2022 MMGC Magazine

MAGIC MILLIONS GOLD COAST YEARLING SALE AND CARNIVAL 11-17 JANUARY 2022

EXPERIENCE THE MAGIC

COOLY CLASSIC OCEAN SWIM, GOLD COAST, 9 - 10 APRIL 2022

QUEENSLAND I S H O M E TO WORLD-CLASS EVENTS

Gold Coast T20 Australia v Sri Lanka 15 February 2022

Gold Coast Eurovision Australia Decides 25 - 26 February 2022

QUEENSLAND.COM/EVENTS

Gold Coast Beyond the Sand Arts Festival 12 - 20 March 2022

Gold Coast Gold Coast Triathlon: Luke Harrop Memorial

3 April 2022

PURE MAGIC A GLORIOUS FIRST CROP COLT BY CASTELVECCHIO

HITOTSU 2021 G1 VICTORIA DERBY

EX VALLEY OF 3 LIGHT GROUP

1 WINNERS, 6 STAKESWINNERS, 15 STAKES PERFORMERS BOUGHT FROM ARROWFIELD AT MAGIC MILLIONS SINCE 2019 FIND YOUR ARROWFIELD GRADUATE AT MAGIC MILLIONS 2022

45274_AUS_Justify_Pg_BBloodMMPrev_Dec21.qxp_Layout 1 12/11/2021 10:45 Page 1

JUST unbeatable on the track

The only US Triple Crown winner to retire to stud undefeated.

6 wins (4 Gr.1s) by nearly 24 lengths and nearly US$3.8m on fast to heavy tracks.

JUST a great physical specimen

“It would entail a lengthy search to find a better representative of the Thoroughbred breed… Justify exudes power.” The Blood-Horse

JUST outstanding first yearlings in Australia Don’t miss them at the Gold Coast!

His first American yearlings were exceptional and they sold for Au$2.47m, Au$2.12m, Au$1.3m etc.

He is by far the best son of Gr.1 sire of sires SCAT DADDY

Colm Santry, John Kennedy, Paddy Oman, Tom Moore, Rob Archibald or Emma Pugsley Tel: 02 6576 4200. New Zealand: Gordon Calder Tel:+64 218 41612. www.coolmore.com

GOLD, MILLIONS OR DIAMONDS ...TAKE YOUR PICK

VI N E RY.CO M.AU

(02) 6543 8333

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS PUBLISHER Andrew Reichard ADVERTISING: Andrew Reichard Mobile: 0415 464 904 andrew@bluebloods.com.au Warren Wruck 0414 385 216 warren@bluebloods.com.au

Bluebloods Photographers: Bruno Cannatelli Tanya D’Herville Photography Mark Gatt Steve Hart Katrina Partridge Sportpix Darryl Sherer

EDITORIAL Louise Chambers Renee Geelen John Hutchinson Glen Latham Kristen Manning Trevor Marshallsea Steve Moran Gabrielle Nutt Jessica Owers Katrina Partridge Heather Brown Pascoe Andrew Potts Andrew Reichard Paul Vettise

BLUEBLOODS would like to thank all the participating vendors who provided their own photos.

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Val Hayward PRODUCTION MANAGER Margaret Reichard PRODUCTION David Reichard Oliver Jacobsen Alicia Anderson

PHOTOGRAPHERS Magic Millions Photographers: Bruno Cannatelli Sharon Chapman Sarah Ebbett Lisa Grimm Bronwen Healy Dean Johnson Makoto Kaneko Luke Marsden Simon Merritt Michael McInally Katrina Partridge Flash Pony Photography Darren Tindale

Unit 10/3 William Banks Drive, Burleigh Heads Qld 4220 • PO Box 2864, Burleigh BC, Burleigh, Qld 4220 • Phone: (07) 5658 1950 • Email: accounts@bluebloods.com.au Established 1982 by Brian Russell as The Australian Bloodhorse Review website: www.bluebloods.com.au PUBLISHED BY BADRANAD PTY LTD - ABN 98 002 825 069 Printed by Pegasus Print, Blacktown, NSW. Typeset by Bluebloods.

While every care is taken in the compilation of this magazine, neither BlueBloods nor any of its agents will be held liable for any errors or omissions contained herein or their consequences either in original material or in any material (including advertisements) supplied.

2022

REGULARS

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MM welcome Katie Page-Harvey, Gerry Harvey and Barry Bowditch welcome you to the Magic Millions Carnival, Sales and Raceday.

Calendar of Events Your guide to an action packed week of events on the Gold Coast.

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Government welcome Message from the Mayor and Minister.

PICTURE GALLERIES

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Sale Day Faces

Raceday Faces

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164

Barrier Draw

Raceday Winners

90

176

By The Numbers

Racing Women’s Bonus

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Raceday Social Scene MAGIC MILLIONS Head Office 28 Ascot Court, Bundall, QLD 4217 • PO Box 5246, Gold Coast Mail Centre, QLD 9726 • Phone: +61 (0) 7 5504 1200 .

• Email: info@magicmillions.com.au • Website: www.magicmillions.com.au FRONT COVER STAY INSIDE (Extreme Choice-Nothin Leica Storm) ATC Golden Slipper Stakes G1 Breeder: Kingstar Farm $60,000 2019 Magic Millions National Weanling Sale | Vendor: Kingstar Farm (As Agent) | Buyer: Newgate Bloodstock $200,000 2020 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale | Vendor: Newgate Farm (As Agent) | Buyer: Freedman Brothers/Rick Connolly Bloodstock Earnings: $2,247,600 Owners: Newgate Bloodstock, C Pickford, M Skinner, M Davidson, K Hamman, C Lamond, J Wilson, GOTG Racing, L Myers, S Aboud, M Barakat, M Blundell, S Tilley, M Pond, K Wilson, China Horse Club Racing, Horse Ventures, Newgate SF, Go Bloodstock Aust & Grant Lowe Bloodstock Trainers: Richard & Michael Freedman

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2022 VENDORS

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34 Vendors who are presenting drafts at this year’s sale.

FEATURES

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The QTIS Open of 2019 sparked some of the most unforgettable and moving scenes in Magic Millions history – moments that highlight how a horse can pull us through times of bottomless sorrow.

A passion passed down through the generations; whether it be the annual sauce and salami making with Nonno, or simply sharing a glass of wine with family and friends, James, Alec & Paul Carney have always had a passion for Italian food and culture.

Chapter & Verse

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Right place, right time The brilliance of placing the right horse at the right sale, no matter where that horse is coming from.

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A magic pattern Accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative with The Pattern.

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Uncle Su A wise man once said, ‘laughter is brightest where food is best’ and Uncle Su’s delicious blend of Cantonese style favourites with selections of signature Beijing and Szechuan dishes are sure to delight!

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Magic memories The accommodation mishap that inspired an act of generosity which sparked an enthusiastic spending spree, and other memorable tales.

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The score Suman Hedge, Jamie Walter and Paul Moroney provide insight into each of their selection processes.

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Ringside with TB Generation Z The future of the thoroughbred industry is in good hands.

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You can’t sell anything if you can’t tell anything Quarantine tales have emerged from many but you probably haven’t heard of one likened to Squid Games.

Gemelli

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Secret passions We take a look at the hidden passions of busy racing people. Just what do they do with their precious free time?

Let’s find out!

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Style file Louise Chambers shares her style tips to get you polo and raceday ready.

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Beer’s Berlin A trainers’ tales of survival while running with four sets of rules from two state governments and two racing bodies.

136

Let’s get loud Lorilie Cunningham is effervescent and passionate and brightens the day of each person who meets her.

146

Gavel falls on a winner The strategic alliance between Donovan + Co and Magic Millions capitalises on a specialist real estate market.

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Now we are equal It has been a long, hard haul for women to be taken seriously in the thoroughbred breeding and racing industry.

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Shining the light on an unsung Sale hero The recently retired Dr John Freestone is a man defined by many as ‘irreplaceable’.

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Ready for takeoff

The Gold Coast will come out of the gates storming in 2022 with the opening of The Star’s new hotel tower, The Dorsett.

More than $500 million has been spent in the last three years to expand the Gold Coast Airport and see it become competitive on an international stage.

Rebuilding the coast

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That’s my horse Ken Lowe had shares in four of the 15 runners in the 2021 G1 Golden Slipper, but his beginnings were humble and included paying ‘overs’ for a horse named Bruno.

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Taming Team Maher Gab Nutt takes us through Team Maher’s typical day at Magic Millions Gold Coast.

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$10.25 million raceday Revisiting the winner celebrations that resulted from the 2021 The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions Raceday.

WELCOME

With gratitude, we warmly welcome you to the 2022 The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions Carnival.

Pictured: Lifeguard Tower 41, located behind the Sheraton Mirage Resort at Main Beach. All towers on the Gold Coast beaches are numbered, the numbers getting higher as you head north with Tower no.1, the southernmost tower, at Rainbow Bay, Coolangatta.

The Gold Coast was the first lifeguard service in Australia to adopt a formal surveillance tower plan along the 52 km coastal strip in 1989.

8 / WELCOME

KATIE PAGE-HARVEY, GERRY HARVEY

Katie Page-Harvey, Gerry Harvey & Barry Bowditch On behalf of the Magic Millions family, we extend you and your family a very warm welcome to the 2022 The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions Carnival.

Have you ever imagined a place where you can feel the radiant warmth of the sand between your toes as you stroll barefoot for miles along one of the world’s most beautiful beaches?

Have you ever imagined a place where you can feel that buzzing energy flowing irresistibly through your veins, created by the harmony of sunlight, good food, good company and good business?

BARRY BOWDITCH

That place is the Gold Coast in January.

We invite you and your family here, to our happy place, to share our combined love for the horse.

Looking for the next winner of the Blue Diamond, Golden Slipper, Manikato Stakes, Spring Champion Stakes, Metropolitan Handicap or VRC Derby? Join us from 5 January for the commencement of inspections for the 2022 edition of the Gold Coast Yearling Sale. The auction of Australasia’s best equine athletes will take place across seven consecutive days with 1230 yearlings catalogued in Books 1 and 2.

We are incredibly proud to present the jewel in the Queensland Summer Carnival crown – the $10.25m The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions Raceday on Saturday 15 January.

