Cover image courtesy of Magic Millions

Four-time Group 1 heroine Levante (NZ) (Proisir) will be offered as an elite racing and breeding proposition at this year’s Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale, which takes place on the Gold Coast in May.

Trained by Ken and Bev Kelso, Levante boasts the phenomenal record of 12 wins and five placings from 22 starts, and her earnings currently sit at $1.15 million.

The 6-year-old could add to that tally on Saturday when she lines up in the G1 Queen of the Turf S. at Randwick - a race that carries a total prize-purse of $1 million and a winner’s cheque of $580,000.

Magic Millions Managing Director Barry Bowditch was delighted to add another high-quality mare to the star-studded sale, which includes fellow Group 1 winners Forbidden Love (All Too Hard), Snapdancer (Choisir) and Coventina Bay (NZ) (Shamexpress {NZ}).

Gallery: Top mares to be offered at the 2023 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale

“It’s fantastic. She’s an outstanding mare, having won four Group 1 races to date,” Bowditch told TDN AusNZ.

“She’s taken on some of the best horses in New Zealand and beaten them and now she’s taking on the best horses here in Australia.

“She’s been a quality race filly and has a pedigree that can take her all the way, in my opinion. She’s by an outstanding sire who’s going from strength to strength in Proisir, and she’s from a really vibrant, up-and-coming pedigree.

“I think she’ll attract huge attention come May.

“She’s a big-ticket item and we look forward to cheering her on hard on Saturday in what is likely to be her swansong.”

A winner of her first four starts, Levante’s first stakes win was the Listed Counties Bowl at Pukekohe in 2020, while her first victory at the highest level came in the 2022 G1 Telegraph H. at Trentham, where she touched off the dual Group 1 winner Roch ‘N’ Horse (NZ) (Per Incanto {USA}). She has since triumphed in the 2022 G1 BCD Group Sprint at Te Rapa, defended her G1 Telegraph H. title, and taken out this year’s G1 El Cheapo Cars WFA Classic at Otaki.

Levante will be offered via Julian Blaxland’s Blue Sky Premium Consignment draft.

“I’m delighted to have Levante to offer at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale. She’s a four-time Group 1 winner with racing upside,” Blaxland said.

“She’s been trained to a tee by Ken and Bev Kelso and she’ll be one of the leading chances in the Queen of the Turf on Saturday. Her run in the George Ryder was exceptional (behind Anamoe).

“It will be an honour to be selling this mare for Mr Brown and his partners and I think she’ll be highly sought-after. I think she’s the best racing prospect being sold in the Southern Hemisphere this year.”

‘An amazing journey’

Bred by Scott Williams, Levante is raced by a syndicate that includes Ancroft Stud’s Philip Brown and his wife Catherine, along with former Waikato Racing Club Chief Executive Tony Enting and his wife Mary, and former professional golfer Mark Tapper. The syndicate had also included Michael Stedman, a respected bloodstock agent, who passed away a couple of years ago.

Levante is from the winning Doyoun (Ire) mare Island Doy (GB) and she herself is a half-sister to the Group 3 scorer Cryptavia (NZ) (Gold Brose). Island Doy has thrown five winners, including the stakes performers Doyenne (NZ) (Kilimanjaro {GB}) and Miss Isle (NZ) (Bachelor Duke {USA}). Doyenne has subsequently produced the G1 Manawatu Sires' Produce S. victress Maven Belle (NZ) (Burgundy {NZ}).

“It's been an amazing journey. We could never have dreamed that she would develop into a multiple Group 1 winner,” Brown said.

“I foaled her down for the breeder and I just fell in love with her right from the start. I had a paddock full of fillies on the farm and I told my wife that I wanted her and she wasn’t sure what I was thinking - but she’s delighted we did the deal.

“Right from the start she showed she was above average. We were delighted when she was a stakes winner and then a Group winner and now to have won four Group 1s is amazing.

“She was purchased by a group of mates, she’s given us the most amazing thrills and we just felt it was the right time for her to take the next step.”

Brown revealed he will be at Bundall when Levante goes through the ring, and he admitted it will be bittersweet.

“I will be there for sure. It will be an emotional day, it will be one of those happy and sad moments,” said Brown.

