Hunter Sets Gold Coast Alight

By Katrina Partridge

As floodwaters raged in the lower Hunter last week so too did a flood of another kind on the Gold Coast; one of gold.

Ten days of festivities including a week of horse sales, racing, and carnival action saw $129.3 million of horseflesh pass through the Magic Millions auction ring – the highest grossing Yearling sale in the Southern Hemisphere since 2008.

Total receipts, average, and median prices also climbed into record territory with double-digit percentage increases across the board during the main sale.

“The fact that we have had six million dollar yearlings – a record for the sale – is first testament to the vendors that put them in there and secondly the fact that we can get seven figure yearlings tells the world that this sale has moved to another level and it is onwards and upwards from here,” said Magic Millions managing director Vin Cox.

“We are always the first one (sale) off and we do set the tone.

“I would say that the thoroughbred industry in Australia is in a pretty good space at the moment.

“There is a massive appetite for horses and the international investment was fantastic with most of the horses to be left here which great for our industry with our industry very well regarded and promoted internationally.

“The industry is in a very good space,” he said.

Ex jockey now Victorian based trainer Brent Stanley who purchased the $1million Fastnet Rock x Ten Carat Rock filly from Newgate Farm said he started with one horse three years ago and have over 160 on the books now.

“I have some great clients, some great big breeding clients,” said Mr Stanley.

“These guys have jumped on board and want to buy horses for the future and they’re all about the breeding and making Australian racing bigger and better and having a big future in it,” he said.

Henry Field of Newgate Farm was equally enthusiastic about the sale.

“It has been a dream day to have won the $2m Magic Millions race with Capitalist, a future stallion for Newgate, and to have sold this magnificent filly for a million dollars tonight,” said Mr Field.

Local buyers purchased the highest number of yearlings across the total sale – NSW trainer Gai Waterhouse in combination with Julian Blaxland purchasing the highest number of lots (23).

Reflecting on the sale, Blaxland said he had never had such a long list of horses to try and buy.

“I think breeders have a lot of confidence in Magic Millions, sending their bigger horses up here and getting their money – that’s really starting to show with the quality of the catalogue, not only on paper but physically,” Mr Blaxland said.

“It’s a fantastic sale and Vin Cox should be applauded,” he said.

“It’s been hard, it’s been a really strong market,” Julian Blaxland said.

With the money being returned to them through the ring a number of local breeders reinvested in the quality pedigrees on offer.

Mick Malone who owns Kitchwin Hills in Scone partnered with Whitby Bloodstock to buy a filly for $270,000 from boutique Scone farm Middlebrook Valley Lodge as just one example.

“The filly is beautifully bred, has an exceptional physique and should she do well on the track she will be a valuable addition to Kitchwin Hills’ broodmare band on retirement,” said Verna Metcalfe, Stud Manager at Middlebrook Valley Lodge.

Sales of horses from Magic Millions to international buyers have increased by 51% over the past three years and this optimism continued in the New Year.

Fueled by a lower Australian dollar in combination with an exceptional catalogue of horses the competition from the international buying bench was fierce.

China Horse Club (‘CHC’) was the leading buyer in Book 1 signing for 21 lots at a total outlay of $6.69m.

Founded in 2013 by Teo Ah Khing, a Harvard-educated Chinese Malaysian, the CHC is consistently one of the biggest buyers at horse sales worldwide and among its purchasing partners is Sheikh Fahad Al Thani from the Royal Family of Qatar.

The CHC have had considerable success on the racetrack – best represented locally by Dissident, a four-time Group 1 winner of more than $2m in prizemoney who was crowned the 2014/15 Australian Horse of the Year – who retired to Newgate Farm in the Hunter Valley for stud duties last season.

There are currently 127 horse clubs in China sourcing thoroughbreds for their members but Chinese were not the only active participants last week with spirited bidding from buyers from Hong Kong, the USA, South Africa, the UAE, the UK, Ireland, Korea, Vietnam, Macau and New Zealand.

Adding to the colour of the sale was the enticement of Australia’s richest race day – an historic $10m in prizemoney on offer that saw horses who had never won a race competing for $250,000 whilst the main races offered prizemoney of $1 million and $2 million in stakes.

The ‘Women in Racing’ Bonus provides a unique financial incentive to female owners. Christine Cook and the partners of Faraway Town, sired by Not A Single Doubt who stands at Arrowfield Stud in Scone, snared the bonus for having the first all woman owned horse across the line in the $2m race pocketing an extraordinary $325,000 for running sixth!

Yearlings bred in the Hunter Valley region contributing $82.723m to the total Sale gross.

Paddy Power, treasurer of the Hunter Thoroughbred Breeders Association said the sales demonstrated the strength of the Hunter.

“The success of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale was yet another significant endorsement of the Hunter Valley as one of the world’s premier breeding grounds of elite thoroughbred horses,” said Mr Power.

“Each of the six yearlings who broke through the million dollar mark at the record-breaking sale was foaled and raised in the Hunter Valley and all were by stallions who were themselves Hunter Valley graduates,” Paddy Power said.

Underlining the confidence in the market were the number of elite yearlings whose opening bids started well above the $500,000 mark.

Lot 430 the Snitzel x Mirror Mirror colt may well have arrived in the ring 2 lots from the end of the day’s proceedings but he did so amidst a whirlwind of camera flashes and a packed auditorium.

The opening bid was a staggering $800,000 and a spirited bidding display saw Gerald Ryan and Damion Flower secure the colt for $1.6million and give the team at Strawberry Hills who consigned the colt very good reason to smile.

The whole thoroughbred industry was smiling.

With good reason.