3 minute read
Five things we learnt on the Gold Coast.
1. I Am Invincible reigns supreme, but Exceed continues to excel
Yarraman Park's super sire I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) picked up where he left off last season in the sales ring, proving his progeny are as still as coveted as they ever have been. The all-conquering stallion finished the sale as the leading sire by both aggregate ($20,245,000) and average ($482,024) (with three or more lots sold). The son of I Am Invincible's nearest challenger was Snitzel (Redoute's Choice), who also had 42 yearlings sell for a gross of $13,120,000. There were ten seven figure lots throughout the week, with I Am Invincible responsible for three of them.
Commenting on I Am Invincible's sale on Saturday night, Yarraman Park's Arthur Mitchell said: "He's continued to raise the bar. Across the board they have sold well - he had more than any other stallion, but people are still obviously happy to pay for them."
There was only one other stallion with three yearlings that sold for seven figures - Darley's ever popular shuttler Exceed And Excel (Danehill), who had somewhat of resurgence at Magic Millions this year.
On the Gold Coast 12 months ago the stallion sold 17 yearlings for an aggregate of $3,945,000 at an average of $232,059, with his top-priced lot $550,000. This year finished the sale with an average of $398,542, while his aggregate for the 24 yearlings he sold was $9,565,000, which included the second highest priced yearling of the week, with Team Hawkes forking out $1,800,000 for a colt out of daul Group 1-winning Platelet (Strategic).
While the son of Danehill (Danzig) maybe entering the twilight of his career in the covering shed, the popularity of his progeny seems to have hit another level. It comes as no surprise with his sons and daughters still banging out top-class results on the track - headed last year by Group 1-winning juveniles Bivouac and Microphone and Coolmore Stud Stakes (registered as Ascot Vale Stakes) (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Exceedance.
2. Buyers happy to put their faith in Pharoah
Coming into the sale there was a certain amount of hype surrounding the first season sires, headed largely by Coolmore's Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (Pioneerof The Nile) and it turned out it was was not unheralded - the results show that buyers were happy to put their faith in the young stallion.
The Coolmore shuttler finished inside the top five sires by average (with three or more lots sold) with a stunning average of $338,095 and an equally impressive aggregate of $7,100,000 for the 21 lots sold, which is a good return, even on a relatively high service fee - in the context of a first-season stallion - of $66,000 (inc GST).
At last year's edition of the sale, the best performing first-season sire was American Pharoah's barn mate Vancouver (Medgalia d'Oro), who finished with an average $185,714 and an aggregate of $5,200,000 for 28 lots sold.
American Pharoah's top seller was the colt of Derelique (Danehill Dancer) offered by Lime Country Thoroughbreds and purchased by Tom Magnier for $850,000. While Team Hawkes paid $750,000 for a colt by the stallion from Segenhoe and Wayne Hawkes said after buying the yearling: "It's a lot of money to pay, but the biggest plus is that American Pharoah is doing such a good job in America and more so in Europe," said Hawkes.
"I know he hasn't had any runners here but what they've done overseas, especially on the grass is a major plus. We loved him from the time we walked into the sales and was one of the first that we saw. He was right near the front gate. You've got to be a bit lucky at a sale because what you want and what you can buy can be so far apart."
However, other young unproven sires also enjoyed good results on the Gold Coast were the two shuttlers Frosted (Tapit) and Shalaa (Invincible Spirit). Darley's Frosted had three yearlings sell for an aggregate $910,000 at an average of $310,000, with the yearlings all conceived off a service fee of $38,500 (inc GST). While Arrowfield Stud shuttler Shalaa, who stood his first season at the Hunter Valley-based operation for $33,000 (inc GST), also performed well on the coast selling 23 yearlings for an average of $250,217, finishing with a gross of $5,755,000.
3. New buyers step up
In the run up to the sale there were some vendors who voiced their concerns about some key players who were absent from the buying bench as the first sale of the year kicked off in Australia. However, some buyers stepped up their buying prowess and no team spent more than Hawkes Racing, who spent $7,465,000 on 17 yearlings during Book 1 and continued their spending spree in Book 2 of the Queensland auction buying three yearlings for an aggregate of $540,000.
At last year's edition of Book 1 the training-trio purchased 6 yearlings for a total outlay of $1,490,000 and Wayne Hawkes said that off the back of the good season, which included Exceedence (Exceed And Excel) winning the Coolmore Stud Stakes (registered as Ascot Vale Stakes) (Gr 1, 1200m), they had more orders - which makes sense.
"We you have to come and buy the ones you want," Hawkes explained on Sunday. "Everyone would love to do, but we had a great year last year with horses like Exceedance and Brutal, we've just been very, very lucky because we have the clients. If you don't have the clients you're not going to be here buying the horses. You're only as good as your clients let you be, so we're very thankful we have a great bunch of very loyal clients."
John Sadler, who was buying on behalf of chinese owner Bon Ho, was another to ramp up their snapping up ten yearlings for a total spend of $3,915,000. Compare this with last year, where he or Ho did not feature on the buyers sheet.
4. Record-breaking numbers; no worries going forward
Despite worries heading into the four-day sale, the numbers were, yet again, up for the Queensland sale, which bodes well for the rest of the sales in Australia in 2020. At the close of trade Magic Millions reported the average rose from $237,309 to $247,402 on the 2019 edition of the sale, while the aggregate soared from $170.8 million to $177.4 million. The median also rose from $170,000 to $180,000 and the sale finished with a clearance rate of 87.42 per cent.
Bowditch put the buoyancy of the market down to the prize-money on offer in Australia, believing it attracted buyers from all around the world and gave them the confidence to invest in Australian bloodstock.
"The prize-money on offer here in Australia is at the forefront of anywhere in the world. The world has noticed what is going on in Australia," said Bowditch.
"Prize-money is up in Queensland too and we've got over 60 $1 million races in Australia at the moment. There are a lot of reasons for buyers to step in and spend money, because there is a lot of reward for doing so."
While he also said that vendors had supported the sale with their best stock: "Obviously there's a lot of faith in the horses we have here in the complex. Vendors have supported us with as strong a catalogue as we have ever had and they have been very well rewarded for doing so.
"Leading into the sale, a lot of the buyers were very positive about the catalogue. Around the complex, heading in, everything was positive from the buyers' perspective."
5. When times get tough; industry pull together
As fires raged across Australia during the Magic Millions, it was incredible to see the industry throw their support to the bushfire relief - and incredible $1.1 million was raised throughout the week, which was an amazing effort on the part of the vendors, buyers and everyone who donated money to the disaster, which has affected large parts of the countries, including the racing and breeding communities.
