Magic Millions ushers in new HKIR era
Hong Kong’s showpiece meeting is developing a greater reputation as a launching pad for stallions
Next month’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale will represent a new dawn for the Hong Kong Jockey Club, with yearlings by winners of all four Hong Kong International Races (HKIR) features to go through the ring for the first time at a southern hemisphere auction.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club has made a concerted effort in recent years to attract potential stallion prospects from around the world to the year-end meeting at Sha Tin, which will be held in front of a limited audience on Sunday due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I think the next stage of the Hong Kong International Races is how we create not only prize-money value for the owners, but how we create breeding value for winning horses,” HKJC chief Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges told the New York Times in 2018, reinforcing what he had told the local South China Morning Post a decade earlier.
While the development of the meeting as a breeding stepping stone is still a work in progress, such is the nature of the game, it is steadily coming to fruition with more HKIR winners developing into stallions. That is despite the fact that only 34 of Hong Kong’s 1342-strong horse population (as of yesterday morning) are not geldings: 30 colts, two rigs and two fillies.
For the first time, a Hong Kong Vase (Gr 1, 2400m) winner will have yearlings going through a sales ring in the southern hemisphere with Swettenham Stud shuttler Highland Reel (Galileo) represented by three lots.
Swettenham principal Adam Sangster, who has two HKIR winners on his roster in 2020, says that Engelbrecht-Bresges’ vision is becoming a reality as the meeting continues to prosper.
“Everyone watches the racing in Hong Kong and the profile of these races is enormous,” he told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday. “They have a global presence and global support and therefore hold influence on the profile of stallions heading to stud that have raced there.
“The horses that have been successful in these races have a turn of foot and that profile to be successful. The races, that are known to everyone, are easy to market and with that, you’re halfway there already.”
Highland Reel, who represented Coolmore and trainer Aidan O’Brien right across the globe, won the Hong Kong Vase twice, the Secretariat Stakes (Gr 1, 10f) and the Breeders’ Cup Turf (Gr 1, 12f) in the US and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Gr 1, 1m 4f), the Coronation Cup (Gr 1, 1m 4f) and the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (Gr 1, 1m 2f) in the UK.
In addition, he was a Group 2-winning two-year-old over seven furlongs, third to Winx (Street Cry) in her first Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) and runner-up in a Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Gr 1, 2400m), jam-packed into a varied career on the racetrack.
Highland Reel also boasts a thoroughly Australian pedigree, with his Group 1-placed dam Hveger (Danehill) a sister to Elvstroem (Danehill) and a half-sister to Haradasun (Fusaichi Pegasus). All three are out of AJC Australian Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Circles Of Gold (Marscay).
Before departing Australian shores for Ireland, Hveger produced Valdemoro (Encosta De Lago), who finished second to Faint Perfume (Shamardal) in both the VRC Oaks (Gr 1, 2500m) and the Vinery Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m).
Sangster told ANZ Bloodstock News that the opportunity to stand a horse of the calibre of Highland Reel was something that seemed implausible at first, but that his arrival signalled a growing commitment to the Victorian breeding industry by some of the biggest global players in the game.
“The relationship between Swettenham, myself and Coolmore has always been strong,” he said. “We had held previous discussions about the option of a Coolmore stallion shuttling to us but we didn’t think we had a chance with a horse of his calibre, we thought they would have wanted to stand him themselves.
“It was Coolmore who came to us with this opportunity to stand him in Victoria, and we latched on to it as he really fits the profile of a stallion that we want. Coolmore already had Churchill, another son of Galileo, shuttling here in the same year, so this opportunity presented itself and we made a bit of a play for him.
“This is a horse that’s finished third to Winx in a Cox Plate and is a Group 2-winning two-year-old over 1400 metres, so his credentials, globally but also here, are very good and he’s just the right fit.
“He’s a seven-time Group 1 winner and that’s a real feather in our cap here at Swettenham.”
The Vase has actually been predominantly won by colts, with the 13 stallions including Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) and Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) winner Dunaden (Nicobar) and the Hong Kong-trained Dominant (Cacique), both of whom raced in Australia.
Dominant now stands at Palm Valley Thoroughbreds near Rockhampton, with his first foals on the ground this season, while Dunaden died last year having never produced an Australian runner, let alone a yearling.
All other stallion prospects who won the Vase stood solely in the northern hemisphere – not just in France, the UK, Ireland and the USA, but also including Mastery (Sulamani), who stands in Russia, and inaugural victor Red Bishop (Silver Hawk), who found great success in Turkey before his death in 2013.
