The Cunninghams, Jim Clarke and Bjorn Baker buy 500k Frankel colt on Day 1

Cover image courtesy of Magic Millions

Fabulous Frankel colt on top

As the only Frankel (GB) colt in the sale, Lot 15 was always going to attract a lot of attention and there was strong bidding as he reached day one’s sale topping amount of $500,000 - secured by Jim Clarke along with Cunningham Thoroughbreds and Bjorn Baker Racing.

“We bought a similar colt here two years ago,” Jim Clarke said, noting that that Frankel - FIx (NZ) (Iffraaj {GB}) 2-year-old called Viktor is coming along nicely for the Baker stable.

“It is very hard to get a horse with his breeding at the yearling sales,” he said, “so when we see one like him in the weanling sales we have to have a look.”

And in this case Clarke certainly liked what he saw - “first and foremost he was the best bred horse - by a margin - in the sale. Frankel is a freak, statistically the best stallion in the world.”

“His dam is a Group 1 winner who has already produced two Group placed performers and her son races tonight.”

That horse is Coolmore’s Chief Little Rock (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) who is strongly fancied to take out the G3 Gallinule S. at The Curragh.

“His pedigree is very hard to pick holes in,” Clarke said “and if he furnishes and grows well as I expect him to do he’d be the sort of horse who would be very hard to buy as a yearling.”

Coolmore’s Colm Santry was pleased with the result - “he is a very nice horse whose X-factor is the fact that he is from an Australian family.”

“For a Frankel he is a bit closer to home and it is such a great family.”

The colt is the first Australian born foal for the G1 1000 Guineas and triple Group winner Amicus (Fastnet Rock) whose stakes placed dam Gold Chant (El Moxie {USA}) is a half-sister to Coolmore’s globe-trotting multiple Group 1 winner Starspangledbanner.

Also dam of the Group 3 placed Okita Soushi (Ire) (Galileo), Amicus - who can also count amongst her relations Elvstroem and Haradasun - was served last spring by St Mark’s Basilica (Fr).

Frankel filly to North Bloodstock

The day’s second highest priced seller was also a Frankel - Lot 144 sold by Coolmore to North Bloodstock is the first foal for the unraced imported mare Kapralova (USA) (War Front {USA}).

Purchased by James Bester for $1 million (in foal with this filly) at last year’s National Broodmare Sale and served last spring by Justify (USA), she is a full sister to the dual Group 1 winner Avenge and the Group 3 winner Luguria and half-sister to the Listed winner Lira (USA) (Giant’s Causeway {USA}).

“She is a very good looking filly who looks perfect for resale,” Colm Santry said, “and her pedigree certainly warrants the $450,000 price tag.

North Bloodstock’s Mick Malone was delighted to secure the filly, excited to have the first Frankel on his farm.

“I was there the day he and Black Caviar (Bel Esprit) won at Royal Ascot,” he said - “that was a great trip for me, a day I will never forget.”

“This filly has that real Frankel look - she is a beautiful filly and a lovely walker and she is from a great quality international family.”

“It is hard to get a crack at the Frankels and I am looking forward to bringing her back as a yearling.”

Lindsay Maxsted likes Home Affairs filly

Bred in partnership by Coolmore with French breeders, Lot 21 caught the eye of Coolmore’s Australian Chairman Lindsay Maxsted who went to $380,000 to secure the well related filly by the stud’s exciting first season stallion.

Purchased by Maxsted to race, the filly was - said Coolmore’s Colm Santry - “our best filly at the sale.”

“She is a lovely filly with a big pedigree and she sold accordingly,” he said.

“It is a great start for Home Affairs,” he added, noting that Coolmore feel privileged to be standing such a high class son of I Am Invincible.

“His colts are hard to come by and we are very lucky to have an I Am Invincible horse with such a great profile.”

The filly with an interesting pedigree - Home Affairs’ dam bred on the same Danehill (USA)/Stravinsky (USA) cross as her dam Art Collection (Fastnet Rock) - is her dam’s third foal and her first through the sales ring.

Served last spring by St Mark’s Basilica (Fr), Art Collection is a city placed winning daughter of the G3 MVRC Champagne S. winner Estelle Collection, dam of Australian Horse Of The Year Lankan Rupee (Redoute’s Choice) and grandam of the G2 Victory S. winner Count De Rupee (Real Impact {Jpn}) and the Listed Ryder S. winner Manhattan Street (Manhattan Rain).

Hailing from the prolific Gay Poss (NZ) (Le Filou {Fr}) family that has produced a number of Group 1 winners including Lonhro, Art Collection has two foals of racing age - the lightly raced two times winning 3-year-old Clavadatsch (Justify {USA}) and the yet to race Amassment (Pierro).

Home Affairs' weanlings popular

Home Affairs also provided the day’s fourth highest priced weanling, Riverstone Lodge and Suman Hedge putting their hands up for Lot 127, a colt bred by a group led by SF Bloodstock.

