Cover image courtesy of Magic Millions

If the 2020 Magic Millions 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale was a 'learning year' for rookie vendors Ashley Glencross and her sister Rikki Jamieson, the 2021 Sale was all about building the confidence to take their Glencross Racing operation to the next level.

Glencross' life is busy raising four boys on her nine-acre farm at Clagiraba in the Gold Coast hinterland, but in following her passion for horses, together with her sister she has found a passion for sourcing and selling horses through the breeze-up sales.

"I used to ride trackwork when I was at uni and my sister, Rikki, is a jockey, so we have always been involved in the industry. I was more of a showjumper," she told TDN AusNZ.

"I always wanted to get into the breeze up side of things. Last year I did my first two horses, and it was a learning year, and we went pretty well. This year, I brought three to the Sale and got to take care of three Baramul horses as well. They all went exceptional and I was stoked with the past couple of days.

"It was just an amazing experience, I learned so much and am so very grateful for that."

You can tell from the tone of Glencross' voice that the past couple of days have been transformative, not so much in a financial sense, although that has certainly helped, but in terms of her own belief in what she is doing.

"We knew what we had and we put the work in and our horses were sound and well-rested and educated. They have great rideability. They had the times as well, so we did have everything on our side, but you just never know on auction day."

Auction day turned out just fine, with her three horses selling for $146,000 combined, while the Baramul horses she was overseeing were also well-received.

Pharoah colt stands out

The highlight was undoubtedly an American Pharoah (USA) colt, Lot 63, who returned a 1125 per cent return on his yearling price when picked up by Campton Racing for $90,000.

Glencross admitted she took a bit of a risk on the colt at the Magic Millions National Sale, paying $8000 for him through the Coolmore Stud draft despite some queries she knew she had plenty to work with, both in terms of his manner and his pedigree.

"He has an incredible page. My sister is really onto that side of things, I have always trained and broken in and done the work, but in terms of thoroughbred breeding and the pages that you want, that is Rikki's department," she said.

"He ticks every single box you could hope for. He's the most beautiful colt and he has the temperament of a 6-year-old gelding. Conformation-wise he is stunning and he's such a professional."

Glencross said it was immediately evident that the willingness to take the risk back in June would pay dividends.

"We got lucky, we got him for a very good price. He had a bit of a red flag over his head when we bought him, but that was all cleared up. We had multiple scopes to prove that over the last six months.

"When the bidding stalled on him, we jumped on that and we got lucky. It has paid off for us, and we got the most beautiful horse.

"He was an absolute lamb, he walked around the yearling sales at June in the same way he strolled around yesterday (Monday). He's just a complete and total cruiser."

Hong Kong-bound

While the colt has developed well over the past five months, and his page has been again bolstered by the recent Group 3 win of Cheaperthandivorce (NZ) (Savabeel), it was that divine nature which proved one of his key selling points for Adam Campton, who was looking to source a horse for Hong Kong.

"They are planning to start a prep with him straight away. They were excited that he is ready to go. They don’t have to put him in the paddock for two months and forget about him. He's ready to start," Glencross said.

"I wouldn't be surprised to see him at the (Gold Coast) Turf Club this week working. They’ll put him through a trial and he’ll be off to Hong Kong. That's pretty exciting."

"Rikki and I have discussed flying over there and watching him when he starts."

Glencross knows what a successful graduate in Hong Kong could do for her fledgling business, especially in a market which Asian buyers have traditionally been such major players.

Composure is key for Hong Kong buyers and she backs the way she prepares her horses to foster that great attitude that was evident in the American Pharoah colt.

"I want to stick with my guns in what we do with our horses and how we train them. I wanted to be the exception to the rule in that we don’t work them hard. We just focus on educating them, and so if they are educated, they are strong and they are confident," she said.

"They don’t need to be at the track every day. Babies don’t work that way, they get tired and they get sore. They don't grow unless they are rested. I am trying to give them the best start and when people buy a horse from me I want them to know they are getting that best start."

A strong Sale for pinhooks

The American Pharoah colt was one of 50 pinhooks to go through the Gold Coast ring on Monday, with 42 of them, or 84 per cent, selling, a rate much higher than the overall Sale clearance rate.

All but two of the 42 sold realised a higher price than what they were previously sold at, with 25 of them selling for more than 200 per cent of their yearling or weanling price.

The top two lots of the Sale, the Extreme Choice colt (Lot 58), offered by A List Stud and purchased by Baystone Farm for $350,000, and the Capitalist colt (Lot 26) offered by O'Gorman Racing and sold to Ricky Yiu/Clarke Bloodstock (FBAA) for $330,000, were the pinhooks who drew the biggest return in terms of dollars, having cost $130,000 and $90,000 respectively as yearlings.

