendor by aggregate and average (with three or more lots sold), selling 11 lots for a total receipts of $1.149 at an average of $104,455.
The Justify filly was comfortably his best result but he also fetched $280,000 for Lot 166, a bay colt by Zousain (Zoustar), who sold to Magus Equine Ltd, while Nolen snared $100,000 for his Cool Aza Beel (Savabeel) colt, who will join the stables of Pakenham trainer Mick Huglin. Lot 37, a bay colt by All Too Hard (Casino Prince), was also sold privately after he just failed to meet his $100,000 reserve price.
In total there were 18 six-figure lots knocked down at the sale, which for the first time included a select draft of three-year-olds.
The highest price secured for a three-year-old was the $40,000 paid for Lot 203, a brown colt by Husson (Hussonet) presented by Tennyson Performance Horses. The auction for Nation Changing, a gelding by Cosmic Force (Deep Field), had reached $210,000 but he was passed in after no further bids were received.
Across the day over $7 million was traded with the juvenile section of the sale averaging almost $75,000 and the clearance rate at 66 per cent.
Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch said he was largely pleased with the day’s trade in what he described as a ‘polarising’ market.
“The average was pretty healthy so overall we’re pleased enough,” Bowditch told ANZ Bloodstock News. “We always thought it was going to be a polarising market and that’s exactly what it was. I thought when the quality horses with good confirmation and by the right sire walked in the ring, there was very buoyant bidding on them.
“The clearance rate of 66 per cent wasn’t acceptable, but if we can get it up closer to 70 per cent then it becomes more acceptable. When we had the right horses by the right that looked the part when they walked into the ring, there was an outstanding thirst for them.
“For the top-selling horse, I think there were six to eight interested parties, with three or four of them still bidding above half a million. The underbidders were from Hong Kong and Yulong ended up buying him, so there was great depth for the right horses.
“Having a filly as the second top lot was very pleasing, and it was great to see so many different jurisdictions from Asia all playing their parts. We would’ve liked to have sold a few more horses, but overall the sale was probably in line with our expectations.
“It was a test pilot to include the three-year-olds, so we’ll assess the trial but it’s pretty obvious that you need the right horses. Maybe in a couple of circumstances the reserves were a little bit out of kilter with the expectations of the market, but I do think there is a place for three-year-olds.
“We’ll obviously review the sale but I do think there’s an appetite from the market for them, we may just need to make some adjustments to improve things for next year for both our vendors and our buyers.”
2024 2023
Catalogued 187 151
Offered 146 110
Sold 96 (66%) 88 (80%)
Aggregate $7,168,000 (+33%) $5,361,500
Average $74,666 (+22.5%) $60,926
Median $42,000 $42,000
Top Lot $700,000 $400,000