With seven of nine races worth $1m or more in prizemoney highlighted by the $2m The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions 2YO Classic and the $2m Gold Coast Magic Millions 3YO Guineas, plus $750,000 in Racing Women’s Bonuses, this wonderful celebration of our sport is a day of racing dreams that all participants can be part of.

The delivery of this extraordinary Carnival is supported by our exceptional naming rights partner in The Star Gold Coast and our long-term valued principal partner Racing Queensland. We also acknowledge the significant support of partners TAB, Pacific Fair, Frizelle Sunshine Automotive, Audi Australia, Seven West Media and Sky Racing Active.

Have you ever been to The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions Carnival?

On behalf of our strategic partner Tourism and Events Queensland we sincerely welcome you to let the Gold Coast be your happy place in 2022.

We are back in 2022 with the exciting reintroduction of the Pacific Fair Magic Millions Polo. On Sunday 9 January at Doug Jennings Park, Main Beach, you can experience premium polo action and equestrian excellence with an exclusive new show jumping component.

The Queensland Summer Racing Carnival provides valuable opportunities on the racetrack for our future and current stars of the turf with 31 feature races across a six week period. A huge $11.2m in Magic Millions prizemoney and bonuses is on offer across 12 races on 8 and 15 January at the Gold Coast Turf Club.

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Message from The Mayor TOM TATE - MAYOR GOLD COAST If life is about having a crack, there’s no better place than the Magic Millions Yearling Sales.

The best news is that the full The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions Carnival - including the Pacific Fair Magic Millions Polo - is back in 2022.

The yearling sale is the backbone of this great carnival and I love to watch the smiles on people’s faces as the excitement builds when the auctioneer works the room.

It’s your chance to strike it rich with a fabulous young horse that will take you to the winners circle. And it doesn’t have to cost the earth … form a syndicate with your mates and set your limits. It’s really all about being part of the excitement that matters.

These sales have cemented their place on the Australian racing calendar as the place to be every year.

After the Pacific Fair Magic Millions Polo sets the mood, the focus turns to the unique spectacle of horses galloping along our pristine Gold Coast sands during the Barrier Draw, followed by the theatre of a Magic Millions auction which leads into the $10.25m The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions Raceday where nine fast-paced races are run at the picturesque Gold Coast Turf Club – all attracting thousands of locals and visitors under our Gold Coast skies.

I applaud organisers for bringing back the full Magic Millions program this year and urge everyone to stay a little longer, dance a little more and enjoy everything our great city has to offer.

Message from the Minister for Tourism Industry Development and Innovation and Minister for Sport THE HON. STIRLING HINCHLIFFE MP Welcome to the 2022 The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions Carnival, a wonderful opportunity to immerse yourself in Gold Coast’s local culture and community, and hopefully explore some of the superb tourism experiences on offer here.

The impacts of the pandemic have provided incredible challenges, but thanks to the hard work of Queenslanders our state was one of the first to put in place a COVID Safe Event Framework which paved the way for events such as this one to take place.

The Queensland Government is proud to support Magic Millions, through Tourism and Events Queensland’s Major Event program and it is a feature on our It’s Live! in Queensland events calendar. Events are an important part of our state’s economic recovery from the pandemic because they attract visitors to the region which stimulates the local economy and supports local jobs. Events are also an

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important opportunity for communities, friends, families and visitors to come together, creating community pride and reconnecting us.

Congratulations to the event organisers and all those involved in organising this event – may it be a successful one.

If you are visiting for the event, I encourage you to make some time to explore the diverse tourism experiences on offer in this beautiful region.

Just a stone’s throw from Magic Millions is the new $60.5 million Gallery at HOTA, Home of the Arts. With unexpected art indoors and out, the Gallery is a must-see cultural destination.

While there check out the newest rooftop bar in town with breath-taking views across the Gold Coast to the Hinterland, the Exhibitionist Bar is located on level 5 of HOTA Gallery.

For more information visit:

hota.com.au | theexhibitionistbar.com.au

Photo courtesy City of Gold Coast and John Gollings Photography

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2022 THE STAR GOLD COAST MAGIC MILLIONS CARNIVAL

2022

CALENDAR JANUARY

Wednesday 5th - Monday 17th Gold Coast Yearling Sale Inspections

About: From Wednesday 5 January the Magic Millions Sales Complex is open for inspections of the catalogued lots in the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

The public is welcome to come along to the Bundall complex to get a first-hand look into the world of Thoroughbred sales and racing.

Where: Magic Millions Complex, Bundall Time: From 8am daily Tickets: This is a free event, open to the public

Friday 7th

BMD Northcliffe SLSC Sportsman’s Luncheon About: The 37th Annual BMD Northcliffe Sportsman’s Luncheon salutes the Olympics.

Guests include Greg Martin, Pat Welsh, Greg Ritchie, Darren Carr and a host of Olympic Medalists.

Where: BMD Northcliffe SLSC, Surfers Paradise Time: From 11am Tickets: $200.00 per person (This event is currently sold out with a waiting list) - email Lee Vrolyks at: info@northcliffesurfclub.com.au for enquiries and bookings

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OF EVENTS Saturday 8th

Aquis Raceday (The Wave) About: The Aquis $1.5 million Raceday on January 8 marks two big weekends of summer racing at Aquis Park. Into its third year in 2022, the day includes the $250,000 feature race for 3YO & 4YO The TAB Wave, $125,000 Aquis Gold Nugget and $125,000 Aquis Gold Pearl plus three exclusive Magic Millions Races worth $750,000 in prizemoney.

Don’t miss these two big days of racing!

Where: Aquis Park, Gold Coast Turf Club, Bundall Time: From 10am Tickets: Available GCTC website: https://www.gctc.com.au/event/aquis-1-5-m-raceday-featuring-the-tab-wave/ Early Bird: $10 | General Admission $20 Members Day Pass available Online Only: $50

Sunday 9th

Pacific Fair Magic Millions Polo About: The Pacific Fair Magic Millions Polo is back in 2022 to kick off The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions Carnival. Revel in the thrill of a professional polo game while basking in the variety of tiered hospitality options. This year sees the introduction of showjumping in a senior teams and junior individual format, while the popular Australian Outback Spectacular is back for another exciting performance. The day is full to the brim with events and live entertainment, you won’t want to miss out!

Where: Doug Jennings Park, The Spit Time: From 9.15am Tickets: Available at Ticketek – Pacific Fair Pavilion ($250 per person) and General Admission – Adults $35pp, Concession (18 years and under) $15pp, Children (15 years and under) Free, Family Package (2 Adults & 2 Children 15 years and under) $50)

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2022

2021 THE STAR GOLD COAST MAGIC MILLIONS CARNIVAL

CALENDAR OF EVENTS JANUARY

Monday 10th

Carbine Club Luncheon About: The Carbine Club was first formed in Melbourne in 1961 and takes its name from the great Australian race horse Carbine, winner of the 1890 Melbourne Cup. Since the Club’s foundation in Victoria, sister clubs have been established under the same name in every Australian state and territory, in New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Vanuatu and London. The objectives of the Carbine Club are to promote and foster the development of junior sport in Queensland by providing awards and grants to promising and worthy sporting individuals in Queensland in varied sporting endeavours.

Carbine Club of Queensland will again host Queensland’s biggest Racing Lunch celebrating the 2022 The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions Carnival.

This year The Carbine Club will host a three course lunch with a four hour drinks package.

MC Alan Thomas will entertain attendees with main guest speak Peter Gleeson and part owner of Incentivise Brae Sokolski also joining the discussions.

Where: The Star Gold Coast, Broadbeach Time: From 12 noon Tickets: $200 per person includes a three-course lunch and four hour beverage package – email carbineclubqld@gmail.com *Numbers may be limited due to Covid requirements at venue

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Monday 10th

Women In Racing Inc Australia Luncheon About: Women In Racing Inc Australia’s annual event is being held once again at the Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort.

The 2022 Luncheon includes a three-course luncheon and beverage package, VIP guest speakers, raffles and live entertainment.

Where: Mirage Grand Ballroom, Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort, Main Beach Time: From 12 noon Tickets: Members $145 | Non-members $150 – phone Baslyn Beel 0411 698 484; or Jennifer Bartels 0438 741 242

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2022

2022 THE STAR GOLD COAST MAGIC MILLIONS CARNIVAL

CALENDAR OF EVENTS JANUARY

Tuesday 11th

2022 The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions Barrier Draw

About: The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions Barrier Draw takes centre stage on the Surfers Paradise Foreshore from 6am. At approximately 8am all eyes will turn towards the ocean for the spectacle of several thoroughbreds with champion jockeys on board gallop down the sands of Queensland’s most iconic beach.

The connections of every runner in the 2022 $2 million The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions 2YO Classic field with arrive in style before randomly choosing the barrier from which their horse will start on Raceday, Saturday 16 January. The barrier draw for the $2 million Gold Coast Magic Millions Guineas will be drawn shortly afterwards.

Where: Surfers Paradise Foreshore, opposite Trickett Street Time: From 6.00am see the spectacle of Thoroughbreds gallop down the pristine sands of Queensland’s most iconic beach, Surfers Paradise, and watch an informative Magic Millions stage show.

Tickets: This is a free event, open to the public

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Tuesday 11th - Monday 17th Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale

About: The flagship Gold Coast Yearling Sale attracts both national and international buyers for the fun and excitement of the Carnival and the serious business of selecting a champion racehorse.

With more than 5,000 wins by our sale graduates around the globe each year, we are proud to be Australia’s most innovative sales company.

Where: Magic Millions Sales Complex, 28 Ascot Court, Bundall, Gold Coast Time: Tuesday 11th from 12pm Wednesday 12th from 10am Thursday 13th from 10am Friday 14th from 10am Saturday 15th from 6pm Sunday 16th from 2pm Monday 17th from 10am Tickets: This is a free event, open to the public.

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2022

2022 THE STAR GOLD COAST MAGIC MILLIONS CARNIVAL

CALENDAR OF EVENTS JANUARY

Thursday 13th

GCTC TAB 2YO Calcutta Dinner About: Come and enjoy a 2-course meal and beverages while a team of racing identities provide insights into the feature runners of the 2YO Classic race, followed by the exhilarating horse ‘sales’ conducted by the Magic Millions auctioneers. It all starts at 6:00pm with drinks and canapes on arrival.