Gallery: The two top lots of the Sale were pinhooks who drew the biggest return

In a market that was surprisingly robust given pre-Sale expectations and the lack of buyers able to attend, there were five other pinhooks that secured $100,000 or more than they were purchased for.

What that means is that there will be plenty of vendors from this Sale going into the 2022 yearling sales with the confidence to back their judgement and buy up.

Among them will be Ashley Glencross, who is planning to upscale her capacity for 2022.

"I'm trying to buy a bigger property at the moment. I am already shopping, I've outgrown my nine acres here," she said.

"I've got four little boys, and I want to keep them at the same school on Tamborine Mountain, so we are trying to buy around Conungra and I want to set up a thoroughbred facility there. We would love to pre-train and spell. I love doing the breeze ups and working with the babies, it’s such a reward.

"We do it together my sister and I, and Mum and Dad are involved too. It’s a family thing. We love it, we love horses, it’s just happened to be a passion which has snowballed. It’s what dreams are made of really."

Pinhooks with the highest return

Cover image courtesy of NZ Racing Desk

Since Saturday, plenty has been written about the Savabeel colt Noverre (NZ), who took the Te Akau Racing colours to another level with his fetching win in the G1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas at Canterbury. It was a last-to-first victory, one of those memorable efforts for a Classic race, and it had a few emotional facets for Te Akau Principal, David Ellis.

“It was a pretty special day because, firstly, it was my wife Karyn’s 60th birthday, and, secondly, the colt was ridden by Opie Bosson, who has worked for me since he was 14 years old,” Ellis said. “He was my apprentice, and Opie was in a situation where he couldn’t ride through lockdown because of where he lived. His weight was getting out of hand and he was on the verge of calling it quits, of retiring.”

Ellis sought permission for Bosson to relocate to Te Akau Stud, and the pair hit the gym every day. The ride on Noverre was an enormous incentive for the jockey to get back on the tracks, which he did in time for the 2000 Guineas.

“It was an emotional day when it all turned out and he won,” Ellis said. “It was just fantastic.”

Noverre’s Guineas was the seventh for Te Akau Racing.

That extraordinary claim to the race began in 2003 with King’s Chapel, and it continued with Darci Brahma (NZ) in 2005, Tell A Tale in 2008, Rock ‘N’ Pop in 2011, Xtravagant (NZ) in 2015 and Embellish (NZ) in 2017.

However, this fact alone doesn’t exemplify what Te Akau Racing has achieved in these very recent weeks.

“We’ve had horses racing in five locations the last three months,” Ellis said. “They’ve been in Melbourne, Sydney and here in New Zealand, and the staff have all worked incredibly hard through that to make it all work. We’re thrilled that we’ve won major races at all those venues in the last month.”

Those victories included Probabeel (NZ) (Savabeel) in the G1 Caulfield S. in Melbourne and Entriviere (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}) in the G2 Sheraco S. in Sydney. On New Zealand’s North Island, Imperatriz (I Am Invincible) won the G2 Eclipse S. and Savy Yong Blonk (NZ) (Savabeel) the G1 Livamol Classic, while Noverre won the Guineas on the South Island.

Three-year-old colt Noverre is now one of the hot properties for the future stallion market. His seven-start career has resulted in two Group wins and he’s close to NZ$360,000 in prizemoney.

Before that, however, Noverre will tackle the Karaka Million 3-Year-Old Classic in January, with the G1 Australian Guineas at Flemington also a possibility, among others.

"After the Karaka Million, there’s been nothing set in concrete,” Ellis said. “There are a lot of races in Melbourne and Sydney that would suit this colt, and the 3-year-olds have such a brilliant record in the Doncaster, so that’s something we’d love to consider too."

Onwards to the fillies

Big-race wins are a common thread for the hugely successful Te Akau operation, but Ellis never tires of them.

“When you go to the stables and see all the young people working unbelievably hard to bring the results, you see how much goes into these wins,” he said. “It’s a big thrill for Karyn and myself, too, because we see the money our owners put in to support these horses, and it’s fantastic to see that level of support reach the Group 1 races.”

Ellis said the Classic races, like the Guineas and the G1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas next weekend, were another level again.

“When you are running a professional stable, you need to win these races to have credibility,” he said. “Last season, we won 41 black-type races, including 15 Group 1s, and that’s what it’s all about, buying horses to compete at this level.”

