The Magic Millions 2YOs In Training Sale will take place in unusual circumstances on Tuesday with the sale being held later than usual and without its normal international buying bench on-site, but Magic Millions Managing Director Barry Bowditch is hopeful the Sale will hold up just as well.

“It’s obviously difficult this year for these sort of sales given your predominantly reliant on attendants from Asia, Sydney and Victoria, so without those areas being able to attend in numbers, it is quite tricky,” Bowditch told TDN AusNZ.

“But in saying that, a lot of our regular buyers from these areas are engaging in other ways, whether it be by using an agent or the information we’re able to provide for them, so we’re hopeful that we’re giving them full reason to buy at the Sale.”

The first of the Southern Hemisphere breeze-up sales, the Inglis Ready2Race Sale, which was held on October 20, saw plenty of international action through online bidding with the top three lots all being purchased by Asian buyers.

Bowditch said that while it’s impossible to be confident heading into a sale with so much uncertainty surrounding, those results were encouraging for the sales house and the vendors.

“It’s hard to be confident going into it but obviously participation from internationals and their adaptability to be able to use our technology is encouraging,” he said. “It’s hard to sugarcoat the reality of the situation we’re in.

"I think luckily our vendors are professionals and they’re realistic. All the good horses that have come out of this sale have been sold in the past and we believe this is another great catalogue.

“I think, whether it be the international or the domestic market, we’re going to be providing a lot of value and a lot of opportunity for the market.”

The 218-lot catalogue features progeny by the likes of leading sires Exceed And Excel, Written Tycoon, Not A Single Doubt and Pierro as well as popular young sires such as Deep Field, Zoustar and Capitalist.

Normally, the Magic Millions 2YOs In Training Sale would be the first of the Southern Hemisphere breeze-up sales to take place, however this year it is the second of the three but Bowditch doesn’t think the change of timing will have an effect on the results.

“I think it will be pretty similar from that perspective,” he said. “I think the Sale moving back is just in line with where we thought we’d find the best slot to get as many people here as possible and for people to get prepared and plan for the market, given the yearling sale in June moved back.

“It just worked for us to move the Sale back, our vendors are encouraged by the reason we did move it back.

“I’m just hopeful the market gets behind the Sale and sees an opportunity to engage, whether it be through an agent, whether it be Magic Millions, whether it be the technology on the website, or to do their work and give themselves time to play in what we’ve seen as a value market.”

The recently completed Melbourne Cup carnival once again showcased the diversity of successful bloodlines in the Australian thoroughbred industry, with the progeny of 29 different stallions successful over the 37 races held across the four days.

Written Tycoon, now stationed at Arrowfield Stud, was the most numerically successful stallion through the week with three winners, all at Group 3 level with the wins of Rich Hips and Finance Tycoon on Melbourne Cup day followed up with Written Beauty's success in the G1 Red Roses S. on Thursday.

Five stallions had two winners at Flemington across the week, Dundeel (NZ), Exceed And Excel, Pierro, Tavistock (NZ) and Toronado (Ire). Darley's Exceed And Excel was the only stallion to have multiple Group 1 winners in G1 Coolmore Stud S. victory September Run and G1 Darley Sprint Classic hero Bivouac. Swettenham Stud's Toronado and departed Cambridge Stud stallion Tavistock also both had multiple stakes winners.

The diversity of bloodlines also flowed to the broodmare sires of those 37 winners, with 29 different stallions also represented. The influential Zabeel (NZ) had the most success with the progeny of his mares with four winners in total, including the G1 Victoria Derby winner Johnny Get Angry (NZ), who became the fourth Group 1 winner by Tavistock out of a Zabeel mare.

More Than Ready (USA) was represented as the broodmare sire of three winners across the week, most notably by Bivouac, while Danehill Dancer (Ire) mares also produced three winners, all at stakes level. Encosta De Lago, currently leading the Australian Broodmares Sires table, had two winners across the carnival at Flemington.

Table: Most wins at the Melbourne Cup Carnival by sire

Trainers and jockeys

The most successful stable across the week was the new look Lindsay Park outfit of Tom Dabernig and Ben Hayes, who had five overall, including their first Group 1 winner as a partnership with Personal (Fastnet Rock). Chris Waller had three winners, all on the first day, including a Group 1 double with September Run and Yulong Prince (SAF) (Gimmethegreenlight).

