Day 3 sale-toppers: international influence drives hefty prices as top-end of market remains strong

Cover image courtesy of Magic Millions

At the conclusion of trade on Day 3, Magic Millions Managing Director Barry Bowditch spoke of his continued optimism as trade continues to hold positively, especially at the highest end of the market.

“I’m pleased with today. At times we were passing in more horses than we’d have liked but overall, the stats are in line with yesterday.

“When a good colt or filly walks into the ring there’s a lot of action. Five million-dollar colts went through the ring today, and 17 overall.

“Kudos to the vendors (for) continuing their willingness to meet the market.

“We sold a sale topper - $2.1 million, (it) can’t be more positive than that today.”

Lot 454 - Wootton Bassett (GB) x Avantage (Fastnet Rock), filly, $2.1 million

Across the first two days, Te Akau Racing supremo David Ellis CNZM (BANZ) has been willing to open the cheque book for a number of colts he hopes can establish the brand in Australia with a bang, but on Thursday he went back to the well of the superstar mare Avantage (Fastnet Rock) to purchase her first foal from Coolmore Stud for $2.1 million.

By one of the most exciting stallions to stand in Australia in contemporary times, Wootton Bassett (GB), there was plenty of excitement as attendees streamed into the complex, and they didn't have to wait long to see fireworks, with the current sale topper being offered in the first 10 minutes of bidding on Thursday.

Ellis, who knows the dam extremely well owing to her racing in the famous tangerine and blue Te Akau colours, fought off interest from across the floor and online to buy her, going beyond the $2 million barrier for the first time so far in the sale. In almost perfect synergy, the first foal of the star mare sold by Te Akau to Coolmore, is sold by Coolmore to Te Akau, and if she could go on to emanate her mothers success, it would be no surprised to see the back-and-forth continue for her breeding career.

One of the finest racemares in recent Australasian racing, Avantage ruled the New Zealand roost in the latter part of the 2010s, recording 16 victories, nine of which came at Group 1 level.

She was a brilliant 2-year-old, winning five races in her juvenile year, including the G1 Sires’ Produce S. at Manawatu. One of the best progeny of Fastnet Rock, a title that has its fair share of talented gallopers queuing up to be claiming it, Avantage sold to Tom Magnier for an incredible NZ$4.1 million in a Gavelhouse Plus online auction following her racing career concluding in 2021.

Also present on this filly's page is the brilliant Hong Kong sprinter D B Pin (NZ) (Darci Brahma {NZ}), who took out the G1 Centenary Sprint Cup, as well as hearty stayer Asathought (So You Think {NZ}), who found the winning post first on seven occasions, including the Listed Riverton Cup.

Speaking to The Thoroughbred Report after the purchase, Ellis lauded the quality of Avantage, and shared his excitement over what his expensive new acquisition could become down the track.

“We’re just over the moon to have a filly of her quality to train. A lot of people don’t realise that she (Avantage) had her first start as a 2-year-old in September and she won that well.

“She raced again in October, she won the (R. Listed) Karaka Million. She won a Group 1 as a 2-year-old. She won a Group 1 at 1200 metres, 1400 metres, 1600 (metres) and 2000 metres.

“We’ll take her back to New Zealand. We’ll break her in (raceeducate), assess her and have her ready to race in November/December.

“This filly has terrific residual value and she’d be an asset for any stud farm (even) if she never races.

“She was the complete racehorse and I’ve seen her foal at the stud this year. She is a cracker and the mare is back in foal to I Am Invincible so it has got so much upside and we’re just so proud to have her in the stable to train.”

Lot 666 - Wootton Bassett (GB) x Fiera Vista (Exceed And Excel), colt, $1.6 million

Late in a day that had announced Wootton Bassett as one of the most extraordinary first-season sires seen in this country, his extraordinary run continued with another big-money purchase, this time at the hands of Tom Magnier, who parted with $1.6 million to purchase the royally bred colt, giving his sire the two most expensive lots sold across the day.

With the glamorous colt safely secured, Magnier told The Thoroughbred Report of his delight of the support Wootton Bassett has been met with since standing in the Southern Hemisphere, and the liking he has for this colt.

“It is great to see it (the support for Wootton Bassett). The best breeders around the country have gone to this horse.

“We’ll need a bit of luck, but in fairness to the stallion, he is kicking amazing goals and the market seems to have the confidence that he is going to do the same here (Southern Hemisphere).

“Just a real quality horse (Lot 666). Very athletic and loads of quality. In fairness all the team really liked this horse and it is a credit to Peter and John Camilleri.

