Winx to be overshadowed by best Coolmore auction yearling ever
Coolmore scion Tom Magnier rates the yearling the famed stud is selling on Friday at the Magic Millions sale on the Gold Coast as the best they’ve ever offered at auction.
Coolmore scion Tom Magnier rates the yearling the famed stud is selling on Friday at the Magic Millions sale on the Gold Coast as the best it has ever offered at auction.
It’s a big statement coming from the farm that sold Winx at the Magic Millions sales for $230,000 in 2013.
If the record $2.7m sale that went down late on Thursday is anything to go by, Lot 676, a bay colt sired by champion stallion I Am Invincible, could go for a fortune.
“I’d say he’s the best colt that we’ve taken for a sale in my time in Australia. He’s got an unbelievable pedigree,” Magnier told The Australian. “When you go around the sales, everybody in the industry is telling me he’s the best.
“We’ve sold great horses here. We sold Winx, we sold Vancouver, but I think this colt just has something different about him.”
Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch said excitement was mounting for the colt’s turn to go through the sale ring on Friday morning.
“We’ll let the market decide (what he’s worth) but I think he’s the best horse that’s ever walked through our ring here on the Gold Coast, in its history,” Bowditch said. “Since I saw him in August on the farm, I begged Tom to send him this way and give us an opportunity to market him.”
Magnier was behind the winning $2.7m bid for Lot 606, another I Am Invincible colt, on Thursday afternoon, which set a record for the yearling sale less than 24 hours after the previous record of $2.2m set in 2008 was broken by a filly who sold for $2.6m.
Magnier said the big bids showed confidence in the Australian racing industry fuelled by the massive prizemoney on offer.
It followed the announcement on Sunday that the Magic Millions two-year-old Classic and three-year-old Guineas races would increase in prizemoney next year from $2m to $3m.
“Prizemoney in Australia is appealing to folk all over the world and this is where people want to race horses,” Magnier said.
“You see the prizemoney increase in the Magic Millions the other day. I think that’s making a difference. There are a lot of people who will want to invest in this game as a business, not just a hobby.”
Coolmore will sell 45 horses at the sales this week and is on the hunt to boost its stock as well.
The January yearling sales are often seen as a barometer of discretionary spending and Magic Millions manager Barry Bowditch said the signs this year were that there was money to be spent.
“There’s a great thirst in our industry,” he said. “I think the clientele have huge faith in our product and vendors have never supported the sale like they have this year.”
The $2.6m filly sold on Wednesday is a full-sister to three-time Group 1-winning mare Sunlight, who sold as a broodmare in 2020 for a Magic Millions broodmare sale record price of $4.2m.
A rousing track gallop from Eleven Eleven has given trainer Greg Hickman a timely boost of confidence on the eve of his sprinter’s historic attempt at a fourth win at the Magic Millions at the Gold Coast on Saturday.
“Eleven Eleven’s work on the A-Grass at Warwick Farm last Saturday morning was nothing short of exceptional,’’ Hickman said.
“He was sent up on Wednesday night, arrived at the Gold Coast on Thursday morning and put his head straight into the feed bin, so I couldn’t be happier with him’’
Eleven Eleven will be ridden by James McDonald in the $1m Magic Millions The Syndicate (1200m) on Saturday.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING: RAY THOMAS
Aussies into semis despite second washout against Afghanistan
Australia is through to the Champions Trophy semi finals despite rain forcing play to be abandoned during their chase of Afghanistan’s target of 274 at Lahore.
‘Make an impact’: Former Wildcats champ plots Perth’s demise
Melbourne forward Kyle Bowen may have already won an NBL championship with semi-final opponent Perth, but says a title in blue would “absolutely” taste sweeter with United.