Day 2 sale-toppers: Five seven-figure lots as Yulong lands $2m Extreme Choice colt

Cover image courtesy of Magic Millions

The session produced five seven-figure lots, highlighted by three yearlings by the late Snitzel, alongside a standout I Am Invincible filly, while Extreme Choice topped the day with a colt fetching $2 million.

Sponsored video

The Daily Unwind

Lot 345 – Extreme Choice x Hazlebrook (Hinchinbrook), colt – $2,000,000

Money was no object for Yu Long Investments, who were determined not to stop until they secured Lot 345, with the gavel eventually falling at $2 million, making him the second lot of the sale to reach that milestone. The chestnut colt by Extreme Choice was offered by Kingstar Farm and is a full brother to G3 Vanity Stakes winner Wollombi (Extreme Choice).

“He’s a very special colt, he was our only target that we definitely needed to buy,” Jun Zhang, General Manager of Yulong Australia, said.

“We can see some stallion potential with him and also we own the sister as well, she has a foal by Diatonic, so we try and create our own families, so that is another reason why we had to get him. Extreme Choice is a very successful stallion and could be a history-making stallion in the future, so this is why Mr Zhang is trying to get every Extreme Choice he can.”

The powerful colt is out of Hazlebrook (Hinchinbrook), who is a half-sister to stakes winner Everage (Zizou) and has produced three winners from three runners. The family traces back to G3 Debutante Stakes winner Alshandegha (Vain). Hazlebrook’s first foal, an unraced 2-year-old by Tiger of Malay, was sold at the Magic Millions last year for $75,000 to Shane McGrath Bloodstock. Hazlebrook missed in 2025 but returned to Extreme Choice this spring.

Wollombi, also owned by Yulong, was served by their own More Than Looks (USA) who stood his first season in Australia in 2025, covering 86 mares.

Newgate's Extreme Choice produced his largest crop in 2024, with 57 live foals, taking his total to just 331 since 2017 due to fertility issues but despite his small numbers he has been able to produce no less than 16 individual stakes winners. The combination of quality and scarcity has seen his average so far at this sale reach an impressive $840,000.

Lot 252 – Snitzel x Embrace Me (Shamexpress), colt – $1,500,000

The first seven-figure lot of Day 2 at the 2026 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale set a high standard for the session when China Horse Club, Clarke Bloodstock (FBAA) and Newgate & Partners combined to secure Lot 252 for $1.5 million. The athletic chestnut colt, by champion sire Snitzel, was offered by Milburn Creek and is the second foal of Group 3-winning mare Embrace Me (Shamexpress {NZ}).

“We’re delighted to get the colt. Beautiful horse from a fast mare and from a great farm,” Henry Field said.

“We loved the horse. We’ve had so much success with the likes of Invader, Russian Revolution, In The Congo. We’ve had five Group 1 winners just by Snitzel himself.

“I think it is one of those things where you have to buy what you love and hopefully he’s a good horse for us. He is very much in the mould of some of those horses. He’s neat and he’s sharp, strong. He’s got attitude.”

Field highlighted the strength of the long-standing partnership behind the purchase.

“The partnership has been a great partnership. We have been together for 10 years and produced 15 individual stallions. It has been an amazing partnership with China Horse Club, and it has lasted for so long and we’ve had so much success with that particular stallion. We thought he was a standout.”

Field also commented on Newgate’s broader sale activity.

“We’ve been happy. We’ve sold every horse in the sale so far which we’re really happy with. We’ve bought three. Hopefully, we can get runners. That’s the name of the game. We’ve had so much success with Magic Millions. We’ve sold two Champion 2-year-olds out of this consignment and bought many, many good horses. It’s been a great formula.”

Embrace Me was purchased for $700,000 at the 2021 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale by Suman Hedge Bloodstock for Iskander Racing and has already delivered at the sales and on the track. Her first foal, Ballpark (Zoustar), was secured by the same ownership group at Magic Millions in 2024 for $800,000 and broke his maiden last month at Kembla at his second start for the Chris Waller stable.

Embrace Me produced another colt by Zoustar last spring and was then covered by him again.

