Cover image courtesy of Magic Millions
With 554 broodmares and race fillies catalogued for Tuesday and Wednesday, the action continues on the Gold Coast following a strong start to the week with the successful weanling sale. A total of 71 withdrawals have been recorded, with 56 vendors set to present mares and fillies across the two days of selling. Adding further interest, the sale will open with the offering of stallion shares in both Ole Kirk and Bivouac.
Vendors making their mark with some big drafts
The 2025 edition of the sale hosts the largest book of mares across the last five editions of the sale, as a result there are some significant numbers being offered through some drafts. Baramul Stud will offer the largest draft of the sale, presenting 73 lots as part of a significant stud reduction, while Newgate Consignment will bring the second-largest offering with 59 catalogued lots.
Among the other vendors of interest will be an 18-strong draft from Chris Waller Racing that features the headline mares that everyone will be keeping an eye on including the multiple Group 1 winners Zougotcha (Zoustar) and Atishu (NZ) (Savabeel) and a 15-horse draft catalogued by Godolphin that possesses plenty of quality.
| Baramul Stud | 73 |
| Newgate Consignment | 59 |
| Widden Stud | 30 |
| Yarraman Park | 30 |
| Vinery Stud | 23 |
Table: Number of catalogued vendors for the Magic Millions Gold Coast National
Bowditch looking forward to the sale with anticipation
Magic Millions General Manager Barry Bowditch commented that the sale not only has good numbers but good quality across the board. “This sale comes with great anticipation, its a really, really commercial group of mares that we have here and when I say commercial, I mean whether you have a small budget, a middle budget or a big budget, there is a lot of depth and quality at all of those levels.”
Barry Bowditch | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“This is a sale of great depth, great diversity and it’s a very important sale from a commercial perspective and this is where the market comes to buy mares for their new stallions, or established stallions, and mares in foal to trade.”
“A great example of that was the Anamoe - Secret Doubt yesterday we sold the mare in foal for $160,000 last year and they doubled their money on the foal, so this is the sort of thing that can be achieved in the market when you have a willingness to participate.”
Big numbers, will the statistics continue to build?
The average mare price has remained above or around $200,000 for the past four editions, with the 2024 sale averaging almost $60,000 more per lot than the 2020 sale.
| Aggregate | $97,733,500 | $107,843,000 | $124,552,500 | $142,943,000 | $57,198,500 |
| Average | $193,532 | $215,255 | $223,613 | $229,443 | $135,541 |
| Median | $85,000 | $100,000 | $135,000 | $120,000 | $60,000 |
| Top Lot | $6,600,000 | $4,100,000 | $4,000,000 | $3,200,000 | $4,200,000 |
| Catalogued | 675 | 725 | 753 | 842 | 659 |
| Withdrawn | 79 | 84 | 100 | 127 | 99 |
| Passed In | 91 | 140 | 96 | 92 | 138 |
| Sold | 505 | 501 | 557 | 623 | 422 |
| Clearance Rate | 84.7 | 78.2 | 85.3 | 87.1 | 75.4 |
Table: Aggregate, average, and clearance rates across the last five editions of the Magic Millions Gold Coast National
Of course, some of this is to do with top prices; in a first of its kind virtual sale last year, multiple Group 1-winning mare Imperatriz (I Am Invincible) secured a top price of $6.6 million, setting a new Australasian record for a mare sold at public auction in the process when bought by Zhijun Zhao on behalf of Yulong Investments.
With a dip of $10 million in aggregate despite four more mares sold in the 2024 sale compared to the 2023 edition, it is clear to see the contribution one highly desirable mare can make to a sale’s metrics.
Imperatriz | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
When asked whether he things the average will stay around that $200,000 mark he commented “It is very hard to dictate the average on a mare market in my opinion, but I would have thought somewhere around that mark is where we need to be.
“On Tuesday we have some absolute stars of the race track and blue bloods to go through the ring and that will hold us in good stead,” Bowditch said.