Other trainers to have multiple winners across the week were Archie Alexander, James Cummings, Phillip Stokes, Team Hawkes, Richard and Chantelle Jolly and John O'Shea.

A further 17 stables had one winner for the week, meaning that there were 26 individual trainers who got horses in the winner's circle.

The spread of winning jockeys was a little more concentrated, with 19 of them in all. Melbourne Cup winning jockey Kerrin McEvoy was joined by Craig Williams and Hugh Bowman with four wins apiece, while Damien Oliver, Damian Lane, William Pike, Declan Bates, Daniel Stackhouse, Jye McNeil, Michael Poy, Luke Currie and Luke Nolen all rode two winners apiece.

Table: Winning jockeys at the Melbourne Cup Carnival

Breeders and vendors

Breaking down the breeders of the 37 individual winners sees only a couple of names feature twice. Greg Perry bred the Derby winner Johnny Get Angry through his Greenwich Stud, but also had an involvement in the partnership that bred both Exhilarates (Snitzel) and Outrageous (All Too Hard).

Gerry Harvey was also part of the group who bred Outrageous and is also the breeder of Do You Reckon (So You Think {NZ}). The remaining 33 winners were bred by different entities.

Nearly 65 per cent of Flemington winners across the week, 24 in all, were offered through an Australian or New Zealand Yearling Sale. The remainder were either homebred or privately sold.

The most successful vendor from those horses sold through the yearling sales was Vinery Stud, who offered both Exhilarates and Outrageous. There were 22 other vendors who had their graduates greet the judge first across those 37 races.

The average price of those 23 horses as yearlings in Australasia was $196,957. Oaks winner Personal was the most expensive of them at $640,000, while the least expensive buys were Johnny Get Angry and Tralee Rose (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}), who were both NZ$50,000.

Sourcing the winners

That latter pair were two of the four winning graduates from the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale at Karaka for the week.

Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale had seven winners across the four days of racing, including G1 Empire Rose S. winner Shout The Bar (Not A Single Doubt).

Inglis' Melbourne Premier Sale had four winning graduates, among them the Coolmore Stud S. winner September Run, while the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale had two winning graduates for the week, including Group 1 winner Personal, and the Inglis Classic Sale three winning graduates.

Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale had two winning graduates, while the National Yearling Sale, run by the same company, had one.

The honour for the most successful buyer was split between Paul Moroney Bloodstock and Richard and Chantelle Jolly with two Flemington Cup week winners sourced from the yearling sales apiece.

Table: Winning sale graduates at the Melbourne Cup Carnival

The plan to revitalise the Auckland racing scene proposes to double average stake levels per race from NZ$50,000 to NZ$100,000, at least 40 race days annually on an international standard track at Ellerslie where a StrathAyr surface will be installed and three races worth NZ$1 million and 10 at NZ$500,000 each year.

Central to the proposal is a merger of the Auckland and Counties Racing Clubs and continued dialogue with the Avondale Jockey Club (AJC) and the opportunity for it to join the partnership.

“I think it’s a watershed day for the advancement of what was put in place by the Messara Report and it’s a real positive,” Counties Racing Club Chairman Mark Chitty said.

“There will always be detractors, but continuing to do what we do and expecting a different result isn’t going to happen, it’s no longer sustainable.

“This is a growth strategy and a lot of projections in racing in the last little while have all been on a downward spiral. There are reduced numbers, reduced foal crop and costs going up and everything getting worse. This is an attempt to turn that all around.”

Chitty said there was a determination to move forward with the proposals at a good pace.

“It’s got to go through a member approval process and it is early stages, but it will probably evolve within the next few months. We’re going to keep rolling with it.

“We don’t know the response from Avondale yet, but fundamentally, what has been proposed is between Ellerslie and Counties and the Deloitte report was looking at the economic model for an amalgamated entity.

“It has to be presented in front of members. There is a members’ forum set for Avondale (on Tuesday) and Ellerslie and Counties will do the same thing. Avondale is a key cog in the wheel for northern racing and they have to make their own decisions.”

The sale of assets is required to generate funding for increased stakes and facility improvements at Ellerslie and Chitty said the creation of an investment portfolio will help future-proof the funding model of the new club.

“You are going to want in the vicinity of a NZ$200 to NZ$250 million fund. From what we have got out of our Deloittes report we can achieve that.

“To future proof you need to ring-fence investment so that it does not go into infrastructure or working capital.