Where: Gold Coast Turf Club, Bundall Time: 6pm Tickets: Tables of 10: GCTC Members: $1,360 / Non-members: $1,600 Individual ticket: GCTC Member: $136 / Non-member: $160 - Please visit www.gctc.com.au for tickets

Saturday 15th

The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions Raceday About: The 2022 $10.25 million Magic Millions Raceday features The Star Gold Coast $2 million Magic Millions 2YO Classic and the $2 million Gold Coast Magic Millions 3YO Guineas exclusively for Magic Millions graduates.

With nine fast-paced races at the picturesque Gold Coast Turf Club, including $750,000 in Magic Millions Racing Women’s Bonuses, this Raceday has cemented its reputation on the international racing scene as a must attend event.

Where: Gold Coast Turf Club, Bundall Time: From 9am Tickets: Various options available – Please visit www.gctc.com.au for details

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Tuesday 18th

Magic Millions Widden Stud Golf Day About: One of the racing industry’s favourite pastimes is a relaxing game of golf and what better way to relax after a busy week of fast-paced auctions and racing. Widden Stud Golf Day provides Magic Millions vendors and buyers, trainers, jockeys and industry associates the perfect opportunity to unwind for the day at the RACV Royal Pines Golf Course. The day is open for anyone to join with any singles placed into teams of four to play Ambrose style Where: RACV Royal Pines, Benowa Time: From 11am Tickets: 4 ball Ambrose $150 per person – includes green fees, electric cart, drink vouchers and a BBQ luncheon – phone Laura Bright (02) 6549 9999

Get Social Planning on attending any of our events? Check out the latest info on all the social channels and don’t forget to tag us in your photos and posts.

MAGICMILLIONS MAGICMILLIONS @MMSNIPPETS THEMAGICMILLIONS MAGICMILLIONS.COM.AU All Magic Millions events have been, and continue to be, conducted under Queensland Health Covid Safe guidelines and pre-approvals. To keep up to date please check the Queensland Government website: https://www.qld.gov.au/health/conditions/ health-alerts/coronavirus-covid-19/current-status

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CHAPTER & VERSE TREVOR MARSHALLSEA

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Horses can give us indefinable joy, elation impossible to describe. They may just as easily bring untold heartache, but can also come along at just the right moment to pull us through times of bottomless sorrow, when words are next to useless.

The QTIS Open of 2019 sparked some of the most unforgettable and moving scenes in Magic Millions history, a million-dollar race that spilled just as many swirling emotions from the winning connections.

Let’s go back through it, chapter and verse. ***

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CHAPTER AND VERSE PRESENTATION 12-01-2019

ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2014, A BROWN COLT MADE AN UNREMARKABLE ENTRY INTO THE WORLD AT RAHEEN STUD, THE FARM NEAR WARWICK THE NOLAN FAMILY HAD SINCE THE 1950s WORKED INTO ONE OF QUEENSLAND’S MOST FAMOUS NURSERIES.

Nolan had plotted the mating, as usual, with son Basil Jr, who’d stayed in Brisbane for a few months after high school – “probably because he wanted to play footy” – before his fairly inevitable return to the farm. Later came the addition of Basil Jr’s wife Natalie, niece of Show A Heart’s trainer Barry Miller, with the couple welcoming four children in Basil (the third), Lily, James and William.

He was from the third crop of Rothesay, the former Gerald Ryan-trained Group 2 Queensland Guineas winner standing at nearby Lyndhurst Stud, out of the Perugino mare McFly, who’d won five races for David Hayes including at Moonee Valley.

The colt grew, bigger than his parents, until eventually he had a new name: Lot 217, at the Gold Coast March Yearling Sale of 2016. Waiting was another Queensland bushie, Desleigh Forster, late of Ilfracombe and now a trainer at Eagle Farm for the best part of a decade. She’d met the Nolans through another product of western Queensland, Peter Moody, under whom she’d learnt her craft at Caulfield.

Rothesay would later find fame through his most famous offspring Rothfire, but at this stage was very much an unknown quantity, his first few runners having only debuted days earlier.

“McFly was a nice mare who could throw a decent type of foal,” says Raheen patriarch Basil Nolan. “We had shares in Rothesay, and the mare matched up well on physicals, so she was the obvious sort to send to him. Even though Rothesay hadn’t won a Group One, he was a good racehorse and we though he had a chance at stud.”

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The Rothesay colt’s birth in 2014 was, as usual, a Nolan family affair, with family matriarch Di in attendance.

“Diane does pretty much all of the foaling,” Natalie says. “She’s pretty amazing with that, and with looking after sick foals and getting them on their mothers. She’s just about a qualified vet, the amount of experience she has.”

“We’ve had a long association with Desleigh,” Nolan says. “She’s bought a lot of horses from us, trained a lot for us, and had a lot of success.”

It wasn’t merely a business relationship. Forster and Basil Jr, roughly the same age, became good mates, often on the phone as Forster drove home from a race meeting, “speaking about horses or life in general really”, the trainer says.

MARY COLLIER, MARK DUPLESSIS & DESLEIGH FORSTER.

“Bas had told me this yearling was alright, and when I saw him I did think he was a nice horse,” says Forster, who kept 15 in work. “Rothesay was only a new sire at the time but I thought he’d do well. I liked the breeding, and he was quite cheap.”

“A few of us were big Bruce Springsteen fans,” Collier says. “We borrowed the name from one of his albums: Chapter And Verse.”

Cheap? Forster got him for $28,000, a price about which the easy relationship between vendor and buyer affords some ribbing.

A few minor issues meant Chapter And Verse didn’t race till he was three, but he soon showed ability.

Debuting in November 2017, the now-gelding finished fast to share third in a 1200m Ipswich maiden, then comfortably won at Beaudesert. A spell preceded a five-run campaign comprising another Beaudesert win and four placings, including two seconds at Doomben: the first behind future G1 winner The Bostonian, the second on the last metropolitan day of the season. As he went for a spell Forster was entertaining thoughts of the QTIS riches on offer the following January.

“Extremely cheap, I keep telling her!” Nolan laughs.

“She got unders for sure.

“But she’d bought a lot of horses from us, and you like seeing your horses go to good stables.”

Eleven owners would race the horse including Doug Forbes – like Nolan Snr a former bookie – and former Brisbane Turf Club chairman Mary Collier. The pair also had part-owned Adebisi, Forster’s best till then, who’d won Caulfield’s G3 Rubiton Stakes.

“As owners we’d always tried to think of a name related to the breeding, but on this one – Rothesay and McFly – it was pretty hard,” Collier says.

Eventually, they settled on a name which sounded like a quotation from the Bible, as in John 3:16, though some teenagers’ mothers from the ‘80s might have felt there was nothing holy about it.

“His racing pattern was against him a bit, because he’d get too far back before finishing on, although a few bad barriers didn’t help,” she says. “But I always knew he had ability, and I hoped he’d get up for the Magic Millions races.”

As ever the post-race dissertations with the equally impressed Basil Jr continued. Until one day, they stopped.

The Nolan family’s life course was suddenly, awfully, altered, on November 6, 2018. Melbourne Cup night.

The breeding fraternity in Queensland and beyond was stunned the next day as news broke of Basil Jr’s death, at just 45, after a late-night accident at Raheen with a hay baling machine. The much-loved son, husband, father, and fixture of horse sales for years left behind Natalie and their four children, then aged seven to 15.

“I’d been to the Melbourne Cup and was getting on a plane at 5.30 in the morning when Desleigh called me with the news,” Collier says. “You just couldn’t believe it. Everyone was in shock.”

The devastated Nolan family, aided by the support of so many in breeding and racing, were left to try to gather themselves, to make sense of the tragedy which had so violently upturned their world, as they prepared for the funeral.

But as all in the game know, horses don’t stop. Five days before that heart-rending farewell, Chapter And Verse resumed on the Saturday at the Sunshine Coast. For the first time when first-up, in his first attempt down at 1000m, and with Mark Du Plessis having his first ride on the now-four-year-old, he won, defying a betting drift (to $13) to charge home from last on the turn and score by a neck.

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DI, BASIL SNR, JAMES & BASIL NOLAN.

24 / CHAPTER & VERSE

Collier was hosting a function for Racing Queensland.

“That took some nerves away, but you can’t help but get nervous and anxious and excited all at once, particularly when the horses come into the yard, Desleigh starts talking to Mark Du Plessis, and the adrenaline starts pumping,” she says. “Still, Desleigh, while she’s always a positive person, I’d never seen her as bullish as she was. She was supremely confident.”

Accordingly, Chapter And Verse tightened slightly to start a $5.50 equal favourite along with Chris Munce’s Skate To Paris. Tony Gollan’s Tokariki Lad had also firmed, to $7.50.

Even Forster, as no-nonsense as they make them out west, recalls: “He might’ve had a bit of help that day.”

The Nolans had help, too, at the funeral in Warwick.

“The people who turned up from racing …” says Basil Snr, choking back tears at the memory. “It was just unbelievable. It’s such a strong fraternity.” *** The weeks edged by, the sun rose and set over the Darling Downs. Amidst their grief the Nolans still had a farm to run, horses to raise. Forster continued to guide the ever-honest Chapter And Verse, who turned in a second-up fifth before two placings in town as the curtain fell on a tumultuous 2018.

And by then, everything was set. The gelding would start in the QTIS Open on January 12 - $602,500 to the winner. Before that Saturday, the Nolans had to negotiate the first three days of the yearling sale.

“It was really tough,” says Natalie. “It was a bit of a blur to be honest. It just was so different for us all.

Basil’s parents and us, we’d just relied on Basil in that arena. That was his passion, horse sales. He loved the thrill of the sale. So we sort of all got there, and we really felt his absence then.”

“There were lots of people coming up and offering condolences. It was a pretty hard sale,” says Basil Snr. “But the industry is just so wonderful, you know?

Everyone’s so sympathetic to each other. Everyone at the sale was marvellous. And they’ve been marvellous ever since.”

Raceday came. Chapter And Verse again drew wide, in 12 of 16 for the 1300m event. They say you shouldn’t tempt the racing gods, especially when victory would mean this much, but Forster knew her horse.

“We were very confident,” she says. “The horse was good. He’d been working well and racing well. I felt really good about it.”

