Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale: Six things we learned on Day 2

Cover image courtesy of Magic Millions

At A Glance

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Five horses sold for seven figures on Day 2, bringing the sale total so far to eight, one less than this time last year.

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Yulong splashed out $2 million for the day’s top lot, Lot 345, a full brother to G3 Vanity Stakes winner Wollombi (Extreme Choice).

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The average lifted to $288,266 on Day 2, slightly above the $277,145 average at the same point last year. The median remained at $200,000, and level with the $200,000 median at this stage in 2025.

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With 326 lots sold over the first two days, the gross sits at $93,975,000, down from 2025’s record gross of $97,555,000 for the same stage, with 26 less lots sold so far.

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By the close of Day 2 the clearance rate had risen five points to 83%, up from 81% at the same stage last year.

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Segenhoe Stud sits clear on top of the vendor table with 16 yearlings sold over the first two days for $8.16 million, at an average of $510,000. Newgate Farm is in second with 20 yearlings sold for $6.5 million.

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Milburn Creek leads the averages with five sold at an average of $570,000.

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Snitzel leads sires, with 13 lots grossing $9.58 million at an average of $736,923. I Am Invincible sits in second with 13 lots selling for $8.19 million at an average of $630,000.

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Extreme Choice leads the table by average (2 or more sold) with seven yearlings averaging $840,000. Anamoe is the leading first season sire by both gross ($5.82 million) and average ($415,714).

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Tom Magnier of Coolmore Stud leads the buyers' table by both average and gross, having bought four yearlings for $4.7 million at an average of $1.175 million. Ciaron Maher and David Redvers have spent $3.8 million on seven yearlings to be second by gross expenditure.

1. Day 2 starts with a bang

Day 2 burst into life in front of a healthy crowd - not quite matching the opening-day packed grandstand, but still strong nonetheless. There was no time for buyers to settle in or ease their way into proceedings.

Instead, the first three lots set the tone in emphatic fashion, selling for a combined $2.3 million and getting everyone's blood pumping early. Moody Racing and Mick Malone Bloodstock struck first, paying $800,000 for a fast-looking Snitzel filly out of South African Group 3 winner Delta Queen (SAf) (Var {Saf}) from the Arrowfield Stud draft.

Moments later, Tom Magnier and Charles Shanahan went to $650,000 for a Wootton Bassett (GB) colt out of Derelique (Danehill Dancer {IRE}), offered through Lime Country Thoroughbreds.

The trio was completed when David Ellis (CNZM) and Te Akau Racing paid $850,000 for an Extreme Choice filly out of Group 3 and Listed winner Deroche (Needs Further) from the Newgate Farm draft - an action-packed opening that laid a strong foundation for another solid day of selling.

Interestingly, several successful buyers suggested that being active early can offer not only opportunity, but occasionally value, or at the very least, a chance to take the pressure off later in the session.

Mick Malone, after securing the Snitzel filly, said, “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.”

That early momentum was echoed by Te Akau’s David Ellis, who had purchased the opening lot on Day 1 and was keen to be active again, this time picking up the precocious-looking Extreme Choice filly as the third lot of Day 2.

“Sometimes nice and early you can get value; it’s always a good chance to get one and set yourself up for the day. We are very happy with that purchase,” Ellis said.

2. Exceptional results for father and son

While the outstanding Extreme Choice naturally dominated headlines on Day 2 of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, it was a reminder that the influence of the Newgate Farm stallion roster continues to deepen, with son Stay Inside also enjoying a strong sale.

Yu Long Investments set the high-water mark when paying $2 million for Lot 345, a full brother to the Group 3 and Listed winner Wollombi, offered by Kingstar Farm.

Stay Inside's success was highlighted by Shane McGrath Bloodstock and Clinton McDonald Racing going to $550,000 for Lot 442, a filly out of Lady Lily (USA) (Nyquist {USA}), offered by Newhaven Farm.

Co-purchaser Shane McGrath is a big fan of the young stallion, and was keen to get his hands on the filly he wanted.

“We’re big fans of Stay Inside. We’ve loved all the horses here in the catalogue and she was a filly we really honed in on," he said. “He’s a stallion that has already done the job and he’s an up-and-comer with the shape and make of the stock by him. Newhaven is a great producing farm and she’s out of a Grade 1 American mare. We just loved her.

“She was Clint’s (Clinton McDonald) pick of the sale and a filly he wanted to hone in on. We were delighted to get her at that price because if someone else wanted to keep going we would have, because we wouldn’t have gone home without her."

While those two results may have been the headline acts, there has been no disguising the broader impact both stallions have made over the opening two days of the sale.

Extreme Choice has had seven yearlings sell - 100% clearance, for an aggregate of $5,880,000 and an average of $840,000.

Stay Inside has recorded 16 sales from 18 offered, at an aggregate of $4,270,000 and an average of $266,875.

Stay Inside has also made a strong early start to his stud career, like his sire. From just four runners to date, he has produced three winners and two stakes-winners, with Incognito landing the G3 Breeders’ Plate on debut and Lassified a dual winner, including the Listed Wellesley Stakes at Trentham.