“It needs to continue to earn you money and that possibly hasn’t been done previously.

“One of those premises is raising an investment fund that allows us to put money into stakes. We are going to get a racing dividend from the TAB from turnover, but this is its own investment doing the work.

“I think everyone is seeing this as very much industry orientated and owner orientated. We only have to look across the Tasman to see that people want to be involved within Australian racing from all around the world because they are returning 48 to 50 cents in the dollar.”

Independent analysis

Independent analysis of the plan by Deloitte has suggested an amalgamation of ARC and the CRC would create a Club with the financial strength and facilities to meet the objectives that the Clubs are looking to achieve.

“The Clubs would be in a position to materially lift stake money and other returns to the industry as a consequence of their ability to release capital and build a significant investment portfolio – the returns on which would supplement distributions from New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing,” it said.

“A successful execution of the amalgamation option would position Auckland to lead the way for the restructure of the New Zealand thoroughbred industry. That is essential if the industry is to survive and flourish.”

While Pukekohe may no longer host race meetings under the new proposal, Chitty said the establishment of a training facility near the township is a major talking point.

“I am very mindful of attempting to develop a training centre. I think it is important to facilitate the horses and people.

“Obviously, you can’t go back to the inner city to train racehorses. From where I sit, I would like to see training developed further and bringing young people into the industry.”

On Monday, members of the Auckland Racing Club (ARC) and the Counties Racing Club (CRC) were updated on the action plan by letter from Chitty and ARC Chairman Doug Alderslade.

Vinery first-season sire Star Turn has got his career as a stallion off to a strong start with his progeny performing in some of the most lucrative early juvenile races and on Saturday, the son of Star Witness secured a major milestone when Miss Hipstar became his first winner.

Trained by Kelly Schweida, Miss Hipstar made a winning debut in an 1100 metre event for 2-year-old fillies, as she led from point to post to score an 0.5l win.

Star Turn is also responsible for Astrologer, who finished third in the G3 Breeders’ Plate, and Mortal Witness, who was fourth in the R. Listed Inglis Banner as well as two other placegetters from just six runners.

Peter Orton, General Manager of Vinery Stud, said he was delighted for Star Turn to finally get off the mark and land his first winner after his string of unlucky placings.

“It was wonderful to get that winner up because obviously he’s been going very well,” he told TDN AusNZ. “With those placings, he was very unlucky not to have won those races so to get that winner on the board was very important.”

Star Turn became the seventh first-season stallion to sire a winner so far this season and Orton said he believes that he stacks up in a talented crop of young sires.

“I think the stats are what they are but to see the quality of the horses he’s had running and the placegetters, you can see that they’re eminent winners, but all the horses that have been presented to the races, they all look to have above-average ability,” Orton said.

“So his prospects are looking very good up against a very good field of first-season horses.”

Off the back of his impressive early results and positive feedback from his first crop of juveniles, Orton said Star Turn has reaped the rewards in the breeding barn.

“Certainly in the last month he has picked up a lot of mares,” Orton said. “He went through the sales earlier this year and they sold particularly well and he’d built great momentum but the break from COVID-19 knocked that momentum a but.

“What’s good to see is that they’re very nice horses but they’ve still got to get out there and prove it and he’s certainly getting out the and proving it now.”

Couldn't be happier

Meanwhile, fellow young Vinery sire Exceedance is completing his first season and Orton said the farm couldn’t be any happier with how the son of Exceed And Excel is progressing.

“Exceedance is phenomenal,” Orton said. “He’s covering his mares particularly well, his fertility is extraordinary and he’s developed into the most magnificent horse you’ll see.”

On the flip side, their older stallion All Too Hard more popular than ever before off the back of a career-best year which has featured the feats of Group 1 winners Alligator Blood and Behemoth.

Orton said his ability to produce winners at all levels has made his a popular choice for breeders of any type.

“He is very popular because he just gets so many winners every day and he has so many runners,” Orton said. “He is doing particularly well and he’s establishing himself as a really genuine sire of runners and winners and has proved he can get a top-liner as well.

“He’s been super popular this year and commercially they’re holding up.

“Nice horses bring nice money and it’s good for breeders. He’s a lovely, big horse and he’s got a good book of mares and he’s handling the season really well.”

Once his racing career is over, Vinery will also be adding G1 Golden Rose and G1 Caulfield Guineas winner Ole Kirk (Written Tycoon) to its roster, and Orton said the huge acquisition was a testament to the hard work they have done in developing a quality roster.