Natalie envisaged the day, and opted to watch from her family’s Broadbeach apartment, with Lily and William and Basil Jnr’s best mate, Warwick butcher Wayne Carey and his wife, also named Natalie.

“I didn’t go. Everything was still a bit raw. I think I was in a bit of shock at the time,” Natalie Nolan says.

“I was hoping the horse would win, but I had no expectations.”

Basil Snr and Di were in the saddling enclosure with their eldest grandchildren, Basil and James.

“It was our first big day back at the races after the accident,” Basil Snr says. “A million-dollar race. Pretty amazing stuff. We were just hoping something great would happen.”

*** Under blazing Gold Coast sunshine, they jumped. This time, Du Plessis wouldn’t be stuck rearward, pushing up to settle midfield, a horse or two off the fence and soon travelling well. Even a long way from home, Collier says, it felt like “the stars had aligned”.

“But all those scenes – everyone in tears – they were just wonderful. It was an extraordinarily emotional day. The Nolans are an incredible and special family.

It was a beautiful day, if bittersweet as well, but for them to be part of that success, and because QTIS is so important to the Queensland breeding industry, was very special.”

Basil Snr had earlier reflected on “a pretty hard sale”.

With his mind now back on the post-race, there’s an amendment.

“Great memories really, of the sale and the race,” the septuagenarian says. “You aspire to winning a race on Magic Millions day and there’s only eight or nine who do. Coming at the time it did you’d have to say it was a perfect tonic.”

Forster, who perhaps has more a way with horses than words, offers: “It was good to have Bas and Di and the kids there. It was really good.” ***

“We’d had horses win by a nose, or cop bad luck in the run,” she says, “but you just had the feeling from about the 800 metre mark that nothing was going to beat him.”

After champagne was sipped from the trophy, owners and trainer celebrated at the Marriott Hotel bar called, by delicious coincidence, Chapter And Verse. Among the Nolans, the aftermath was a mixture.

Skate To Paris was to Chapter And Verse’s inside but not moving as well turning for home. Tokoriki Lad was still 10th as De Plessis let loose, pushing into sixth at the 300m, and fairly bursting to the lead at the 180m.

“I knew Basil played a big hand in the horse,” Natalie says, “and I think every day he plays a big part in us all getting through the day, getting things done on the farm, and any success we have.

“When he pulled him out at the top of the straight I thought he’s going to be hard to beat. Halfway down the straight, I thought we were home,” says Basil Snr, reporting the pandemonium had already begun to break out.

“I often think he’s not far away and he would’ve been so thrilled with that win. I was a bit upset, really, to think he wasn’t there to enjoy it.”

“The two kids were with us for the start of the race, but by this stage they weren’t. They’d just started darting all over the enclosure!”

Suddenly some anxiety arose. Tokoriki Lad and Jeff Lloyd had begun to surge down the outside. They drew within a length of Chapter And Verse, to threequarters, but then the post arrived.

Cue an unbridling of elation of a kind rarely seen.

Footage soon shared on social media shows Forster, for want of better words, going berserk, while young Basil, James and others dart this way and that. With a cheer from the nostalgists, there’s even a hat thrown into the air.

“THAT FOOTAGE JUST SUMS IT UP,” COLLIER SAYS. “I WASN’T TOO FAR FROM DESLEIGH BUT YOU NEVER WANT TO BE TOO CLOSE BECAUSE HER CELEBRATIONS ARE WELL KNOWN. ALL OF US HAVE COPPED THE ODD HAPPY SLAP TO THE SHOULDER OR THE BACK SO WE USUALLY LET DESLEIGH BURN OFF THE ADRENALINE FIRST.

Forster, three years on, categorises the loss of her mate as a jolting reminder.

“Basil was a gentleman. Just an outright gentleman.

Nothing was a problem for him,” she says. “Losing him shook everyone.

“It just puts life into perspective. You can be here one day and gone the next. Life’s too short, and people take life for granted too much. I know it’s a competitive sport with lots of money involved and we all like to win, but there’s more to life. Go to the races.

And enjoy the people around you.”

Natalie, who’s involved with Raheen’s walk-ons to nearby studs, is thankful her children “have such wonderful grandparents” and for the “great staff” at the farm. Recent high school graduate Basil’s passion is Raheen, she says, and with James “obsessed” with pedigrees, and all four children involved with the farm, its future looks in good hands.

“The racing industry, in particular the breeding industry, have been so good to us, particularly the kids,” she says. “That first Magic Millions after the accident was tough, but I think we’ve all got a lot stronger. It’s probably made us more resilient. The kids have really stepped up. They work so hard on the farm to help us get there.”

Collier says to see how the family has regrouped from tragedy has been inspiring.

“On, I don’t know,” Natalie says. “I think, there’s people in horrible situations everywhere. I tell the kids we have so much to be grateful for and it’d be such a waste to throw everything away.

“And Basil would be thrilled at how well the kids have handled things. They can still get really upset, especially at Melbourne Cup time, but they understand what Raheen meant to their dad, and they want to see that continue.”

2022 / 25

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RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME JESSICA OWERS

At the 2021 Gold Coast Yearling Sale, one particular result barnstormed Australasian bloodstock, and it wasn’t because it topped the sale or broke financial records.

30 / RIGHT PLACE RIGHT TIME

It was for the simple fact that it reminded breeders of the brilliance of placing the right horse at the right sale, no matter where that horse is coming from.

In the early parts of the 1900s, when it was steamships pushing traffic between Australia and New Zealand, Wanganui studmaster George Currie was something of a pioneer. As early as 1909, he was shipping yearlings to sell in the Sydney marketplace, an expensive exercise that proved useful, though not sensational.

By the 1920s, Currie was less inclined to do it. At his Koatanui Stud, he stood the brilliant stallion Limond, who would be Champion Australian Sire in the 1931/32 season. Limond was a stallion in fetching demand, but his owner wouldn’t send his stock to Australia. The Sydney Sportsman said it was a case of ‘Currie’s patriotism being stronger than his desire to make money’.

Wily George Currie died in 1960, the high panjandrum of Koatanui Stud. Since him, the practice of sending yearlings to sell in Australia has become normal and, at times, the results spectacular. Part of this is due to the convenience of today’s air travel, the steamships long gone, but part of it is due to opportunity, something that Waikato breeders The Sunlight Trust know all about.

Last January, Murray and Marg Hardy and Paddy Preston (they three making up The Sunlight Trust), sent a draft of just one to the 2021 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. It was a colt by the Frenchbred, Cambridge Stud shuttler and first-season sire Almanzor. It was a neat and correct yearling, with one white sock and a coat the colour of walnut, and he was the third foal from the stakes-placed mare Lazumba.

From early in his life, a buzz hung around the colt because he was so good, and, defying the obvious logic of selling locally, The Sunlight Trust committed its young horse to the Gold Coast. The colt was Lot 470 in the Bhima draft, that outfit spending weeks putting the polish on him, and he realised $800,000, more than double what his breeders had expected in their wildest dreams.

“The three of us were quietly hoping that we would get $500,000 for him, but you’re always realistic as a breeder,” Murray Hardy says. “There’d been one or two Almanzors sell earlier than him at the sale, and the best of them made $380,000, so we were hopeful that he would get to that at least.”

Hardy and Preston were at Haunui Stud when their colt was led through the ring. The pair was inspecting yearlings they had set for Karaka, and they made a quick detour into the stud office to watch the stream live from day three on the Gold Coast.

“It was an incredible feeling,” Hardy says. “When you pass $500,000, you’re thinking ‘wow’. I think it went in bids of $50,000 from there, and it was unbelievable after that. It was just under double the best result we’d ever achieved with a yearling before.”

Ringside, Lot 470 went to Dean Harvey’s Baystone Farm, which bought on behalf of Ultra Thoroughbreds. The result propelled Almanzor into the parking spot of leading freshman sire at the sale by average and, on day three, he sat behind only Not A Single Doubt and I Am Invincible on leading sire overall. It was a magnificent show of faith in the Cambridge Stud stallion, and a magnificent leap of faith by The Sunlight Trust.

The breeding interests of The Sunlight Trust are contained in a neat collection of broodmares at Lodge Hill, a thoroughbred nursery along Ngahinapouri Road, Ohaupo, which is south of Hamilton. It’s a pretty district of the Waikato, and a region that lends its name to ‘a place of breeze at night’. A little to the east is Cambridge, and to the northeast is Matamata.

It’s proper horse country, land that lends itself to the growing of fine racehorses.

The Sunlight Trust has had plenty of success, but they don’t advertise it. They’re quiet achievers in New Zealand breeding, and among thier highlights is breeding Princess Jenni, the High Chaparral mare that won the Australasian Oaks in 2019, plus the brilliant Kiwi filly Veloce Bella, who ripped through six Group wins.

“We’ve been breeding as The Sunlight Trust for 10 years,” Hardy says. “We came up with the name ourselves. We liked it because it was part of the universe, and we liked what that suggested.

The whole operation is the three of us, and our partnership began back in 2003. Marg and I bred Veloce Bella that year, but Paddy and his late wife Helen, with another couple, raced her. And that’s where it all started.”

The partners want The Sunlight Trust to be synonymous with top-quality horses, and that ambition became more realistic after the sale of its Almanzor colt.

“We’ve produced a Group One winner from our progeny (Princess Jenni), and earlier on we produced Veloce Bella,” Hardy says. “Going forward, it would be wonderful to produce a Group winner every year, but most of all we really want to produce a line of horses that would fit very well among the best, horses like the Almanzor colt.”

The Sunlight Trust want three or four of him in its yearling draft every year, which Hardy admits is easier said than done. However, the colt’s $800,000 windfall is hard to go back on, and there’s definitely a new benchmark set among the co-breeders.

“It gives us confidence,” Hardy says. “As a breeder, you know the highs and lows so well, and all breeders know a bit about both. The hardest part for breeders such as ourselves is crystal-balling two and a half years out from a sale when you’re deciding on a mating, and a lot can happen, both positive and negative.”

The Sunlight Trust could not have predicted how much of a boom would occur on the Wootton Bassett sireline when it sent Lazumba to Almanzor in the spring of 2018. Hardy says it easily could have gone the other way, but it didn’t. Wootton Bassett was a star on the rise, one that has kept going, but he was still a relatively obscure star in 2018. Still, the Trust thought his son, Almanzor, was bankable.

