Scissor Kick filly with potent pedigree makes $300,000 in Book 2 at Magic Millions
Demand remains strong in increased second session with one day to go on the Gold Coast
The three-quarter sister by Scissor Kick (Redoute’s Choice) to this season’s Brisbane two-year-old winner True Moonlight (Not A Single Doubt) yesterday topped the opening Book 2 session of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, helping push the aggregate beyond $200 million in the company’s history.
The $300,000 filly, catalogued as Lot 1010 and offered by Arrowfield Stud, was one of 12 lots to make $100,000 or more in the afternoon session in a market which enabled many buyers to get on the results sheet for the first time in 2021.
The filly, whose sibling True Moonlight (Not A Single Doubt) won at Doomben in October for Gold Coast trainer Gillian Heinrich, was bought by All Winners Thoroughbreds. Agent Denys Chan, who had purchased the half-sister to Hong Kong champion Golden Sixty (Medaglia d’Oro) by Capitalist (Written Tycoon) in Book 1, signed for the filly.
The yearling is the sixth live foal out of the stakes-placed Moonlight Hussey (Hussonet) who is a sister to the Group 2 winner Colorado Claire, herself the dam of Todman Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) winner Gunnison (Not A Single Doubt).
Arrowfield Stud’s Paul Messara said: “She was a lovely filly by Scissor Kick. She’s well related and is from a great family, the family of Gunnison, and Colorado Claire, who we sold one of her progeny by Snitzel earlier in the sale (for $425,000).
“She was a fantastic type and those good sorts are well found.”
With one session to go, the Book 2 sale was averaging $59,548, with 83 horses sold yesterday for a total of $4,942,500, at a clearance rate of 81 per cent. The total aggregate for Books 1 and 2 was last night sitting at $202,547,500.
“I think the good ones really stand out in Book 2, which can cause a lot of buyers to come together and there is plenty of competitive tension when they are all on the one horse, that’s for sure,” Messara said.
All Too Hard colts find favour with buyers
Later, Brisbane trainer Chris Anderson landed his fifth purchase of the sale with the addition of a colt by All Too Hard (Casino Prince) for $170,000 after receiving a strong recommendation from agent Duncan Ramage.
Another son of Vinery Stud’s All Too Hard, who is out of the dual European stakes-placed mare Poppet’s Treasure (Dansili), was also sold for $200,000 inside the last hour to Queensland trainer Kacy Fogden.
Anderson, meanwhile, said Ramage was adamant the Cressfield-consigned colt, catalogued as Lot 1018, was a horse that had to end up at his Eagle Farm stables.
“Duncan identified this horse on the farm some time ago and it was one he actually said to me, ‘we can’t afford to go home without him’ and we had a little bit more up our sleeve had we had to go harder,” Anderson said.
“He loved the type of horse that he was and the stallion can throw a very, very good horse as well. I am very happy to take him home.”
The colt is the sixth living foal out of multiple winner Nikkirina (Beautiful Crown) who has produced four winners from as many foals to race.
“Looking at his pedigree so far in terms of who the mare has been to, this is probably her best chance (of success) now, I would have to say, so hopefully that proves to be correct,” he said.
Reflecting on what had taken place so far at this week’s record sale, Anderson said:
“It has been unbelievably tough. I have taken five home now but I reckon I have been under bidder on seven, so we have had a real go. I am certainly pleased with what we’ve got, but it has been very, very strong.”
Hedge banks on history repeating with Ellsberg’s brother
Gerald Ryan, who prepares the potential stakes-class horse Ellsberg, will train the colt’s younger brother by Spill The Beans (Snitzel) after agent Suman Hedge partnered with the Sydney-based horseman to buy a colt by the late sire he used to train for $160,000.
Hedge, who has been active throughout the week through his association with the Victorian Alliance colts partnership, as well as his pinhook group selling through Silverdale Farm, revealed yesterday his close following of the Spill The Beans’ colt’s family, and said he was happy to team up with Ryan for the horse.
“Ellsberg is obviously a pretty talented galloper for Gerald and he’s a horse that creates a lot of interest for me because I tried to buy Ellsberg as a weanling and I just couldn’t get my clients onto the horse. He went for $50,000 and then he made a lot of money as a yearling, so I followed him quite closely,” Hedge said.
“You can see that he is a talented and progressive horse, so that was the first part of it, and then I saw the video of the horse initially. I loved his movement and then I saw the horse here at the sale and he presented very well.
“He looks like an early type of two-year-old and he really resembled the sire.”
The colt, who was catalogued as Lot 987 and consigned by KBL Thoroughbreds, is the fourth living foal out of the three-time winner Love Of Liberty (General Nediym). He was purchased by Pinhook Bloodstock’s Dave Mee for Platinum Racing and Breeding’s Roger Sousa for $34,000 from the Aquis Farm draft at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast National Weanling Sale.
Ellsberg himself was also a successful pinhook for Segenhoe Stud, who bought him for $50,000 before selling him to Ryan for $280,000 at the 2019 Magic Millions Yearling Sale.
Hedge said: “As a seller, it’s been phenomenal. Magic Millions has done a wonderful job. I can’t praise them enough for the catalogue they put together and the way that they navigated some of the most difficult periods of our time. I don’t think many people are aware of the complexities that they have dealt with,” he said.
“They have created a very buoyant marketplace for nice horses and as a buyer it’s been challenging because we’ve had to put ourselves out there to buy the ones that we wanted. It’s great, vibrant, it sets the tone for the rest of the year.”
The Victorian agent did admit, however, that it had proven to be a market in which it was tough to place accurate valuations on horses.
“Many times I felt like an idiot because people were asking me valuations on horses and I was trying my best to put what I thought was normal and I was so far off the mark,” he said.
“I’ve never been further away on some horses. There was a bit of a perfect storm for colts with six or seven syndicates all trying to buy them, and valuing them has been a bit of a nightmare, but we still worked within parameters.
“Even the ones we were aggressive on, we still said, ‘this is the maximum we can go to and if we get beaten, we get beaten’ but it has been very, very challenging.”
The final Book 2 session, which is followed by the Gold Coast Racehorse Sale, starts at 10am today.