“There are that many as 2-year-olds in Europe (performing well), it is very exciting.”

Based on pedigree alone, you can certainly see why there was feverish interest amongst bidders, with his dam being the Listed Morphettville Guineas winner Fiera Vista, a talented daughter of top stallion Exceed And Excel.

She is a half-sister to the G2 Kewney S. winner Empress Rock (Fastnet Rock), who has gotten her career as a producer off to a good start, with Dynasties (Sebring) coming out on top in the Listed Gold Coast Bracelet.

Also present on his page is the legendary Hong Kong iron-horse Silent Witness (El Moxie {USA}), who won an incredible 17 races in succession as he carved out one of the greatest careers ever seen in the jurisdiction, as well as the G2 Salinger S. victress Sister Madly (Redoute’s Choice) and the G3 Quizette S. heroine Bound For Home (Rubick).

Lot 644 - Extreme Choice x Euroboss (USA) (Street Boss {USA}), colt, $1.45 million

With intense competition for high-class colts, a conglomerate of racing royalty, comprising of Rosemont Stud, Suman Hedge Bloodstock (FBAA), Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott and Dermot Farrington Bloodstock combined to secure a striking son of Extreme Choice at a cost of $1.45 million.

With action from across the floor, bidding reached a frenzy as the $1 million threshold was met and exceeded, with the end result of interest from multiple parties being a purchase price amongst the highest seen in the first three days of selling.

Speaking to The Thoroughbred Report after coming out victorious, bloodstock agent Suman Hedge emphasised just how keen the partnership was to ensure that they had their names listed as the winning bidders.

“He was a horse that through the week that there was a lot of talk amongst my colleagues and trainers, so we were really just hopeful more than anything to get him.

“Obviously, we had to push ourselves to the limit, but we’re really happy to secure him.

“There’s obviously a limited number of them (progeny of Extreme Choice) that are available.

“The horse has done an incredible job at stud and I think also as the sale progresses and you see other colts going through, it sets some benchmarks for the ones that you like.

“With the one going through yesterday really well (Lot 349), we knew this one was going to be quite a challenge to get, but we’re really happy to get him.”

Out of a winning daughter of Street Boss (USA), Euroboss (USA), who picked up three victories when racing, and a black type placing in the G3 Woodbine Whimsical S., she has produced one foal to race so far, High Class (USA) (Into Mischief {USA}).

The latter has already tasted success on the racetrack in strong company, winning the Listed Poinsettia S., a win that gave this lot a valuable pedigree update.

This colt has a page stacked with talent all throughout his damline, including the G1 Santa Anita H. champion Combatant (USA) (Scat Daddy {USA}), who was an elite performer in the United States beyond 1600 metres, and the G3 Sweet Solera S. winner Long Lashes (USA) (Rock Hard Ten {USA}).

Lot 623 - I Am Invincible x Eloping (Choisir), filly, $1.15 million

Plenty of bidders were salivating at the thought of taking ownership of a full sister to In Secret (I Am Invincible), but it was renowned bloodstock agent Damon Gabbedy who came out on top of a spirited battle across the auditorium with a $1.15 million bid to secure her from Segenhoe Stud.

To be trained by Ciaron Maher, the dashing filly commanded attention as she waltzed around the ring with a sense of authority, with interest running hot as the price ticked over the seven-figure threshold.

With an enviable page, it’s certainly evident why the bidspotters were kept on their toes, with the full relation to In Secret being supplemented with a number of other strong relations.

Her dam, Eloping (Choisir), was no slouch herself, a seven-time winner, four of which came in her 2-year-old season, including crowing victories in the G3 Royal Randwick S. and the G3 Champagne S.

With more 2-year-old speed, through the like of the Blue Diamond Prelude Colts and Geldings Prelude winner Of The Brave (Starspangledbanner), who is a three-quarter brother to Eloping, and the G3 Carbine Club S. winner All Courage (Danzero), who won two races in his juvenile year.

Following the sale, Gabbedy, who operates the buyer Belmont Bloodstock Agency (FBAA) told The Thoroughbred Report, “We loved her. She’s obviously got a heap of residual value. Full sister to the champion filly (In Secret).

“She’s from a fast-running mare and she comes from an amazing farm. (I’m) Thrilled to get her.

“She’s been a standout from day one. A standout from the farm tours and she’s handled herself beautifully all the way through. Her temperament back here was unbelievable.

“A really cool dude, she is. She really handled everything really well.

“She was a bit bigger (than) In Secret. In Secret cost $900,000 and she’s won two Group 1s and this is a full sister to her so she’s always worth a lot of money as a broodmare down the track.