2022 / 31

MURRAY & MARG HARDY AND PADDY PRESTON

“It was a matter of looking at our options with this mare, and there were a lot of top-class mares going to Almanzor in his first year,” Hardy says. “Lazumba was a stakes-placed Australian mare by Sebring, and she matched up extremely well with him. We thought he was an obvious fit for her, and we also thought the progeny would certainly be in the top 20 per cent of that crop, which he proved to be.”

Moroney’s part in the play dates back to 2018. That year, he sourced a number of broodmares for the Trust, and one of them was Lazumba, who he picked up at the Magic Millions National Sale for $280,000.

On performance, she was second in the Gr2 VRC Sires’ Produce, and on pedigree she was the family of multiple Group winner Excited Angel. On type, she was just about perfect.

“We thought there’d be a lot of competition for Almanzors in New Zealand, because there were a stack of them there” Moroney says. “We decided he should go to an Australian sale, and because he was a particularly good early foal, we thought Magic Millions would suit him best. And it did, because he was the highest-priced Almanzor sold at auction anywhere in the world this year.”

The Hardys and Preston had been told the colt was among the top three of Almanzor progeny on the ground. Auctioneer Steve Davis had said as much, as had Marcus Corban, both of whom worked closely with The Sunlight Trust in getting the colt to the Gold Coast.

It gave the breeders confidence that a result was possible and, while they had sold with Magic Millions before, they had never sold at the January showcase.

“She had a lot going for her,” Moroney says. “She had a good cover going into the sale, and that filly, by Hinchinbrook, is one of the best fillies in Sydney right now. She’s called Latino Blend, so it was a good story right from the start.”

If Murray Hardy was surprised at the price tag, so too was Paul Moroney. He had the yearling pegged at half-a-million dollars, but it takes only two to drive demand. Moroney recalls only two parties arguing over the colt past the $500,000 mark and, if his memory is correct, the underbidder was Danny O’Brien, who has ended up training the colt anyway.

“IT REALLY WAS ABOUT PLACING OUR YEARLING IN A SALE THAT WOULD SUIT,” Hardy says. “All the way through, he was a standout, but we knew with Magic Millions that we had to have a horse that was early maturing, well-developed and absolutely spot on, and he was.”

Bloodstock agent Paul Moroney was ringside when Lot 470 did his thing at Magic Millions. By then, Waikato-based Moroney had been on the road since July 2020, leaping through all the hoops and over the hurdles presented by COVID and its affected states and nations. For close to eight months, he based himself in North Queensland on an impromptu, and admittedly costly, working holiday, but it meant he was at the Bundall sales complex to see The Sunlight Trust colt sell on January 15.

32 / RIGHT PLACE RIGHT TIME

The following year, the decision to send Lazumba to Almanzor was two-pronged for Moroney. Firstly, the stallion was an interesting addition to the New Zealand ranks, but secondly, the bloodstock agent had previously tried to buy the horse.

“I’d had an opportunity to buy him when he was in England, but unfortunately I couldn’t get anyone in,” Moroney says. “Almanzor went on to win four Group Ones after that, so he was a horse that I always followed closely and I was excited when he was announced for New Zealand. I said to The Sunlight Trust that he was a horse they really should be backing, and Lazumba was the very first mare they sent him. They were richly rewarded.”

COVID wasn’t an ideal environment to be shipping horses from New Zealand to Australia. There were border headaches and quarantine hassles, and health orders in Australia were changing from week to week.

But the Hardys, Preston, Corban and Moroney, along with Steve Davis, didn’t allow anything to change their mind about selling in Queensland because the sale was cherry-ripe for their racehorse.

In Moroney’s opinion, the result was a game-changer, but not in an earth-shattering financial sense. The Sunlight Trust’s colt didn’t break sale records, and he didn’t top proceedings at the end of selling. But what he did do was reset the New Zealand mindset a little, that opportunity beckoned at January and it was worth chasing.

“I think there’s been a shift by certain breeders to broaden their horizons and sell their wares not just in New Zealand,” Moroney said. “There’s only X amount of sires in New Zealand, and it doesn’t make sense to sell them all in the one place. Results like the Almanzor colt, and there have been others like him, suggest that there’ll be more New Zealand breeders spreading their horses around, and they’ve got to get their horses to market, especially in times like these when people from Australia are struggling to jump on a plane and get to New Zealand to look at horses.”

PADDY & MURRAY WITH THE ALMANZOR COLT AS A FOAL

Moroney says that Lot 470 also reminded Kiwi breeders that investment in high-class stallions could be viable, and that the Australian market would accept imported class from Europe.

“Australian breeders do seem to know that the imported bloodlines from Europe suit New Zealand very well,” he says, “but this result shook things up a bit.

I think a few people were gob-smacked by how much that horse made, but it just gave an idea that if you do invest in high-class bloodstock coming from the other side of the world, there will certainly be attention from all around Australasia for those horses.”

Back at Lodge Hill, many months after the beers and cheers of January, The Sunlight Trust had the business of Lazumba to attend to. Her next foal was a chestnut colt by Written Tycoon, a mating that was planned in consultation with Brad Thomas’s X Factor Pedigrees. Like his Almanzor half-brother, the colt is destined for the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. He was shipped first to Haunui Stud and then Bhima in October, where the buff will be applied in the final months before selling. After that, it’s all lap of the gods and lightning striking twice.

“All things being equal, if you’ve found a successful pattern for the mare’s progeny, you’d be foolish not to follow the same path,” Hardy says. “So that’s what we’ve done this year, because it’s been an effective pattern for us.”

For the second successive year, he won’t be on the Gold Coast to see the sale live, but he’s got no regrets about that. Hardy knows that the industry hasn’t skipped a beat since COVID grabbed the world by the scruff of the neck, and he’s got every faith in technology bringing him the result, whatever it may be.

“THE RESULT IS THE OVERWHELMING FACTOR ABOUT A SALE, AND THAT DOESN’T CHANGE JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE NOT THERE,” HARDY SAYS. “I DON’T MIND WATCHING IT LIVE BECAUSE I THINK WHAT THE BLOODSTOCK INDUSTRY HAS ACHIEVED FROM THE GET-GO OF COVID HAS BEEN REMARKABLE. IT’S BEEN RESILIENT AND INNOVATIVE, AND IT’S GOING TO CONTINUE TO BE, WHETHER THERE ARE PEOPLE AT THE AUCTIONS OR NOT.” 2022 / 33

Seen at the

Gold Coast 2021 James Cummings

Gai Waterhouse & Katie Page

Chris Meagher

Olly Tait

Clint Donovan, Steve Davis & Grant Burns

Phil Ibbotson, Brent Atwell, Wayne & Jane Beynon

Alan Fu

Adrian Bott & Bruce Slade

Basil Nolan

Paul Snowden

Dean Hawthorne

Robert Petith, Steve Grant, Barry Bowditch

Ashleigh Dowley

Sam Hayes & Sam Pritchard-Gordon

Adrienne Grayling & Neil Shaw

34 / SALE DAY FACES

Ian Mathieson

Anna & Brian Nutt

Leading Buyers MMGC 2021

Damon Gabbedy

Hannah Wall

John Messara

TONY FUNG INVESTMENTS/ PHOENIX THOROUGHBREDS BOUGHT 19 AVERAGE $612,895 GROSS $11,645,000

Harry & Annie Perks

John Muir

Michael Smith

Henry Plumptre

Ryan Arnel

Billy Slater & Wayne Hawkes

Gavin Murphy, Henry Field & Matthew Sandblom

Alan Bell

Maree McEwan & Merrick Staunton

Bart & Graeme McCulloch

Bill & James Mitchell

Andrew Dunemann, Neil Douglas & Mitchell Cunningham

Josh Hutchins

Alastair Pulford, Catriona Williams & Vin Cox

David Ellis

Chris Lee

John Kelly

2022

Seen at the

Gold Coast 2021 Will Bourne

Lloyd Kennewell

Brian McGuire & Shane Wright

Scott Irwin

Evie & Tom Magnier, Antony Thompson & MV Magnier

Dr Greg Nash

Neil Jenkinson

Kerrie Tibbey

Paul Thompson

Fergal Connolly

David Bourne

Dean & Adam Watt

John McArdle, Dean Hawkes, Shane Nichols & Andrew Noblet

Conor Phelan

Laurence Eales & Aaron Corby

Suman Hedge

Kevin Corstens

Colm Santry

36 / SALE DAY FACES

Scott Williamson, Teresa Poon & David Kobritz

Troy Corstens, Dean Harvey, Rohan Aujard

Toby Liston

Leading Buyers

Mark Baker

Sheamus Mills

Kingsley Peach

Chris Watson

Duncan Grimley

Ricky Surace & Adam Sangster

Dave O’Callaghan

CIARON MAHER BLOODSTOCK BOUGHT 38 AVERAGE $298,684 GROSS $11,350,000

David Azzopardi

Bryan Carlson & Garry Cuddy

James Bester

GAI WATERHOUSE/ ADRIAN BOTT/KESTREL THOROUGHBREDS BOUGHT 24 AVERAGE $318,333 GROSS $7,640,000

Brett Howard & Denise Martin

Arthur & Harry Mitchell

TOM MAGNIER BOUGHT 6 AVERAGE $1,067,500 GROSS $6,405,000 Annie & Peter Walsh

John O’Shea

Linda Monds

Chris Munce

2022

Seen at the

Gold Coast 2021 Tony McEvoy

Tony Gollan

John Foote

Chloe Balfe, Ed Mandie & Will Johnson

Brett & John Cornish

Bren O’Brien & Tim Rowe

Gerry Harvey

Shane McGrath

Peter Ford & Tony Williams

Ged Nolan

Jamie Walter & Steve O’Dea

Greg & Jo Griffin

Mick Malone

Bruce Perry

Dan Fletcher

Dave Duley

Craig Rounsefell Steve Morley & Jon Haseler

38 / SALE DAY FACES

Will Clarken, David Jolly, Todd Pannell & Richard Adam

Leading Buyers

Catheryne Bruggeman

Rae-Louise Kelly

JAMES HARRON BLOODSTOCK BOUGHT 7 AVERAGE $753,571 GROSS $5,275,000 Brad Spicer & Ben Thompson

