Cover image courtesy of Scone Race Club
Magic Millions and Scone Race Club have announced a new three-year partnership, effective January 1 2026, that sees the auction house become the Exclusive Thoroughbred Auction House Partner of the Hunter Valley club.
The announcement coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale and the 80th running of the Scone Cup carnival, held in May.
The beating heart of the Hunter
Situated within minutes of renowned thoroughbred nurseries such as Arrowfield Stud, Kia Ora Stud, Newgate Farm, and Segenhoe Stud, Scone Race Club hosts approximately 20 race meetings throughout the year, crowned by the two-day Scone Cup carnival in May. The Listed Scone Cup is a qualifying event for the $3 million Big Dance in November, and the club also hosts a qualifier for the Country Championships. Currently, approximately 200 horses are stabled on course, with more travelling in to train on the surface each morning.
Katie Page, co-owner of Magic Millions, said, “Gerry (Harvey) and I have owned our thoroughbred farm, Baramul in the Widden Valley, since 1999 and we’ve been partners at Vinery for over 20 years, in the equally stunning Segenhoe Valley. Scone and the Upper Hunter Valley are national treasures; a dual contribution of national economic significance and a tourism and event destination that can be enjoyed by all. Magic Millions and Scone Race Club is a partnership that aims to enhance both.
“Scone and the Upper Hunter Valley are national treasures; a dual contribution of national economic significance and a tourism and event destination that can be enjoyed by all.” - Katie Page
“Our intention is to work with the Scone Race Club, using the Scone Racing Carnival with it’s Darley Scone Cup and Arrowfield Dark Jewel race meetings, nuanced to the unique beauty of the region, to enhance and promote the event destination potential.”
The carnival, running on May 15 and 16 this year, plays host to six stakes races, with the Listed Scone Cup run on the Friday and the other five running as part of a metropolitan meeting on the Saturday. As part of the new partnership, the Magic Millions Mounting Yard has been established and will come into play at the first meet of the year on January 29.
Katie Page | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“This partnership with Scone Race Club is an act of deep conviction and a commitment to the very heart of our industry,” Page continued. “The world-class farms of the Upper Hunter are the nurseries where champions are made, and they are the primary origin of the incredible young horses we offer at our sales. By partnering with Scone Race Club, we are consolidating our direct engagement with the breeders who underpin our entire business.
“As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale this coming week, we are looking forward, ensuring the future vitality of the industry by investing right at the source. The Magic Millions Mounting Yard at Scone Race Club will be a daily reminder that the journey of every champion often begins in the Hunter.”
“Tradition and industry excellence is synonymous with the annual Scone Racing Carnival.” - Barry Bowditch
“Tradition and industry excellence is synonymous with the annual Scone Racing Carnival,” said Magic Millions Managing Director Barry Bowditch. “We are committed to a partnership that takes the experience, the thrill of racehorse ownership to the broadest possible audience.
“This partnership creates a conception-to-sales-to-racecourse pipeline, strengthening the entire ecosystem and ensuring that the economic contribution we make directly supports the farms, local businesses, and the thoroughbred community in this vital area.”
Barry Bowditch | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Scone Race Club Chairman Alister Fraser shared that the club was delighted to welcome the auction house as a club sponsor.
“Magic Millions brings a unique and highly complementary offering to this partnership, and we’re excited to work together for the benefit of our respective businesses and the broader thoroughbred community,” he said.
“We’re excited to work together for the benefit of our respective businesses and the broader thoroughbred community.” - Alister Fraser
“The Board remains firmly focused on the long-term sustainability and growth of Scone Race Club. With the opening of our polytrack, the ongoing Racing New South Wales stables development within the adjacent equine precinct, and the continued support of our valued partners, now including Magic Millions, the future for the club, the industry and the Upper Hunter region is extremely positive.”
Construction is currently underway to build 300 new stables and a polytrack training surface at Scone Race Club, a $20 project that was announced in June 2021. Currently one two-storey barn, akin to those at Rosehill Gardens, has been completed.
The right time to come together
Bowditch said it was a mutual approach from both parties to secure the sponsorship.
“It’s something I put out there years ago, and I think the time was right for Scone to come and speak to us about it over the last 12 months,” he told TTR. “We sat down with their CEO, Jason Hill, and planned it out. It’s something that Katie and Gerry have been very keen on, they’re passionate about doing more in the Scone region. They want to put back into where we do well and where we get great support.”
“They (Page and Harvey) want to put back into where we do well and where we get great support.” - Barry Bowditch
Scone and surrounds have produced a number of Magic Millions’ highest-priced and best performed graduates, the scope of which includes the likes of Winx (Street Cry {Ire}), Sunlight (Zoustar), Imperatriz (I Am Invincible), and Hitotsu and Profondo, Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale graduates who both have their first yearlings selling at the Gold Coast this week.
Gallery: Magic Millions stars born in the Hunter Valley
“We felt like the synergy between us and the Scone Race Club is going to work very, very well, not only for the club, but also for the community of Scone and for our supporters and stakeholders within the area.”