On Saturday, Te Akau Racing will have five in the field for the 1000 Guineas at Riccarton, headed by the striking favourite Imperatriz for trainer Jamie Richards. The others are Belle En Rouge (NZ) (Burgundy {NZ}), The Perfect Pink (NZ) (Savabeel), Shepherd’s Delight (NZ) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}) and Irish Red (NZ) (Burgundy {NZ}).

Imperatriz is an Australian-bred filly by I Am Invincible, and she is already a three-time Group winner in New Zealand. Her overall stats read five career starts for four wins, most recently in the 1400 metre G3 Soliloquy S. at Matamata in late October.

Ellis purchased the filly at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in 2020, paying $360,000 for her from the Bhima draft. Her dam is the Shamardal (USA) mare Berimbau, and her yearling half-sister by Fastnet Rock (now named Cabaca) was sold through the same Sale this year for $300,000 to Magic Bloodstock.

Sales shift

David Ellis is one of the prominent buyers across Australasian sales, and he has been for many years. Despite COVID changing the landscape of New Zealand’s sales calendar recently, it’s not likely Ellis will be affected too much.

New Zealand Bloodstock (NZB) has shifted its popular Ready to Run Sale to an online format later this month, while the company last week announced that the Premier Yearling Sale, which has traditionally held a slot each January, had been pushed back to early March. The latter was widely welcomed, and by Ellis too.

“I think it’s great,” he said. “I’m going to have the first January of my life at the beach. But all jokes aside, New Zealand Bloodstock is as good a company as I’ve ever dealt with, and they make good decisions for the breeders, buyers and for the whole industry. So I just support whatever they recommend because they’re always right.”

Ellis said the time and thought behind the decision was significant, and he had no reason to question it. He said it wouldn’t affect the strategies he had for buying horses, and it wouldn’t affect the types of horses he targeted.

“I think it will be just the same,” he said. “Obviously, we’ll see the horses a little more developed, but I always think the thing about buying yearlings is that you have to imagine what sort of yearling they’ll be in three months and six months and 12 months. So it doesn’t worry me what time of year it is, as long as everybody can get to the Sale and see a successful result.”

Equally, Ellis isn’t concerned about the online format of the upcoming Ready to Run Sale. It’s one that’s been very good to him in the past, where he’s secured horses like Gingernuts (NZ) (Iffraaj {GB}) and the late Te Akau Shark (NZ) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}).

Gallery: Te Akau past purchases from the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale

“It’s been so well-organised by New Zealand Bloodstock, so it will still be successful,” he said. “It will create unique opportunities for buyers, and the record of the Sale shows that it’s the most successful of the 2-year-old sales in the Southern Hemisphere by miles. We’ll be buying three or four, for certain.”

The brilliant son of Galileo (Ire), the fastest stallion to reach 50 Group winners in history, is already the sire of 20 Group 1 winners.

In 2021, eight of his progeny won Group 1 races, with G1 Cazoo Derby and G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. hero Adayar (Ire) joined by G1 Irish Derby, G1 Grand Prix de Paris and G1 St Leger victor Hurricane Lane (Ire).

Gallery: Some of Frankel's (GB) Group 1 winners

Besides that duo, Frankel also sired G1 Australian Oaks winner Hungry Heart and G1 JJ Atkins S. winner Converge, who was one of a trio of Group 1-winning 2-year-olds for his sire.

His 4-year-old filly Alpinista (GB) also won a trio of German Group 1s this season, including Sunday's G1 Grosser Preis von Bayern. He is well ahead of his rivals in the race to be crowned the leading European sire of 2021, and is also on top of the British and Irish sires' lists, which has not been achieved by a British-based stallion since Mill Reef (USA) 34 years ago.

Frankel's studmate Kingman (GB) remains at £150,000 (AU$274,000) and has sired 18 black-type winners this year. The son of Invincible Spirit's (Ire) three 2021 Group 1 winners were first past the post on three continents–Palace Pier (GB) (Europe), Domestic Spending (GB) (North America) and Schnell Meister (Ger) (Asia). One of his yearling fillies brought €950,000 (AU$1.5 million) at the Arqana August Sale, while a colt was knocked down for 1.1 million gns (AU$2.1 million) during Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

Gallery: Kingman (GB) yearlings selling well in Europe

Banstead Manor veteran Oasis Dream (GB) will command £20,000 (AU$37,000). His Native Trail (GB) won a pair of juvenile Group 1 races this year and is the ante-post favourite for the G1 2000 Guineas. Other notable 2021 runners among his eight black-type winners are Group winners Turaath (GB), Grocer Jack (Ger), Erasmo (GB) and Al Tariq (Fr). Grocer Jack also ran second in the G1 Grosser Dallmayr Preis in Germany, while Imaging (GB) was runner-up in the G1 CF Orr S.