Angus, Harry & Scott McAlpine

Will Rowsthorn

Ian Smith

John Galvin

HAWKES RACING BOUGHT 13 AVERAGE $300,000 GROSS $3,900,000

Paul Willetts

Mick Price & Michael Kent Jnr

Peter Orton

Gary Portelli

James Harron

David Eustace, Harry Mitchell, Ciaron Maher

VICTORIAN ALLIANCE/ SUMAN HEDGE/ DAVID REDVERS BOUGHT 6 AVERAGE $600,000 GROSS $3,600,000 Glenn Burrows

Tony Bott

James O’Brien

Ben Gleeson & Danny O’Brien

2022

Seen at the

Gold Coast 2021 Bevan Smith & Andrew Williams

Archie Alexander & Johnny McKeever

Katelyn Mallyon & James McDonald

Jaime O’Bree

Peter Tighe

John Price, Sam Lyons & Brett Cavanough

Jake Bayliss

Sharon King, Simon Miller & Sarah Brown

Grahame Begg & Allen Ng

40 / SALE DAY FACES

Terry Snow

Kelly Schweida

Kevin Maloney

Paul Moroney

Mike Fleming

Denys Chan

Gerard Jones & Chris Kent

Colleen Bamford & Peter Morgan

David Raphael

Louis Le Metayer & Brae Sokolski

Natalie Young & Trent Busuttin

Paul Messara & Billy Slater

Walter & Kathy Alteri

Leading Buyers

Julia Ritchie & Tony Hall

Tom Reilly

Derek Field

Dave Mee

Peter Raff

Martin Story & Jon Freyer

David Brideoake

WALLER RACING/ MULCASTER BLOODSTOCK BOUGHT 9 AVERAGE $379,444 GROSS $3,415,000

Michael Kirwan Stephen O’Connor

Brian Siemsen

George Moore & Peter O’Brien

Chris Phillips

KELLY SCHWEIDA RACING BOUGHT 13 AVERAGE $252,308 GRPSS $3,280,000

Anthony & Sam Freedman

Carrie Hu, Mark Player & Robert Roulston

SPENDTHRIFT AUSTRALIA BOUGHT 5 AVERAGE $610,000 GROSS $3,050,000

Stephen Heath

Reg Ryan & Verna Metcalfe

Wylie Dalziel & Peter Moody

2022

Seen at the

Gold Coast 2021 Cecelia O’Gorman & Jenny McAlpine

Mark Donovan & Brent Stanley

John Ledger

Luke Fernie

Ron Gilbert

Mick Flanagan

Ron Sayers

Royston & Catriona Murphy

John Morrisey & Nathan Exelby

Peter McIntyre

Michelle Payne

Kacy Fogden & Julian Blaxland

Jo Duncan & Ben Duncan

Mark Pilkington

Rick Jamieson

Jason Abrahams

Grant Burrill & Josh Rix

Joe O’Neill

Sam Fairgray

David Toole & Craig Anderson

Ricky Surace Jnr Ryan McEvoy & Matt Laurie

Mark Devcich

Paul Frampton

Lucas Miller, Kris Lees & Ron Wanless

42 / SALE DAY FACES

Rob Archibald

Vera & Gary Diamond, Rhonda & Peter Mullen

Sam & Ben Munro

Rob Crabtree & Mat Becker

Anthony Mithen & Michael Christian Nathan Bennett & Phil Wells

John Chalmers

Jeff Kruger & Andrew Ferguson

Kellie Bond

Lee Freedman

Julian Sullivan

John Kenneally

Marie Yoshida

Paula Newnham

Jimmy Unwala

Murray Murdoch

Justin Bahen

John Robbins & Jan Clark

2022

Seen at the

Gold Coast 2021 Kevin Kelly

Andrew Noblet & Adam White

Harris Li, Rachel Zhang & Luke Wilkinson

Phillip Stokes

Janice & Colin McKenna

Greg Eurell

Peter Carrick

Gary Kennewell

Sam Kilkenny & Tim Wilson

Peter Creighton

Paul & Cassie Perry

Luke Henderson John Moloney

Stephen Lock

44 / SALE DAY FACES

John Allen

Guy Mulcaster

Jean & Karine Dubois

Patricia Chester & Sarah Ryan

Andrew Baddock, Santi Juban, Michelle Barrera-Juban, Mike Barrera, David Chester & John Peatfield

David Vandyke

Jeremy Rogers

Kieran Moore

Peter Twomey

Brendan Lindsay

Sam Matthews

Mathew Ellerton

JD & Ben Hayes

John Hawkes Levi Kavanagh

Livia Wang

Michael Freedman

Chantelle & Richard Jolly

Bjorn Baker, Mary O’Neill & Jim Clarke

Robbie Griffiths & Mathew De Kock

Lowrie Allen

Matt Scown

Manny Gelagotis

2022

ALPINE EDGE

IT PAYS TO RACE QUEENSLAND BRED OVER $12 MILLION AS A MATTER OF FACT

20211101_QTIS_MMGC magazine.indd 1

With over $10M+ in QTIS prizemoney bonuses across all of Queensland all year, $2M Jewel Raceday and the $1M QTIS Open on Gold Coast Magic Millions Day, there’s never been a more rewarding time for owners to...

‘BREED QUEENSLAND, RACE QUEENSLAND’.

Also, QTIS registered winners of all Black Type and selected Feature races now take home an additional QTISx bonus.

1/11/21 10:44 am

A MAGIC PATTERN JOHN HUNTCHINSON

“You’ve got to accentuate the positive, Eliminate the negative”

As the 1945 Bing Crosby song goes, with backing vocals by The Andrews Sisters, who naturally steal the show. If only the Magic Millions Racing Women’s Bonus had been in their time, ambassadors and all. The Gold Coast would rock to The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B.

Where was I? Okay.

Over several weeks earlier this year, the great Pattern debate received a good deal of airplay over the Internet and other media outlets, as the antiPattern lobby fired the first salvo only for the pro-Patterners, a collective mix of breeders, bloodstock agents and concerned individuals, to return serve in numbers.

We will not be waltzing into that debate too far except to examine a couple of the points raised and hoping to take a pragmatic, rather than theoretical, approach to the subject.

2022 / 47

PROFONDO $1.9m 2020 Gold Coast Yearling Sale G1 ATC Champion Stakes

48 / A MAGIC PATTERN

That punters do not care about the Pattern is the first of those. Sure, backing a 10/1 winner anywhere returns the same as backing a 10/1 winner of the Melbourne Cup, although the latter scenario does come with far superior bragging rights for days, weeks or even years and, for some, a lifelong interest in the sport. And even the most hardened punter would surely admit to a heightened sense of interest once the major carnivals and the lead-up meetings come around - quality racing supported by the Pattern, both traditionally and annually.

A quote by bookmaker Mark Read years ago comes to mind. He noted that the path to racehorse ownership for many starts with having a bet, be it in the Melbourne Cup, Golden Slipper, Cox Plate, Magic Millions or The Everest I would add. History also shows that more than a few move on from their initial racehorse ownership to establish large scale breeding operations - Gerry Harvey and John Messara being prime, modern day examples among others.

So, a link from punter to owner to breeder can be made and, for the former group, the so-called lack of interest in the Pattern may not be quite as cut and dried in the long term, as we shall see.

And we shouldn’t leave trainers and jockeys out of the equation, after all they tend to pore over the Racing Calendar 24/7. One only has to listen to pre-race or post-race interviews to understand the importance of the Pattern in the programming mindset of every trainer with a horse considered, hopefully, good enough at that level. Black type success brings not only benefits to the horse itself in terms of its value and to its ownership group by way of prizemoney, but prestige to the trainers and jockeys concerned. How often have you heard the terms….Group One winning trainer or Group One winning jockey?

One of the most straightforward tasks when writing about the Magic Millions is you can always start with, and rely on, Snippets, from the first sale to his victory in the inaugural Fosters Magic Million (as it was called in 1987) and from there to a brilliant career both on the track and at stud. Three Group One wins in the AJC Sires’ Produce Stakes, The Galaxy and the Oakleigh Plate ensured the son of Lunchtime and Easy Date his excellent opportunity as a stallion. The value added to his CV by those elite level successes has been carried on down the years by a production line of outstanding colts sold by Magic Millions.

WHAT STARTED WITH SNIPPETS AS A MAGICAL RAINDROP DEVELOPED INTO STEADY RAIN SOON AFTER WITH LEADING STALLIONS GENERAL NEDIYM, TESTA ROSSA AND BRAVE WARRIOR ADDING TO THEIR MAGIC MILLIONS WINS WITH FURTHER BLACK TYPE VICTORIES OVER THE COURSE OF THEIR RACETRACK CAREERS.

Those showers did not pass over any time soon before developing into a torrent. If there is a barometer reading in which the selling agents can justifiably take pride it is the honour roll of brilliant colts and outstanding stallions to have passed through the Gold Coast sale ring. Apart from Winx that is, but most everything ran second to her.

Multiple Champion Sires Snitzel and Savabeel head the list but it was Written Tycoon’s time to shine in 2020/21. Sebring, Not a Single Doubt, Pierro, Zoustar, Spirit of Boom, Stratum…the list goes on and on and now includes the Golden Slipper/Magic Millions winner, Capitalist, a graduate of the 2015 Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

Capitalist’s sire, Written Tycoon, a Group Two winner of the Todman Stakes when trained by Grahame Begg, broke the mould ever so slightly. The previous 30 Champion Australian Sires had been Group One winners but let it be said that Written Tycoon received his chance at stud by virtue of his win in the Golden Slipper lead-up.

If anything, since 2015, the tidal wave of Magic Millions graduates retiring to stud as stallions now looks more like the Great Flood.

Group One performers Invader, Pariah and The Mission will have their first runners this season while another, Lean Mean Machine, will have his initial crop of yearlings on offer in 2022. But it is the next few generations of stallions with their first foals being born this season and those commencing stud duties in 2021 and beyond which really promise to be the eye of the storm, supported in no small way, of course, by their top-class form under the Pattern.

The former group includes Greg Hickman’s evergreen warrior, Pierata, The Everest winner, Yes Yes Yes (yes, yes, yes, I know, The Everest sits outside the Pattern but Coolmore did secure the colt’s standing rights after his win in the Group Two Todman Stakes. Sound familiar?) plus Widden’s son of a gun, Zousain and the Guineas winner D’Argento while 2021 freshman stallions count Golden Slipper winner Farnan, dual Group One winner King’s Legacy, Blue Diamond victor, Tagaloa, Group One winner Prince Fawaz, Derby winner Levendi and speedsters such as Graff, Anders, Prague and Time To Reign among their ranks.