“We’ve certainly worked hard to get some good, hard, young and genuine horses that we truly believe in and our momentum is going really well with our young horses performing well,” he said.

“It’s a great opportunity and great timing to get a horse of the calibre of Ole Kirk. What we’re looking for in a stallion, he just ticks every box.

“He’s by a very good stallion that’s just winning everything at the moment, he’s an outcross which put extra values on him. He’s won Group 1 races, but the premier Group 1 races up against good, quality horses so there have been no easy wins there at all, and he’s got one of the most active pedigrees in the Australian Stud Book at the moment.

“When you’re spending a lot of money on these horses, they’re the things you’ve got to have for a good base value. He’ll have a great opportunity, he’s got a great ownership group with leading breeders and this horse is in for a great opportunity.”

Cover image courtesy of Fasig-Tipton

At A Glance

>> Monomoy Girl, who captured her second G1 Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Saturday, went to B. Wayne Hughes’s Spendthrift Farm.

>> Fasig-Tipton sold 142 horses for a total of US$80,237,000 (AU$110 million), In 2019, 128 head grossed US$68,011,000 (AU$93.26 million).

>> The average was US$565,049 (AU$774,804) up from US$531,336 (AU$728,576) last year .

>> The median was US$200,000 (AU$272,400), down from US$300,000 (AU$411,360).

>> The clearance rate was 67.3 per cent .

>> Six of the 22 horses who sold for seven figures on Sunday were purchased by Hughes’s Spendthrift operation .

>> Spendthrift also purchased Grade 1 winners Bast (USA) (Uncle Mo {USA}), She’s A Julie (USA) (Elusive Quality {USA}) and Got Stormy (USA) Get Stormy {USA}) .

Spendthrift spends up after Classic success

Monomoy Girl, a 5-year-old mare, who will return to training with Brad Cox, spearheaded a remarkable night of bidding for the Spendthrift team, which purchased 12 horses for US$25,030,000 (AU$34.32 million).

“It was a remarkable evening,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. “I think if I would have told someone six months ago when our world kind of changed, or six weeks ago, or six days ago, or even yesterday that we were going to sell $80 million worth of horses tonight and 22 horses for a million dollars or more, they probably would have said I was delusional.

"But the success of the Sale this evening was built upon having a tremendous catalogue of quality horses. It’s as simple as that. It really does begin and end with the quality of the horses who were entrusted to us for this catalogue. It was a spectacular catalogue.

“I think the kind of mares we zeroed in on for this sale are just not affected very much by market conditions,” said Spendthrift General Manger Ned Toffey. “We were pretty sure that for these high-end mares, it would be pretty competitive. What will the lesser mares go on through the books at Keeneland bring? Who knows. We are as curious to see as anybody.”

Spendthrift captured Saturday’s G1 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic with Authentic (Into Mischief {USA}) before continuing its domination in the sales ring Sunday.

“If Wayne Hughes isn’t an inspiration to everybody involved in our industry, I don’t know who is,” Browning said. “He is an innovator, he puts his money up, he puts his ideas up and he puts his heart in it. You may not always agree with what he does or what he thinks in terms of business philosophy, but he is willing to get behind his product and he’s willing to be different.

"He’s a remarkable man. You can see why he has been an enormously successful businessman. He is a blessing and a great asset to our industry. The participation that Spendthrift demonstrated tonight, and honestly have demonstrated in the stallion game in the last 24 months, has been remarkable and there are bright days ahead for Spendthrift. But I would be completely remiss not to say tip of the cap and a thank you to Mr. Hughes and the whole team there because they were a huge part of the success of the sale tonight.”

While international participation in the marketplace has been limited in recent months due to travel restrictions caused by the global pandemic, Japanese buyers were out in force Sunday at Newtown Paddocks. Katsumi Yoshida purchased four horses for seven figures, led by the US$2.2-million (AU$3.02 million) Miss Besilu (USA) (Medaglia D’Oro {USA}), while Shadai Farm purchased Competitionofideas (USA) (Speightstown {USA}) for US$1.3 million (AU$1.78 million).

“There was a broad buying bench with significant participation from Japanese buyers,” Browning said. “I am not surprised. I think one thing we’ve watched over the last 25 years is that the Japanese breeding industry has a long-term perspective, a much longer term perspective than we do in America and even than the Europeans do.

