MM boss: 'The hard part is knocking a horse back. Nobody likes to be told their kids are ugly'

MAGIC Millions is perfecting the art of avoiding the "ugly kids", writes Nathan Exelby.

Vin Cox: "The hard part is knocking a horse back. Nobody likes to be told their kids ...

MAGIC Millions is perfecting the art of avoiding the "ugly kids".

A rise of $8 million in the gross of sessions 1-4 at a clearance rate of nearly 90 per cent heralded the sale a runaway success.

MM managing director Vin Cox heaped praise on his bloodstock department, headed by selection manager Barry Bowditch, for the yearlings they catalogued.

This sale had been known over the years for "having a long tail" but one leading vet, noted for straight shooting, remarked there were only about 20 horses that fit into that category this year.

"There's a real art to the selection process. It's a delicate balance of finding the right horses and getting breeders to bring the right horses," Cox said.

"The hard part is knocking a horse back. Nobody likes to be told their kids are ugly.

"We don't profess to getting it right every time, but when you're selling nine out of 10 horses in the ring, it means we must be doing something right."

Bowditch, who has been with Magic Millions since 2005 after transferring from Inglis, said he took particular pride in the success of some emerging sires at the sale.

"We committed to Denman (15 sold at an average of $180,000) early and also I Am Invincible (10 at $200,500)," he said.

"It's important to identify horses that might throw progeny pre-Christmas and those two sires took off early and thankfully we had good numbers to offer our clients."

Bowditch soldiered on during Saturday night, working until stumps, despite his in-laws celebrating the success of Noisy Ocean well away from the mayhem of the sale grounds.

"It was a long day, but pretty satisfying," he said.

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REPOSSESSIONS from unpaid purchases made by Bill Vlahos and BC3 at last week's sales produced a better than expected result.

"They made about 75 cents in the dollar and we're delighted with that," Cox said.

BC3's bad debt to Magic Millions is significantly less than the money owing to Inglis in Sydney, pending the outcome of a $5 million insurance claim on the deceased "Jimmy".