“She’s going to a nice man who breeds later on.”

Gabbedy revealed he was approaching the brink of his budget, saying, “We were out on our feet. I thought she’d go for a million dollars, one or 1.2 million.”

Lot 513 - Frankel (GB) x Cercele D’Or (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), filly, $1 million

Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott are no strangers to buying at the pointy end of the market, and despite waiting until the early morning of Day 3, they found themselves a flashy filly to break the seven-figure barrier with, out of the world-renowned stallion Frankel (GB).

Offered by Yarraman Park, the bidding started high and continued to tick along, but there was no denying Waterhouse and Bott, who went to $1 million alongside Matt Houldsworth to ensure she went into their care.

She is out of the 2-year-old winner Cercle D’or (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), who showed her best at 1400 metres. There is plenty of quality around her, being a half-sister to superstar racehorse and stallion Golden Horn (GB), who recorded success in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe when racing.

Lot 513 herself is a half-sister to Ozara (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), who enjoyed recent success in the Listed Ginger Brew S. at Gulfstream Park in the United States. Also represented on her page is the G1 Coronation S. winner Rebecca Sharp (GB) (Machiavellian {USA}) and the G2 Ribbensdale S. victress Frankly Darling (GB) (Frankel {GB}).

Speaking to The Thoroughbred Report, Waterhouse was glowing in her appraisal of the filly, insisting there is a big future ahead of her.

“She’s got an immaculate pedigree, physically she’s one of the loveliest fillies in the sale.

“We identified her a long time before the sale – several months before – and we had a group of people and an agent also, Matt Houldsworth, who was very keen that one of his owners would become involved as well, so we are able to make a marriage, we believe, in heaven.

“She’s by Frankel, she’s a Classic filly, you’d imagine her being able to run over 1400 and 1600 metres and he is he champion stallion in the world, so we feel very privileged to be training her.”

Lot 488 - Frankel (GB) x Boujie Girl (USA) (Flashback {USA}), filly, $825,000

Plenty queue up when the name ‘Frankel’ adorns the stallion section of a lot in an Australian yearling sale, and Chris Waller Racing and Guy Mulcaster Bloodstock are usually somewhere close to the front, with the pair combining to purchase Lot 488 for $825,000 out of the draft of Newgate Farm.

With bidding incrementally creeping up in $25,000 installments for much of the auction, with bidspotters in all corners of the auditorium kept busy as a number of interested parties had their crack at purchasing her.

In the end, Guy Mulcaster, regarded as one of the best judges in the business, and Chris Waller, who has enjoyed success with a Frankel filly previously in the form of Hungry Heart (Frankel {GB}), held the final bid when the hammer came crashing down.

Mulcaster told The Thoroughbred Report that taking a Frankel filly home was always part of the plan, saying, “We came here looking for a Frankel filly. The stats are really good in Australia. Chris (Waller) liked her - he trained Hungry Heart, so I think that was about where it finished.

“(She’s a) Lovely, athletic filly that came off a good farm so we’re happy with her, very happy with her.

“We’ll just take her through the system and see where she ends up. She won’t be pushed too hard, and she’ll tell us where she’ll end up.”

This filly boasts a truly sublime page, being out of the Flashback (USA) mare Boujie Girl (USA), who was a Group 1-placed runner in her career. She is a half-sister to the G1 Arkansas Derby winner Super Stock (USA) (Dialed In {USA}), while also being a relation to the G1 La Brea S. victress Heir Kitty (USA) (Wildcat Heir {USA}).

Lot 516 - Wootton Bassett (GB) x Champagne Cuddles (Not A Single Doubt), filly, $800,000

Leviathan owner John Singleton was also keen to jump on the Wootton Bassett express as it steamrolled through Day 3, being willing to part with $800,000 to purchase a well-related filly from his first crop.

Singleton’s newest buy is the second foal for the talented sprinter Champagne Cuddles (Not A Single Doubt), who proved herself with numerous black-type wins and placings, headlined by victories in the G2 Breeders’ Classic and the G3 Gold Coast Guineas, with Group 1 placings in the G1 Stradbroke H. and the G1 Kingsford-Smith Cup.

Her first foal, French Empire (Justify {USA}), commanded $700,000 when offered as a yearling at this sale last year, with the second time of asking for vendor Coolmore Stud escalating the required price to own one of her progeny even further.

Also on the page of this filly is her grandam Sky Cuddle (Snippets), a winner of the G1 Emirates S., as well as the G2 Tulloch S. winner Fast Clip (Snippetson) and the G3 Shaftesbury Avenue H. champion Violate (Sebring).