Lot 372 – Snitzel x Iffranesia (Iffraaj {GB}), colt - $1,500,000

With buyers snapping up the final progeny of champion sire Snitzel following his death in June 2025, Lot 372 immediately drew strong interest before Coolmore’s Tom Magnier stepped in and secured the colt for $1.5 million. Offered by Arrowfield Stud, the chestnut is a full brother to Group 3 winner Beadman (Snitzel) and the fifth foal of French stakes winner Iffranesia (Iffraaj).

“He’s a lovely colt. Arrowfield, we’ve had a little bit of luck there before, obviously the Messaras know how to breed a good horse by Snitzel. We’ve had a bit of luck with Snitzel, obviously with Shinzo and Switzerland,” Magnier said.

“There’s a great group of people in our colts fund. Chris Waller will train him. They all loved the horse, he’s one of the best colts on the ground. We couldn’t be happier with the type, we think he’s a mature type and everybody on the team really liked him, so fingers crossed.”

John Messara admitted it was hard to sell one of the last Snitzel colts, especially one of this quality, given what he has been able to provide Arrowfield over a number of years.

“It was a hard one to sell because I don’t think we’ve produced many horses as good as that in the past,” Messara said.

“He’s a standout stallion. He’s gone now. He’s at the top of the tree and he keeps producing week in, week out. When you’ve got such a dominant horse like that, it is hard to fill a hole. It is a big gap. We’ve got The Autumn Sun coming through and hopefully he’s going to take that mantle.”

Reflecting on the broader sale so far, Messara said, “I’ve found it pretty good. Across the board, the clearance rates are pretty good. There seems to be enough buyers but there’s a few slipping through the cracks and I think there’s some value at the lower end. I really think that if you came here to buy a horse between $100,000 and $200,000, there’s some good value to be had.”

Iffranesia has a colt by Dundeel (NZ) at foot and was served by The Autumn Sun this spring.

Lot 420 – I Am Invincible x Key (Exceed and Excel), filly – $1,200,000

Rising Sun Syndicate Director Kosi Kawakami made it clear they were determined to secure the best filly in the sale, and that resolve saw them team with Knine Inc to land Lot 420 for $1.2 million.

The chestnut filly, offered by Kia Ora Stud, is out of stakes-placed mare Key (Exceed and Excel), a full sister to Oz Empress (Exceed and Excel) and dam of Breeders’ Plate runner-up I’m Ya Huckleberry (Home Affairs), who sold at last year’s Magic Millions for $400,000 to Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott and the pair will now get the chance to train his half-brother.

“We’re obviously looking for the best filly we can get from this whole catalogue for our owner from Japan,” Kawakami said.

“We looked at this horse and we fell in love with her. She’s the best. Obviously, knowing her brother being trained by Gai and Adrian, they would be the best trainers to go for. We were both in love, so we just went harder and I’m happy to secure her. It’s a real honour to be able to buy a million-dollar filly from this catalogue. I’m really excited.”

Adrian Bott further explained why the filly was so compelling.

“It’s a very current family, a family of so much black-type depth, a family I know very well,” Bott said.

“We’ve got the half-brother in training who we’ve got a very high opinion of. Physically, and the way she presented at this sale really made her a must-have for us. We were really fortunate we were able to partner up here on this filly and I must say we’re delighted we’ve been able to secure her.”

The filly hails from a powerful female line, including New Zealand Champion 3-year-old Princess Coup (Encosta De Lago), as well as, stakes winners Argentina (Frankel {GB}) and Thewizardofoz (Redoute’s Choice), with recent stakes winner Stonecoat (Pierro) also closely related.

Key visited Champion Sire I Am Invincible again last spring.

Lot 429 – Snitzel x Krone (Eurozone), colt - $1,200,000

Snitzel stamped his authority late in the session, with his third yearling for the day breaking the seven-figure barrier when James Harron Bloodstock in partnership with Tony Fung Colts secured Lot 429 for $1.2 million.

Offered by Rosemont Stud, the colt is the second foal of G1 Coolmore Classic winner Krone (Eurozone), combining elite racetrack performance with a pedigree littered from top to bottom with black type.

“Lovely colt, he was one of our picks across the board with all the team - ourselves and TFI - everyone just loved him,” Harron said.

“He’s an athletic horse and Krone was obviously very successful on the track, a very sound, consistent mare, so he was a great package. We’re very happy to get him.”

Harron expects the colt to get up and running early.

“I think he’ll be early. He’s very light on his feet, he doesn’t carry a lot of excess and he’s very easy on himself - a real quality colt,” he said.

