There is no doubt Victorians are the first to support one another and day four of the Magic Millions sale on Gold Coast sale was the perfect example of that.
Victorians were successful on both the buying and selling fronts.
Yulong opened the day by selling lot 642 of their draft – a Savabeel x Pikari Star filly – to Te Aku Racing and Andrew Williams Bloodstock for $145,000.
One Victorian training duo, who was very active on the buying front and bought from Victorians, was Ciaron Maher and David Eustace.
Purchasing two yearlings by promising Victorian sire Frosted, and a Written Tycoon yearling, they also bought a Kingman filly from Yulong’s draft for $425,000 and an I Am Invincible colt out of Rosemont’s draft for $800,000.
Catalogued as lot 866, the colt is out of a Sebring mare, Tahni Dancer who is the half-sister to Group 3 winner Maschino and stakes winner Kentucky Breeze.
Victoria’s Hilldene Farm also sold a lot which they bred out of the Fastnet Rock mare, Rainbeam and sired by Russian Revolution.
The filly’s half-sister is Daisy Cakes who was a winner as a two-year-old. Morrisey Racing went to $210,000 to secure the filly.
Darley Northwood sire Impending also had two of his progeny head through the ring. The first lot 691 was bred by Makybe Breeding and Racing and is out of stakes placed mare Recoinage who has had two foals to race – both winners.
The second Impending sired lot was lot 863, a colt bred by Victoria’s Lauriston Thoroughbred Farm and sold at the 2019 Inglis weanling sale. Knocked down for $240,000 to Sweetbriar Equine/Aaron Kwok of Hong Kong, the colt is out of the Testa Rossa mare, Swiftly Red.
Swiftly Red, trained by Tony Noonan, is the half-sister to Group 3 Maribyrnong Plate winners Arctic Command and General Truce and was consigned by Valiant Stud.
Darley’s Lisa Manning said it was great to get such a positive response to Impending’s first yearlings.
“He has got some lovely horses coming through and they are really nice types – good bums, short backs and they just look like real sprinters,” Lisa said.
“A lot of them have a lot of quality about them and they move really, really well like him as he is a great moving horse.
“We were hopeful, like you always are, but we are really happy with what he has done up here on the Gold Coast and I think Magic Millions obviously pick a good catalogue, and being in Victoria he is going to have a big representation at Melbourne Premier.”
Lisa said Impending was very fertile and the dual Group 1 winner had been well supported and priced by Darley at good value.
“He has got three big books to come and hopefully we should see some good results and we have supported him with some good mares as well,” she said.
Another lot bred by Victoria’s Lauriston Thoroughbred Farm and sold as a weanling at the 2019 Inglis Weanling sale, is the full sister to Group 3 VRC Flemington Fling winner Legend of Condor.
The filly was knocked down for $750,000 to Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott from Silverdale Farm’s draft, who bought the filly at the weanling sale and reared her at their Southern Highlands farm in partnership with Suman Hedge Bloodstock and they were over the moon with the result.
Yulong also had a strong day on the fourth day of the sale. After selling the Kingman filly to Ciaron Maher Racing for $425,000, the team in green backed this up by selling a colt out of the Zabeel mare Rockzel.
Rockzel is half-sister to Group 3 winner Platinum Command who won ten races and is also the half-sister to Platinum Rapper.
Spendthrift sire Overshare had his first yearling to go through the ring and was catalogued as lot 823. Consigned by Glastonbury Farms, the filly is out of Spirited Away (USA) who is the dam of eight foals to race for seven winners, include the Group 2 Tampa Bay Derby winner Prospective. The filly was knocked down for $180,000 to Team Hawkes.
Spendthrift’s Garry Cuddy said it was great to see Overshare’s filly, which he described as one of great quality that hadn’t gone unnoticed leading up to the sale, go to such great trainers.
“It was great for us and obviously showed that they had a bit of an opinion of her and a good enough one of the horse himself to front up and buy his first yearling,” Garry said.
“We have been great supporters of Team Hawkes and they have been great supporters of ours and it’s great to continue the relationship.”
Garry said the support for Overshare had been great and it was quite funny that the stallion had served 80 mares in his first season, 150 in his second and then 140 in his third.
He said it was obvious that people were happy with what they’ve got on the ground.
Spendthrift was also busy buying colts as they look to securing future stallions for their roster.