Lot 562 - I Am Invincible x Danish Spy (Dane Shadow), colt, $800,000

Yarraman Park’s joy with I Am Invincible continued on Day 3, with their colt out of Danish Spy (Dane Shadow) going to Rosemont Stud, in conjunction with Suman Hedge Bloodstock (FBAA) and Gollan Racing for $800,000.

With sons of ‘Vinnie’ always hotly contested, it was the trio that were able to defy rivals as a number of sharks circled, with the colt, who is a full brother to Strasbourg, now set to remain in the sunshine state.

Following the purchase, Hedge explained the thought process for picking up the colt, and what the plan is for him down the track.

“We like Strasbourg and he’s off to a good start at stud. We’re buying his brother here and we’ve looked at the yearlings out of the mare over the last couple of years and he’s looked like he was the sharpest and most like Strasbourg that we’d seen.

“We had him highly rated all week and he’s performed well all week. Looks like he’s got the temperament to stay a colt. We know the temperament of the brother is pretty good so hopefully we can do a similar job and maybe even go a race or two better.

Outside of the close relation to Strasbourg, this colt has some strong relations across his page, including his dam, Danish Spy, who placed in the G2 Queen of the South S. when in racing. The colt is also a full brother to the progressive Invincible Spy (I Am Invincible), and is related to the G3 Gimcrack S. heroine Watch (Marauding {NZ}).

Lot 628 - Zoustar x Embrace Me (NZ) (Shamexpress {NZ}), colt, $800,000

Another frequent flier in pieces of this nature, Zoustar returned again with another well-sold lot, this time a colt out of quality mare Embrace Me (NZ) (Shamexpress {NZ}), who sold to China Horse Club, Newgate Farm (who stayed in, having been the vendor), Go Bloodstock and Trilogy.

The purchase was a pleasing one for China Horse Club’s Michael Smith, with the syndicate keeping their powder dry through much of the first half of Book 1.

“We evaluate each horse as an individual and he met the criteria. (He is) by Zoustar, sire of the Coolmore winner this year (Ozzmosis), out of a very fast mare which (we) love as well and had the physical to match.

“It is probably a bonus that the damsire was the winner of the Newmarket. Extremely Fast family and I think we were fortunate to have ended up with him.

“I think he’d done really well (marturing), and I think that it looked like it was Coolmore, Guy Mulcaster underbidding him affirms that.

“I couldn’t have been more delighted how he’d grown out and we were happy to play on him.”

With Embrace Me being the winner of the G3 Typhoon Tracy S., expectations on her first foal were always going to be high, and with the covering of Zoustar, there looks to be plenty of promise from the result of her first visit to the breeding barn.

Also present on his page is the G1 New Zealand Derby winner Military Move (NZ) (Volksraad {NZ}) and the G1 Doncaster H. winner Catalan Opening (NZ) (Kaapstaad {NZ}), adding elite-level quality across middle distance and staying trips to his pedigree.

Lot 669 - Capitalist x Fimatino (Not A Single Doubt), colt, $800,000

Progeny by Capitalist had yet to appear in this section across the first two and a half days, but that changed late on Day 3, when a familiar face to the stallion stepped in to secure a colt out of Fimatino (Not A Single Doubt) for $800,000.

Purchased by the James Harron Colt Syndicate, the Attunga Stud-offered colt had garnered interest across the preceding days and rode a flurry of bids all the way up to his final price.

James Harron, speaking after the sale, said that the colt was one on their radar from a long way out, and told of his delight to secure a son of the stallion he himself had so much faith in as a yearling.

“He has been a great stallion to us. We bought Capitalist here as a yearling and very fond of his stock.

“This guy is a real standout for us at the sale by the stallion and obviously his pedigree was outstanding. His brother was a very, very good 2-year-old. This horse’s temperament and attitude is quite incredible throughout the whole sale and we’re very pleased to get him.

“He was bred by Bob Hannon who has been a phenomenal breeder over years so delighted to get him and hopefully he can be a nice precocious early horse for us.

“He has been popular all week, there was certainly a push out to get him.

The half-brother Harron alludes to is Shaquero (Shalaa {Ire}), who enjoyed sensational success as a 2-year-old, winning the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic, before enjoying a Sydney autumn that afforded him a victory in the G3 Pago Pago S.

Further down his page, the colt also boasts a relation to well-regarded stallion Shamus Award, with Harron and his invite-only syndicate undoubtedly hoping that this colt can one day realise a future for himself in the barn.

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