“He’s really elastic in how he moves and how he gets about the ground. I get the impression he’ll just skip across the ground and be one of those really athletic types. He caught the eye from the very beginning.”

This colt is the second foal from Krone. Her first foal is an unraced two-year-old colt named Mailman who was passed in for $800,000 last year and is currently in training with John O’Shea and Tom Charlton. The pedigree is extremely deep, featuring Group 1 winners Universal Prince (Scenic {Ire}), Universal Queen (Scenic{Ire}) and Think It Over (So You Think {NZ}).

Krone has a foal by Wootton Bassett (GB) at foot and visited exciting young stallion Switzerland last spring.

Lot 214 – Extreme Choice x Deroche (Needs Further), filly – $850,000

Early in the second session, David Ellis moved decisively on a precocious filly he described as one he simply had to have.

Lot 214, by the highly sought-after Extreme Choice, was offered by Newgate Farm and is the second foal of Group 3-winning mare Deroche (Needs Further), immediately marking her as a standout early in the session.

“This is a filly that I wrote in my book as a Golden Slipper filly – ‘just buy her’,” Ellis said. “I don’t do that very often. I thought she was a ready-made 2-year-old and she had the scope to go on as a nice three and 4-year-old. I probably paid an extra $100,000 to what I thought she’d make but with the good ones you’ve just got to buy them.”

Deroche was purchased by Newgate Farm for $260,000 at the 2022 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale. Lot 214 is her second foal; her first, a Stay Inside filly named Captive Rock, sold for $70,000 and remains unraced. She also has an Extreme Choice colt at foot and visited him again this spring. Deroche is a daughter of stakes winner Buzzing Along (Tough Speed), who produced seven runners for six winners.

Lot 212 – Snitzel x Delta Queen (SAf) (Var {USA}), filly – $800,000

Day 2 of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale picked up exactly where the previous session left off, with strong competition evident from the outset as Lot 212 opened proceedings and quickly climbed to $800,000.

Offered by Arrowfield Stud, the Snitzel filly was secured by Moody Racing in partnership with Mick Malone Bloodstock, setting a confident early tone for the day.

“It was a great way to start the day and probably just being a little bit early I thought – I don’t know if you could ever say you get a bit of value at that money, $800,000 – but we loved her from the day we got here,” Malone said.

Malone was pleased to again team up with Peter Moody, with the pair enjoying recent success together.

“Me and Moods have had a bit of luck buying a few horses, like Ole Dancer, of late.

“It’s good to team with Moods. He’s a champion, a great trainer, and we’re going to put a good group of clients together and myself and Pauline (Alix) will stay in and just enjoy her. She’s a beauty.”

The filly’s sire also played a major role in the buying decision, with Malone reiterating his long-standing confidence in Snitzel fillies.

“We’ve had a lot of luck buying Snitzels over the years. They’re not making them any more. We loved her, she’s off a great farm in Arrowfield. We bought Snitzerland years ago off Arrowfield and we’ve bought many nice Snitzels off them and, to me, she just replicated with all those nice Snitzels we’ve seen in the past.

“She just had a lovely, big, loose action on her and an unbelievable temperament. I don’t know how many parades she would have had but she was flat out and is just a good shapey filly with a beautiful head.

“You try and replicate what you have bought in the past with Snitzel and, to me, she’s just that exact same shape that’s worked before.

“I’ve sold a lot of Snitzels that have gone on and been pretty nice horses in my time and those neater, quality, sharp-running types of fillies I feel is where you need to play.”

The filly’s international female line added further appeal. Delta Queen (SAf) (Var {USA}) is one of only two broodmares in Australia by the South African sire Var (USA), the other being Via Africa (SAf), the dam of Group 1 winners Autumn Glow (The Autumn Sun) and young sire In The Congo.

“It holds up here that form, better than you think,” Malone said. “It nicks with our Australian pedigrees a bit and I think Snitzel upgrades those mares so well.

“The rest of it is in the hand of the gods, but she’s got enough pedigree that, when it’s all said and done, we’ll be able to breed out of her if she doesn’t live up to what we hope on the track, and that’s what you try and do when you pay that sort of money.”

A Group 3 winner on the track, Delta Queen produced a colt by Snitzel last spring for Arrowfield and was then covered by The Autumn Sun, with the resulting foal bred on the same cross as undefeated Group 1 winner Autumn Glow.