Sold by Newgate for $350,000, he is the first foal for the imported Group 2 and Listed winner Inthemidstofbiz (USA) (Fed Biz {USA}) who was purchased by Glenbawn Bloodstock for $525,000 at last year’s National Broodmare Sale.

A daughter of the Listed winner Midst (USA) (Closing Argument {USA}), Inthemidstofbiz was served last spring by Anamoe.

Glenbawn’s Jackson Beirs is Newgate’s assistant stud manager and the stud’s Henry Field was delighted for him - “he paid good money for the mare so it is good to see him recoup a lot of that straight away.”

“We had a $250,000 reserve on him and were expecting somewhere between $300,000 and $400,000 and we were smack in the middle of that.”

“He is a really nice colt,” Field said and Suman Hedge agreed.

“Our biggest worry was that we would not have enough for him,” he said.

“He is a beautiful horse, very athletic and a lovely mover - for us he was one of the stand-outs of the sale.”

“I have been really impressed by the Home Affairs weanlings in Sydney and here - he is putting a lot of quality and substance into his progeny.”

“And this colt is out of a fast running mare from a great family, there is a lot to like about him.”

“We (with Riverstone) had a bit of luck pin-hooking at Sydney this year and that is certainly the intention with this colt - I daresay he will come back here in January but I will leave that decision to Nick (Taylor).”

Hedge described the market at the sale as “very selective,” noticing a great demand for the progeny of first season stallions.

“There is still a huge appetite for those stallions and the better types by them are selling particularly well.”

I Am Invincible strikes early

It did not take long for a six figure horse to grace the ring, Lot 3 by Yarraman Stud’s Champion Sire I Am Invincible out of the two times winner Ahbelle (Old Deuteronomy {USA}) fetching $200,000 to the bid of Woburn Stud.

“She is a lovely bodied filly who is only going to grow in value,” said Woburn’s Adrian Stanley.”

“We bought here as an end-use horse with partners - we will see what she can do on the track and hopefully she can build on a broodmare career from there.”

Bred by the Raphie Bloodstock Trust the mid-September born filly was sold by Vinery Stud whose Peter Orton admitted that he was hoping for more than the $200,000.

“I thought she was the type to furnish into a $400,000 yearling but it was to dissolve a partnership and she was here to be sold.”

“With the way the economy is looking it is however good to have that $200,000 in the pocket.”

Bred on the same I Am Invincible/Storm Cat (USA) cross as Imperatriz and two other Group 1 winners, she is out of a half-sister to the Group winners Santos and Melagrana (Fastnet Rock) and to the dam of the G3 Chairman’s S. winner Sebonack (Capitalist).

Served last year by Brave Smash (Jpn), Ahbelle had her yearling colt by Pierata sell for $150,000 to Kennewell Racing and G1 Bloodstock in January.

Bester is a fan of Pinatubo

The first of the six $200,000 first day weanlings and was Lot 81, one of the four colts by Darley’s highly regarded first season sire Pinatubo (Ire).

He was bred and sold by Three Bridges Thoroughbreds whose Peter Liston was delighted to sell a colt to James Bester who he said is “one of the best judges in the business.”

Purchasing the colt’s G2 Edward Manifold S. and Listed Queen Adelaide S. winning dam El Daana (Redoute’s Choice) for $120,000 at the Magic Millions National Broodmare sale three years ago, Liston said “she always throws a lovely type.”

Served last year by Blue Point (Ire), El Daana is a proven broodmare with six of her nine foals to race being winners including the South African based dual Group 1 winner Al Muthana (Deep Field) and the dual Group winner Wawail (Lonhro) whose stakes winning son Desi Prince (I Am Invincible) has won 11 races in Macau.

“Pinatubo is a very well bred horse and when they bring stallions like him out to Australia you just have to use them,” Liston said, adding that he was taken by this colt from the moment he was born.

“I remember thinking that if they all came out like that you’d be going well!”

The colt also impressed James Bester who described him as “a big, strong horse with a very good head and a very good action.”

“Physically we rated him our number one colt in the sale and we know the dam well. Her son Al Muthana won the best Group 1 mile race in South Africa and it is a strong family.”

Purchased with a group of “Pinatubo fans,” the colt “will probably be reoffered but he is a dual purpose horse - he is also a fantastic racing prospect and even a potential stallion prospect.”

Bester has plenty of time for Pinatubo - “I love him,” he said.

“He was as good a 2-year-old as I have seen and he was a very good 3-year-old miler as well. They have proven very popular in the northern hemisphere so everyone likes them on type.”

Three Bridges retained El Daana’s 2-year-old to race - Oh Actually (Too Darn Hot {GB}) trained at Lindsay Park whilst her 3-year-old Waamil (Lonhro) a $625,000 Inglis Easter graduate has been out of the placings at her first two starts for Waterhouse and Bott.