"They are looking to acquire the best equine athletes in the world and produce quality racehorses. They bought some exceptional horses tonight. You could kind of sense that there would be a perceived buying opportunity combined with an exceptional catalogue of horses who fit their profile.”

Monomoy Girl shines brightest

When Brad Weisbord and Liz Crow’s Elite Sales sold two-time champion Tepin (USA) (Bernstein {USA}) for US$8 million (AU$10.97 million) at the 2017 renewal of this auction, the partners never imagined they could top that moment, but they did just that Sunday when selling their beloved champion Monomoy Girl.

"I am really proud of her and proud of our whole team,” said Crow after hugging Weisbord and trainer Brad Cox. “It was a really emotional day. It was kind of hard not knowing what was going to happen going up to the ring. We obviously had a lot of interest in her from everyone. You just want her to go to the right hands and I am glad they got her. They obviously know what they are doing with campaigning top horses such as [G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic hero] Authentic. I am sure they will do great things with her next year.”

Crow picked out Monomoy Girl for a modest US$100,000 (AU$137,120) at the 2016 Keeneland September Sale on behalf of Michael Dubb, Sol Kumin’s Monomoy Stables, the Elkstone Group and Bethlehem Stables. Entrusted to Cox, the chestnut has won 13 of her 15 starts, with seven of those being Grade 1s, and earned over US$4.4 million (AU$6.03 million). She already has one Eclipse Award on her resume and is guaranteed to win another this year after capturing her second G1 Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff Saturday across town at Keeneland.

Monomoy Girl missed her entire 2019 campaign after a battle with colic and then a hamstring injury, but returned better than ever in 2020 with four decisive victories.

“There is a lot of emotion after that,” said Cox. “It was electric to say the least. I am hoping to meet the new connections and lobby for a 2021 campaign.”

Cox was one of the first to congratulate Spendthrift’s General Manager Ned Toffey after the hammer fell and was successful in his mission. Toffey announced that Monomoy Girl would return to Cox’s care for a 2021 campaign.

“She is a superstar. She is an all-timer,” said Toffey. “She will go back to Brad Cox. That’s the plan right now, but we will let her decide, as long as everything stays the same. She appears very sound. The vet checked her out and everything looks good. She will train for another year and we have a stallion or two that will suit her. We will sit down with Brad and assess from there.”

The long-term goal for 2021 would be an attempt for a third Distaff. Should she accomplish this feat, Monomoy Girl would actually be the second three-time Breeders’ Cup winner in Spendthrift’s broodmare band, which is ruled by four-time Eclipse winner Beholder (USA) (Henny Hughes {USA}).

It was a banner night in many ways for Weisbord and Crow’s operation, which sold seven mares for a whopping US$22.05 million (AU$30.24 million) with an average of US$3.15 million (AU$4.32 million). Their star-studded line-up also included US$5-million (AU$6.86 million) champion Midnight Bisou (USA)(Midnight Lute {USA}); US$4.1-million (AU$5.62 million) Eclipse winner Uni (GB) (More Than Ready {USA}) (Lot 228); US$1.3-million (AU$1.78 million) Competitionofideas (USA) (Speightstown {USA}) and US $1.05-million (AU$1.44 million) Mirth (USA) (Colonel John {USA}).

Spendthrift proves unstoppable

Spendthrift did not stop there, however. They were back in action immediately, buying the next two hips after Monomoy Girl: Hip 193, US$1.8-million (AU$2.47 million) Mother Mother (USA) (Pioneerof The Nile {USA}), and Hip 194, US$800,000 (AU$1.096 million) Motion Emotion (USA) (Take Charge Indy {USA}).

Mother Mother was one of several million-dollar purchases hailing from the Bob Baffert barn. The 4-year-old was consigned by Gainesway as a racing or broodmare prospect on behalf of a partnership that included Gainesway, Barry Lipman, Mark Mathiesen, Barry Hall and Andrew Molasky.

“She is a beautiful mare. I love her,” Toffey said. “She will come to the farm and be a broodmare. We didn’t have a stallion in particular in mind. She is just a really nice mare we wanted to add to the band.”

Three-time Grade 1 winner Bast was the Spendthrift team’s second most expensive purchase of the day at US$4.2 million (AU$5.76 million). Last seen winning the G2 Santa Ynez S. in Jan. 5, the Baffert runner was retired six weeks later due to a soft tissue injury and bred to Triple Crown hero Justify (USA).

