Magic Millions Broodmare market contracts, but the average grows

Cover image courtesy of Magic Millions

The 2025 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale defied the five-year falling average trend to show sharp improvement, but continued the trend of a contracting market with a smaller catalogue and less mares offered.

The Thoroughbred Report's quartile analysis shows that all the talk about the top growing and the middle and lower sections of the market finding life difficult is borne out in the data.

Among all the data, one number stood tall as Newgate Consignment achieved nearly 30 per cent of the gross receipts across the sale.

Newgate dominates

The 2025 Magic Millions Gold Coast National Sale was a standout for the Newgate Consignment, which sold 58 mares at an exceptional 100 per cent clearance rate.

Nine of those mares surpassed the million-dollar mark, headlined by Group 1 winner Lady Laguna (Overshare), who was secured for $2.5 million. In total, Newgate grossed $25,302,000, accounting for roughly 30 per cent of the overall sale total, and achieved an impressive average of $436,241.

"Our team work relentlessly to acquire and recruit the best breeding stock every year to sell through our consignment, we are supported by some of Australia's best breeders, like John Singleton, some of the great racing outfits like OTI, Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott," explained Managing Director Henry Field.

"We can only have a great sale if we have the cattle, but we have never had a consignment as special as the last few days, mare after mare was just a queen."

"I am so proud of our team, to get 100 per cent clearance rate is very satisfying for the Newgate team headed by Jim Carey and Bruce Slade and a special mention to Niamh O'Brien who runs our consignment, she has done a fantastic job putting it all together."

"The motto with our team is that they wont outwork us, we work as hard as we can to get our clients the best results possible."

The sheer volume of mares offered ensured Newgate topped the gross figures for vendors. Chris Waller Racing followed in second, with 12 mares realising $9,530,000, while Yarraman Park Stud placed third, selling 22 mares for $9,182,500.

Lower numbers, stronger quality

The catalogue size for the National Broodmare Sale has significantly declined in recent years, from 842 mares in 2021 to 557 this year. As a result, 360 lots were sold, well down from the 505 sold in 2024. As a result, the aggregate dropped to $88,434,500, compared to $97,733,500 last year.

Why the drop in catalogue size? A key factor appears to be the rise in online selling platforms, where the number of mares changing hands digitally has increased dramatically. Additionally, the costs of preparing and entering a mare for a traditional sale may be deterring some breeders, who are opting for online avenues instead.

This shift may also be lifting the overall quality of mares presented at live sales, as more commercial or lower-tier mares are funnelled into the digital market. While there are still questions to explore, the trend has been consistent, and looks set to continue.

"The gross is just volume-related with the amount of horses we're offering here over the last two days. I think people that have trusted the system and trusted what Magic Millions have provided in the past have been very well rewarded," said Magic Millions Barry Bowditch.

Interestingly, while the median has dropped significantly over the past five years (despite a small lift last year), the number of mares making $1 million or more has increased. The high end of the market is not only holding — it’s thriving.

Average climbs

Expectations were quietly optimistic heading into the sale, with hopes the average would hold around the $200,000 mark, as it has in recent years. Instead, it jumped significantly, the 2025 average closed at the end of the day at $248,088, which was up from $206,801 achieved at the same point in 2024, bucking this season’s broader sales trends.

The clearance rate was 77 per cent, down from 83 per cent in 2024, though this figure is expected to climb post-sale as negotiations on passed-in lots continue.

Using the post-sale 30 day figures, rather than the end of ring figures, which include more sales but tend to drop the average a little, over the past five years, the sale has had a fluctuating average with a peak in 2021 of $229,000, falling steadily to $205,000 in 2024, then rising dramatically in 2025 to $245,000.

Going on past years, this average is likely to fall a bit in the next month, for example 2024’s post ring average was $206,000 and it fell to $205,000 after 30 days, but this is normal and it would be extraordinary if the average for 2025 fell more than a few thousand in the next couple of weeks.

Table: Five year trend for Broodmare sales

Quartile analysis shows where the market has changed

Naturally, with fewer mares offered, gross sales have declined, but importantly, average prices have risen, suggesting stronger quality across the board. A quartile analysis of the past five years shows the extreme contraction at the bottom of the market while the top has grown steadily.

The average for the cheapest 25 per cent of horses sold in 2021 was $24,000, rising slightly in 2022, then dramatically falling since to be just $9750 in 2025.

The two middle sectors have also fallen, albeit not as dramatically, with the quartile 3 (the group of horses under the median and above the lowest 25 per cent) falling in average from $80,000 in 2021 to $55,000 in 2025.

Quartile 2, those horses above the median price and not in the top 25 per cent of sales, only had an 8 per cent fall in average over the last five years, falling from $172,000 to $159,000.

At the top, the figures confirm what all the talk has been saying with a 16 per cent rise in the average for the top quarter of the market. In 2021, the top quartile of sales averaged $636,000 and in 2025, this had boomed to $757,000.

Table: Quartile analysis over five years

What is desired more, race fillies or mares in foal?

Splitting the catalogue across empty mares, which were largely off the track race fillies, and mares carrying a pregnancy, there is a long term shift in favour of the unknown.

Over the past five years, race fillies off the track have sold better, on average, than pregnant mares, but the gap between the two groups is growing and was at its largest in 2025. At the same time, a select few mares in foal to highly commercial stallions sold extremely well, so this growing gap perhaps reflects the state of the rest of the market.

It could be because race fillies are generally younger, maybe they are considered more current as they are in recent memory, maybe breeders like the point of difference of starting their breeding career with a stallion of their choice, they are all factors to consider.

Only three of the top 10 sales in 2025 were pregnant mares, the remaining seven were race fillies.

Table: Average for empty mares vs pregnant mares over five years

Proven covering sires in demand

The appetite for mares in foal to proven commercial sires was strong throughout the sale, with the big-name stallions drawing fierce competition.

Zoustar, Widden Stud’s Champion Sire-elect, led the way with nine mares in foal grossing $6,645,000. I Am Invincible covered six mares sold for $4,820,000, and Extreme Choice wasn’t far behind, with four mares grossing $4,800,000 — an extraordinary $1.2 million average per mare.

Other sires to perform well included: Too Darn Hot who had four mares at $875,000 average, I Am Invincible had an $803,333 average and Zoustar a $738,333 average.

“At most levels it was solid bidding, but at the top level I thought it was incredible,” Bowditch said.

“Ten mares in foal, that’s a big, big number for this sale. It's the second most million-dollar mares we've sold at this auction ever. It was 25 in the Shadwell year (2021), and this year, without a dispersal, to sell 24 million-dollar lots.

“The significant increase in average really does prove the demand for depth of the sale for quality lots. To have such an increase across a big volume of horses sold is a huge home run," Bowditch said.

Breeders with mares in foal to elite, proven sires were handsomely rewarded, as buyers clearly prioritised ready-made commercial appeal. For purchasers, the hope is that these matings will produce the next wave of headline yearlings in seasons to come.

Table: Covering sires by average