Rugby World Cup winner Mike Tindall’s horse to kickstart Magic Millions 2018

FORMER England Test star Mike Tindall talks rugby, Royals and racing ahead of his horse kickstarting the Magic Millions sales this morning.

FORMER England rugby star Mike Tindall can’t wait for the “rush” of having his horse kickstart 2018’s Gold Coast Magic Millions sales today.

A filly part-owned by the event ambassador — and husband of expecting royal Zara Phillips — has coincidentally drawn Lot One out of 1062 horses going under the auction hammer in the next week.

In a relaxed chat at Surfers Paradise yesterday while his wife conducted the barrier draw for Saturday’s looming $10 million race day, Tindall revealed his concern at his horse going first and talked about the difficulty of adjusting after professional rugby.

Former English rugby Test player Mike Tindall, a Magic Millions ambassador and hubby to Royal Zara Phillips, with a bay filly he has a share in which is the first lot in the Magic Millions yearling sale starting at 10am on Wednesday, Jan 10, 2018. Mr Tindall has a stake in a partnership involved in speculating on horses and they have six yearlings in the sale. Picture: Luke Marsden.

Mr Tindall, in a syndicate with six yearlings on offer, admitted he would rather not set the tone for the auction, which last year turned over a southern hemisphere yearling sales record of $146 million

The lot order is determined alphabetically on the mother’s name, with the starting letter changing each year to make it fair. This year it’s “K’’ with his filly’s dam Kahala Dreams.

“It’s not the ideal lot you want,” he said. “People don’t know where the sales are going to go at that stage but she’s actually a really nice filly, we really like her — and we’d like to start the show with a bang.”

For Tindall, part of the 2003 World Cup-winning team, it is his second Magic Millions with skin in the game after his Redwall Bloodstock syndicate put up five lots last year. He first became involved in horse trading after bidding on one with mates for a laugh at a charity auction in England and accidentally ending up with it for $21,000.

Tindall with a bay filly he has a stake in which is the first lot of the Magic Millions 2018 yearling sale. Picture: Luke Marsden.

It went on to earn more than six figures in prizemoney and they have ploughed their winnings into buying weanlings to sell later as yearlings.

“Our syndicate is a three-year syndicate so at the end of next year we’ll have look at whether we go again for another three.

“It always hinges on profit and loss at the end of each year. Last year we made a small profit,” he said, adding the brains behind Redwall was English bloodstock agent Hannah Wall.

“I fully trust Hannah, she knows what she’s doing,’’ he said.

“It’s great to be there at the sale and see it all and get that rush — fingers crossed you’ve got one that people really like.”

Pictured on Surfers Paradise Beach for the Magic Millions Barrier Draw is Mike Tindall and the Magic Millions Two Year Old Classic trophy. Picture Mike Batterham

Tindall said he would attend the morning session and with a laugh revealed he’d “put some pressure on some people”.

“We’ll get there, front and centre and get the stare going, get a few stare downs happening, put some pressure on and see what we get out of it,” he said.

Despite hanging up his professional rugby boots in 2014, he still plays up to 10 games a year for his local club Minchinhampton and legends matches.

He said he misses the camaraderie of rugby and every time a World Cup rolls around wishes he was back out there.

Mike Tindall in action at the 2011 Rugby World Cup at centre — he says he misses the camaraderie of rugby and admits it took a while to adjust to life when he retired from the game professionally in 2014. AFP PHOTO / CHRISTOPHE SIMON

“But the training every day and your life is quite regimented and inflexible. Now you look at the free days and you get up not having something to do, it’s hard to get out of the cycle of it because you are fully institutionalised. You’ve got to have breakfast, eat certain things, go to the gym at this time, have a meeting.

“That’s the hardest thing — to get out of the habit of all of it, you get very used to having something on all day, every day.”

Magic Millions duties aside, he said he plans to hit the beach every morning while here and can’t wait to get a “proper” surf lesson.

Royal Zara Phillips (obscured) with husband Mike Tindall with daughter Mia — Tindall says Mia is loving their third trip to Magic Millions on the sunny Gold Coast and is “in the water all day long”. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

Daughter Mia was loving the trip and was “in the water all day long”.

“I still can’t believe how freaking hot it is here at 7.30am,” he said. “The weather has been unbelievable.”

He always found the Gold Coast a relaxing place to visit, but asked about life inside the royal bubble back home he said: “It's not too bad where we live in Gloucester. We live quite a hassle-free life in terms of that side of it.”