Cover image courtesy of Silverdale

There was still plenty of work to be done at Silverdale Farm on Wednesday, but getting out of bed was that bit easier for owner Steve Grant and his staff, following an Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale that was incredibly satisfying.

The Avoca-based business consigned eight yearlings and all have sold (six sold during the sale and two post).

Silverdale Farm finished the sale as the leading vendor by average (with three or more lots sold), with their eight yearlings grossing $4,950,000 at an incredible average of $618,750.

Grant admitted it is a great reward for effort for his hard-working team.

“Rob (Petith) and I have been planning our next moves, so, yeah, we’ve still been working as usual,” Grant told TDN AusNZ on Wednesday morning.

“We have achieved 100 per cent clearance again, which is always our aim.

“Rob has put together a great team and he’s done a great job leading it. Helen Boyes, who is Rob’s 2IC, was so excited about the sale and she worked really hard in the morning on Monday and Tuesday, so she could come to the sale on both days and lead one in herself. You can’t do those things without the back up at the farm. And Rob’s wife, Lucy, is just a stalwart supporter for the team.

“When you’re trying to get top staff and you’ve been going three years with your sales, they sit there scratching their head, saying, ‘Should I come to Silverdale?' I did promise them we would be going places and the farm’s going to be something special.

“It’s just phenomenal.”

The star of the show for Silverdale was their filly by Arrowfield Stud’s emerging star sire The Autumn Sun (Lot 440). She is from the imported mare, South Africa’s Champion Sprinter of 2013/14, Via Africa (SAf) (Var {USA}), making the filly a three-quarter sister to the G1 Golden Rose hero In The Congo - a son of Snitzel who was recently retired and will stand this spring at Newgate Farm at a fee of $33,000 (inc GST).

She made a sale-topping $1.8 million, with Arrowfield Stud and Hermitage Thoroughbreds seeing off a host of underbidders.

Purchased by Silverdale Farm/Shrone Bloodstock for $600,000 from the Newhaven Park draft at the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast National Weanling Sale, the filly’s 2023 sale figure makes her the biggest pinhook in Australian history, while it was also a record for her sire, whose oldest progeny are 2-year-olds.

Grant said it was Petith - the farm’s manager, who joined the company in 2020 after 10 years as stud manager with Canning Downs in Queensland - was the key driver behind going to $600,000 for her as a weanling, although he did have some assistance.

“We have the debate, but Rob has the final say regarding what we’re buying,” Grant explained.

“At the time, Rob had broken his ankle, so he was a bit limited in getting around. Brian McGuire was a great help for him and did a lot of the shortlists and things like that.

“Usually it’s me who’s pushing us on price and everything else.

“In the past, when we bought Pantonario, for instance, she was the highest-priced weanling in her sale (2020 Inglis Australian Weanling Sale) and I really pushed the team hard to pay the money. In this case (buying the weanling by The Autumn Sun), we hadn’t put a bid in and she was already up to $575,000; so it was our first bid and the last strike.

“In the 15 seconds we had to discuss whether to go to $600,000, it was a robust conversation.

“We paid the money and then got the chance to put her through (at Easter).”

Grant explained the farm’s strategy when it comes to pinhooking.

“It’s going through the figures, looking at the risk and then going from there,” he said.

“We watch the weanling market very strongly and one of our offsiders was reporting to us on every sale and every yearling that was going to Easter that had been pinhooked.

“It’s not done by accident, it’s really a close game… we make sure we keep a close eye on things and manage the risk.”

A beautiful synergy

There’s a lovely backstory to the sale of this stunning filly, and Arrowfield principal, John Messara, deserves some credit, for he was the man that introduced Grant to Petith at the 2015 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.

Grant explained: “I was discussing designing training centres with John Messara; we were standing beside a speaker and our conversation was interrupted by an announcement that the Best Prepared Draft had been won by Canning Downs. I said to John, ‘Gee, I haven’t heard of Canning Downs; and he said, ‘You should go around and meet the young guy that runs the place, he’s really, really good’. So, I went and met Rob, had a look at his draft, and although I had no plans of getting a farm up and going, I thought, ‘When I do, that bloke is going to run it for me’.