Even Noah’s bean-counters would struggle with such a deluge of talent coming on board with no sign of the rain easing up. Already this year’s Golden Slipper and Blue Diamond winners, Stay Inside and Artorius, both sold at the Gold Coast in 2020, have their stallion tickets stamped and no doubt they will be joined one day by the exciting Profondo, like King’s Legacy a Magic Millions sale-topping colt, Champagne Stakes victor, Captivant, and the brilliant Blue Sapphire winner, Extreme Warrior.

That the Pattern is put on for the sole benefit of breeders is another red herring. Certainly, selling a sibling to a stakes-winner can bring its rewards and breeding one would always bring a warm, fuzzy feeling but the game is never that simple. Breeders play a long game and any success coming their way can hardly be begrudged.

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For the connections of the above glamour colts, the result is akin to Hollywood. All the enjoyment and financial returns on the track are complemented by the pot of gold at the end of (or somewhere over) the rainbow - Judy Garland this time. The Pattern, as even its most ardent opponents would stubbornly agree, clearly underpins the Australian bloodstock market forces on a domestic and international scale, which is the envy of the world, notwithstanding the pandemic.

Without it, I fear we would end up racing for ribbons.

However, it is not just the multi-million dollar stallion market that is the only major by-product of the Pattern. On that unique day of days, the opening session of the 2021 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale, ten stakes-winning fillies and mares being sold off the track realised $18.15 million, almost $4 million more than this elite group had won when racing. Not forgetting that in 2020 Sunlight’s record-breaking sale added a lazy $4.2 million to her already very sizeable bankroll.

Just as significantly, quite a few of the seven-figure fillies and mares were raced by large syndicate groups including Sunlight, Melody Belle, Greysful Glamour and Fiesta. Perhaps for many of those owners, their interest in horse racing began with that first wager.

Tipping their votes would be well and truly in favour of the Pattern now.

And you can bet similar opportunities will be found at the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. As I’m sure old Bing, who enjoyed a day at the races as much as anyone, would agree.

“YOU’VE GOT TO ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE, ELIMINATE THE NEGATIVE” AFTER ALL, IT IS A MAGIC (MILLIONS) PATTERN.

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KING’S LEGACY $1.4m 2019 Gold Coast Yearling Sale G1 ATC Champagne Stakes G1 ATC Sires Produce Stakes

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Uncle Su A modern take on traditional Cantonese cuisine, The Star Gold Coast now has a new flagship chinese restaurant.

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New Cantonese restaurant, Uncle Su, is now open at The Star Gold Coast, marking the first in several new dining and entertainment destinations to welcome guests ahead of the inaugural hotel and apartments tower opening in early 2022.

Inspired by the cultural heritage and authentic Chinese family traditions of Executive Chef Song Yao Su, Uncle Su offers an impressive rendition of classic Cantonese cuisine, created with local Australian ingredients and a coastal sensibility.

Chef Song has more than 30 years’ experience working with and perfecting Asian cuisine. Six years spent travelling throughout China broadened his knowledge of traditional dishes, and took him to Hong Kong where he worked alongside world renowned Chef Pui Wing Hui – who to this day is still the most decorated and awarded Chef in Hong Kong.

In 1999, Chef Song was invited by Chef Hui to join him in Las Vegas and work at The Mansion – an invitation-only property managed by and adjacent to the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. The majority of these high-spend customers were from China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. It was here that Chef Song learned to design and prepare custom dishes that would delight individual guests and cater for a wide range of highly-valued clientele.

Chef Song’s extensive experience in specific Chinese cuisines has led to an all-inclusive menu with an eclectic mix of flavours and fusion style dishes as well as region specific items including Cantonese, Beijing, Szechuan, Shanghai, Hunan Gourmet, Thai and national native specialties.

Just as Song grew up eating and cooking with his own family, his dishes at Uncle Su are uncomplicated and authentic, making the most of the amazing seafood and produce that Queensland has to offer.

Chef Song’s signature Peking Duck, marinated in his own secret sauce for 24 hours before being roasted to perfection will be carved at the table, while clams served in Chef’s secret XO sauce are not to be missed.

Diners can enjoy a vast array of sensational live seafood displayed in tanks including locally-sourced lobster and crab, Queensland groper, barramundi, abalone and coral trout. And, for yum cha lovers, a specialty Dim Sum menu full of beloved classics like Char Siu Bao and Siu Mai is handmade to order each day.

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Tea is also be an integral part of the Uncle Su experience, with a dedicated tea connoisseur on hand to guide diners through the extensive menu and provide insight into the deep history, traditions and flavours of the tea. In addition to a wide variety of more common Chinese teas like Oolong or Jasmine, guests looking for a more premium experience are also able to choose from a selection of rare Chinese teas sourced by Chef Song himself, some that cost up to $90 per pot. Each of these four premium teas are served as part of a traditional Chinese tea ritual - also known as a ‘Kung Fu’ ritual - for a completely unique dining experience.

The juxtaposition of respected Chinese tradition and modern Australia that can be found in Chef Song’s menu echoes throughout the contemporary dining area, designed by award-winning local architecture and interior design practice, Plus Architecture.

Featuring Chinese design elements and bespoke handcrafted materials like oversized lanterns, a golden money tree and beautiful koi fish motifs, all bathed in a sea of red, gold, cool ocean blue and jade green, the interiors add an element of vibrant energy to the space.

Because as a wise man once said “Laughter is brightest where food is best”.

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Uncle Su also offers 5 private dining rooms seating up to 12 guests allowing for a more intimate and personal dining experience, and a semi private room that can be booked for functions up to 36 guests.

Relax in the lounge bar, gather around a table or take a seat at the kitchen counter and be delighted by what ensues.

Visit thestargoldcoast.com.au for opening hours and to book or call 07 5592 8757.

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Magic Memories TREVOR MARSHALLSEA

FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

SOMETIMES YOU CAN PAY A BARGAIN BASEMENT PRICE AND BUY A CHAMPION. AT OTHERS YOU MIGHT PAY MILLIONS AND END UP WITH A SNAAFI DANCER.

It seems the second scenario can apply to accommodation as well – even on the Gold Coast - as the men from Rosemont Stud and their “party whip” Peter Moody found in a misadventure which will be remembered, with much discomfort, for some time to come.

“We call it the Great Magic Millions 2020 Accommodation Fiasco,” says Rosemont principal Anthony Mithen, a man never stuck for a catchy headline as a former journalist who started that previous life not far from his stud at the Geelong Advertiser.

Rosemont would traditionally send a team to the Coast comprising Mithen, his brother, general manager Ted, and bloodstock GM Ryan McEvoy. A few years back they also roped in Moody, who teamed with the stud during his hiatus from training. The larger-thanlife Queenslander, back in his home state, was “a great addition to vibe of the house”, says Mithen, reporting the team “always had loads of fun and plenty of banter”.

Those times were always had in some “quite luxurious houses” over the years. But in 2020, all that went bizarrely, and shockingly, pear-shaped. Though

58 / MAGIC MEMORIES

they’d booked through a luxury accommodation site, somehow this unloved nag of a joint had sneaked into the stable. There was a basement feel alright, but no bargain.

“We’d been really looking forward to enjoying similar trips as we’d had in the past with a bit of camaraderie and a great horse sale,” Mithen says. “But this place looked like some dive in Pakistan where a terrorist might hide out.

“There was concrete everywhere, broken tiles; one bedroom smelled like vomit. It looked like there’d been mice and rats through the place because you could see plenty of what they leave behind. There was a pergola out the back, but it had holes in it. It was just a shambles. And we were looking at 10 days of this.”

Moody had already performed what had become his traditional task – the shopping. The man who once traded a training prize of a year’s supply of champagne with a year’s supply of his state’s native nectar – XXXX Gold – had duly filled the fridge.

“To be fair there was also Coke, and some other necessities like salami, tasty cheese, and … no, that was about it,” Mithen says.

There was no caviar, black or otherwise. In fact this felt light years removed from those heady days, with the trainer’s haul barely lifting the mood.

“We sat under the pergola having a beer, and considered our plight,” Mithen says. “Then it started raining, and we were getting wet through the holes.”

Enough was enough. Phones were quickly swung into action. “Anyone, everyone, who might have had some accommodation was called or texted. But how were we gonna go finding a place at such short notice on the Gold Coast in peak holiday season? We were three wide and, with the rain pouring through the pergola, literally without cover.”

The previous day – while staying a night at a comfortable hotel as he waited for Rosemont’s rented house to be, err, prepared – he’d played golf with Gerry Harvey and Hamish McLachlan. The TV personality, an old friend of Mithen’s from the media world, had been “gloating and quick cocky actually about the fact he was staying at the best place in town, an apartment right on the beach”.

Now, down to his last chance, Mithen felt he might as well go straight to the top, and called Harvey.

“He was sympathetic to the cause, and he was very concerned about Moods, because most people know that when Moods gets grumpy, look out,” Mithen laughs. “And I reckon that meant Gerry was concerned for me, having to spend the next 10 days with a grumpy Pete Moody.”

The big Queenslander had some form, too, as a tenant not easy to ignore. On his first ever night in England, when in Newmarket with Magnus, he locked himself out of his rented flat. That’s not such a problem, on face value, but after a deeply jetlagged 4am bathroom visit, he’d gone through a wrong door and found himself trapped in the hallway - stark naked. This came much to the bemusement of the young couple next door who came to his rescue, with Moody’s modesty preserved only by a previous day’s tabloid found in the corridor, in a classic case of being saved by the late Mail.

“Anyway,” Mithen continues, “the call was a masterstroke. Gerry rang Katie (Page), Katie rang me, and within an hour we were supping pina coladas on the sixth floor balcony of her beautiful apartment block, staying in a four-bedroom beachside mansion!”

Mithen discovered another compelling feature about the place, a neighbour elsewhere in the building.

“We could look down on Hamish McLachlan, which, I have to say, gave me a great deal of satisfaction,” says Mithen, reporting the “unbelievable generosity” of the Magic Millions bosses was repaid in kind, via a hefty outlay at the sales.

