The top five lots in Book 1 on Thursday represented stout trading in the opening session of the 2023 Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale. While Lot 12, a Blue Point (Ire) filly, fetched a record price for this sale at $350,000 very early in trade, the remaining top five represented a diversity in both sire and buyer location.
Lot 12 – Blue Point (Ire) x Single Spice, filly - $350,000
Buyer: Williams Racing/Suman Hedge Bloodstock (FBAA), WA
It didn’t take long for the Perth Yearling Sale to warm up on Thursday afternoon because very early on in trading, within the first half-hour in fact, Lot 12 broke a top-lot record.
The filly, consigned by Yarradale Stud, made $350,000 when selling to Williams Racing and Suman Hedge Bloodstock (FBAA), a price that quickly eclipsed the previous Perth record of $330,000, set by a Playing God colt last year.
Lot 12 is by Blue Point, continuing a very good sales season for the Darley shuttler, and she was the first by that stallion through the ring.
Lot 12 - Blue Point (Ire) x Single Spice (filly) sold for $350,000 | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
She is from the Not A Single Doubt mare Single Spice, whose good record included the Listed Supremacy S. and a second in the G3 WATC Sires’ Produce S. Single Spice was also fourth in the G2 Karrakatta Plate, meaning there is plenty of early running in this female family.
“We felt she was the standout type on the complex,” said Suman Hedge, speaking to TDN AusNZ shortly after her purchase. “She was a beautiful, well-balanced and athletic type, and really correct. She was really strong through the walk and really clean through the hocks, and she had a good scope. There was just nothing we could physically fault about her.”
“We felt she (Lot 12) was the standout type on the complex. She was a beautiful, well-balanced and athletic type, and really correct... There was just nothing we could physically fault about her.” - Suman Hedge
Lot 12 is a half-sister to the Gingerbread gelding Ima Single Man, who was exported to Hong Kong after winning the G2 Karrakatta Plate in 2020.
“On pedigree, she is really well-credentialled,” Hedge said. “She’s by a dual-Hemisphere stallion for Darley and she’s come off a very good producing farm. She’s out of a proven broodmare who’s a dam to a Karrakatta Plate winner and other multiple winners, so we felt she ticked every box. We were delighted to have purchased her.”
Hedge said the early buoyancy in Thursday’s trading was a sign of confidence around the complex.
Pictured left to right: Suman Hedge, Alana Williams and Grant Williams | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“Usually, the early part of the sale is the hardest,” he said. “That’s the time when you get a lot of passed-in horses but it looked fairly strong here. You've just got to set yourself for the ones you really want, and you’ve got to be aggressive if you want to buy them.”
Lot 12, co-bought with trainers Grant and Allana Williams, will stay local for her initial racing career.
“They’re extremely talented trainers and have forged an excellent reputation over the years,” Hedge said. “I guess since going out on their own, people can see the job they’re doing and they’ve got a lot of momentum.
“I’m a big believer in them personally. I want to forge a strong alliance with them and if we can continue to buy horses of this calibre, their natural talents will take them to great success.”
Lot 62 – Gingerbread Man x Brocky’s Ace, colt - $280,000
Buyer: Commercial Bloodstock Services (FBAA), WA
There was a buzz about this bay colt for obvious reasons. He entered the ring as a half-brother to the dual Group winner Quilista (Scandal Keeper {USA}) and a full brother to the popular gelding Red Can Man (Gingerbread), a Group and Listed winner in both the west and east coasts.
As such, it was no surprise that there was plenty of early bidding on Lot 62, who was consigned to the sale by Willow Dale Farm on behalf of Korilya Stud.
Lot 62 - Gingerbread Man x Brocky's Ace (colt) sold for $280,000 | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
The eventual winner was Noel Carter’s locally based Commercial Bloodstock Services (FBAA), with Carter going to $280,000 to secure the colt.
It’s a family that he’s well-versed in.
Carter purchased Red Can Man at this sale in 2018 for $50,000, and last year he went to $180,000 for the War Chant (USA) half-brother. Speaking to TDN AusNZ, he said Lot 62 had been bought for Steve Wolfe, the Albany trainer who handles Red Can Man.
“It’s probably for him and a few of the people that were involved in Red Can Man,” Carter said. “We know the family quite well and we’re a fan of the breeder, Ellie Giles at Korilya, so if it’s not broken we don’t try to fix it.”
Lot 62 was a neat colt that had all the attributes on Carter’s list this week.
Steve Wolf and Noel Carter | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“He must have caught someone’s eye because that person was an underbidder at $270,000,” the bloodstock agent said. “He fits all of our criteria for what we look for and he was an outstanding individual, really. I’m not super-happy with the price but there was a bloke sitting next to me kicking me in the shins, so I had to go one more.
