Cover image courtesy of Magic Millions

As buyers and vendors completed final preparations ahead of the opening session, The Thoroughbred Report spoke with Magic Millions Managing Director Barry Bowditch, Segenhoe Stud’s Peter O’Brien, and Windsor Park Stud’s Rodney Schick to take stock of market sentiment, catalogue depth and the factors likely to shape trading over the coming week.

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The first sale of the year - sets the standard

“It’s fantastic to have everyone back in town. From the women in racing awards, to the polo and the show jumping, to the groundbreaking Gold Twilight Meeting, it’s already been a big week and the selling hasn’t started yet.” Bowditch explained.

Bowditch said the broader Magic Millions carnival continues to evolve and expand, with the Twilight Meeting emerging as a key fixture.

“It’s been great to kick off the week so strongly and a great thing is the twilight meeting was exceptional. If it was big this year, it is going to get better and better.

“It’s going to go from strength to strength, whether that is viewer numbers at home on Channel 7, or wagering numbers, quality of horse or attendance.”

The scale of prizemoney on offer across the carnival remains a defining feature.

“It is no small feat getting $7 million worth of prize money, and another $13 million next Saturday. It gives all sorts of owners a real chance to race for big, big prizemoney and a chance to race on the big stage.”

As the opening sale of the year, Bowditch said Magic Millions plays a key role in setting the tone for the season ahead.

“The sale sets the standard. It’s the first for the year so everyone is rearing to go and it is important everyone is in the right frame of mind.”

Table: Key statistics from the last six years of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale

Successful graduates and classy relations

Depth and diversity are again hallmarks of the catalogue across Books 1 and 2, which features progeny by 122 individual sires, including strong representation from 14 first-season stallions.

Pedigree highlights include relations to elite-level performers such as Artorius, Benedetta (Hellbent), Cool Archie (Cool Aza Beel {NZ}), Devil Night (Extreme Choice), Farnan, Golden Mile (Astern), Imperatriz (I Am Invincible), In Secret (I Am Invincible), Joliestar (Zoustar), Manaal (Tassort), Sepals (Calyx {GB}), Stay Inside, Stefi Magnetica (All Too Hard), Sunlight (Zoustar), Super Seth, and Yearning (Snitzel).

The sale’s graduate honour roll remains one of the strongest globally, headed by Winx (Street Cry {Ire}) with 25 Group 1 wins, Golden Sixty (Medaglia D’Oro {USA}) with 10, Imperatriz (I Am Invincible) with 10, and Alligator Blood (All Too Hard) with seven.

“It’s a happy hunting ground for buyers. This is where you buy a Golden Slipper winner, a stallion, a Winx, or even a Melbourne Cup winner. Buyers know they are likely to get success from here,” Bowditch explained.

Successful and emerging stallions including Snitzel, Pierro, Savabeel, Written Tycoon, Pierata, Stay Inside, Farnan, Zoustar, and Capitalist were all sold through this sale, while first-season sire graduates presenting their first yearlings this week include Profondo and the triple Group 1 winner Hitotsu.

Expectations in a variable economy

As the traditional starting point of the yearling sales season, Magic Millions inevitably brings a degree of anticipation around market conditions, particularly against a backdrop of broader economic uncertainty.

Another factor this year is the reduced size of Book 1 and of Book 2, which will mean reaching the same aggregate may be challenging, but instead more of a focus will be on clearance rate.

Bowditch acknowledged the challenges but remained measured in his outlook, with a focus on improving last year’s clearance rate of 80.44% which was on the low side compared to previous years.

“We are hopeful that we can increase the clearance rate from last year," he said. "There will be some tough times with the economy, but with vendors meeting the market and what we perceive to be a strong middle to high market, we are hopeful the sale will be strong.

Graph: Clearance rates from the last six years of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale

“Magic Millions really is a sale for everyone, whatever budget you have, you can get the kind of horse you are looking for. Whether you are a syndicator, a trader, a trainer, a blue-chip filly buyer, in a colt partnership, I feel you can be in a very positive position no matter where you are targeting.”

Segenhoe Stud’s Peter O’Brien also expects a solid opening, while recognising pressure at the lower end of the market.

“The comments have been very favourable, and I think we will kick off tomorrow and we will get some fireworks," he said.

