At A Glance: Magic Millions Day 1

>> The opening day of the sale saw an increased median of $180,000, up from $170,000 last year.

>> The overall spend was $48,565,000, with an average of $239,236 and clearance rate of 82.86%.

>> Breeder Nick Wakim joined forces with Milburn Creek to sell the day’s top price of $1.1 million for an Exceed And Excel colt. Exceed And Excel ended the day as leading sire by average.

>> It was a massive day for Coolmore, with first season sire American Pharoah (USA) making a huge impression and Magnier purchasing the day’s top-priced yearling.

>> American Pharoah is the leading first season sire so far with an aggregate of $2,980,000 from nine yearlings sold, while Magnier made his mark on the buyers’ bench with four purchases for a total of $2,870,000.

>> Hawkes Racing are the leading buyers, signing for eight yearlings for a total of $3,480,000.

>> I Am Invincible dominated the early afternoon with two seven-figure colts. He had 15 yearlings sell on the first day for a total of $6,990,000, averaging $466,000.

>> Along with its star stallion’s successes, Yarraman Park Stud played a key role as vendors with three yearlings selling for $600,000 or more. They top the vendors’ table with 12 horses sold for an aggregate of $5,210,000 and an average of $434,167.

>> Alongside American Pharoah, fellow first season sires Astern and Capitalist also made waves. Each had a yearling sell for $725,000 or more. James Harron, who bought Capitalist for $165,000 at this sale five years ago, returned and secured one of his first-crop sons for $750,000.

New partnership strikes Magic Millions gold

In their first year of selling horses together, breeder Nick Wakim of Hilldene Stud and Milburn Creek’s John Muir struck gold late on Wednesday’s first day of the Gold Coast Magic Millions Yearling Sale.

The pair earned a sale-leading price of $1.1 million for Lot 255, a colt by Exceed And Excel out of Dream In Colour (GB) (Frankel {GB}). He was bought by Coolmore Australia principal Tom Magnier.

“We moved to Milburn Creek this year,” Wakim said. “Hopefully this new relationship will go forward from here and produce more nice horses together.

“It came from a conversation I was having with John Messara about where to go in terms of the better consignment farms. Jon Freyer suggested that I should talk to Milburn and said they have a great reputation.

“I called John and started talking to him, and it went from there. That’s how we set it up for this year.

“I’m very happy. This is the first horse out of the gate – it’s a good start!”

Both Wakim and Muir came into the sale with very high hopes for the well-related colt.

“He’s a beautiful, athletic colt,” Muir said. “He’s by Exceed And Excel, who’s one of the best shuttle stallions in the world, and he’s out of a Frankel mare. He ticks all the boxes.

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but we were confident. He was the most popular colt in our draft, and all of the good judges wanted to look at him.”

Wakim paid $750,000 to buy the colt’s dam at the 2018 Magic Millions Gold Coast Weanling and Broodmare Sale.

“We bought the mare, in foal with this colt,” he recalled. “We were originally planning to send her to Not a Single Doubt, but after seeing this colt, we went back to Exceed And Excel instead.

“He’s just a lovely colt. He’s been a fantastic horse from day one. Milburn have done a phenomenal job and prepped him fantastically. He’s been the best of our colts all year.

“I think we had over 30 hits on his X-ray and about 165 views. He was very, very popular. His price probably went a little bit higher than we expected, but that’s a nice bonus.

“He’s going to a great home and we wish them all the best. We still have the mare and the full sister. The full sister was born this year, and she’ll stay with me and race with me.”

Massive afternoon for Coolmore

The purchase of the sale-topping colt late on Wednesday afternoon capped a huge opening day of the sale for Coolmore.

The Exceed And Excel colt was one of four purchases on the day for Magnier, who spent a total of $2,870,000 to sit second on the leading buyers’ standings.

“He (the Exceed And Excel colt) was physically exceptional – a very nice type out of a Frankel mare,” he said. “All the judges were on him, so we’ll take him home, break him in and see where we go from there.

“Things are very positive in this country, prizemoney is very high, so it is a great place to race horses. We are out there now to find colts and hopefully we get a bit of luck along the way. For the top colts this week you’re going to have to pay for them.”

The other major contributor to Coolmore’s big day was the outstanding start by their first season shuttle stallion American Pharoah.

The 2015 American Triple Crown winner well and truly lived up to the pre-sale hype, selling nine yearlings for a total of $2,980,000 at an average of $331,111.

Two of his yearlings fetched $750,000 or more, including Lot 237, who was bought by Magnier for $850,000.

Offered by Lime Country Thoroughbreds, the colt is a half-brother to the G2 Hobartville S. winner Man From Uncle (Uncle Mo {USA}).

