Cover image courtesy of Magic Millions
With the biggest catalogue of any yearling sale in Australia, by some distance, the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale provides opportunities for owners, trainers and bloodstock agents the world over to secure new stock for their operations, at both ends of the market.
In the days after the sale, 1127 of the 1337 horses to make their way through the ring have been sold, with buyers represented across the globe.
But where in the world are they going? The Thoroughbred Report takes a look at the numbers, to find out where the graduating class of 2024 are being aimed to race, and to see if the figures match up to the pattern of the recent iterations of the January super-sale.
Bigger catalogue means bigger numbers
Much was made about the 1475-strong initial catalogue for the sale, giving the January spectacular a massive amount of yearlings to sell.
More horses, and a continuation of strong clearance rates, naturally means the individual numbers of horses sold will increase, especially along the eastern seaboard, which has historically boasted the most active enclave of buyers at the sale.
New South Wales-based buyers have taken the most lots home every year across the last 10 sales, with the 443 purchased in 2024 an increase on the 425 bought in 2023.
Victoria only slightly increased from 271 to 275, both numbers down on the peak of 309 in 2021, while Queensland buyers, spurred on by the lucrative QTIS bonuses, went to 239 purchases in 2024, an increase on the 197 kept local in 2023, but down on the 10-year peak of 256, which was achieved in 2021.
| New South Wales | 425 | 443 | 18 |
| Victoria | 271 | 274 | 3 |
| Queensland | 197 | 239 | 42 |
| Western Australia | 8 | 14 | 6 |
| South Australia | 15 | 14 | -1 |
Table: 2023 vs 2024 purchases by mainland states
Western Australia and South Australia will both have 14 lots making some of the longest journeys while not needing a passport, an increase of six for the former, and a decrease of one for the latter, when compared to 2023.
It’s a significant drop on the historical peak for South Australian buys, with 36 lots in 2018 holding the record. That was the same year that Magic Millions introduced their Adelaide Yearling Sale, affording buyers the opportunity to stay local, while still maintaining eligibility for the lucrative Magic Millions Raceday.
As for Western Australia, 14 is the second-highest number of individual lots purchased, with 2015 being the peak for the last decade, at 17.
Of the other jurisdictions; the Australian Capital Territory welcomed nine yearlings, a rise on seven from 2023, while the Northern Territory returned into the frame after not taking any to the top end 12 months ago, with a sole purchase. Tasmania is a notable omission, having bought none, down two on 2023, with stables instead looking to the Magic Millions Tasmania Yearling Sale in late-February.
| ACT | 7 | 9 | 2 |
| NT | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Tasmania | 2 | 0 | -2 |
Table: 2023 vs 2024 purchases by NT, ACT, TAS
International influence ramps up
It’s not just Australian buyers queuing up to add Magic Millions graduates to their stables, with a number of international buyers represented across the last decade.
The 2024 iteration of the sale saw a peak number of horses sold to Hong Kong, with 53, while New Zealand buyers signed for 47 yearlings, also a record number.
| New Zealand | 32 | 47 | 15 |
| Hong Kong | 38 | 53 | 15 |
Table: 2023 vs 2024 purchases by Hong Kong and New Zealand
Elsewhere in Asia, Singaporean buyers signed for five, even with the imminent closure of the jurisdiction, while South Korean-based interests secured eight. Three horses each were picked up by buyers in Japan and the Philippines, with the latter gearing up for a brand new track in the city of Padre Garcia.
| Singapore | 11 | 5 | -6 |
| South Korea | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| Philippines | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Japan | 4 | 3 | -1 |
Table: 2023 vs 2024 purchases by Asian jurisdictions (exc. Hong Kong)
Two other frequent fliers are buyers from the United Kingdom and the United States of America, both remaining active throughout the 2024 sale.
Buyers from the UK signed for three lots this time around, up one compared to 2023, while buyers located in the USA purchased 11 lots, an increase of nine from 12 months prior.
| USA | 2 | 11 | 9 |
| UK | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Table: 2023 vs 2024 purchases by US and UK buyers
It’s all relative
With the majority of numbers up compared to previous years, it’s worth contextualising that with the percentage of purchases relative to the entire sale, due to the previously established fact that there were simply more horses sold this year compared to previous iterations.