“At the end of the day, the market decides what they are worth, and we are very conscious that we pitch these horses at the right part of the market. The bottom of the market could be very tough, but we will let them find their feet and get them sold in the ring.”

The buzz around first-season sires

The Gold Coast sale again provides the first opportunity for buyers to assess the initial crops of the industry’s newest stallions, a feature that consistently generates early interest.

“There is always buzz around the first-season sires. We’re fortunate each and every year,” Bowditch said. “The vendors love to bring quality first-season sires to the Gold Coast to get those horses off to the right start in the market.”

“Obviously Anamoe is going to be forefront of that, but there is a lot of quality there whether you are saying Jacquinot, In The Congo, Artorius, Profondo, Hitotsu and many more.”

Australian Horse of the Year Anamoe heads into the 2026 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale as the most represented first-season sire, with 31 entries catalogued.

A nine-time Group 1 winner and a champion who recorded elite-level victories at two, three, and four, Anamoe combined brilliance and durability. He won 14 races in total, and earned over $11 million in prizemoney from 1000 to 2040 metres.

A magnificent physical specimen, he is superbly bred, representing the increasingly successful Street Cry (Ire) sire line through Street Boss (USA), and out of the Group 1-winning Redoute’s Choice mare Anamato, who comes from a deep black-type family.

Bowditch also added that strong results from second-season sires have helped underpin buyer confidence.

“Given the fact that the second-season sires sold so well also and have started their stud careers well, with the likes of Home Affairs and Stay Inside, gives confidence to not only play on the second-season horses, but back up again on the first-season ones," Bowditch said.

Profondo comes full circle

One of the more compelling narratives this year surrounds Windsor Park Stud’s Profondo, whose first crop of yearlings will be offered six years after he topped this sale. This type of stallion vindicates the kind of graduates that sales companies strive to get, ones that produce magic in the sale ring and further magic, culminating in Group 1 glory on the track.

Selling for $1.9 million to Galletta Construction Co from the Arrowfield Stud draft at the 2020 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Profondo went on to become a Group 1 winner of the Spring Champion Stakes as a 3-year-old before entering stud in New Zealand in 2023.

“The likes of Profondo and Hitotsu are Group 1-winning graduates from our sale as well,” Bowditch explained. “They are great stories for us. Profondo was the sale topper here at Magic Millions and now he is a stallion - it’s an exciting time for everyone."

Windsor Park Stud master Rodney Schick expressed confidence in Profondo’s first crop.

“I don’t think Profondo has ever let anyone down in his life, from a foal to a yearling to a racehorse, in the breeding barn and now definitely with the way these yearlings look over here - they look magnificent.

“We have brought over four lovely horses, two colts and two fillies, to sell and I could not be any more proud of them.

“It’s always nice to be able to support Magic Millions. The lion’s share of Profondos will be sold at Karaka, but we have four lovely yearlings here and we thought we would bring them over and showcase them and wet the appetite for the Australian market.”

Strong inspections and growing anticipation

While headline prices inevitably attract attention, Bowditch believes overall depth will again be a defining feature.

“It looks a good, strong, even bunch of horses," he said. "How many million-dollar lots, I’m not sure, but there will be a good bunch of horses around that mark again. We have great quality in numbers, whether they are by Snitzel, I Am Invincible, Zoustar, Extreme Choice or Written Tycoon, and many more.

“There is a lot of quality, lots of outstanding pedigrees, so you would feel like the market will participate in great numbers, and there will be the usual amount of high-priced yearlings.”

Table: The top lots over the last six years of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale

Inspection activity has been encouraging, according to O’Brien, particularly at the top end of his draft.

“Inspections are very good. The top 20 horses are all ahead, on average, of many of the other years.

“Then the bottom 10 are probably below average when comparing to other years, but that is just the way the market is a bit. Overall, we are very positive - we’ve got a lovely bunch of horses.”

Bowditch also pointed to the later sale dates as a positive.

“The later date has been welcomed by everyone, I think. If we were here a week earlier it would have been very close to New Year’s.

"We're midful that you have to have people at all levels of the market, and I think we have done that."

“Given the calendar, I think it has added a bit more anticipation, given a bit more time for inspections in a more relaxed manner and, on the back of what the carnival has provided so far leading into Tuesday’s barrier draw and driving into the sale, there is a lot to look forward to.”