“I think American Pharoah will have a big week,” Magnier said. “The top people are buying them, and everybody likes them.

“Since we arrived at the complex, everybody has been talking about American Pharoah. We’re delighted to have a Triple Crown winner down here. He got a great first book of mares, and the results are being seen here today. It’s very exciting.

“This yearling has loads of quality and is very nice physically.”

American Pharoah also earned a $750,000 price tag for Lot 112, out of an unraced half-sister to the Group 1 winner Alinghi (Encosta de Lago). He was bought by Hawkes Racing, who just pipped Magnier at the top of the leading buyers table with eight horses bought for a total of $3,480,000.

“American Pharoah has done a great job in America and Europe, especially with his grass horses, which gives us a bit of confidence,” Wayne Hawkes said. “It’s great to have a Blue Diamond winner on the pedigree page, and hopefully we might head in that direction around this time next year with this colt.”

I Am Invincible stars on opening day

Alongside Exceed And Excel, who topped the day as leading sire by average, I Am Invincible was the other star of the stallions, reaching the million-dollar mark on two occasions.

The Yarraman Park super-sire had 12 yearlings sold on day one for an aggregate of $6,990,000, averaging $466,000.

Lot 69 was the first to reach seven figures, selling to Waller Racing and Mulcaster Bloodstock for $1.05 million.

The colt was offered by Segenhoe Stud and is out of Adrift (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}), who won the G2 Light Fingers S. and is a three-quarter-sister to the Cox Plate winner Maldivian (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}).

“He came up early in the sale,” Guy Mulcaster said. “I think, by the end of the week, he’s going to look like pretty good value.

“We liked him when we saw him on the farm three weeks ago, and we loved him all week. They’ve done a great job with him – he’s just kept improving and looks magnificent.

“He was a target horse for us, and we were lucky enough to be able to get him.”

Segenhoe’s Peter O’Brien was pleased with the result.

“At the end of the day, if you get seven figures for any horse, you’ve got to be happy,” he said. “He’s gone to a great home, Chris Waller. He’ll get every chance. This mare is a young mare, and to have a horse go to the quality of Chris Waller is what we all want.”

Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott secured the other seven-figure I Am Invincible, paying $1 million for Lot 80.

From the draft of Rosemont Stud, the colt is out of Amanpour (Northern Meteor), who won the G1 Queen of the Turf S. for Waterhouse in 2015.

“I Am Invincible is an extraordinary stallion,” Waterhouse said. “He and Snitzel are the two amazing stallions in Australia at the moment who just keep producing top-class horses, and their sons are starting to produce good horses now too. It’s exciting.

“This I Am Invincible colt that just went through the ring, from Rosemont, was just the gun colt of the sale. He’s big and strong.

“I trained his mum, Amanpour, and I know the background. I saw him down on the farm in October, and I said to my owners, ‘He’s just so special.’ We’ve got a great group of owners who wanted to be involved in a very special colt, and Rosemont have kept a share.

“Magic Millions is a wonderful place to come and buy. The horses are so well-developed and precocious. Let’s hope we’re back here next year for the race.”

I Am Invincible also had a $750,000 price tag for Lot 102, who was bought by Stonestreet Stables. Offered by Bhima Thoroughbreds, the filly is out of the Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner Augusta Proud (More Than Ready {USA}), who is the dam of Group 3 winner Thyme for Roses (Redoute’s Choice).

“I Am Invincible is very popular at the moment,” said John Moynihan, who bought the filly on Stonestreet’s behalf.

“She's a beautiful filly, she looks like she will be early. We actually own her sister, Thyme for Roses, and she's one of our broodmares back in the United States. We're tickled to get her.

“Augusta Proud was a very, very good racehorse. We hope this filly can be as half as good as her mum.”

Strong demand for Yarraman Park draft

Aside from the exploits of their champion stallion, Yarraman Park also made its presence felt as vendors on day one on the Gold Coast.

They top the table after the first day with 12 horses sold for a total of $5,210,000, averaging $434,167.

Two blue-blooded colts in their draft sold for $850,000 and $725,000 respectively, while an I Am Invincible filly fetched $600,000.

The $850,000 colt was Lot 210, bought by Hawkes Racing. He is by Hinchinbrook out of Crystal Whip (Lonhro), from the family of Golden Slipper winner Crystal Lily (Stratum) and the well-performed current sprinter Crystal Dreamer (Stratum).

“This is a really lovely colt from a fast-running 2-year-old family,” Wayne Hawkes said. “Not many families can boast Golden Slipper winners – there’s only been about 65 of those. But he’s a lovely horse and we’re lucky to take him home.

“The Hinchinbrooks are a good breed. It’s a shame that the stallion passed away at a young age. We’ve been lucky to have a few of them in our stable.”

