3 minute read
New comer Alpine Eagle tops trade in Tasmania.
Barry Bowditch was pleased with the results at the close of trade at the Magic Millions Tasmanian Yearling Sale on Monday which when finished saw records tumble across the board including the aggregate and average which were recorded as $3,362,500 and $30,568 respectively whilst the median rose 24 per cent to $26,000.
The sales' company managing director said he was also pleased with the clearance rate of 81 per cent at the one day sale and he said he was confident the momentum would continue into Magic Millions' next sale in Adelaide which begins its two-day run on March 10.
"I'm absolutely delighted with the results," Bowditch told Racing.com. "We are up over ten per cent on the gross price of $3,362,500 which is a huge result. There was a solid clearance rate and a record average price of over $30,000.
"All in all, I'm really happy with the results. I thought the buyers got in and the domestic players especially stepped up and really supported their local product."
Armidale Stud-based first-season sire Alpine Eagle (High Chaparral) finished the day on top of the leading sires list by aggregate selling 21 yearlings for an aggregate of $735,000 and average of $35,000, including being responsible for the top-priced lot of the day and Bowditch was buoyed to see buyers put their faith in the new stallion.
"Alpine Eagle was very well supported and rightly so he is a well-credentialed horse to stand in the state and he deserves the results he got," said Bowditch.
"The Victorian buyers, as well as the local buyers, got in and spent their money. Looking forward to Adelaide which is always a great sale to get to and the catalogue is fantastic and we are looking forward to it next month."
Meanwhile, Armidale finished the day as the leading vendors by aggregate selling 35 yearlings for a gross of $1,439,000, while C & K Mahoney closed off as the leading vendors by average (with three or more lots sold) selling three yearlings for $137,000 at an average of $45,667. John Blacker finished the day as the leading buyer having spent $320,500 on 11 lots whilst John Foote Bloodstock bought four yearlings for $189,000.
The top-priced yearling came early in the day when Cranbourne-based trainer Robbie Griffiths paired up with bloodstock agent Peter Ford to purchase a filly by Alpine Eagle for $95,000.
The pair were keen to take the filly home rating her the 'standout' both in physique and pedigree and, while she is by an unproven sire in Alpine Eagle, they are confident he has all the credentials to make his mark within the stallion ranks. He has stood his first three seasons at stud for a fee of $7,700 (inc GST) and covered 76 mares last year.
"As a type she is outstanding," said Griffiths, who was bidding from Cranbourne. "She is beautiful, has a great head, and a great walk.
"Alpine Eagle was a great racehorse by High Chaparral who is turning out to be a great sire of sires. The Tornados are flying and so are the Dundeels. The filly is bred on the same cross as Dundeel and the mother of the filly is by a stallion who is a half-brother to the great mare Makybe Diva by Redoute's Choice.
"When you start talking Redoute's Choice, Zabeel and High Chaparral and you get down to Group 1 performers in the family it all works. She has got the best blood athleticism and walk to be really good and I think this stallion will really make it. She just has everything - she's got the pedigree and she is lovely looking.
"Alpine Eagle was unlucky not to have won when Wandjina won the Australian Guineas, so he was a high-class racecourse."
Catalogued as Lot 37 and offered by Armidale Stud, the filly is out of four-time winning Musket (Redoute's Choice) mare Must Be Mink, who is herself out of Listed winner Di's Angel (Racer's Edge) and from the extended family of stakes winners Western Scout (Gone West), Grand Cavalier (Flying Spur), Dark Choice (Redoute's Choice) and Churchill Dancer (Churchill Downs).
Ford said he was also happy to put his faith in Alpine Eagle given the success of other sons of the late High Chaparral (Sadler's Wells).
"We love (High Chaparral's son) Toronado - we've got a couple of great Toronados in the stable - and we love Dundeel as well, but we haven't been able to get at him just yet," Ford said.
"Any of these sons of High Chaparral, and Tivaci is another one... we are finding that they might be the way and they will probably get a little bit further than some of the Invincible Spirit breed.
"We love that line as well such as Shalaa, Territories has a few nice ones and Cable Bay is really good, too.
"They are the sire lines that we seem to like in the stable. They are fairly durable types of horses and, more importantly, ones people want to buy into."
Of the price Griffiths commented: "I am the buyer so obviously I always want to pay less, but I liked her that much that I was always going to keep going. When you get a standout like her in the sale and everyone wants the standout, but as far as I was concerned she was coming home with me even if she had got into the $100,000. She sold well because she was the best filly there."
It was not a surprise to see Lot 36 snapped up by local buyer Andrew Scanlon for $80,000 given the fact that he co-owns the filly's brother Mandela Effect (Turffontein), who was last seen following up his Tasmanian Stakes (Listed, 1600m) success in the Thomas Lyons Stakes (Listed, 1400m).
Offered by Motree Thoroughbreds, who sold Mandela Effect to Scott Bruton for $18,000 at the 2016 edition of the sale, the filly is out of winning West Quest (Gone West) mare Morell - a half-sister to the Listed-placed Royal Work (Matsqui).
The filly will join her brother at Bruton's stable.
Trainer Matthew Brown also bought back into a family he knows well when he purchased a colt by former shuttler Dream Ahead (Diktat) for $75,000.
Offered as Lot 26 and consigned by C & K Mahoney, the colt is out of Luloah (Al Maher) making him a brother to Listed-placed gelding Firstclass Dreamer, who Brown has saddled to three victories.
Brown revealed Firstclass Dreamer has issues which have held him back from showing his true potential and rated this yearling as better than his brother.
"He was one of the picks of the sale of the colts," said Brown. "The brother is a good horse but he has got a little issues that hold him back from showing his true ability but he has shown that he is well above average.
"(The yearling) is probably a bit scopier with a similar body type, but he probably has a bit more going for him than his brother."
The colt is also a half-brother to two further winners, including three-time scorer Silverhawk (Artie Schiller).
"The family's gone one a little bit (since I bought Firstclass Dreamer) with Silverhawk going on to win in town and my bloke got a little bit of black type and I am still confident that I can win another one in town with him," said Brown. "He was a bit unlucky the other night at Moonee Valley.
"On his ability he is a Saturday horse every day of the week, Firstclass Dreamer."
Brown, who also purchased a filly by Alpine Eagle for $35,000 on Monday, said he was happy to support the sale having had success with it's graduates in the past.
"We've been here for the past five years and done well buying some nice horses out of here," Brown said. They look after you down here, so we are happy to come back and hopefully we can find another couple of nice ones out of here."
Meanwhile, Paul Eriksson, CEO of Tasracing, was delighted with how the day unfolded.
"The sale has been a wonderful success," he said. "To see the gross increase ten per cent and to pass $3 million for the first time is a great endorsement of the Tasmanian breeding industry."
"We must thank and congratulate Magic Millions and Tasbreeders," Eriksson added. "It shows when good operators work together what results can be achieved."
The 2019 edition saw 107 of the 137 lots offered sold (78 per cent clearance rate) for $2,933,000, at an average of $27,972 and median of $21,000.
Click here to view the results.
