Stage set for Australasia’s star mares to shine at the Gold Coast
Tofane and Away Game the headline acts courted by international buying cast at Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale
Optimism is high among traders that the booming Australian thoroughbred market will maintain the rage at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale on the Gold Coast, when some of the country’s best breeding prospects will go under the hammer.
Today’s race fillies and mares session – comprising 243 lots and the opening of three days of selling – will see tens of millions of dollars change hands and onlookers will not have to wait long for the heavy hitters to play their hand, with some of the best-credentialled horses going through the ring within the first 90 minutes of trade this morning.
Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch believes there will be “great depth at the top end of the market” with buyers from across Australia, New Zealand and around the world paying close attention to the largest breeding stock sale in the southern hemisphere.
“That depth has been evident over the past few years and those blue chip mares, they only come to market once or twice in their career, so if you’re not participating here you’re very unlikely to be able to own these sorts of mares at any point in the future,” Bowditch said yesterday.
“The buyers we’ve been speaking to, internationally or the ones here on the ground, this is their opportunity. Given the buoyancy of our industry and the yearling sale market, the prize-money levels here in Australia, there’s no reason why these mares won’t be highly sought after.”
Newgate Farm holds plenty of aces within their draft over the next three days, including probable leading lights Tofane (Ocean Park) and Away Game (Snitzel) and a host of other high-end race and in-foal mares.
“Bruce (Slade) and the team have done a fantastic job collecting some of the best-performed race mares and broodmares throughout Australia into our draft for this sale,” Newgate stud manager Jim Carey said yesterday.
“There’s too many to mention individually, but we have a fantastic draft, a beautiful bunch of fillies.
“It’s a huge team effort from everybody on the farm and from everybody at the sales and it’s a great honour from myself and everyone at Newgate to be able to present such a wonderful draft.”
The most expensive mare sold at the Gold Coast sale is Sunlight (Zoustar), who made $4.2 million in 2020, while Avantage (Fastnet Rock) sold for NZ$4.1 million through New Zealand Bloodstock’s online platform Gavelhouse last year. Both mares were purchased by Coolmore’s Tom Magnier, who also paid $2.7 million for Shout The Bar (Not A Single Doubt) at Inglis’s Chairman’s Sale earlier this month.
At last year’s Magic Millions sale, Arcadia Queen (Pierro) was sold for $3.2 million to Arrowfield while Listen Here (Elusive Quality), the dam of Deep Field (Northern Meteor) and Shooting To Win (Northern Meteor), made $3.4 million at the 2016 sale.
Tofane was an intended star attraction at last year’s sale, only for connections led by Rupert Legh to pull her out of the sale at the last minute, a move justified by her adding the Stradbroke Handicap (Gr 1, 1400m) and Tattersall’s Tiara (Gr 1, 1400m) as well as the CF Orr Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) to her record.
The Gordon Cunningham-bred rising seven-year-old, who was trained firstly by Mike Moroney and Pam Gerard before joining Moroney’s Australian stable, retired as the winner of eight races and almost $3.7 million on the racetrack.
The four-time Group 1 winner (Winx and Black Caviar are the only mares to have won more Group 1s in recent times) could make that amount again in the sales ring, although putting an accurate figure on a mare of her quality and depth of pedigree can be fraught with danger, even for the most ardent of industry experts.
“They probably did the right thing when you look back on it,” Carey said when reflecting on Tofane’s withdrawal from last year’s auction.
“She performed to the highest level throughout the year and she’s a beautiful individual, so she’s been very well received.”
Newgate Farm will also offer the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained Away Game, a four-year-old who is the epitome of Australian racing, in conjunction with part-owner Hannah Jennings’ Killora Consignment.
A Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) and Percy Sykes (Gr 2, 1200m) winner at two, a preparation punctuated by her second placing in the Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m), Away Game was also victorious at three and has twice been Group 1-placed at four, in the Oakleigh Plate (Gr 1, 1100m) and Robert Sangster Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m).
She could shed the Group 1 bridesmaid tag on Saturday in the $700,000 Kingsford-Smith Cup (Gr 1, 1300m) at Eagle Farm for new owners while the Stradbroke Handicap (Gr 1, 1400m) and the Tattersall’s Tiara (Gr 1, 1400m) during the Queensland Winter Carnival remains on the cards.
“There’s not many opportunities for people to buy a mare on the Tuesday and then for her to possibly be a Group 1 winner on the Saturday,” Carey said.
“That is what somebody has the opportunity to do when she’s sold, hopefully. She’s a quality filly, champion two-year-old, she’s performed at every level and she’s a beautiful specimen.”