Another early strike for Yoshida

Yarraman Park’s $725,000 colt, a son of Darley’s first season stallion Astern, was bought by Marie Yoshida of Asian Bloodstock Services.

Yoshida made her mark early on the opening day of the Magic Millions sale 12 months ago, securing the first seven-figure yearling. She paid $1 million that day for a colt by Medaglia d’Oro (USA) out of the Group 1 winner Peggy Jean (Myboycharlie {Ire}).

She again made an early impact in 2020, putting in the winning bid on the first yearling to reach the $700,000 mark. This time it was Medaglia d’Oro’s son Astern, and it was a yearling from a family that is close to Yoshida’s heart.

The colt is out of Zimaretto (Anabaa), the dam of stakes winners From Within (Not a Single Doubt), Cruden Bay (Not a Single Doubt) and California Zimbol (I Am Invincible).

California Zimbol was bought by Yoshida for $450,000 at the 2018 Inglis Sydney Easter Yearling Sale, and she has won three of her six starts including the G3 Thoroughbred Club S.

She was pleased to pick up her younger half-brother on Wednesday.

“The price was a little bit higher than we wanted, but we didn’t have much choice – we really wanted this colt,” she said.

“He was sold by Yarraman Park, who we’ve been very lucky with in the past. They know how to produce yearlings, and we can buy with confidence from them.

“We previously purchased California Zimbol from them. She is a very, very talented filly for us. The mother seems to be a good producer.

“This colt is by a new sire, Astern, who is by Medaglia d’Oro. We bought a Medaglia d’Oro here last year for a lot of money, and we really like that line.

“We buy five or six yearlings every year. We like to leave them in Australia and have them trained by Peter and Paul Snowden.”

Big Party brother brings big money

The recent feats of exciting Hong Kong sprinter Big Party (Exceed And Excel) created massive interest in his full brother at the Gold Coast.

Lot 226, by Exceed And Excel out of De Groove (Dehere {USA}), sold to legendary Hong Kong trainer John Moore for $900,000.

Big Party himself was a $420,000 purchase at the 2017 Inglis Sydney Easter Sale. He has won five of his nine starts to date, most recently the G3 Bauhinia Sprint Trophy on December 29.

“She (De Groove) sure has been a great producer, especially to Exceed And Excel,” Moore said. “She has Exceeded and excelled you might say!

“We all know about Big Party in Hong Kong. He's really hit his straps this season, he looks a potential Group 1 horse in Hong Kong, so I had to follow it up.

“My wife convinced one of her clients, a mainland Chinese, to allow us to bid on him today and we were successful. I understand the underbidder was Frankie Lor, who trains Big Party, but the colt looks like a real runner to me.”

Harron pays $750,000 for Capitalist colt

Newgate Farm’s Golden Slipper winner Capitalist was another rookie stallion who made a strong impression, headed by a $750,000 price tag for Lot 146.

It was a special moment for buyer James Harron, who paid $165,000 to buy Capitalist himself at this sale in 2015.

“He’s a really special colt,” he said. “A lot of very good judges had a good opinion of the horse, and it’s great for Capitalist going forward.

“When we first walked on to the sale grounds, he was honestly my favourite physical colt of the sale, regardless of which stallion he was by. But I suppose that was an added bonus.

“You can just see such similarities with Capitalist – great shape, very powerful. He looks like a ready-made 2-year-old, which is what we like to see.

“He’s really impressed me from day one. I saw him and the farm and had a good look at him there. Once they get here, you just want to see them thrive, enjoy the experience and soak up the good Queensland weather. He’s done a great job, and hopefully we’ll be back here with him in a year’s time.”

Lot 146 was offered by Newgate and is out of Booklet (Tale of the Cat {USA}), a Listed winner who placed in the G2 Blazer S.

Capitalist has made a strong start with his first crop of yearlings, selling eight for a total of $2,175,000 and an average of $271,875.

Magic Millions Managing Director Barry Bowditch was delighted with how the sale evolved on Day 1.

"It started off a little rough around the edges, but as things went on, it got momentum. It got depth and it got a lot of strength. All in all, having an 83 per cent clearance rate, and a solid average and gross, I think the sale is in good shape for the next three days," he said

"A lot of horses made much more than their reserves. There was plenty of bidding going on, there was plenty of depth in that middle market here. To have more horses make over half a million than we had last year on Day 1 is a great start to the week.

"That's the bread and butter for the breeders and that's where we need to make sure we have the market set. It was very deep and very strong."

Top Lots

Top vendors by average (3 or more sold)

Top vendors by aggregate

Top buyers

Top sires by average (3 or more sold)

Top sires by aggregate