Young stallion Bated Breath's (GB) fee has been set at £15,000 (AU$27,000). A consistent source of black type, he has 18 black-type performers in 2021 led by Group 2 winners Viadera (GB) and Gift List (GB) and Group 3 winners Sacred Bridge (GB), and Makaloun (Fr).

A stallion who will have his first runners next year, G1 Breeders' Cup Mile scorer Expert Eye's (GB) fee is £10,000 (AU$18,000). His 55 yearlings sold for an average of £43,729 (AU$80,000), double his introductory fee.

Aga Khan duo lead the way

Irish-based Sea The Stars (Ire) and French-based Siyouni (Fr) will jointly lead their respective rosters in 2022 for The Aga Khan Studs.

One of two stallions standing at Gilltown Stud, Sea The Stars will command €150,000 (AU$234,000). His unbeaten miler Baaeed (GB) and the progressive filly Teona (Ire) both scored at the highest level in 2021, bringing their sire's total Group 1 winners to 16. Overall, the bay son of Cape Cross (Ire) has sired 22 black-type winners this term and he was the sire of the top-priced filly and top-priced colt during Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. He is the second-leading sire in Europe by prizemoney based on European earnings.

Siyouni, who stands at Haras de Bonneval, is the leading sire in France for the seventh consecutive year and will remain at €140,000 (AU$219,000). His son St Mark's Basilica (Fr) won both the G1 French 2000 Guineas and the G1 Prix du Jockey Club among his quartet of top-level races. In addition, Siyouni, a son of Pivotal (GB), sired the top-priced colt at the Arqana August Sale, with his yearlings selling for up to €1.5 million (AU$2.3 million). In 2021, he is the sire of 16 stakes winners.

Off to a bright start is first-season sire Zarak (Fr), who has had his fee increased to €25,000 (AU$39,000). Based at Haras de Bonneval, the bay son of Dubawi's (Ire) best runners include Group winner Lizaid (Ger), Listed winner Parnac (Fr) and the Group 1-placed duo of Times Square (Fr) and Purplepay (Fr). He is the leading first-season sire in France by prizemoney.

Rounding out The Aga Khan Studs stallions is Group 1 winner Dariyan (Fr), the son of Shamardal (USA), at Haras de Bonneval at €5000 (AU$7800). His Mister Saint Paul (Fr) won the Listed Prix Isonomy this year, and he has a trio of stakes-placed runners, two at Group level, with his eldest foals only three. Also at €5000 (AU$7800) is Gilltown resident and dual Classic winner Harzand (Ire). A total of 90 per cent of his runners have won or been placed including the multiple stakes-placed French Fusion (Ire).

Written by Jessica Owers

The 2-year-old season continued to emerge on Tuesday, with a number of juvenile trials hosted by the Gold Coast Turf Club. First off the bat was a victory for the smart filly Perfect Mission, who gave her Queensland-based Aquis Farm sire The Mission another reason to cheer.

Trained locally by Michael Costa, the filly was having her very first trial, and she was away smartly from the barriers for jockey Andrew Mallyon.

The early speed was set by Rose Of Shiraz (Deep Field) and Cripps Tonite (Spirit Of Boom), with Perfect Mission bringing up the rest of the pack in third.

In the straight, Cripps Tonite dropped out, leaving the Costa filly to range up alongside Rose Of Shiraz, and the pair coasted to the line untouched. The final margins were Perfect Mission by 0.4l to Rose Of Shiraz, with 3.4l to third-placed Louisiana Star (Star Witness).

The 1000 metres was knocked off in the good time of 59.14s for the juveniles.

A natural athlete

Perfect Mission handled the trial beautifully in the eyes of her trainer, with Michael Costa's tactics being little more than exposing the filly to a good experience.

“The instructions to Andrew were to keep a strangehold,” the trainer said. “We weren’t out there to win the trial, and we weren’t out there to do anything special. We just wanted to let her go under her own steam and have a positive experience. We didn’t even mind if we were out the back just following them around. They were very strict instructions.”

Costa said the effort looked minimal for Perfect Mission, but there was more to it. He was impressed that she got it done after only one proper jump-out behind her. Previous to that, the filly had only been in and out of barrier education.

“She’s just a natural athlete,” the trainer said. “She has continued to improve and continues to flourish in the stable, and we’re excited to see where can take us. It’s too early to place them in the pecking order, of course, but from all she’s indicating, she’s showing that she’s well above average.”

Costa didn’t pay much heed to the time, but he said the 59.14s was good enough, given the soft track.

