Needs Further colt headlines ‘tough’ day in Tasmania

Listen

Armidale Stud-consigned youngster comes out on top when selling for $145,000

Needs Further’s (Encosta De Lago) home state return resulted in a record sales ring reward for the champion Tasmanian stallion in what was an otherwise testing Magic Millions market yesterday.

Armidale Stud, the home to Needs Further for all but one of his 11 years at stud, bred and sold the $145,000 Tasmanian sales topper, the first time a yearling by the sire of life-changing mare Mystic Journey has fetched more than $100,000.

One of just two horses to hit six figures at the 2024 Tasmanian sale at Quercus Park – with a filly by Grunt (O’Reilly) selling for $100,000 later in the session – the increasing reliance on interstate buyers as the local owners and trainers, while active, kept their budgets well in check.

The purchase of the Needs Further colt by Randwick Bloodstock’s Brett Howard and Denise Martin’s Star Thoroughbreds within 15 minutes of the one-day sale’s opening also provided an insight into yearling’s unraced brother Durazzo, ho is set to have his first start at tomorrow’s Launceston Cup meeting.

Howard and Martin know the horse’s family well, with four-time winner Emily (Wordsmith) also sporting Star Thoroughbreds’ purple and white starred silks, while they teamed up to purchase Durazzo for $97,500 at the 2022 edition of the sale. 

Both Emily and Durazzo, who debuts in race one at Mowbray tomorrow, are trained by Martin’s brother-in-law Barry Campbell.

Their dam Arenzano (Not A Single Doubt), who was fourth at stakes level on two occasions in Tasmania for Star Thoroughbreds and won eight races, is a sister to the stakes-placed ten-time winner Regal Flame. 

“I suppose you could say we’ve got a little bit of inside information. We purchased the three-year-old full-brother to him and he cost $97,500 two years ago,” Howard said.

“He is still unraced, but Barry Campbell has a very good opinion of Durazzo. He has had three trials and won them all. He is actually in on Wednesday, but he’s drawn the car park [18], so hopefully he still runs OK.

“I said to Denise that I thought this colt was nicer than Durazzo. If Durazzo’s got good ability, hopefully this colt’s got even more ability.”

Agent Damon Gabbedy and Ballarat trainer Tony McEvoy were the underbidders on the Armidale Stud-bred and sold colt while Maree McEwan, acting for agent John Foote, was also on the colt above six figures.

The colt’s sire Needs Further, the 2011 ATC Carbine Club Stakes (Gr 3, 1600m) winner, has been a source of 124 winners in eight crops of racing age, headlined by Group 1-winning filly Mystic Journey, the Star Thoroughbreds-raced Group 3 winner Deroche and Flemington stakes winner Bold Star. He is also the sire of local stakes-winning pair Mystical Pursuit and Patenna Arena.

Trained in Adelaide by Gordon Richards, Bold Star won seven races and yesterday the Group 1-winning horseman bought the sprinter’s sister for $45,000.

Howard brokered the deal for the Gooree Park Stud-raced Needs Further to stand at Armidale Stud and he and Martin have been big supporters of the stallion.

“He’s done an absolutely stellar job down here in Tassie. If you said to me seven or eight years ago that he’d do what he has done I would have said, ‘yes please’,” Howard said. 

“It’s been an amazing ride for Armidale and ourselves, the shareholders and the horse’s supporters.”

Spreyton trainer Campbell also got in the action early, buying a Rebel Dane (California Dane) filly from Motree Thoroughbreds for $20,000.

Howard reiterated Sydney-based Tasmanian Martin’s staunch support of her home state’s racing industry and that included the addition of a Stratosphere (Snitzel) filly from Grenville Stud for $67,500.

“Barry, Denise and their owners are happy to keep supporting the Tasmanian industry and are happy to keep coming back and buying more yearlings,” he said. 

“While they keep winning some nice races down here, happy days.”

McEvoy and Gabbedy’s disappointment at missing out on the “best colt in the sale” didn’t deter them as they later paid $100,000 for a daughter of Grunt, the same sire as the Ballarat stable’s three-time Group winner Veight who is an $8 chance for Saturday’s Australian Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m).

