‘Quality’ Snitzel colt sets new $2.8 million benchmark at Magic Millions
Widden Stud’s youngster lights up the sales ring on day three at the Gold Coast
A colt by Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) delivered early drama at Wednesday’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale when he sold to Ciaron Maher for an eye-watering $2.8 million, making him the priciest yearling ever sold at the auction.
Offered by Antony Thompson’s Widden Stud, the good-looking son of the Group 3 winner Humma Humma (Denman) garnered plenty of attention, leading to Maher having to fight off stiff competition from powerful industry players. But as the rivals began to drop off one by one, Maher threw up his final bid, which brought up a new sales benchmark in front of a packed auditorium.
The colt will race in the grey, white and black colours of UK-based insurance mogul Phil Cunningham, who was on his first visit to Australia, and whose private training operation Rebel Racing is situated in Newmarket in the UK.
While it is undoubtedly the most high-profile horse, the colt is not Cunningham’s first taste of Australian racing, with the Brit having previously bought into juvenile filly Life After Love (I Am Invincible), who was purchased by Maher at the same sale last year for $825,000. The daughter of I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) finished fifth in the Magic Millions The Debut (1000m) at the Gold Coast on December 20 in her only outing to date.
Cunningham was delighted with his record-breaking Snitzel colt, which he hopes will bring him back for next year’s Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m).
“I got involved last year with my friend Peter Trainor who has a few with Ciaron and he introduced me to him and we got involved with a filly, who was a possibility to run on Saturday [at the Gold Coast], so we’ve structured a holiday round that. We decided we want to be a little bit more involved, so we came here today to buy another,” Cunningham told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“We were in Sydney to start with and then we popped up to see Gab [Nutt, Maher’s Head Of Owners & Growth] in Bong Bong which is such an impressive facility.”
Cunningham, who was accompanied at the sale by his son Aidan, was given a list of horses to choose from by Maher and said the colt was the stand out pick.
“We asked Ciaron for a list of both colts and fillies he liked and this colt was the standout, so I thought I would listen to the man that knows and I’m just delighted to be involved,” he said.
“This is my first time to Australia – I only turned up ten minutes before he went through the ring, but we came here with the intention of buying him. He probably made a little bit more than we thought he was going to be, but we came all this way and just didn’t want him to get away.”
After owning racehorses since 1993, Cunningham bought Albert House Stables in Newmarket in 2016 and established his brand Rebel Racing, which was named as such after his first solely owned horse, Cockney Rebel (Val Royal), who won both the English 2,000 (Gr 1, 1m) and Irish 2,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m) in 2007.
In 2017, he appointed Richard Spencer – who like Maher was an accomplished jumps jockey – as his private trainer and the pair enjoyed a win at Royal Ascot in their first full season, landing the Coventry Stakes (Gr 2, 6f) with Rajasinghe (Choisir), who, like Cockney Rebel before him, retired to stand at the National Stud in Newmarket.
In 2018, he expanded into Sefton Lodge on the Bury Road in order to develop his private training operations and has enjoyed further success with the likes of Molecomb Stakes (Gr 3, 5f) winner Rumble Inthejungle (Bungle Inthejungle).
Cunningham most recently enjoyed his best season in Europe to date, unearthing a pair of exciting juveniles in Yah Mo Be There (Mohaather), winner of the 2024 Rose Bowl Stakes (Listed, 6f) at Newbury, and Redcar’s Two Year Old Trophy (Listed, 6f) scorer Candy (Ardad), both of whom have Classic aspirations this year.
The owner, who uniquely names his horses after his favourite songs or artists, said he will focus more on quality in Australia rather than look to gather the same numbers he has in the UK.
“I think it works better for us here to have a few horses of a slightly higher quality because it gives me the opportunity to come over and see them run, rather than have the numbers I have in England with the time difference. I think it would work out a lot better for us to be a bit more selective,” Cunningham said.