“Sure enough, so many years later, it came to be… thankfully, Rob said he would come and run the farm for us.

“Those three things aligned again; John Messara, Rob Petith and myself.”

An outstanding filly that exceeded expectations

Given her type, combined with her outstanding pedigree, Grant was positive the filly would make good money.

“She’s a lovely filly. When we bought her home, Rob and I were standing there looking at her in the yard and admiring her,” Grant said.

“Rob did such an amazing job with her.

“It didn’t hurt with (Newgate Farm’s) Henry (Field) doing a lot of advertising for In The Congo (recently), so it was great, it all came together well.”

Grant admitted he and Petith ummed and ahhed regarding the filly’s reserve price. In the end, it mattered little.

“We debated a reserve of between $1 million and $1.2 million and ended up going with $1 million,” he said.

“I thought the most we would get would be $1.4 million, but of course you always hope a miracle happens and it did.

“A lot of the time you don’t get to see your horse get sold, but we were close to the action and the auctioneer, Brett, took it slow, so we got to watch it first-hand. The people on her, we talked to a number of them in the last hour or so before she went up.

“She had all of those top people that you want bidding on your horses and when you get to see it play out in front of you, it’s great.”

Arrowfield Stud principal John Messara, who raced the five-time Group 1 winner, The Autumn Sun, in partnership with Hermitage Thoroughbreds, said the filly was a “princess”, one they simply had to get their hands on.

“She’s a beautiful filly, very well-related,” Messara told TDN AusNZ.

“She’s by what I think will end up being a very good sire.

“She was a terrific physical, very imposing.

“She walked well, she did everything well; she’s a proper princess, an absolute beauty.

“And she was very well prepared by Silverdale, they did a great job.

“There were no deficits.

“We were keen to buy something special by The Autumn Sun - we had one in our draft, the Grisi filly - but we’ve got her dam and a baby at foot and more coming, so we thought, ‘If we can get the Grisi filly sold at the right price, we can do it (buy the Via Africa filly)’.

“You don’t get many like them, where they have that pedigree and those looks.”

Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything

Hugh Bowman is one of the dudes of Australian racing; deftly dressed, good talker, successful jockey. Except that these days he’s more a product of Hong Kong, which is likely to be the case for a little while more.

In November last year, the Sydney rider relocated to Hong Kong in a hurry and, in January, he successfully applied to have his licence extended. Bowman will remain in the Asian city until at least the end of the Hong Kong season (July), and maybe even longer.

At the moment, however, he’s back in Sydney on a short hiatus.

Bowman arrived last Thursday and rode a decent book on Day 1 of The Championships. He was third aboard Barber (Exceed And Excel) and Wolverine (NZ) (Tivaci) throughout the day, second aboard Don Corleone (Extreme Choice) and fourth aboard Sharp ‘N’ Smart (NZ) (Redwood {GB}), an old flame, in the Derby.

This Saturday, he will sit on Arts in the G1 Australian Oaks, a ride he has picked up from the unavailable Sam Clipperton. The filly is trained by Edward Cummings, for whom Bowman delivered a debut Group 1 two years ago, and she’s a pretty good reason to be home.

“I was lucky to pick her up,” Bowman said, chatting this week with TDN AusNZ. “I thought she was exceptional winning the Adrian Knox last weekend. I was narrowly defeated on Duais in the Oaks a couple of years ago for Edward, so it would be lovely to go one better.”

Arts will be on the quick back-up for Bowman in the Oaks. She won the G3 Adrian Knox S. last Saturday, and the four-length manner of her victory surprised even her trainer.

Edward Cummings observed earlier this week that the filly will have career start number four in the Oaks, while Duais (Shamus Award), his Oaks benchmark when runner-up to Hungry Heart (Frankel {GB}) two years ago, was lining up for the eighth time.

Either way, Arts is among the first three favourites on Saturday alongside Pavitra (American Pharoah {USA}) and the Kiwi raider Pennyweka (NZ) (Satono Aladdin {Jpn}).

It will also be an opportunity for Bowman to crack 100 Australian Group 1 victories, sitting as he has on 99 since winning the G1 Spring Champion S. on Sharp ‘N’ Smart in the spring.