“It did look like one of the slicker times for the day so, for the 2-year-olds to do that on the wetter surface, I think there’s a bit of merit behind the time.”

On a Mission

Perfect Mission was picked up by Michael Costa at the 2021 Magic Millions QTIS March Yearling Sale. She was Lot 52, the first foal from the unraced Lonhro mare But Perfect.

The page shows that the filly is from the family of Typhoon Billie (Rory’s Jester), who won the G3 Mannerism S., and further along are the stakes winner Ovidio (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), who was a Group winner in South Africa, and Infamous Fox (Foxwedge).

Costa paid $26,000 for Perfect Mission from the draft of JJJ Thoroughbreds, while the filly was an earlier $5000 weanling, sold by her breeder Aquis Farm to JJJ Thoroughbreds at the Magic Millions National Weanling Sale in 2020.

“She was a lovely, sweet filly,” Costa said of the yearling Perfect Mission. “She was probably only medium-sized, but she had a great hip and the body frame that suggested she would grow into something nice. I bought her solely on type, and with The Mission being in his first season, it was a little bit of a punt for owners to buy in, but she sold out extremely quick.”

Costa said The Mission has been going great guns with his first crop in Queensland.

“He’s doing very well with the results I’m seeing on the Saturdays with the 2-year-olds,” the trainer said. “I’ve had only one in the stable, and it’s this filly, but I believe I bid on another at that particular Sale, and I certainly liked a few others. It’s probably a little bit early to tell, but it’s looking promising for him.”

Costa said he has plans mapped out for Perfect Mission, but it all depended on how she pulled up from Tuesday’s effort. The filly is pointed at a Gold Coast Saturday meeting in just over a fortnight’s time, with a $100,000 juvenile race on the card.

“If she could win that, it would give us a bit of time up our sleeves to potentially have her as a Magic Millions horse,” Costa said. “That’s the big goal, but it’s all based on how she recovers.”

Breeze-up buy

Alongside Tuesday’s trials, Costa was ringside at Magic Millions on Monday for the 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale, snatching up a Dawn Approach (Ire) colt from the KBL Thoroughbreds draft for $150,000.

The horse was the only purchase for the trainer at the Sale and, equally, one that Costa knew well, because Lot 47 had been in his yard for a number of weeks already.

“I don’t take on many breeze ups at all, but through having a good relationship with Kandice (Pritchard) at KBL, I took on a few and this horse was one of them,” Costa said.

“He came through the paces really well, and he just blossomed, turning into this beautiful horse. He’s got the most lovely brain and attitude for a racehorse, which is fantastic to see, and he’s got very good action that propels him forward as quickly as possible.”

On paper, Costa’s new colt is the third foal from the Exceed And Excel mare Windshift, which is the family of G1 Thousand Guineas winner Flit (Medaglia D’Oro {USA}).

However, he is also a half-brother to Deep Blast (Deep Field), who sold last year as one of the most expensive breeze-up results in Australia at $610,000. Deep Blast went to Louis Ho and the Macau Jockey Club from the draft of Lime Country Thoroughbreds, those buyers having a particular presence in absentia on Monday, securing a total of nine lots at the Sale.

Costa’s colt, meanwhile, headed back to the yard from whence he’d come, with the trainer admitting he was pleased to have him return.

“You do get attached to them,” the trainer said. “The hardest part is that we’ve only got limited boxes and we’re racing in a competitive region, so once they’ve reached their mark or they retire, it’s hard to see them go. I don’t know if I’ll ever find that part of things easier, so it was nice to have this colt come back to us after the Sale.”

Lot 47 will be spelled for a few short weeks but, having come from Costa’s care, the trainer knows exactly what the horse needs going forward.

“He’ll be ready for a full campaign after four to six weeks in the paddock and, based on what we’ve already seen, he’ll have every opportunity going all the way forward to the races in his first preparation,” Costa said.

Trial results

Across the remainder of Tuesday's trial meeting at the Gold Coast, the Extreme Choice colt Extremaarty won the second of the juvenile trials for trainer Kacy Fogden, while Chayse 'N' Menari for trainer Les Kelly posted a nice win for his Newgate sire Menari in the last of the three 2-year-old events.

Extremaarty was a $220,000 purchase for Fogden at this year's Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, sold from the draft of Lyndhurst Stud Farm.

Chayse 'N' Menari, meanwhile, cost her trainer $31,000 at the same Sale when she sold from the draft of Elswick Park.

Townsville (Provincial)

Race result inclusion criteria: all city and provincial races, + country maiden, 3YO & feature races ($15,000) run before 6pm AEDT