“On Tuesday we have some absolute stars of the race track and blue bloods to go through the ring and that will hold us in good stead.” - Barry Bowditch
| 2024 | $6,600,000 | Imperatriz | I Am Invincible | Berimbau | Zhijun Zhao |
| 2023 | $4,100,000 | Forbidden Love | All Too Hard | Juliet's Princess (USA) | Yu Long Investments |
| 2022 | $4,000,000 | Away Game | Snitzel | Elusive Wonder | Written Tycoon Syndicate |
| 2021 | $3,200,000 | Arcadia Queen | Pierro | Arcadia | Arrowfield Stud |
| 2020 | $4,200,000 | Sunlight | Zoustar | Solar Charged | Tom Magnier |
Table: Top priced lots at the last five editions of the Magic Millions Gold Coast National
Mares in foal to up and coming types
The broodmare catalogue features 352 mares in foal to 79 different sires, including 63 mares in foal to 12 stallions that entered stud in 2024. Ozzmosis (15) and Hawaii Five Oh (14) lead the mix of first season stallions represented, which also include one mare apiece carrying rare coverings to Militarize (NZ) (Dundeel {NZ}) and Golden Mile (Astern), who made their returns to racing in the autumn.
G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes winner Ozzmosis was the first Group 1-winning son of Zoustar to enter stud, and he will be joined this year by Schwarz and Starlust (GB). He out numbers his own sire in coverings at Magic Millions this year, and Zoustar has retained his $275,000 (inc GST) service fee for the second year running, following a second stallion share in him selling for $1.1 million on Inglis Digital earlier this year.
| Ozzmosis | 15 | $44,000 |
| Hawaii Five Oh | 14 | $16,500 |
| Shinzo | 12 | $55,000 |
| King's Gambit | 6 | $22,000 |
| Cylinder | 5 | $44,000 |
| Native Trail (GB) | 4 | $27,500 |
| Triple Time (Ire) | 2 | $22,000 |
Table: First season stallions with two or more mares offered in foal at the Magic Millions Gold Coast National
Hot, young sires are desired
Amongst the general sires, the trade is capitalising on the hunger for hot, young sires, with Ole Kirk, the Champion First Season Sire elect with just under three months of racing to go, leading the way with 15 mares offered in foal to the Vinery Stud resident. All of the top five sires by representation in the catalogue are up and comers; Ole Kirk’s barnmate Exceedance is the most established, with his oldest crop currently three.
| Ole Kirk | 20 |
| Stay Inside | 16 |
| Ozzmosis | 15 |
| Exceedance | 15 |
| Hawaii Five Oh | 14 |
Table: Top five sires by number of mares offered in foal at the Magic Millions Gold Coast National
Mares in foal to Ole Kirk at this sale last year averaged just under $15,000 - given the exploits of his first crop, which currently numbers four stakes winners, that figure will no doubt improve significantly. Baystone Farm will offer Lot 722, Long Beach (Fr) (Shalaa {Ire}), in foal to him; she is a daughter of dual G1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Mizdirection (USA) (Mizzen Mast {USA}).
At this point last year, mares in foal to Wootton Bassett (GB) and Bivouac were in high demand; among mares in foal to sires that now have 2-year-olds, three of the top four lots were in foal to Wootton Bassett, and he filled out the top six spots in combination with Bivouac. Tom Magnier paid $1.2 million for Single Blonde (Not A Single Doubt) in foal to the former.
Long Beach (Fr) | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
With the news that he will return to our shores in 2025 for a service fee of $385,000 (inc GST), Wootton Bassett only has one in-foal mare, and she should generate plenty of attention; Lot 737, Miss Enfield (I Am Invincible), is an unraced daughter of triple Group 1 winner Samantha Miss (Redoute’s Choice).
Successful graduates
The broodmare sale has also been incredibly fruitful; mares purchased on the Gold Coast have gone to to produce the likes of Winx (Street Cry {Ire}), Imperatriz (I Am Invincible), Sunlight (Zoustar) and the stallions Zoustar, Trapeze Artist, and Farnan in their next homes.
There has also been an incredible amount of success that graduates have had in terms of commercial success in the ring, Sunlight again comes to mind, she was purchased by Tom Magnier for $4.2 million at the 2020 Magic Millions Broodmare Sale, and in 2023 at her Justify (USA) yearling colt sold for $1.4 million and this year her Home Affairs filly sold for $3.2 million to Japan to the bid of Mitsu Nakauchida.