Had saddle, did travel

Before November last year, Bowman had ridden in Hong Kong several times, so he was no stranger to its theatre.

He had partnered John Moore’s talented gelding Werther (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}) on numerous top-shelf occasions, as well as Lucky Bubbles (Sebring) and Furore (NZ) (Pierro) in the last few years.

The decision to relocate to Hong Kong temporarily meant packing up his wife Christine and their two girls, Bambi and Paige, and the decision has been both fruitful and complicated in equal measure.

“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind for us,” Bowman said. “We went over there with a three-month contract and it’s been going well, well-enough for them to extend the contract. So the goal posts have kept moving for us. We went over with a long-term goal, but I didn’t want to make that a reality unless things were working out.”

In Australia, Bowman had checked off just about every box imaginable in the riding ranks. He had won multiple premierships, 99 Group 1 features and he’d had that career-defining racehorse. His partnership with Winx (Street Cry {Ire}) will forever be tied to his legacy, so it was logical that he was looking for something new.

“It wasn’t a goal of ours specifically,” Bowman said. “The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) had approached us about going over on a short-term contract. I’ve ridden there with a great deal of success in the past, so it was something that I’d always considered, but with COVID it fell off our radar. Christine and I were more than content with our Sydney lifestyle.

“But when the opportunity came along late last year, from a family point of view and professionally, there was really nothing to lose. So we took the option on that three-month contract and we headed over.”

The Bowmans moved into Happy Valley and the kids started school in Hong Kong. By January, things had been going so well that extending the contract was a no-brainer.

“Three months went very quickly and we asked for an extension to the end of the season, which was granted, and here we are,” Bowman said. “It was a decision in our life that we had to make very quickly, and with two young children it was a big decision. There was a lot to consider and a lot to get organised.

“But I think it would be very hard to be there without the family. They give me a sense of stability and continuity in the lifestyle up there, which can be very busy and very intense.”

Lessons from Hong Kong

Bowman is pushing 43 this year. As far as professional athletes go in elite sport, it’s getting up there.

Decades of professional riding, in his case since 1996, have worn him thin, something he was beginning to realise in Australia, and one of the surprising consequences of his time in Hong Kong is the physical reprieve that comes with two race meetings a week.

“I was really starting to find that the work toll on my body, physically, was starting to affect me,” he said. “I’m not saying I don’t feel it in Hong Kong because I’m 42, but it’s better for my body up there. I feel like Hong Kong will give me longevity in the saddle.”

Bowman wasn’t expecting that. He’d chatted to Darren Beadman about it in the past, who had also headed to Hong Kong at about the same point in his riding career. But what is it about Hong Kong racing that is kinder to its jockeys?

“The biggest difference is two meetings a week,” he said. “That’s a huge difference for me. In Sydney, I’d be riding three to four meetings a week along with three to four sets of barrier trials a fortnight, occasionally more. So the work load in Hong Kong is less, although I’m finding it more intense.”

The topicality of this issue right now is important. A recent spate of high-profile race falls in Australia has drawn a spotlight to the issue of too much racing, tired riders and subsequent risks. It’s something the likes of Ben Melham has been vocal about.

Hong Kong, with a much more captive audience and a racing industry controlled wholly by one club, has created a unique two-meeting schedule from September through July that seems to work very well for its participants.

“I’m much fresher going to the races and I’m much more alert,” Bowman said. “From that perspective, I’m really enjoying it.”

Bowman breaks down the detail.

“It’s very systematic there,” he said. “You have 24 or 25 contracted jockeys and there’s no change to that with the exception of the Group 1 meetings, which is when the international jockeys will fly in for the day. That aside, it’s a roster that doesn’t change… you’ve got the same horses, the same jockeys and the same trainers.”

Bowman said that expectation is very high in Hong Kong, much more so than in Australia, and it’s because the horses are so closely handicapped.

“Because there’s no influx of new horses or hundreds of yearlings coming through the system each season, you’ve got the same group of horses racing each other. If they win a race, they go up anywhere from five to eight or nine pounds in weight, and they’ve got to take on the same horses next time carrying that new weight.

“They need a lot to go their way to win their races, therefore. They need a good draw, a good ride and they need conditions to suit on the day. So much needs to go their way to win and, being a jockey, you’re a huge influence on that. You’re one of the most important ingredients in that recipe and that’s where the intensity comes from.”