“Anyway, we came here to get five or six and we missed out on a couple early. So we thought we’d cobble together the money we would have spent earlier into this one, and that’s how we were able to crunch the numbers.”
“He (Lot 62) fits all of our criteria for what we look for and he was an outstanding individual, really. I’m not super-happy with the price but there was a bloke sitting next to me kicking me in the shins, so I had to go one more.” - Noel Carter
Carter said the early picture on the Perth sale was very strong on Book 1. In his words, “horses just don’t go for that type of money in Western Australia”.
“We don’t usually pay that level of money here in Western Australia all that often,” he said. “Prices are up, but this colt is Westspeed-eligible and that’s a good system. Red Can Man has won $270,000 in Westspeed bonuses, so you can see that if you win races at two and three, it’s lucrative.”
The Westspeed appeal is particularly prominent in this family because Red Can Man is currently second on the all-time most-earning horses when it comes to Westspeed. His exact bonus earnings are $276,990, which is behind only the Blackfriars gelding Come Play With Me, who has won $295,500 for trainer Adam Durrant.
Lot 160 – Playing God x Poverty Point, filly - $280,000
Buyer: Ryan Hill Racing, WA
The later lots of Book 1 experienced a flurry of good results, and Lot 161 was one of them, a Playing God filly that went to trainer Ryan Hill in a confusing last few minutes before gavel down.
Auctioneer Steve Davis eventually settled on Hill’s final bid of $280,000 after bouncing back and forth between that and an underbid of $260,000, and the final figure propelled the local hero Playing God among the day’s top lots.
Lot 160 – Playing God x Poverty Point (filly) sold for $280,000 | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Lot 160 is the first foal from the Testa Rossa mare Poverty Point, who is well-related as a half-sister to the G1 Railway S. winner Elite Belle (Canny Lad), the G2 Perth Cup winner Mississippi Delta (High Chaparral {Ire}) and the Listed winner Battle Emblem (Second Empire {Ire}).
Elite Belle, in particular, has a lot of recognisable black type in this part of the world and is from a well-fostered family for Bob Peters, so the final price for this filly, which equalled that of Lot 62 earlier in the day, wasn’t a surprise.
“We really liked this filly,” said Ryan Hill, chatting to TDN AusNZ as he headed home on the coach. The filly was among the last handful of horses to sell in Book 1.
“It was just about being patient waiting for her, and to just to buy into that family was the main thing. She’s a filly by the leading sire here, which made it an important buy for us, but to buy into a Mr Peters family, you struggle to be able to do that usually.”
“It was just about being patient waiting for her (Lot 160), and to just to buy into that family was the main thing. She’s a filly by the leading sire here, which made it an important buy for us, but to buy into a Mr Peters family, you struggle to be able to do that usually.” - Ryan Hill
Lot 160 was consigned by Mogumber Park and that’s where she’ll return for the immediate future.
“She’ll be a 3-year-old,” Hill said. “She’ll head back to Mogumber, who produced her so beautifully today, and we’ll bring her back later on.”
The filly was the sixth purchase in Book 1 for the Keysbrook-based Ryan Hill Racing, complementing purchased colts by Playing God (Lot 92), Magnus (Lot 137), Long Leaf (Lot 15) and Gingerbread Man (Lot 90), plus a filly by Safeguard (Lot 69).
Ryan Hill | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
The trainer said he wasn’t expecting to land that many horses on Thursday.
“It just played out that way,” he said. “There were some really nice horses there and those were the ones we wanted. It was the same again with the Magnus. I thought that colt was a ripper from a Bob Peters family, and so all in all we’re really happy with what we bought.”
Hill has his eyes on a number of yearlings in Book 2, so it’s likely he’ll factor among the prominent faces once again on Friday.
Lot 121 – Trapeze Artist x Lady Cosmology, colt - $260,000
Buyer: Adam Durrant
By the time Lot 121 went through the ring, local trainer Adam Durrant had signed the ticket for five yearlings. That’s a figure to be expected for one of the leading trainers in Western Australia, but the stable was visibly pleased with its new purchase which, at the time of gavel down, was the third most-expensive horse on the board.
Lot 121 is a son of Trapeze Artist from a recognisable dam in these quarters, Lady Cosmology (Universal Ruler). Lady Cosmology was a winner of the G3 Proud Miss S. in Western Australia when trained by Simon Miller, and she was additionally a dual-Listed winner that was second in the G2 Karrakatta Plate as a juvenile, plus four other Group races.
Lot 121 - Trapeze Artist x Lady Cosmology (colt) sold for $260,000 | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
As such, this was a page that was very recognisable to many in the Swan Valley auditorium and bidding on Lot 121 reflected that.