Having owned horses in many different countries in the past, Cunningham said he was looking to take his operation in a different direction and, while the core of his breeding and racing interests will remain in the UK, he believes his Australian involvement can open up new opportunities.
“I think with the prize–money in Australia being so good there is an opportunity to get some back and there is a lot to learn from here. I’ve had horses before in America, France and tried a few different things in the past,” he said.
“Obviously, my core operation will stay in Newmarket and that is where the numbers are. But, opening up the connection here is great because I am a really, really bad seller of horses and it opens up the opportunity for us to, rather than sell the horses, who are suitable for here [Australia], we will hold them, or at least an interest in them and move them over here.”
When asked whether world domination beckons, Cunningham said: “I am a one man band – I don’t own a country, so we have to try and make it pay a little bit, but business has been good so it’s allowed me to indulge my hobby and I think this is a great way for us to get involved. No more for us this week, we came for him and it’s great we were able to get him.”
Maher and Cunningham’s big purchase claimed the record price from a colt by I Am Invincible out of Anaheed (Fastnet Rock) who sold for $2.7 million at the 2023 sale.
The Snitzel colt also claimed the honours as the highest-priced lot of the 2025 sale from the sister to In Secret (I Am Invincible), who was bought by Randwick-based trainer John Sargent and owner Ian Moses for $2.3 million under the Laguna Partnership banner on Wednesday.
Maher himself is no stranger to playing at the top of the market and said that while he expected the colt to be popular, the figure was slightly higher than he and his team had anticipated.
“The quality, you’ve always got to pay for. The top ones always get stronger. We thought he was one of the colts of the sale,” he said. “It was probably a bit more than expected but the competition is always strong on those big ones.
“He looks really early and sharp. A great pedigree from a quality family with a sharp pedigree.”
The record lot is the second foal out of Humma Humma, who Widden Stud purchased for $1 million at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale in 2021.
The mare’s first foal Price Tag, a daughter of Zoustar (Northern Meteor), was bought from Widden by Dean Hawthorne for Jonathan Munz for $600,000 at the 2024 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale. Trained by Anthony and Sam Freedman, the filly finished third in the Maribyrnong Trial Stakes (Listed, 1000m) on debut and was most recently seen running fourth in the Maribyrnong Plate (Gr 3, 1000m) at Flemington on Melbourne Cup day.
With Thursday’s sale, Widden continued its outstanding record as a top-end operator at Magic Millions.
The Hunter Valley-based farm also holds the record for the highest-priced yearling filly sold at the Gold Coast, having sold the sister to Sunlight (Zoustar), the Listed-winning Clean Energy, for $2.6 million in 2023, and previously held the record for the highest-priced broodmare sold in the ring when Sunlight herself sold for $4.2 million in 2020, a figure that was only bettered last year by Imperatriz (I Am Invincible), who fetched $6.6 million.
“A really proud moment for us. It has been an amazing sale for Widden. We sold Sunlight here as a record–priced mare. Having sold Clean Energy, I think she was a record–priced filly, and now to have the highest–priced yearling, it is a big honour,” said Thompson.
“So thankful for the guys investing in mares with us. We actually bought Humma Humma through this very ring and to see this colt come back and do us so proud here is so humbling and such a special moment.”
Thompson said the colt was always destined for the Magic Millions sale, despite Inglis making a strong case to Widden to sell him at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale later on in the year.
“He had Magic Millions written all over him. He was very strong and forward. A bombproof action, very forward. When you think about Magic Millions and what it is, the race, for me he is just the ideal horse,” he said. “You can take him to any sale. You could take him to the moon and still sell him.
“I know Inglis were disappointed he didn’t go to the Easter sale but I just thought he was the right horse for this sale.
“With nine or ten serious players on him and a couple knuckling down over a $1.5 million, I was always confident he’d sell well but it is hard to know how well.
“Fabulous result – stunning.”