An Exceed And Excel filly excels

The recently retired Exceed And Excel was represented by three fillies at the sale and the first of those - Lot 112 out of the Group 1 placed Warwick Farm winner Happy Hannah (More Than Ready {USA}) was well received - sold by Amarina Farm to Cunningham Thoroughbreds and Clarke Bloodstock for $200,000.

“She is a beautiful filly by a proven stallion from a really deep family that has been so well cultivated by John Singleton,” Jim Clarke said.

“She is a quality type who is going to furnish into a lovely yearling. We have the option to keep her and take her through to the races or re-offer her; we will get her back to Ridgmont and she how she grows out.”

Bred by Hall Of Fame Bloodstock, she is the fourth foal for her dam, a half-sister to the G2 Autumn Classic winner Castlereagh Kid (Snitzel) out of a daughter of the G1 Queensland Oaks winner Joie Denise (Danehill {USA}) - daughter of Denise’s Joy (Seventh Hussar {Fr}).

In foal to Hellbent, Happy Hannah had not had a great deal of luck before producing this filly; slipping to Fastnet Rock and missing to I Am Invincible.

This filly, Amarina’s Craig Anderson said, is very much like her dam who he describes as “a short-coupled, typically strong More Than Ready.”

“She is a neat sort of filly and we put a reserve on which we thought was fair - and she exceeded that so we are very happy.”

Two $200,000 Toronado colts for Three Bridges

Toronado (Ire) provided Three Bridges with a couple of nice results, the first of those being Lot 138 sold for $200,000 to Sheamus Mills Bloodstock.

His dam is the stakes placed Wagga Town Plate and Goulburn Cup winner Just A Blur (Dane Shadow) whose stakes winning grandam Elizabeth Drake (GB) (Northfields {USA}) produced the G1 Caulfield S. winner Northern Drake.

Just A Blur has been a regular visitor to Toronado, again served by him last year with her yearling colt by him selling for $20,000 to Joseph Jones Racing in January.

The second Toronado to sell well for Three Bridges was Lot 157, a half-brother to the stakes placed multiple city winner Malahide (Shamus Award) purchased by the successful pin-hookers Mark and Shelley Treweek of Lyndhurst Farm.

“We were targeting Toronado colts but they are pretty hard to buy,” Shelley Treweek said.

“He has really come of age as a proven stallion,” Mark added.

Describing their buy as “a big, strong colt who ticked all the boxes in regards to what we were looking for,” Shelley Treweek said they would get the bay home and “see how he gros and develops before deciding which sale to aim him for.”

A half-sister to the stakes winners Haut Brion Her (Zoustar), Karacatis (Hussonet {USA}) and Shamillion (Shamardal {USA}), Lady Millions was served last year by Wooded (Ire). Her yearling filly by Deep Field fetched $280,000 in January - purchased by Sutton Racing and Byron Rogers.

Three Bridges’ Toby Liston was happy with the results, noting that both yearlings “have that typical flashy Toronado look.”

“They all have great natures and they are strong, good movers. We absolutely love Toronado and send twenty mares a year to Swettenham for him - it is good to get the rewards for our clients.”

Kaha Nui Farm back in action

The last of the day’s $200,000 sellers was Lot 168, a Coolmore Stud Wootton Bassett (GB) colt purchased by Kaha Nui Farm.

“He is a nice colt with good length, a good example of the stallion,” said Kaha Nui’s Nicky White.

“We will get him back to Waikato and let him grow out. We will play it by ear but we will probably look to get him back here next year.”

“Wootton Bassett is a striking type who has it all before him here so I am very happy to get one.”

Colm Santry is excited about the stallion’s future in both hemispheres.

“The first Ballydoyle crop are 2-year-olds and we are expecting him to have a great season. And he has a good profile for Australia, he could do absolutely anything here.”

This colt is out of the stakes placed Little Miss Smiley (Husson {Arg}) who was served last year by So You Think (NZ). She has done a great job with her first four to race all being winners including the Group 3 sprinter Saif (Pride Of Dubai) and the stakes placed Serious Liaison (Zoffany {Ire}).

Bowditch pleased with results

Magic Millions Managing Director Barry Bowditch was happy at the end of day one, noting the ongoing “thirst for quality.”

“That has been evident in the yearling sales and that generally flows on to the weanling sales.”

“The pinhookers were out in force and there were plenty of end-users as well. Overall it was a strong, healthy trading sale. Having ten yearlings make $200,000 and over and 32 over $100,000 is a really good start and there is good reason to believe that buyers will again have long lists tomorrow.”

“The average and median were down on last year’s opening session but not by a long way and fundamentally that is where the market is at this year.”

“We had a good number of first season sires here and they were well sought after which is fantastic - and there was also a good market for the proven stallions such as Frankel and Toronado.”

“Overall it was a healthy start and something we can build on tomorrow.”

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