3. Two top Anamoe pinhooks

Lime Country took a bold, high-stakes approach to the 2026 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, bringing just one filly to the sale, alongside their 14 colts. But that filly, was an Anamoe filly from Eawase (Sebring) they had purchased for $340,000 from the Alma Vale Thoroughbreds draft at the 2025 Inglis Australian Weanling Sale.

From the outset, word on the sales grounds was strong that this was a special filly, and that confidence was fully justified. Offered as Lot 239, she fetched $800,000, being knocked down to Sheamus Mills Bloodstock (FBAA) - a handsome $460,000 profit on a striking, strong chestnut filly.

Lime Country’s Jo Griffin acknowledged both the scale of the risk and the reward, and acknowledged it’s not as easy as it sometimes looks.

“It was a fantastic result, and the risk paid off as it doesn't always work that way. Last year with another chestnut, we paid $360,000, and we are now racing that filly,” Griffin commented.

The filly Griffin referred to is a Home Affairs filly out of Orchidea (Ire) by Bated Breath (GB), purchased for $360,000 at the 2024 Magic Millions Weanling Sale. That pinhook did not come together as planned when she passed through the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, and she is now in work with Bjorn Baker — underlining Griffin’s point that pinhooking at the top end does not always deliver commercial success.

The majority of pinhooks on day two of the sale were passed in showing that part of the game is not all sunshine and roses, but when pin-hooking does pay off, the upside can be significant.

And for Lime Country, everything aligned.

“I was happy to take the punt with this filly, we obviously paid a lot of money for her as a weanling, but we loved the sire, and she was very attractive.”

“She had 46 X-ray hits. Our highest ever has been 33. Never has anything got close to that.”

Griffin also revealed the strength of professional opinion behind the filly during inspections.

“I had one trainer say to me, a very good trainer from Randwick, say, she looks like that, moves like that, and is bred like that, if she can’t run, the stallion's no f*****g good!”

There were some solid pin-hooking results throughout the day.

Later in the day, Lot 422 provided a near-identical story with another Anamoe filly pinhook delivering $800,000 from $360,000 weanling outlay. Ciaron Maher Bloodstock purchased the filly from the 2025 Gold Coast National Weanling Sale, and she was picked up by fellow Victorian trainer Matt Laurie, alongside Willannah Park Bloodstock and ARJB.

Another sharp pinhook rose from a strong pedigree update, with the Ole Kirk half-sister to Shiki (Too Darn Hot {GB}) turning from a $200,000 weanling into a $380,000 yearling for Riverstone Lodge, Bevan Smith Bloodstock and Suman Hedge Bloodstock (FBAA).

4. Top Ranked colt familiar to Archibald and Australian Bloodstock

Australian Bloodstock and Archibald Racing placed their faith in a stallion they know well when going to $210,000 for Lot 216, a strong, physical colt by their former stable-star Top Ranked (Ire). The colt was offered by the proven Daandine Stud, who recieved a great result off a $7700 (inc GST) service fee, and the colt impressed as a robust, athletic type.

Lot 216 is out of the Snitzel mare Diddles, who was placed in the G3 Gimcrack Stakes as a 2-year-old. She is a half-sister to the Group 3 winner and young sire Barbaric, and is in turn out of the outstanding Mimi Lebrock (Show A Heart), a winner at Group 2 and Group 3 level and also successful in the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic.

Top Ranked was trained by Annabel Archibald, winning six of his first eight starts in Europe before being purchased by Australian Bloodstock’s Luke Murrell and Jamie Lovett. The entire won the G3 Bill Ritchie Handicap and dead-heating with Ellsberg in the G1 Epsom Handicap before being retired due to injury.

The colt stood out immediately to Luke Murrell.

“He's really nice. We've got a few of the progeny that we've bred ourselves, and he is probably the best one that we've seen. Plenty of quality,” Murrell commented.

“The Harry Angels are doing well here in Australia, and Top Ranked has the same sire as him, and as a racehorse they probably don't get much better than him. He won a Group 1, but he was probably a lot better horse than most people realise, so we have been more than happy to support him.”

In Murrell’s view, the colt represented excellent value in the ring.

“This colt looks a classic sort of Australian type. If he was by any other sire he would have made a lot more than that.”

“Daandine Stud are great producers, proven farm, so that gives a lot of confidence in that regard. I think they nearly paid a million dollars for the mare at one stage, so, you know, she's a quality mare.”

“He's got plenty of speed, plenty of strength about the horse, so we should be right.”

Unfortunately, Top Ranked died in November last year after a short illness after an issue with his kidneys. He served 210 mares in his first two seasons, and 23 last season before he sadly died.

5. Shanahan makes his mark in Australia

The opening two days of selling brought some new faces to the buying bench, none more notable than the Ireland-based Charles Shanahan, who made his first appearance at the top end of the Australian market in partnership with Tom Magnier.