“No secret here,” Toffey said. “When you see that kind catalogued, you hope you come out here and you’re not disappointed. When you see her, you’re certainly not disappointed–she’s just a big, impressive filly. She’s just a superstar; the talent, plus the pedigree, and in foal to a heck of a horse, so we’re excited.”

He continued, “He’s a wonderful sire–or we think he can be a wonderful sire, I should say. If you can get a chance to get a mare in foal to a horse like that, that’s always exciting.”

Toffey went to $3 million (AU$4.11 million) to secure stunning, dual Grade 1 heroine She’s A Julie, who will now retire to the Spendthrift broodmare band and is likely to visit the farm’s superstar sire Into Mischief (USA).

“This is just a big, gorgeous, talented race mare,” Toffey said. “She will probably go to Into Mischief. She fits him well on paper. She is a really nice mare. We couldn’t be more excited to have her. She is a superstar. There aren’t too many better looking ones out here than that.”

Racing fans will also get another chance to see two-time Grade 1 winner and 2019 GI Breeders’ Cup Mile runner-up Got Stormy compete as Toffey said she will also return to training for 2021.

“She will go back to Mark Casse,” Toffey said. “Mark feels she is very sound and obviously Mark knows her best. She will go to his place in Ocala and get a little time off. Again, we will let the horses tell us, but she also appears to be very sound. We will let Mark give her a little break and then gear up for another campaign.”

As for the mare’s future mate, Toffey said, “We have a pretty nice stallion that warrants a mare like that.”

Galileo date for Rushing Fall

Rushing Fall (USA) (More Than Ready {USA}), fresh off a runner-up effort in Saturday’s G1 Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, is expected to ship to Ireland for a date with super-sire Galileo (Ire) after bloodstock agent Jamie McCalmont went to US$5.5 million (AU$7.54 million) at Fasig-Tipton Sunday to acquire the 5-year-old on behalf of Coolmore’s M.V. Magnier.

“What’s not to like?” Coolmore’s Adrian Wallace said when asked about the mare’s appeal. “She is a wonderful physical. She’s a mare that we loved from the moment we saw her. The plan is to send her to Ireland to go to Galileo. The future is bright.”

Bloodstock agent Mike Ryan purchased Rushing Fall on behalf of Bob Edwards’s Five Racing Thoroughbreds for US$320,000 (AU$438,790) at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale. The bay became Edwards’s second Breeders’ Cup winner when she won the 2017 G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. She also won the 2019 G1 Longines Just a Game S., 2018 G1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S., and 2020 G1 Diana S., as well as the 2019 and 2020 renewals of the G1 Coolmore Jenny Wiley S. at Keeneland.

“She was wonderful from start to finish,” Ryan said. “She never let us down. She is the best filly I’ve ever bought and one of the best fillies I’ve ever seen. From a physical appearance standpoint, she was a 10 out of 10. She’s gone to a great home. I can’t wait to see the offspring out of her.”

Coolmore won out on Rushing Fall following an extended duel, with bids volleying between the pavilion and the back walking ring.

“We were probably running out of petrol,” Wallace admitted. “It was spirited bidding and it’s lovely to see on a night like tonight. All of these mares are household names and it’s great that people are here in a year like this to be able to support the industry and support those owners and trainers who campaigned them so well. It’s great that we can all be here to do it.”

Among the underbidders on Rushing Fall was Hunter Valley Farm’s Fergus Galvin, who was doing his bidding on behalf of a partnership in the balcony of the pavilion. Galvin was also an underbidder on the $9.5-million Monomoy Girl.

Allen buys out Bisou Partners

Allen Racing’s Chuck Allen, seated in the front row next to Bloom Racing’s Jeff Bloom, simply couldn’t part with their five-time Grade 1-winning mare Midnight Bisou (USA) (Midnight Lute {USA}), and fended off some stiff competition to buy out his partners on a winning bid of US$5 million (AU$6.86 million). The near US$7.5-million (AU$10.28 million) earner was consigned as Hip 185 by ELiTE.

“I didn’t know how that was going to play out, but in the end, Chuck Allen, one of the partners decided he wanted to have her,” said Bloom, who bought Midnight Bisou for just US$80,000 at the 2017 OBS April sale. “I’ll have to get with Chuck, and obviously I’ll help him out with what the future plans are going to be. She’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Chuck to incorporate into his program. I couldn’t think of a more impressive broodmare to add to the portfolio for him.”

