‘The racing is on the uprise again here in Tasmania’
Black clouds clearing for Magic Millions Yearling Sale
Magic Millions’ Tim Brown is focused on the future and believes the Apple Isle thoroughbred industry can recover from its collective black eye, starting with the company’s Tasmanian Yearling Sale at Carrick today.
The auction house’s Victoria and Tasmania manager, Brown will oversee the 140-lot annual sale, a relative cottage industry compared to the mainland, but he believes the state’s premier breeders are proactively attempting to improve the local breed.
Group 1-winning filly Mystic Journey (Needs Further), Group 2 winner Still A Star (Toronado), Soul Patch (Shamus Award) and Palentino (Teofilo) are on the state’s thoroughbred honour roll over the past decade.
Brown, however, does not shy away from the integrity issues which have plagued the state’s racing industry over the past six to 12 months, predominantly concerning high-profile trainers Scott Brunton (thoroughbreds), Ben Yole (harness racing) and Anthony Bullock (greyhound racing).
“After a troubled six months in Tasmanian racing, across all codes, I think we’ve found level ground again and we’re moving onwards with the sale,” Brown said.
“It has always been well supported by mainland buyers and the Tasmanian trainers.
“This year’s yearlings are very well-presented, which have been much-improved over the past five years, and they can compete with any mainland consignors.
“Tasracing is doing a fantastic job, they’re trying to keep the purses up, the race fields are strong and hopefully we can reciprocate by selling a nice bunch of horses to the buying community. The racing is on the uprise again here in Tasmania.”
One of the mainstays of the Tasmanian industry, Grenville Stud, sold a Wootton Bassett (Iffraaj) half-brother to The Everest (1200m) winner Think About It (So You Think) for $900,000 at the Gold Coast in January and the McCulloch family’s Whitemore-based farm also has a quality offering for its home-state sale.
“Obviously we’ve got a large draft of 25 yearlings and it’s very important to have an attractive draft to make sure that mainland buyers continue to come down to the sale,” Bart McCulloch said.
“Certainly, we have got some standout lots that have been well received so far and we were confident coming here that they would be.”
Another high-profile Grenville graduate, the Shane and Cassie Oxlade-trained Sghirripa (Lonhro), ran a luckless seventh to his stablemate Queman (Mint Lane) in Saturday’s Oakleigh Plate (Gr 1, 1100m).
Sghirripa is likely to return to Melbourne for the Newmarket Handicap (Gr 1, 1200m) in a bid to provide the South Australian father-and-daughter trainers with their second Group 1 victory.
“We really look forward to the Newmarket, it doesn’t matter what barrier he draws up the Flemington straight,” McCulloch said.
“He’s a prime example of what we can produce down here and we’ve got another one who springs to mind in Turk Warrior and we’ve got a lovely filly by Frosted out of a half-sister to Turk Warrior, then we’ve got a lovely Stratosphere colt out of Morgatoche who is a half-sister to him as well.”
Tasmanian regulars John Foote, Damon Gabbedy, Bevan Smith and Merrick Staunton, syndicators Joe O’Neill and Star Thoroughbreds’ Denise Martin have again made the trip south, while Victorian trainers Tony McEvoy, John McArdle and Shane Nichols and Adelaide’s James Jolly, the son of trainer Richard, could go head-to-head with their local peers such as Adam Trinder, Glenn Stevenson and John Blacker at the Quercus Park sales complex today.
Armidale Stud’s resident sire Needs Further (Encosta De Lago), in his first crop back in Tasmania after a one-year stint in Victoria, is well represented by 11 yearlings, while Grenville’s Stratosphere (Snitzel) has nine lots set to go under the hammer.
Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Hayasugi’s sire Royal Meeting (Invincible Spirit) has one Grenville Stud-consigned colt in the sale, while Vinery Stud’s Exceedance (Exceed And Excel), Gold Standard (Sebring), Dirty Work (Written Tycoon), Doubtland (Not A Single Doubt) and Hanseatic (Street Boss) are also represented.
McCulloch, who runs Grenville with his father Graeme, has been at the forefront of Tasmanian breeders’ push to reinvest in new broodmares in recent years.
“We are continuing to invest in broodmares and up our investment in service fees and the results are [on show] here,” he said.
“We’ve got some nice ones, a lovely All Too Hard filly out of a half-sister to Sghirrpa’s dam, and we’ve got a lovely Doubtland filly and there’s also a lovely Royal Meeting colt who looks like an early runner.”
Grenville and Armidale Stud are long-standing leading vendors at the Tasmanian sale.
On the other side of the coin is sale rookie Philip Bingley who is consigning yearlings for the first time.
The north–east coast-based builder has had a long family history of owning and racing horses and in recent years he decided to venture into the breeding side of the industry.
His inaugural draft features a Spieth (Thorn Park) colt and a first crop son of Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Levendi (Pierro).
Spieth is the sire of the stakes-placed Birdies Galore and Tasmania’s own Jaguar Stone, an Adam Trinder-trained four-year-old who was co-owned by Bingley’s late father Tim.
Bingley Bloodstock’s first draft was accrued by the purchase of two in-foal broodmares: $600 buy Elusive Encounter (Sepoy), herself a half-sister to Group 2 winner Pied A Terre (Ad Valorem), and More Than A Rose (More Than Ready), a $2,750 Magic Millions Online mare.
“Jaguar Stone is one of Spieth’s better horses and, on the strength of what she’d shown as a two-year-old, I picked up the mare Elusive Encounter in an online auction in foal to him,” Bingley said.
“I actually bought the mare with dad, but sadly dad’s no longer with us. We lost him about seven months ago, so it would be good to see [the colt] sell well.”
Bingley’s portfolio has expanded with three weanlings on the farm – fillies by Needs Further and Dubious (Not A Single Doubt) and a colt by Nicconi (Bianconi) – and he has four mares currently in foal.
“I have always had horses since I was a kid. My grandfather had horses, my dad was in a fair few horses and we all rode growing up and my uncle even had a go at training for a while when I was only young,” he said.
“We’ve always had horses around and it is something that has naturally progressed. I got keener and keener, so I thought, ‘why don’t I breed a couple?’ and now is the time and here we are.”
Bingley credited the assistance of fellow north–east Tasmanian breeder Mandy Gunn for supporting him in his maiden Carrick venture.
“It’s been a big learning curve and a bit overwhelming, but I am lucky enough that I know a few people in the industry who have been very, very helpful,” he said.
“Sean O’Donovan and Mandy Gunn from Motree aren’t far away from where I am, so they’ve mentored me and helped me out.
“I am grateful to them for giving me a hand. It’s a pretty mild climate [where we are], we don’t have harsh winters, so it is good country for horses.
“By the look of the horses Mandy has at the sale, you can see that they do well.”
The sale will start at Quercus Park at 11am local time.