The filly joins Veight and a $205,000 2023 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale-bought colt by the Yulong stallion in the father-and-son Tony and Calvin McEvoy stable.

Yesterday’s Grunt addition was sold by Brookview Thoroughbreds’ Cameron Thompson for Victorian breeder Rob Dunnett. She is the sixth foal out of Shemakhan (Mastercraftsman), an unraced half-sister to Hong Kong Listed winner Top Act (O’Reilly).

“She is the second Grunt I’ve bought since Veight. I bought one last year and now this filly. I’ve seen them all, of course, and these are the only two that passed the criteria like he did and if he can win the Guineas for us on Saturday she’ll be very cheap,” Tony McEvoy said.

“We had a bid on Lot 5 and I thought he was the best colt on the complex and I thought this was the best filly. 

“I thought they were few and far between, the nice horses here, but she was one of them and I am pleased to be taking her home.”

It was an extremely difficult start to the day’s trade with just three horses of the first 16 lots sold through the ring, painting a difficult picture of what was to come as both local and mainland buyers curtailed their spending, resulting in a decline of $1,049,500 in turnover year-on-year.

John Blacker, currently third on the Tasmanian trainers’ premiership with 28 winners, was the busiest local buyer, purchasing eight yearlings for a combined $250,000. 

Last year, Blacker signed for seven lots at a cost of $277,000 while fellow Tasmanian trainer Adam Trinder spent $329,000 on six yearlings in 2023 whereas, 12 months on, Mystic Journey’s trainer spent just $65,000 on three horses. 

Overall, the spend by Tasmanian buyers was down $310,000 and $900,000 less was spent by interstate investors compared to last year. Victorians accounted for $332,500 of that decrease year-on-year.

Glenn Stevenson, who has trained 37 winners in Tasmania so far this season with total prize-money earnings of more than $1 million, bought two yearlings yesterday for a combined $86,000.

John Keys, who jointly leads the trainers’ premiership with Stevenson, also signed for two yearlings for a total cost of $70,000, highlighting the circumspect approach by the state’s major stables.

Total trade at the annual sale was $2,767,500, the lowest turnover since 2018, while the average fell 16 per cent to $30,750 and the median was down $4,000 to $26,000 for 90 horses that were sold, the fewest since 2015 when 89 changed hands. 

The clearance rate lifted throughout the day, closing at 70 per cent last night.

Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch wasn’t hiding from what he described as a tough sale.

“We’ve been thinking the lower end of the market might come back a cog or two in recent times and I think it did today,” Bowditch said.

“In most cases vendors were willing to meet the market and unfortunately there wasn’t a willingness to participate on all horses here, so a clearance rate of 70 per cent is disappointing.

“The average has come back a little bit more than I would have anticipated but what I will say is, when a good horse walked into the ring, and it’s like that at any sale, there was strong participation for quality.”

The declining level of spending from Tasmanian owners and trainers this year was hard to ignore despite more horses remaining in the state.

“I think the TasBred scheme is quite good and the racing industry down here is moving ahead, so I would have thought we’d have had a good thirst from the local market to participate here,” Bowditch said. 

“I am disappointed in what the local market was, but they’ve bought six more horses than last year at this point. It’s just that they’ve spent a fair bit less on buying those horses.

“That’s probably a market correction in itself. They’ve been able to buy them better than what they have in previous years.”

The Whishaws’ Armidale Stud sold 22 yearlings for $954,000 at an average of $43,364 to reclaim the leading vendor title from Grenville Stud.

“It was a tough day at the office for the vendors and the Tasmanian breeders here but we are very lucky at Armidale to have a loyal supporting group that backs us year in, year out,” David Whishaw told ANZ Bloodstock News.

“Seventy per cent of our horses have been going to repeat customers and we’re blessed to have them as supporters. They obviously believe in the product and we’re very lucky to have them.”

Whishaw said there were plenty of “ups and downs” watching from the vendor’s box.

“There were some horses that brought their money, the key lots had a heap of competition and went to some really good judges, but there was also plenty of blood out there today,” he said.

“There were some nice horses that sold for less than the cost of production and deserved to bring more, but hopefully one of those life-changing horses, the Still A Star, the Mystic Journey or The Cleaner will come out of those cheaper horses and get those people hooked [on racing].”