Despite the ‘heat in the kitchen’, and many have spoken of the pressure cooker that is Hong Kong racing, Bowman is finding himself a more relaxed character since being there. Change, they say, is good.

“Things have been going well,” he said. “I’m really enjoying my riding, more so than I have for quite some time.”

Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything

The star of the show proved to be the Group 1-producing dam Love Of Liberty (General Nediym). Yulong Stud went to $250,000 to purchase the 13-year-old mare from Makybe in foal to the gun Eureka Stud-based stallion Spirit Of Boom.

A three-time winner herself on the track from 1200 to 2100 metres, Love Of Liberty has produced seven foals to date at stud, the highlight of those being Ellsberg (Spill The Beans), the handsome entire was the winner of the G1 Epsom H. last spring. The 5-year-old has won nine times from 1300 to 1800 metres and over $3 million in earnings. Alongside his Epsom H. victory he won the G3 Festival S. and G3 Liverpool City Cup and was also placed in the G1 All Aged S.

Love Of Liberty is a full sister to G3 Colonel Reeves S. winner Electric General (General Nediym). Furthermore, this is the family of the G1 Australian Oaks winner Coco Cobanna (NZ) (Casual Lies {USA}) and the Listed winner Dorf Command (Commands).

Yulong's Sam Fairgray said the opportunity to breed a close relation to Ellsberg was what attracted Mr Zhang to the mare.

“She will likely go to Alabama Express on the back of the fact General Nediym has clicked fantastically well with sons of Redoute’s Choice. That will make the resultant foal a very close relation to Ellsberg as well and that’s what we’re after.’’

Makybe’s Joe Murray was delighted with the sale.

“We’re really happy with the result,’’ Murray said.

“We bought her through Inglis Digital for $8500, made some great returns with her foals selling well and we wanted to see if the market was out there for a mare like her off the coattails of Ellsberg and it turns out that through Inglis Digital, it was.

“It’s just so easy to put these mares up online with Inglis Digital, I’ve had plenty of phone calls and emails, there was plenty of interest in her so people knew she was online.’’

Murray said Love Of Liberty was initially headed for the Chairman’s Sale but opted to take advantage of timely and the convenient nature of selling on Inglis Digital.

“We could have gone to the Chairman’s with her but everything sells just as well on the Digital Sale and you don’t have to take her out of the paddock,’’ he explained.

Yulong Stud were also the purchasers of the 4-year-old Tagomago (Written Tycoon) for $70,000. The daughter of the Champion Sire Written Tycoon hails from the family of Shumookh (Dream Ahead {USA}) a multiple Group 2 winner.

Broodmare prospects lead the way

Broodmare prospects rounded out the top three lots for the Early April session of Inglis Digital.

With Kambula Stud going to $95,000 for a daughter of the outstanding Coolmore shuttler Wootton Bassett (GB), Rapid Achiever (Fr). The 5-year-old mare was offered by Ciaron Maher Racing on behalf of her owners as a racing and breeding prospect.

Rapid Achiever was a winner of three races from only eight starts, she had been in good form and was last seen finishing second at Sandown-Hillside. The mare hails from a huge European black-type family that includes Too Darn Hot (GB) and his Group-winning full sisters Lah Ti Dar (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and So Mi Dar (GB) (Dubawi {Ire})

While the Listed-winning mare She’s The Gift (Power {GB}) was secured by Bringelly Farm for $85,0000. The 5-year-old mare has been under the care of Chris Waller’s stable on the Gold Coast and is a winner of eight races including being placed twice at Group 3 level to sit alongside her Listed victory.

She’s The Gift (NZ) hails from a beautiful Black-Type family that has continued to produce Group-class horses, the likes of dual Group 1 winner Cosmic Endeavour (Northern Meteor) the Champion Hong Kong-based galloper Fairy King Prawn (Danehill {USA}) and stakes winners such as Troach (Epaulette) and Ana Royale (Anacheeva).

The Inglis Digital April (Early) Online Sale grossed $3,048,650. The clearance rate on Wednesday was just over 70 per cent, with the average sitting at $10,265.