Secret billionaires, famous faces: Who’s who at epic Magic Millions sale

It’s the hottest ticket in town with an eye-watering amount of cash being splashed, but who are the major players at the Magic Millions? Meet them here.

Billy Slater at his table at the Magic Millions sales. Picture by Luke Marsden.

From a billionaire buddy of Gerry Harvey looking to buy his first thoroughbred to racing knockabouts hunting a bargain, the Magic Millions yearling sale on the Gold Coast is very much horses for courses.

The sales, which began on Tuesday as part of the Glitter Strip’s annual Magic Millions carnival, have attracted a who’s who of buyers and sellers from across Australia and overseas as hundreds of millions of dollars of prized horseflesh go under the hammer.

They include Chinese mining tycoon Yuesheng Zhang, Kentucky billionaire John Stewart, Aussie turf identities Gai Waterhouse and Chris Waller, NRL legend and Maroons coach Billy Slater, former AFL star Michael Christian and Harvey and Magic Millions co-owner Katie Page themselves.

About 1400 yearlings are up for grabs, with the top price so far $2.3m paid by Byron Bay-based pet grooming franchise millionaire Ian Moses for a filly which was sold on Wednesday by Christian.

Yuesheng Zhang loves racing. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Racing Photos via Getty Images)

Kentucky billionaire John Stewart.

Bidding by phone from the US, Stewart snapped up the second most expensive horse sold to date at this year’s Magic Millions - $1.8m for a filly which will be trained by Melbourne Cup-winning rein-master Ciaron Maher - as part of a 10-minute, $3m buying spree on Tuesday.

The horse was sold by Zhang’s giant Yulong stud which paid $4m for its dam, Away Game, at the 2020 Magic Millions.

Stewart last year famously bid $9m for the first foal of mighty mare Winx, which sold for $230,000 at the Magic Millions and went on to win $26m in prize money.

Mr Harvey said Magic Millions was attracting a legion of new fans to racing.

Tony Perich. (AAP IMAGE / Robert Pozo)

It wouldn’t be the Magic Millions without Gai Waterhouse. Picture: Luke Marsden.

They included his mate, billionaire farmer Tony Perich, who has been sitting on Harvey’s table at this year’s sales.

“He’s made a couple of billion dollars in his lifetime but never been to a horse sale,” Harvey said.

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“I sat him down with a (sales) book. First up he said ‘I won’t buy a horse, but anything you’re in I’ll buy one with you’. That’s a brand new bloke with billions.

“Then there’s Mr Zhang … he’s the biggest buyer who’s ever hit this country.”

Ms Page, a leading promoter of female participation in racing, said women were also buying up big at the sales.

“It’s the women that are driving the industry,” she said.

“The women are in there strongly buying lots of horses, putting the pressure on the blokes.”

Originally published as Secret billionaires, famous faces: Who’s who at epic Magic Millions sale