At gavel down, the colt went the way of Durrant for $260,000 and Duran Carter, the trainer’s racing manager, was on-hand to chat with us.
“This was the one who had really stood out for us because of what the dam had done over here,” Carter said. “She was a really good mare and the young stallion Trapeze Artist is having some good winners over in the east.
“This colt was definitely one that we marked down on paper, and the type matched that so he was a real, strong option for us to buy. He looks like he’s a chance to go a bit earlier.”
“This (Lot 121) was the one who had really stood out for us because of what the dam had done over here. She (Lady Cosmology) was a really good mare and the young stallion Trapeze Artist is having some good winners over in the east.” - Duran Carter
Trapeze Artist joined Blue Point and Russian Revolution among the top lots on Thursday, which was a good representation of the east coast among such solid and proven locals as Gingerbread Man. Carter said the stable was willing to take a risk on the new stallion who is unproven in Western Australia.
“That aspect of it can be hard,” he said. “But at least with Trapeze, he’s had winners and his oldest are only two, so you can’t pot the stallion. He produces a nice type and he was a good racehorse himself, and that helps. So too does the fact that this colt was bred by Amelia Park, so it’s got the Westspeed bonuses, which is important.”
With 120 lots before this colt, Carter wasn’t surprised that the stable had to go to $260,000 to get Lot 121. He said that trade had been especially hot.
“It’s been really strong at the top end,” he said, “and this is what you’ve got to do. You’ve got to go in and buy the ones you want because otherwise you can be left with nothing. We wouldn’t have gone much further than that price, but we were happy to pick him up at that.”
Lot 114 – Russian Revolution x Jehannedarc (Ire), colt - $240,000
Buyer: Kennewell Racing/Ridgeport Holdings/Group 1 Bloodstock (FBAA)
Cranbourne trainer Lloyd Kennewell wasn’t a new face at the Swan Valley complex on Thursday, and that was obvious when he confidently snatched Lot 114 away from underbidder Simon Zahra, going to $240,000.
Lot 114 - Russian Revolution x Jehannedarc (Ire) (colt) sold for $240,000 | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
The Russian Revolution colt was offered by Willow Dale Farm and he was from the Montjeu (Ire)-sired, European Group 3-placed mare Jehannedarc (Ire), a fact that mattered little to Kennewell, in the end.
“Nearly every horse I buy is on type,” he told TDN AusNZ as he left the auditorium, his sole reason for being in Perth already in the bag.
“I came to this sale with maybe three on the list, but there was really only one I wanted. I thought he was the best colt in the sale and I wanted to come and get him, and I wasn’t leaving the complex without him.”
“I came to this sale with maybe three on the list, but there was really only one I wanted. I thought he (Lot 114) was the best colt in the sale and I wanted to come and get him, and I wasn’t leaving the complex without him.” - Lloyd Kennewell
All of the blacktype on this colt’s page is international, from the multiple Group-winning American horse Quest Star (USA), who was bred by John Messara, to Giant’s Causeway (USA) right back on the fourth line.
Even being by Russian Revolution, who is going great-guns right now, wasn’t a particular pull for Kennewell.
“He looks sharp and precocious,” the trainer said. “He had a really good head on him, plenty of swagger and a good walk. He just looks a horse that will train on at two and three. He fit the criteria for everything I wanted, and obviously Russian Revolution is an in-form stallion, but it came down to thinking he was the best colt in the sale.”
Lot 114 wasn’t Westspeed eligible, which probably gave Kennewell a significant opportunity in the absence of local interest. Nevertheless, he had to argue out the result with Zahra, who was seated at the table alongside.
“I had to work hard to get him,” Kennewell said. “Simon kept laughing at me and so I said to myself that I wasn’t going to get beaten here. I still thought he was value, though, at $240,000. I thought he would have made that and then some if he’d gone to any of the eastern-state sales.”
“I still thought he (Lot 114) was value, though, at $240,000. I thought he would have made that and then some if he’d gone to any of the eastern-state sales.” - Lloyd Kennewell
Lot 114 will go to Victoria and eventually enter Kennewell’s yard as an early 2-year-old.
“I would think he’s a horse that will be up and running hopefully as a pre-Christmas 2-year-old,” the trainer said. “You never know your luck in the big city. He could go to the Magic Millions carnival on the Gold Coast and I’d be very keen to get him there if I thought he was that style of horse.
“If he’s not, I’m not too worried and I’ll give him his time.”
Kennewell wasn’t sticking around for any further shopping in Perth. Satisfied with his lot (literally), he flew home to Melbourne on Friday morning.