It is often said that stout European stallions are out of fashion in Australia, but the response from breeders suggests that there is still a strong market for the right type of classy stayer like Highland Reel.
“He’s been very well supported by breeders,” Sangster said. “He covered 148 mares in his first year and left for Ireland yesterday having covered 162 in what was his third season. There are only a handful of breeders that haven’t returned to him for his third season as he’s throwing such a good type.
“There are the middle distance mares that have been to him but also the pure sprinting types, and his lighter, leaner, more European style of horse has made for a good physical make-up for his yearlings.”
The first crop of Highland Reel yearlings went through European auction houses in recent months, with the first to be offered at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale – a half-brother to this season’s premier UK miler Palace Pier (Kingman) – fetching 320,000 gns (approx. AUD$605,000).
Highland Reel, who has stood for $16,500 (inc GST) during each of his three seasons down under, was set to have four go through the Magic Millions sale, but one has been withdrawn, leaving three colts to kickstart his Australian yearling journey.
“He’s got three going to the Magic Millions in January and we’d be hopeful of those to recoup ten times his service fee,” Sangster said. “Highland Reel is a good looking horse himself and they are very nice colts going up to Magic Millions.
“The sale is very two-year-old focused but he’s throwing types that are earlier than what he is. I’m not saying these are pre-Christmas runners, but certainly ones that can have a say later in the season, and we’ll of course look to support him and buy a couple where we can.
“We’re very happy with what we’re presenting at the sales this year. Every farm is going to say that they have a good crop, but the best way I can put it is that both the representatives of Magic Millions and Inglis who have inspected them have said it’s one of the best crops they’ve seen.
“We can of course tell you that they’re nice horses, but when you’re hearing it from these guys as well it just adds that extra clout to it.”
Arrowfield represented by Lord Kanaloa, Maurice
While the Hong Kong Sprint has only produced two stallions – two-time winners Falvelon (Alannon), who has stood throughout his career at Glenlogan Park, and Japanese star Lord Kanaloa (King Kamehameha) – there has only been one Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale since 2006 that has not featured a yearling by either sprinter.
That will continue this year with Arrowfield Stud set to send out two yearlings by Lord Kanaloa: a filly out of the unplaced mare Almandine (Stay Gold), herself a half-sister to Group 1 winners Chrysoberyl (Gold Allure) and Marialite (Deep Impact), as well as Group 1 performers Lia Fail (Zenno Rob Roy) and Chrysolite (Gold Allure), and a colt out of 1800-metre winner Laguna Azzurra (Heart’s Cry), a half-sister to Seewind (Deep Impact).
Arrowfield Stud shuttler Maurice (Screen Hero) completes the group as a winner of both the Hong Kong Cup (Gr 1, 2000m) and the Hong Kong Mile (Gr 1, 1600m). Currently locked into a titanic struggle with Duramente (King Kamehameha) to be named leading Japanese first season sire, he will be represented by nine lots.
A fourth HKIR winner, Cup hero Akeed Mofeed (Dubawi), does not have any yearlings going through the Magic Millions ring but, of the catalogues that have been released, he does have one each at both the Karaka Premier Yearling Sale and the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale.
He is another who has joined the Swettenham Stud roster, switching from Pan Sutong’s Goldin Farms last year.
“We made a play for Akeed Mofeed last year and we were delighted that Mr Pan saw our vision for what he could achieve here at Swettenham,” Sangster said.
“He made a very strong start with his first two-year-olds and he’s another with a global reach.
His profile in Australia has increased on the back of his achievements here and he is another to have covered a great book of mares, with 134 last year with 100-plus foals on the ground, so fertility-wise he’s been excellent.
“A lot of his progeny have gone to Hong Kong as he already had a strong presence there. That wasn’t an area we were specifically looking to target but, given his presence, there was no need to educate the Hong Kong buyers as to what he was all about.
“Regardless of whether you are breeding to race or breeding to sell, the Hong Kong market is very strong. These offers that come through from buyers targeting Hong Kong racing and prize-money there are enormous.”
Even in a year where Covid-19 has wreaked havoc on the international racing calendar, a solid group of locals and internationals are set to do battle at Sha Tin on Sunday.
There are stallion prospects galore too: three in the Vase, four in the Sprint, three in the Mile and two in the Cup.
Mogul heads down Highland path
Five years after Highland Reel became the first three-year-old colt to win the Hong Kong Vase, trainer Aidan O’Brien will be looking to repeat that historic success with another tantalising stallion prospect in Grand Prix de Paris (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Mogul (Galileo).
