Magic Millions Yearling Sales 2017: Early frenzy for top lots at Gold Coast showpiece

PROMINENT owners Peter Tighe and Neville Morgan had to settle for second place after they were beaten on the sought-after Dundeel-Miss Finland colt at the opening session of the Magic Millions.

Lot number 38, a bay filly by I Am Invincible, was snapped up for $500,000 on Wednesday. Picture: Regi Varghese

PROMINENT Queensland owners Peter Tighe and Neville Morgan had to settle for second place on Wednesday after they were beaten on the sought-after Dundeel-Miss Finland colt at the opening session of the Magic Millions.

Winx races in Tighe’s prominent Magic Bloodstock colours, while Morgan raced Doncaster winner Kermadec, but they ran out of steam in pursuit of the youngster.

The pair’s bloodstock agent Guy Mulcaster went to $875,000, but was beaten by Queensland agent Craig Rounsefell with a $900,000 bid.

Rounsefell, who operates under his Boomer Bloodstock banner, indicated Bjorn Baker was “in the number one box seat” to train the colt.

Lot number 38, a bay filly by I Am Invincible, was snapped up for $500,000 on Wednesday. Picture: Regi Varghese

The colt topped the opening session, which matched motors for much of the day with last year’s outstanding figures.

International buyers topped the charts early in the day with Singapore and Hong Kong interests forking out over half a million dollars for two colts by Sebring and Not A Single Doubt.

At the end of the session, 187 yearlings had sold for a gross of $35.9 million and average of $192,016.

Tony Gollan will get to train the first sold by his former Group 1 winner Spirit Of Boom, after Kaylene Gibson went to $110,000 for the filly from Livonia.

A Widden treasure

Nathan Exelby

A STUD farm celebrating its 150th anniversary was again among the most prominent vendors on the opening day of the Magic Millions on Wednesday, just as it was when the sale launched in 1986.

Widden is the longest running stud farm to have been owned solely by the same family.

Antony Thompson is the seventh generation member of his family to be at the helm of Widden.

“We’ve stuck to what we have always done and stayed true to the formula that served us so well, which has enabled us to maintain the tradition of one of the great farms in Australia,” he said.

“I never felt the pressure to (take over), but it was something I wanted to do from a very young age. It will be the same with my children. It’s up to them. At the moment they ride well and love horses, but we will wait and see.”

Widden was among the first group of vendors when the sale started 31 years ago.

Thompson has marvelled at how it has grown since.

Widden Stud’s Antony Thompson with children Sam, left, Amy, and wife Katie, soak up the sun on the Gold Coast before the Magic Millions sales. Picture: Tim Marsden

Some of the sale’s most successful graduates are synonymous with Widden.

MM graduates like General Nediym, Golden Slipper winners Stratum and Sebring, as well as Zoustar, whose first crop yearlings were among the star attractions at Wednesday’s opening session, have all stood at Widden.

The stud also sold recent MM winners Le Chef and Driefontein.

The 2015 Australian Horse of the Year Dissident was bred, born and raised at Widden, as was last-start Group 1 winner Stratum Star, who will run favourite in Saturday’s MM Trophy.

During the opening session, Widden sold the first ‘‘big’’ lot of the sale, a Zoustar filly for $360,000. Widden is described as 3200ha of spectacular horse country, situated in the southwestern corner of the Hunter Valley and bordered by Wollemi National Park.

“It’s a unique property and a beautiful place to live,” Thompson said. “It’s a hard thing to quantify. It’s a picturesque place that is very special and has this amazing tradition of producing champion horses.”

Originally published as Magic Millions Yearling Sales 2017: Early frenzy for top lots at Gold Coast showpiece