Shanahan combined with Magnier to purchase Lot 213 from Lime Country, a strong Wootton Bassett (GB) colt out of Derelique (Danehill Dancer {IRE}), a mare who has already produced stakes-winners Head Of State (American Pharoah {USA}) and Man From Uncle (Uncle Mo {USA}).

The son of prominent Irish racing identity Paul Shanahan, he is hopeful the purchase signals the beginning of a broader Australian presence, having already established himself in Ireland.

“I was invited over by Coolmore just to see how everything works here. I come here every year for the yearling sales and my dad (Paul Shanahan) sells a lot of horses over here, and it’s great to come over and help sell them when I can.”

“It’s great to be involved in the buying side of things with Coolmore. They have bought a lot of colts already. He was a colt that stood out for me, so that’s why myself and Tom obviously bought him together.

“It’s very exciting. Being my first expensive purchase with Coolmore, the colt is going to follow the usual route and hopefully, in time, he’ll be another stallion. That is the dream anyway.”

“The sire of this colt, Wootton Bassett, speaks for himself. He’s a huge loss, but it was great to get a good colt from Lime Country Thoroughbreds,” Shanahan said.

Shanahan also spoke about his day-to-day life in Tipperary.

“I work mainly on my dad’s farm at home in Ireland. It’s by Coolmore, and when I’m at home that’s what I spend all my time doing, out on the farm. We have mares, foals and yearlings, and I oversee a lot of that, and it’s a pleasure to be involved.

“But for Coolmore to invite someone like me, a young guy getting involved in the industry, is fantastic. MV (Magnier) and Tom are so good to me, and Mr Magnier himself.”

“Hopefully, it’s the start of more things to come in Australia. It’s the first expensive horse I’ve been involved in buying here, so it’s a privilege really, and hopefully the beginning of lots of successful horses in Australia to come.”

6. Springy’s Prestige Racing open their account

Springy’s Prestige Racing, in partnership with Kearney Racing, made a statement over the first two days of the sale, purchasing four yearlings by Pride Of Dubai, So You Think (NZ), Baaeed (GB) and In The Congo for a combined total of $610,000. The buys form part of a broader vision that could see the operation develop into a fully-fledged syndication business.

The combination first came to prominence at last year’s Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, trading under the banner of Kearney Racing and Daniel Springfield.

By the conclusion of the sale, they had secured 10 yearlings for $1,345,000, finishing as the second-leading buyer overall. Momentum continued at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale, where a further four yearlings were added to their growing team.

A significant Powerball win was the initial catalyst behind the spending spree, however ambitions have since evolved beyond a hobby. As a result, the buying name has transitioned to Springy’s Prestige Racing, reflecting a longer-term commercial outlook.

Co-trainer Desiree Kearney confirmed that Springfield’s plans are now beginning to take shape.

“It is all in progress at the moment, but Daniel has applied for a syndicator’s licence, and hopefully within six months to a year it may be up and running,” Kearney said. “Websites are starting to be made, and it is all very exciting.”

The influx of both quantity and quality has provided a significant boost for Desiree and Mitchell Kearney’s Hawkesbury stable, allowing them to refine their team.

“It gave us a big opportunity. We were able to weed out the stable a bit as some horses weren’t doing justice to the team, but we have a really nice bunch now,” Kearney said. “We have a couple trialling on Thursday and Cyclone Jaz is racing on Saturday.”

This year’s purchasing strategy also reflected a shift in focus towards earlier-running horses.

“We targeted buying a few horses we thought were 2-year-old types, as a few of our Classic purchases have needed a bit of time,” she said. “We have bought a lovely bunch of four horses that should get up early.”

While further purchases remain on the agenda at upcoming sales, Kearney said the partnership is content with what has been secured so far.

“We will look to buy a few more at Classic and Easter, but as a starting point we are very happy with what we have picked up over the last two days.”

With momentum building on and off the track, the Kearney Racing stable is one to watch, and in time Springy’s Prestige Racing could emerge as a syndication operation on the rise.

Magic Millions Day Two delivers strong trade

Magic Millions Managing Director Barry Bowditch was very pleased with what he considered a very strong day of trading, with buyers and sellers responding to a lively and diverse market.

“A very, very strong day’s trade. I felt it was really deep and genuine and diverse and fun and it had a lot of vibe to it,” Bowditch said. “It was what we like to create here at Magic Millions. It was a busy day. All in all, we’re delighted with how today went.”

The clearance rate was 83%, up 5% from the previous day.

“That’s fantastic,” Barry said. “I think there is enough trade and solid trade under the median given that the median is holding pretty solid at $200,000. That seems to be the number here. We’re thinking that we’re tracking well from that middle end.”

Looking ahead, optimism remains high.

“I think the feel is that the sale continues to build momentum. I think today was stronger than yesterday," Bowditch. "When you look at today’s sale, it would have averaged on its own $300,000, which is a great effort for the 240 lots we offered, and I think tomorrow will build upon itself again with any luck.”

Top Lots

Buyers by gross

Buyers by average (2 or more bought)

Vendors by gross

Vendors by average (2 or more sold)

Sires by gross

Sires by average (2 or more sold)