The intention is to roll out the Magic Millions carpet throughout the year and through the local community, so that the auction house’s presence is felt in the region beyond race days. The Cup carnival comes at the perfect time for Magic Millions, with the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Sale - selling yearlings, broodmares, and weanlings - commencing soon after on May 24.
“We are looking to do a lot more in the area,” Bowditch said. “We want to ensure we are around not just for stallion parades and yearling inspections and racedays, but that we are a part of the race club and the community, all the way through the year.”
Magic success at Scone
Run on the Friday of the May carnival, the Scone Cup was granted Listed status in 2006, and ever since, the carnival has expanded to two packed cards, with the G3 Dark Jewel Classic heading the second day. Three times, the Cup has gone home with Magic Millions-sold yearlings; Sedanzer (Sebring) and Special Missile (Smart Missile) took out back to back editions in 2018 and 2019, and Sky Lab (Real Impact {Jpn}) won most recently in 2024.
Named for outstanding broodmare Dark Jewel (Star Kingdom {Ire}) and restricted to fillies and mares, the Dark Jewel was first run in 1999 and achieved Group 3 status in 2014. Seven of the past winners have produced stakes winners at stud so far.
2024 Darley Scone Cup | Image courtesy of Scone Race Club
It has been won four times by Magic Millions yearling graduates; first Chuckle (Danehill {USA}) in 2003, then So Anyway (General Nediym) in 2010 and Upon The Rock (Fastnet Rock) in 2012, and most recently Irithea (Snitzel) in 2020.
With January’s Gold Coast sale hailed as a potent source of 2-year-old talent, Magic Millions graduates have been most successful in the Listed Woodlands Stakes, the juvenile event on the Saturday card. Since the race’s introduction in 2013, it has been won by Magics graduates six times; Shigeru Sendan (Denman) in 2014, Flippant (Hinchinbrook) in 2015, Debonairly (Snitzel) in 2017, Xtremetime (Extreme Choice) in 2021, In Secret (I Am Invincible) in 2022, and Lazzura (Snitzel) in 2024.
“When you sell the best 2-year-olds in the country, you are more likely to win those kinds of races,” Bowditch said.
The Listed Ortensia Stakes is a race with a local theme to the name. The 1100-metre dash is named for 13-time winner Ortensia (Testa Rossa), trained locally by Paul Messara, who won the G1 Winterbottom Stakes twice, then travelled across the world to win the G1 Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai, the G2 King George Stakes at Goodwood, and finally the G1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York. Vulpine (Snitzel) in 2022 and Kaepernick (Fastnet Rock) in 2016 are both Magics graduates to have added the race to their resume.
Ortensia | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
The Listed Denise’s Joy Stakes has been won by Magic Millions graduates three years in a row; Ready To Prophet (Smart Missile) in 2019, Fituese (Deep Field) in 2020, and Ballistic Lover (Smart Missile) in 2021. The Listed Luskin Star Stakes has also had a trio of Magic winners; Fontelina (Testa Rossa) and Mighty Lucky (Casino Prince) took out the race in 2013 and 2014, and, last year, Magic Millions Gold Coast March Yearling Sale The Instructor (Russian Revolution) was the victor.
Changing of the guard
Magic Millions’ new partnership means the stepping back of Inglis, who have previously run the $200,000 Inglis Challenge - an exclusive race for Inglis sales graduates - during the Scone Cup carnival.
As of 2025, the race was restricted to yearlings sold through the Hunter Thoroughbred Breeders Association Sale (formerly Scone Select Yearling Sale), the Highway session of the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, the Showcase session at Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale, the now defunct Melbourne Gold sale, and through the Inglis Digital sales platform.
A spokesperson for Inglis confirmed that the race has been removed from the carnival racecard, but that no location has been locked in for the race’s 2026 running just yet. The Murrumbidigee Turf Club at Wagga is a leading candidate for the race, but Wyong, Gosford, and Canberra’s Black Opal meeting have been considered as well.
Murrumbidigee Turf Club | Image courtesy of Murrumbidigee Turf Club
Inglis's association with the Scone Race Club dates back 74 years and the HTBA Yearling Sale used to be a featured event in Scone, running on the Sunday after the Cup carnival at the White Park Equestrian Complex. Lockdown restrictions in 2020 forced its move to the Riverside Sales complex at Warwick Farm, and it hasn’t returned to its home region since.
The move can be considered a partial contributor to the sale’s increase in quality; before 2020, only six lots in the sale’s history had made six figures in the ring. In the six subsequent sales, 20 lots have made $100,000 or more, including a record-setting Extreme Choice filly in 2022 who sold for $300,000 to Michael Freedman.
In the first year of its move - which coincided with the second round of the 2020 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale occurring at the same complex - Hawkes Racing set a then new record for the sale when going to $180,000 for a son of Toronado (Ire).
There is no current plan for Magic Millions to stage a leg of their race series during the Scone Cup carnival, but their presence will be strongly felt thanks to the sponsorship of other races and the mounting yard newly branded in their name.