Glenesk Thoroughbreds’ Brett Howard, who sold Shout The Bar in Sydney, will offer another select draft at the Gold Coast, Group 2 winner Swift Witness (Star Witness) being the main drawcard.
The buyer of the stakes-placed, winning juvenile Swift Witness is also eligible for a free nomination to a Darley Australia stallion up to a fee of $66,000 (inc GST) as a reward for being the joint winner for the Darley Princess Series for her performances last spring, which included a win in the Silver Shadow Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m).
“She ticks those boxes. She was a very good two-year-old and a very good three-year-old filly up to a mile and she is gorgeous physically,” Howard said.
“Everyone who has had her out has all said the same thing: ‘beautiful filly’.”
Prime Thoroughbreds’ Joe O’Neill will also part with his prized three-time Group winner Rubisaki (Rubick) early in the session. A former Patrick Payne-trained horse, Rubisaki will hold major buyers’ attention inside the first 15 minutes of the three-day sale.
“(The story) does end in the sense that we bought Rubisaki at the Inglis Classic sale a few years ago, 2018 it was, and now we sell her here on the Gold Coast, but we’ve still got a good part of the family,” O’Neill said yesterday.
“She has been fantastic, we paid $85,000 for her and she won over $1.2 million plus whatever she brings in the ring, so for those owners she has brought them on an amazing journey.”
Rubisaki will be offered by Yarraman Park as Lot 508.
Carey believes the market will remain vibrant over the next three days.
“We have been the leading consignor at two of the four main yearling sales this year and I can’t see why it wouldn’t be any different here with the foot traffic we’ve had and the interest that’s been shown from people,” he said.
Importantly, the middle market is also predicted to be extremely solid this week, as has been evident across yearling sales and this month’s weanling auctions.
“I found speaking to buyers here, the race fillies session holds great appeal at all levels of the market, whether you’re buying a mare to turn over, put her in foal and bring her back or mares to fit your farm’s breeding program,” Bowditch said.
“There’s a mare here at all budgets that tickles the fancy. It is a very appealing lot of race fillies, which is fantastic, and I think that dovetails into the mares in foal where we’ve got some outstanding covers and some outstanding race records in our broodmare in foal section.”
Howard expects the market to continue the upwards trajectory it’s been on so far this year.
“The yearling market has been up 15 per cent or so this year, so there’s no reason why we wouldn’t expect the market to be up about the same and I think that’s what we saw at the Chairman’s Sale in Sydney,” Howard said.
“There’s more buyers here at this sale, but there’s a greater selection as well. There’s plenty of people who have shares in stallions or have bookings and are still looking for mares, so if you don’t have a mare now, you’re going to have to buy one here. This is the last big sale where there’s a high-quality draft to choose from.”
US-bred Coolmore Classic (Gr 1, 1500m) winner Lighthouse (Mizzen Mast), a supplementary to the race fillies and mares session, is also expected to be among the most sought-after horses this week, as will another late entry, the Tony and Calvin McEvoy-trained and Spendthrift Australia-owned three-year-old Mac ‘N’ Cheese (Sebring). The half-sister to the Group 1-winning stallion Exceedance (Exceed And Excel) and Group 2 winner Oxley Road (Exceed And Excel) sells as Lot 731.
Today’s race fillies and mares session, which starts at 10am, will close out with the auctioning of shares in stallions All Too Hard (Casino Prince), Headwater (Exceed And Excel), Tagaloa (Lord Kanaloa), Cosmic Force (Deep Field) and Extreme Choice (Not A Single Doubt). Another share in Extreme Choice sold for $500,000 at the Chairman’s Sale earlier this month.
Lots to watch – day one
Lot 508 Rubisaki (Rubick)
Lot 519 She’s Ideel (Dundeel)
Lot 526 Still A Star (Toronado)
Lot 533 Swift Witness (Star Witness)
Lot 540 Tilianam (Savabeel)
Lot 542 Tofane (Ocean Park)
Lot 553 Victoria Quay (Dundeel)
Lot 572 Zou Dancer (Zoustar)
Lot 584 Away Game (Snitzel)
Lot 587 Ballistic Lover (Smart Missile)
Lot 610 Crystal Bound (Not A Single Doubt)
Lot 643 Glistening (Zoustar)
Lot 699 Nice For What (Shalaa)
Lot 721 Exotic Ruby (Snitzel)
Lot 723 Lighthouse (Mizzen Mast)
Lot 730 Forever You (Galileo)
Lot 731 Mac ‘N’ Cheese (Sebring)
Lot 742 So You Assume (So You Think)
Outside the square – day one
Lot 524 The Mission-Snapdragon
Lot 579 Amiche (Nicconi)
Lot 617 Danny’s Sparkle (Scissor Kick)
Lot 656 Island Joy (Hinchinbrook)