The most expensive yearling sold at public auction worldwide in 2018, Mogul was bought for 3.4 million guineas at that year’s Tattersalls October Yearling Sale from the draft of Newsells Park Stud.
By Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) out of the stakes-placed Shastye (Danehill), a half-sister to top-liners Sagamix (Linamix) and Sagacity (Highest Honor), Mogul is a brother to Group 1 winners Secret Gesture and Japan.
It is a pedigree familiar to Australians, too, with Shastye also producing Wagga Wagga Gold Cup (Listed, 2000m) and Ipswich Cup (Listed, 2150m) winner Maurus (Medicean) and Sir Isaac Newton (Galileo), a Group 3 winner in Ireland who was stakes-placed in Australia.
Mogul has had a topsy-turvy career, showcasing brilliance at times but also appearing to flounder under pressure under other circumstances. One shrewd pundit went so far as to suggest that the colt may have an aversion to left-handed tracks, with Sha Tin’s right-handed circuit potentially a plus.
O’Brien, who will be watching from his Tipperary base in the early hours of Sunday morning, told the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s David Morgan that it is more about pace, with his last-start fifth to Tarnawa (Shamardal) in the Breeders’ Cup Turf (Gr 1, 12f) a consequence of a muddling tempo.
“He wants an even pace, he can quicken off even pace but in America it was only a dawdle, it was a mess really,” O’Brien said. “We had taken the decision that we were going to take our time on him but when you’re doing that you’re always at the mercy of the race. He still ran very well and we were happy with his run and we’ve been very happy with him since.
“We always thought a lot more of him than he was showing in his runs until Longchamp. The Grand Prix de Paris was a good race and it was the first time we really took the decision to drop him out completely, take our time on him and ride him for pace. That’s what we did and it worked very well – it was a properly-run race.
“He’s a big, powerful horse and you would be hoping the plan is to keep him in training next year as well.”
Added regular partner Ryan Moore: “He’s a beautiful horse, we’ve always held him high regard. He took a while to come to hand this year but you’ll see him out on the track – he’s very well-made, a very strong colt.
“He was very impressive when he won the Grand Prix de Paris on Arc Trials weekend and, at the Breeders Cup, he wasn’t beaten far in what was a messy sort of a race.
“Obviously there’s only seven in there, Exultant always runs his race but he would look to have a solid chance in that race.”
Also stepping out for the O’Brien-Moore partnership are shock Breeders’ Cup Mile (Gr 1, 1m) winner Order Of Australia (Australia) in the Hong Kong Mile and seven-time Group 1 heroine Magical (Galileo), who is set to bring the curtain down on her career in the Hong Kong Cup.
“Magical has travelled plenty and she likes travelling, and Pat (Keating, foreman) has been happy with her since she arrived there. Everything looks perfect at the moment,” O’Brien said. “She’s a relaxed filly with a good mind and she’s raced all the way from seven furlongs to a mile and a half. She’s a mature adult now and she’s very easy to handle, very straightforward and very genuine.
“She just likes a high tempo really and that’s what catches her sometimes over a mile and a half, the tempo’s not strong, like the last time. The time before that it was a mile and a quarter but it was the same thing, slow tempo early; she likes to be at a high tempo to be seen at her best.
“With Order Of Australia, the plan we had was the Breeders’ Cup Mile but we weren’t sure if we were going to get in. He was going to run in a nine-furlong race out there the day before and we always had in our heads that if he got in and ran a big race, we would see if he would get invited to Hong Kong because the two races we thought would suit him were the Breeders’ Cup Mile and the Hong Kong Mile. Both are flat tracks with nice ground.
“We always had it in our heads that he could be a miler but he’s by Australia so we started him as a Derby-type horse and he ran very well when fourth in the Irish Derby, then we went back to a mile and a quarter and he ran very well in a French Derby, so it was always possible that we were going to go back in distance but with the season that we had, it looked like we were going to run out of time.
“If anything, in the Breeders’ Cup, he looked like a horse you could shorten up a little bit more because he travelled strongly through the race. He had a terrible draw, especially the way the races were run out there – he was as wide as you could possibly be on a tight track over a mile. It was a massive effort for him to do what he did. To get a position from where he was drawn, Pierre-Charles (Boudot, jockey) did brilliantly. We were over the moon with the run.
“Often, horses win and everything was in their favour but it wasn’t in his favour, given where he was drawn and things, and he still won. We’ve been happy with him since and we’re looking forward to seeing him running again.
“We don’t expect it to be easy. Those races in Hong Kong are absolutely world class standard.”
Final acceptances for the four features will be taken at midday AEDT (9am local time), with the barrier draws to follow shortly afterwards.