Starting with 2024, here is how each jurisdiction covered above sits, when considered as a percentage of overall purchases.
| New South Wales | 39.30% |
| Victoria | 24.31% |
| Queensland | 21.20% |
| New Zealand | 4.17% |
| Hong Kong | 4.70% |
| USA | 0.97% |
| Western Australia | 1.24% |
| South Australia | 1.24% |
| UK | 0.26% |
| Singapore | 0.44% |
| Japan | 0.26% |
| ACT | 0.79% |
| South Korea | 0.70% |
| Philippines | 0.26% |
| NT | 0.08% |
Table: Buyers by jurisdiction in 2024
Looking at the same consideration in 2023, New South Wales buyers represent a lower percentage of the overall picture than they did in 2023, dropping from 41.87 per cent to 39.3 per cent, while Victorian representation also dipped, going from 26.69 per cent 12 months prior to 24.31 per cent for the 2024 iteration.
| New South Wales | 41.87% |
| Victoria | 26.69% |
| Queensland | 19.40% |
| Hong Kong | 3.74% |
| New Zealand | 3.15% |
| USA | 0.19% |
| South Australia | 1.47% |
| Western Australia | 0.78% |
| Japan | 0.39% |
| Singapore | 1.08% |
| ACT | 0.68% |
| UK | 0.19% |
| Tasmania | 0.19% |
| Philippines | 0.09% |
Table: Buyers by jurisdiction in 2023
Queensland buyers took a significant step forward in slice of the pie, as did Hong Kong and New Zealand. Understandably, Singapore’s representation dropped, as did South Australia’s, while Western Australia’s slice increased further.
Going back to 2022 provides more significance when considering Victorian buyers, who took home 30.40 per cent of horses sold that year, a figure six per cent higher than their representation some 24 months later. The percentage of New South Wales-based buyers is almost identical to the 2024 numbers, with 39.58 per cent, while New Zealand sitting at 1.58 per cent is a significantly lower percentage than their representation this year, where they had 4.17 per cent
| New South Wales | 39.58% |
| Victoria | 30.40% |
| Queensland | 19.64% |
| Hong Kong | 3.46% |
| USA | 1.48% |
| New Zealand | 1.58% |
| South Australia | 1.28% |
| Western Australia | 0.59% |
| ACT | 1.38% |
| Tasmania | 1.11% |
| NT | 0.20% |
Table: Buyers by jurisdiction in 2022
As for the 2021 metrics, New South Wales buyers took their smallest percentage home in the last five years, with 34.82 per cent, while Victoria’s slice of 29.97 per cent is consistent with the year before and after.
| New South Wales | 34.82% |
| Victoria | 29.97% |
| Queensland | 24.83% |
| Hong Kong | 4.27% |
| New Zealand | 1.84% |
| South Australia | 1.65% |
| ACT | 0.97% |
| Japan | 0.29% |
| Western Australia | 0.87% |
| Macau | 0.10% |
| UK | 0.29% |
| NT | 0.10% |
Table: Buyers by jurisdiction in 2021
Queensland’s percentage of 24.83 per cent sits as the highest of the last five years, as does South Australia’s at 1.65 per cent.
The last year to be looked at in isolation, 2020, had the lowest amount of horses sold in the previous five years, with 870. For the second time in this period, New South Wales buyers took more than 40 per cent of sold lots, while Victorians took 28.62 per cent. Queensland’s 16.21 per cent is considerably lower than their four successive years, while the 1.61 per cent of horses being bought by Western Australian buyers is the peak of the last half-decade.
| New South Wales | 41.15% |
| Victoria | 28.62% |
| Queensland | 16.21% |
| Hong Kong | 3.79% |
| New Zealand | 2.76% |
| Western Australia | 1.61% |
| China | 0.80% |
| Japan | 0.69% |
| UK | 0.80% |
| USA | 0.46% |
| South Australia | 0.92% |
| Ireland | 0.23% |
| Philippines | 0.46% |
| South Korea | 0.69% |
| Thailand | 0.11% |
| South Africa | 0.23% |
| ACT | 0.34% |
| Singapore | 0.11% |
Table: Buyers by jurisdiction in 2020
Outside of the year-on-year comparison, how does 2024 stack up against the cumulative five-year percentage?
In total, 5056 horses have been sold at Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale since 2020, a figure in itself that sits as being quite remarkable.
| New South Wales | 1986 | 39.28% |
| Victoria | 1411 | 27.91% |
| Queensland | 1032 | 20.41% |
| Western Australia | 51 | 1.01% |
| South Australia | 67 | 1.33% |
| Hong Kong | 203 | 4.02% |
| New Zealand | 138 | 2.73% |
Table: Five-year average of buyers by location
Interestingly, buyers from New South Wales bought almost the exact same percentage of horses in 2024 as they have over the last five years, with 39.30 per cent in 2024, and 30.28 per cent of all purchases from the sale since 2020.
Victoria had the biggest variation of any jurisdiction, since 2020 buyers from the state have taken 27.91 per cent of yearlings offered, but in 2024 only 24.31 per cent have been knocked down to buyers travelling across the two borders to get to the sale.
Queensland went at above their average slice in 2024, with 21.2 per cent of horses not requiring a border crossing out of the sale, compared to a five-year going rate of 20.41 per cent.
More horses went to Western Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong than the five-year average, while less will make their way to South Australia, who join Victoria as the only jurisdiction amongst the seven largest to buy a lesser percentage than their recent average.