Midnight Bisou, winner of the 2018 G1 Santa Anita Oaks and G1 Cotillion S.; the 2019 G1 Apple Blossom H., G1 Ogden Phipps S. and G1 Personal Ensign S.; and second this year in both the Saudi Cup and Personal Ensign on either end of a G2 Fleur de Lis S. romp, retired at the end of September.

Uni purchased by long-time admirer

With most of his horses in training with Chad Brown, White Birch Farm principal Peter Brant spends a lot of time in the leading trainer’s barn, giving him an opportunity to study more than just his own runners. One Brown trainee in particular really caught the horseman’s eye over the years and on Sunday she finally became his when Brant went to US$4.1 million (AU$5.62 million) to secure champion turf mare Uni (GB).

Brant did his bidding over the phone and Brown, who watched the mare sell through the pavilion window, was thrilled to hear his client purchased the 6-year-old mare.

“Peter had the opportunity to see her train a lot,” said Brown after finishing a phone call with Brant. “He spends a lot of time at the barn and he knows all my horses very well, particularly her. He really liked her. He is a hands-on horseman and an excellent horseman. I am thrilled that he bought her. I wasn’t sure he was going to bid on the horse, but, like I said, he knows my horses very well, better than any buyer would.”

Elite Sales’ Brad Weisbord and Mandore International’s Nicholas de Watrigant teamed up to privately purchase Uni on behalf of Michael Dubb, Sol Kumin’s Head of Plains Partners, Robert LaPenta and Bethlehem Stables after her first stakes win in France in 2017.

“The owners had four amazing years campaigning her,” Weisbord said. “It is awesome to hear Peter got her. He has become a good friend of mine. We will get to see her for the next 10 or 15 years and be around her foals. I am sure Chad will get to train them. It made a lot of sense. Peter bought Unaided (GB) (Dansili {GB}), Uni’s dam, a couple of years ago in France, so I know how excited he is about the family. Nobody outside of the owners saw Uni train more than Peter.”

Blum buys back Flawless

Prominent commercial breeder Peter Blum made a last-minute decision Saturday night to offer 13-year-old mare Flawless (USA) (Mr. Greeley {USA) after her son Authentic sealed up Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old honours, but ultimately passed her in for US$4.1 million (AU$5.62 million). Consigned as Hip 288 by Blum’s longtime advisor Bridie Harrison, she was carrying a full-sibling to the Bob Baffert-trained superstar and appeared to garner live bids from the likes of Jane Lyon of Summer Wind Farm.

“I’ve had this family for at least 20 years,” Blum noted when reached by phone Sunday night. “I’m very familiar with the family. This mare ran as a 3-year-old in New York and won her first start by 13.25 lengths under wraps… Not that long after she was retired, Flawless’s dam Oyster Baby died. She was only seven years old. I bumped into [Flawless’s trainer] Bill Mott at Keeneland a year or two later and told him, ‘I’m a commercial breeder and I don’t know whether I can sell foals out of the mare that would bring much money because the page is going to have two blank dams.’ Bill’s comment to me was, ‘Sell your other mares, but keep her.'”

City Of Light colt tops Foal Sale

The November sale began with a large offering of weanlings. Larry Best’s OXO Equine purchased the highest-priced foal when going to US$600,000 (AU$822,730) for a colt by City Of Light (USA).

“The foal market was as expected: selective,” Browning said. “I don’t think there was a question that, overall, the weanling pinhookers who bought in 2019 and sold in the 2020 market had a very difficult year. So it was logical that there would be a little more restraint among the pinhooking group and some of the higher-priced weanlings were sold to end-users.

"We know that the target continues to get a little narrower–you’ve got to vet, you’ve got to have enough pedigree, you’ve got to be physically good enough. I think there was a little more hesitancy on the weanling side of things tonight than there would have been a year ago and understandably so.”

“I have watched him win some of those big, big races and I was always in awe of him,” said Best. “It wasn’t as much about the pedigree as the physical. I really fell in love with the physical. When I went back and considered the pedigree, it was strong enough. It is the first time I have bought a colt out of an Into Mischief filly, so we will see. It was really driven by the visual. This horse looks like he will grow up to be a two-turn horse. I hope.”

Three members of City of Light’s first crop went through the ring Sunday for a total of US$1.215 million (AU$1.67 million) and an average of US$405,000 (AU$555,342).