3 minute read

Heading into Magic Millions, we talk to some of the agents attending this year’s sale.

With most international buyers unable to attend the 2021 sale, do you think this will present additional opportunities for domestic buyers?
I think it will as not all of these internationals will be willing to buy unseen. Some of them have requirements to view the horses with their own eyes, so with that not possible they will most likely be out of play. 

It will still be a super strong sale as viewings to date have been unprecedented so competition will be very strong, particularly on the top lots.

Have you had more enquiries this year with overseas agents / buyers, or equally domestic buyers, unable to travel to Queensland for the sale?
Personally I haven't but other agents I know have been asked by some buyers to act on their behalf. Most of my domestic clients are still able to get to QLD or will rely on me to buy for them. As it stands I will be concentrating on orders from existing clients.

Australia has led the way with increased information and transparency around bloodstock sales. Do you think there will be any other positives come out of the global Covid pandemic and how do you feel this will change the industry over the coming years?
I think it has probably forced buyers to consider online purchasing of yearlings through necessity but honestly I can't see that becoming a trend with yearlings or weanlings as ideally they really need to be seen in the flesh. 

I've pinhooked a couple of weanlings this year unseen but only because my existing partners (Silverdale Farm/Milburn Creek) were present and I have complete faith and trust in their judgement to buy the right horses which they did. 

Perhaps farms will put greater resources towards transferable footage of their stock, but again this can't be much earlier as farms like to do this as close to sale dates as possible to give the best representation of their product. 

I can't see too many legacy changes because of COVID, it's just a very unfortunate event which requires a specific and unique response which we've all had to adjust to.

Vendors have been reporting high numbers of on farm inspections this year. Do you think these are becoming an increasingly important part of the inspection process and how do they help you?
Personally, whilst I appreciate that this has been required this year I'm not a huge fan of them (generally) as I feel they can be quite disruptive to farms and I often find it hard to look at horses the way I want to in large groups. 

Yes farms like to practice before they get to the sales and it is their job to sell the horses, but there is an art to peaking horses for the sales and when they are doing up to 50+ inspections just prior to the sales that puts a lot of pressure on their operations. 

Whilst I think some high-volume buyers really like to do pre-sale inspections some of it is pardon my French "a bit of a wank" and people just following others lead like lemmings. 

I get we've had extraordinary circumstances this year and therefore these farm inspections have helped enormously to cope with the pandemic, but I'm thinking/praying pandemics won't be a norm in the future. 

I've managed to buy horses for a number of years without doing pre-sale inspections and I couldn't say not doing them has hurt my results. 

I think if there are pre-sale inspections perhaps the way to do it is to allot a time frame of say a week and do all the inspections in a particular region in that block. 

At least if this was the case the sales companies could service their clients which is really all they are endeavouring to do, but the farms could adequately manage the process as well as their staff (which is now a major issue throughout the country). 

I don't begrudge people doing things differently to me or say my approach is the only way but we also need to be mindful of the ripple effect on farms who are just completing or still conducting their breeding seasons. A lot of them are doing ridiculous hours and they are not robots.

Maybe I am wrong and will have to adjust my own approach in the future but for now this is how I feel!

Which horse is your favourite Magic Millions yearling purchase?
For me Zoustar has clearly been my favourite and best Magic Millions purchase. 

He has been a dream horse to have purchased, raced and syndicated and to see him achieve the highest levels as both a racehorse and now as a stallion has been very rewarding as well as hugely beneficial to my business. 

Victoria Quay is an Adelaide Magic Millions purchase that could be a special filly. Given she races in our colours/management she might end up the favourite some day!

What is your favourite Magic Millions moment?
Probably a tie between the Magic Millions wins of Capitalist and Sunlight. 

Capitalist was a little bittersweet in that the company I worked for (at the time) Matchem Racing was underbidder on him as a yearling but seeing him win was hugely exciting given he was by Written Tycoon and because of my strong connections to that stallion. 

Sunlight winning was again very satisfying in that she was by Zoustar and the fact that her victory really catapulted him as a stallion, giving him the dream start we were praying for.