Last of Bonnie Mac’s progeny expected to be sought after at Inglis Easter
Sale of Capitalist half-brother to Exceedance will be bittersweet for breeder Allam
Stakes-winning race mare and exceptionally talented broodmare Bonnie Mac (Thorn Park) will have the last of her progeny go through the ring at the 2021 Australian Inglis Easter Yearling Sale in Tuesday’s opening session.
Bonnie Mac, the dam of Group 1 winner Exceedance (Exceed And Excel) and recent Zeditave Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) victor Oxley Road (Exceed And Excel), has a Capitalist (Written Tycoon) colt (Lot 222) that is expected to be highly sought after at Inglis Easter.
However, all too often in the thoroughbred world there are instances of what might have been, and it will be a bittersweet sale for owner-breeder Steve Allam as the yearling passes through the ring.
Allam purchased Bonnie Mac when in foal to Capitalist for $375,000 out of the Magic Millions Broodmare Sale in May 2019, a mere fortnight after Exceedance’s maiden win and six months before he claimed his crowning Group 1.
Bonnie Mac was tragically found dead in her paddock last year and, after missing to Exceed And Excel (Danehill) in late 2019, this Capitalist colt will be her last representative on the track.
“I was at the Magic Millions looking for broodmares and my bloodstock agent said ‘there’s a mare you should have a look at’,” Allam told ANZ Bloodstock News about the decision to purchase Bonnie Mac almost two years ago. “My son and another guy I take to advise me was there, I said ‘what’s that mare’ and he said ‘have a look at Bonnie Mac’.
“I had a look and my son said ‘she’s too old for us dad, she’s an 11-year-old mare’.
“I’d seen Exceedance win his maiden at Wyong and I rang John Hawkes and said ‘I’ve seen Exceedance win, what do you think?’. To which he replied ‘he’s a good horse, mate’. And that’s how we bought her.
“We paid $375,000 in foal to Capitalist. We sent her back to Exceed And Excel last year and she missed, so I thought I’d give her 12 months off and then get her in foal to I Am Invincible. But unfortunately we found her dead in the paddock.”
Allam recalls how he had significant interest in Bonnie Mac following Exceedance’s Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) win, but had no intention of selling the daughter of Thorn Park (Spinning World).
From Bonnie Mac’s five foals, Exceedance and Oxley Road are the only two to race, while she has a two-year-old filly, named Mac ‘N’ Cheese, bought by Spendthrift for $300,000 out of Newgate Farm’s draft from last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
“I had phone calls galore asking to buy her after Exceedance won the Coolmore,” he added.
“She could’ve been the broodmare of the year now she’s got Oxley Road, who won a Group 3 on his second start. Honestly, she could’ve been anything. She produced beautiful horses and they can run.”
Allam is hoping to retain 50 per cent of the ownership for the last of Bonnie Mac’s progeny, who he believes is going to be very popular among buyers at this year’s Riverside auction.
“He’s a beautiful colt, a magnificent colt,” said Allam. “He’s at Yarraman Park and they’ve had him there ever since he was born. They tell me he is a magnificent type and I get updates on him, but I’ve only seen him three times myself.
“They tell me he’s a good type, great temperament, great gerth and shoulder, a nice horse. He should be sought after at Easter.
“I’m expecting to sell him well, but I’d like to retain 50 per cent if I can. Whoever buys him, I hope they give me the opportunity to buy him 50 per cent back.”
Bonnie Mac’s yearling is one of ten from the second crop being sold by Australia’s leading first season sire, Capitalist, at Inglis Easter.
His progeny have been popular at the major sales so far this year, including a colt out of Golconda (Snitzel) – a brother to Maribyrnong Plate (Gr 3, 1000m) third Marine One – that was bought for $975,000 by James Harron Bloodstock from the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in January.
Although we will no longer see further foals from Bonnie Mac, a Listed winner in South Australia as she won five of her first six starts on the track, it’s a dynamic family that continues the line, while Exceedance, standing at Vinery Stud, will have his first foals on the ground this year.
Bonnie Mac’s half-sister, Intimate Moment (Dubawi), a winner of the Epona Stakes (Gr 3, 1900m) on the track, produced her first foal, a yearling filly by Snitzel, to sell for $1.1 million at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in 2018, while she has a colt by Snitzel consigned in the Widden Stud draft (Lot 350) at this year’s Inglis Easter sale.