They did Team Vic proud but had to wait until the second last lot of the day to secure a $1.2 million colt out of Emirates Park’s draft. By Written Tycoon, who stood at Woodside Park when the foal was conceived, it’s the highest price for a son of Written Tycoon.
Garry and the Spendthrift team were delighted they were able to secure the colt whose family includes Group 1 Doomben Cup winner, Sense of Occasion.
He said they had missed out on other highly priced and sought after colts in the sale, but the Written Tycoon colt was very high on their wish list.
“To be able to bring him home, we are very happy to do so,’’ he said.
“We had to wait until the end of day four to land a big one but we very are happy that we did and hopefully we can get the best out of him,” he said.
“When you front up and are shopping in the market, you are not up there alone and there are great judges and competition at that level and sometimes you have to find that extra bid or two and sometimes you have to say, no we’ll stop and let them have him and good luck to them.
“On this horse, we were very happy that we came out on top and everyone stopped and wished us luck.”
Garry said that any colt they buy comes with the dream of seeing him join the Spendthrift stallion roster and being the next Swear, Overshare or Dirty Work.
“We have been able to have a bit of good luck with buying a limited number of colts and we will have three colts we bought as yearlings on our roster this year,” he said.
“We ae proud of that and think it is a great achievement and hopefully there are another two or three to come over the next couple of years.”
The Spendthrift team also purchased lot 720, a colt by Deep Field out of Lonhro mare Romabella who is the full sister to Pinwheel who won twelve races, with three of them in succession. Securing the colt by going to $360,000, his family includes Spendthrift owned and Group 2 Schillaci Stakes winner Dirty Work (Written Tycoon x Maidel).
“He is a son of Deep Field who is obviously doing a great job and from the family of Dirty Work,” Garry said.
“It’s a family we know and have had a bit of success with and there were quite a few similarities I felt between him and Dirty Work. It’s a completely different sire line but the same female family and it has worked for us in the past and we thought he was great value in a competitive market.”
Victoria’s Kulani Park also had a successful day when a colt they bred out of Red Velvet Swing was knocked down for $510,000 to McEvoy Mitchell and Belmont Bloodstock.
The Victorian Alliance in partnership with Suman Hedge Bloodstock and David Redvers were present again on day four when they purchased a colt out of the Exceed and Excel mare Silk Sheets for $350,000. Consigned by Attunga Stud, the colt has Singapore Horse of the year and Champion Older horse Stepitup in his family.
Toby Liston of Three Bridges who dubbed lot 810 as ‘one of his best’ horses, was eagerly anticipating a favourable result as his colt by I Am Invincible out of the Pivotal mare, Solar Moon took to the ring.
However, Toby didn’t need to worry when the hammer came down at $700,000 and it was announced that the Hong Kong Jockey Club were the successful bidders.
Toby said the result was vindication of Three Bridges’ direction of choosing quality over quantity.
And the said the colt was special, just like his brother that was also sold to the Hong Kong Jockey Club for the same price.
He said the day four result of $700,000 for the colt reflected an abundance of quality and a wonderful attitude which was obviously why he was so sought after in the sales ring.
The colt had 23 x-rays hits and his total package made for strong competitive bidding before he was knocked down for $700,000.
Toby said Three Bridges finished the sale with 100 per cent clearance of their seven lots at an average of almost $400,000.
“Most importantly we sell racehorses and we wish the new purchasers all the best with their new additions and no doubt they will be rewarded for selecting naturally raised Three Bridges products for years to come.”
The colt’s dam was given a year off from breeding and while she doesn’t have a foal at foot, she is safely back in foal to I Am Invincible.
Not long after Toby’s result, a fan favourite of the 2019 TBV foal gallery made his appearance in the ring.
The colt bred by Noorilim Park known for his unique blaze and out of an Exceed and Excel mare, Speedy Kitty and includes Group 1 Santa Anita Gold Cup winner Cupid in his family.
Knocked down to BK Racing and Brad Widdup, he was purchased for $375,000.
But the results didn’t stop there for Team Vic. Makybe Breeding and Racing sold lot 828 for $650,000 to Tony Fung Investments and Phoenix Thoroughbreds. The colt, consigned by Lime Country, is out of the Starcraft mare, Star of Sydney, who is the half-sister to Invader.
Day four of Magic Millions confirmed the strong presence Victorian breeders and buyers asserted consistently throughout book one of the sale.
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