That goodwill seems to be coming back for another turn. One of those purchases has become Brereton, the Moody-trained colt (named after Dermot Brereton) who hinted at a bright future with his win in the Maribyrnong Stakes in November. Another, the promising Waterhouse-Bott trained Quinlan (named after another AFL star in Bernie Quinlan), came from Gerry Harvey’s own draft.

“So some payback went on,” Mithen says, “but I’ll never be able to repay the generosity of Katie being able to put us in her apartment.”

What goes around comes around. But what became of the owners of that “luxury” rental house/terrorist bolthole remains a mystery.

DIZZYING HEIGHTS

ASK ANY VENDOR ABOUT THEIR FAVOURITE PLACE TO CELEBRATE A MAJOR SALE ON THE GOLD COAST AND YOU’RE NOT LIKELY TO HEAR A RESPONSE OF “IN THE BACK OF AN AMBULANCE”.

But that was where veteran Darling Downs breeder Mary Lee Trivett found herself after the windfall of her life.

The colourful Trivett was in her late 60s when she and Boutique Thoroughbreds’ Andrew Dunemann bought the mare Phoenix Park – a Melbourne city winner – for $150,000 when carrying her first foal, by Pierro.

The resultant filly was reared by Kenmore Lodge’s Kellie Bond, who, 16 months on, also entered a Pierro colt at the 2020 Magic Millions.

“Kellie had a reserve of $120,000 on hers and we had $150,000 on ours,” Trivett says. “Kellie’s a good judge and she always said our filly was better.

“Her colt went first and she got $425,000 and that’s when I started hyperventilating. Andrew started pacing around saying he should drum up people to bid on ours and I said, ‘I don’t think we’ll need to, mate’. I wasn’t pacing. I was just sitting there, stunned.”

Trivett, whose previous top yearling fetched $220,000, started feeling what she thought was bad indigestion. She went to the office and had a Rennies.

Things “settled down a bit” as she waited for her filly’s turn, hoping merely to exceed her reserve.

“The auction went on and the bidding kept going, I just felt like I was about to faint,” she says.

It went double the reserve, then past $400k, broke through the half-million mark, and kept going still.

Finally, at $550,000, the filly was knocked down, to Duncan Ramage and trainer Chris Anderson.

Still struggling to settle an hour later, Trivett was chatting to the appropriately named David Chester.

“I said, ‘That nearly gave me a heart attack!’ But then I said, ‘In fact, I don’t feel so good’,” she says.

“David said I should go see the medic. Next minute, I’m being whizzed off to hospital by ambulance, sirens and all!”

Tests cleared Trivett of a heart attack, but she was kept in for six more hours before being discharged around 10pm.

“I went to catch up with everyone but they’d all finished dinner, so I went home,” she says. “It wasn’t a big celebration for me, but I certainly won’t forget the day.”

Trivett, who’ll offer an Almanzor colt this year, hopes that apart from her clean bill of health there’s another good omen about that Pierro filly. Named Very Intoxicating, she carries the same silks of another Magic Millions graduate, Winx.

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THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY FROM GAI ... ALMOST The master trainer has many fond memories from decades of Magic Millions sales. And while she may have bought Ha Ha here, one of her funnier stories concerns another of her seven Golden Slipper winners.

The sales, despite the glitz and excitement, are a marathon. And like a Test cricket batsman, you only have to lose concentration for a second and you’re gone.

“You have to have the focus, and not just at the sale itself. It’s sustained for 10 days,” Waterhouse says.

“You get up there, you look at the horses, you have your brainstorming; they’re vetted and X-rayed, you’re dealing with your owners, and that’s before the sales even start. It’s a very long and very intense time. You’ve really got to have your wits about you.”

Even Don Bradman got out occasionally. One lengthy afternoon at the 2007 auction, Waterhouse admits, be it through some form of distraction or other reasons, a colt she’d circled before the sale by More Than Ready out of Purespeed came into the ring … and went out again.

“Horses are going through all the time. You might have a dull moment, or someone talks to you and you get distracted. I’m not sure what it was, but the horse got knocked down and I ‘wasn’t there’ and hadn’t put my hand up,” she recalls.

“Then Rob, who also had the running sheet, kicks me under the table and says ‘Pay attention! You like this horse!’”.

Hastily, wits were gathered, and the follow-on enforced. Waterhouse dispatched Rob and Denise Martin of Star Thoroughbreds to accost the breeder, Corumbene Stud’s George Altomonte.

“Denise offered a price, George wouldn’t accept it.

He was being quite bullish about what he wanted,” Waterhouse says. “There was a fair bit of haggling and negotiating going on, eventually over a difference of about $10,000. It’s hilarious when you think back.”

Why? Because the colt, eventually prised from Altamonte’s grasp for $130,000, became Sebring.

He won Waterhouse the Slipper and the Sires, went within a whisker of sealing the Triple Crown in the Champagne, and was ultimately sold to stud for quite a deal more than his purchase price after winning five of six starts.

“The horse was sold to stud for $28 million!”

Waterhouse laughs. “Imagine quibbling over $10,000 for him!

“But it can be exceedingly distracting with people coming and talking to us. Thankfully I work with a great group of people who know when we’re in play and can usher those people to the side until the bidding ceases. But to also have someone like Rob just sitting there can be very useful.”

60 / MAGIC MEMORIES

NOT MANY WOMEN WOULD APPRECIATE A BUMP FROM THEIR HUSBANDS, BUT THERE WERE 28 MILLION REASONS WHY GAI WATERHOUSE WAS GRATEFUL FOR ONE RECEIVED FROM OTHER HALF ROB IN 2007.

THEATRE OF DREAMS

Waterhouse’s first interaction with Altomonte also sits among her favourite Magic Millions recollections.

She was underbidder to him on a $160,000 Snippets filly in 2002.

“I didn’t have an owner lined up but I really liked her.

I bid over what I thought I should pay, but I missed out,” she says.

“Rob told me ‘That gentleman over there got her’. So I rushed up and said: ‘I’m the under-bidder, I made you pay that price for her – I should be training her!’

IS IT MORE LIKE A DAYS-LONG GAME OF POKER OR A DAZZLING, DRAMATIC STAGE SHOW, THIS GLOBALLY UNIQUE YEARLING SALE?

Vin Cox has seen it from both sides and calls it a combination of both, a “perfect storm” of ingredients bringing tension, big money, an international dramatis personae of must-watch people and, of course, superstar thoroughbreds.

“James Harron is very analytical and very strategic about the way he bids, like with the increments and how far he’ll go. Sometimes he might throw in an unusual increment just to bluff the market, or it might be all-chips-in sort of thing.”

“It’s the sum of the parts that makes the total. Everyone plays their little part and creates the theatre and the drama that is Magic Millions,” says Cox, who was MM managing director for eight years before switching to fill that role at Godolphin/Darley in 2018.

In that regard the auction “really is like a game of poker”, Cox says, in that “it’s about trying to bluff the other buyer out of the market”.

“He said, ‘Jack Denham’s my trainer’. I said, ‘I’m much prettier than Jack!’”

The auctioneers, Cox feels, could be excused for thinking they own centre stage. He speaks with authority, having been one for a time, before moving on in what was “probably a relief to buyer and vendor”.

Duly swayed, Altamonte sent Waterhouse the filly.

Racing as Hasna, she won the last two legs of the Triple Crown, after placing third in the Slipper.

“Just managing the auctioneer’s egos is a job in itself,” he says with a laugh. “They’re a little bit the star of the show.”

“It started a beautiful relationship between George and me,” the trainer says.

It’s like an engrossing film, only the drama plays out over days, laced with plot twists and several major climaxes, each horse a fresh scene. Over there’s another player, a heavy-hitter whose countenance gives nothing away. Another prefers to stand out, possibly from years on a real stage.

“But you’ve got to be Johnny on the spot at those sales. You’ve got to be hunting around all the time, looking for the jewel in the crown. It’s hard to find.”

How does one of racing’s most excitable figures compare the thrill of the sale to winning a major race?

“They’re equally exciting but different,” she says.

“When a horse wins a race, we might’ve worked with that horse for 18 months to three or four years. So it’s very much a birthing process.

“But when you buy one, we don’t know what we’re buying. We always believe we’re buying a champion, though of course you don’t know, but there’s always that excitement that it might just be the next Sebring, Vancouver, Pierro, Hasna or Ha Ha. “But there’s no sale like this one. I like to say it’s where the turf meets the surf, and it’s fabulous.”

“Gai Waterhouse is very theatrical when she’s bidding,” Cox says. “Most buyers like to be quite discreet about what they’re interested in, but she’s very flamboyant, which probably speaks to her days in acting. It comes out in everything she does, including bidding on horses.

“Others, like the Rosemont crew, can get emotional, but most aren’t like that.

“There are people like Duncan Ramage, who are more discreet than flamboyant. Guy Mulcaster is very discreet. If he could sit in a darkened room and bid, he would.

While such auction moves may be universal, Cox firmly believes the Gold Coast MM is unique, and vital for the future.

“What Magic Millions does is bring a whole new generation of stake-holders into the business,” he enthuses.

“Through Magic Millions Racing Women, the wives of a lot of men in the industry are very much engaged.

The families come up. The kids, through a cohort of people their same age, get engaged in the sale process, the raceday, in bloodstock generally. It really is the genesis of the future of the industry.

“It’s very much a family affair, more so than other sales.”

What also evolved, during Cox’s time, was the Magic Millions’ transformation “from being a domestic sale to an international giant”, the latest plank of which came with the influx of American buyers, sparked mostly by Teeley Assets’ dispersal of 2014.

“We got a good helping of buyers from America that were enlightened into the strength and depth of our pedigrees, the quality of our bloodstock and the racing product in Australia,” he says. “We’ve always had good European and Asian interest. The Americans had never thought about participating in Australia, but now we have a huge American investment in Australia, and Magic Millions has led the way in that.

“There’s no sale like it in the world.”

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THE TRAILBLAZER

THE 2008 MAGIC MILLIONS TWO-YEAR-OLD CLASSIC WAS AN EDITION TO REMEMBER.

For starters, it was held in late March, having been put back due to the Equine Influenza crisis earlier that season.

The first six horses home were fillies, and capping this particular ladies’ day, Clare Lindop was at the head of them as she became the first – and still the only – female jockey to win the race.

The flying Leon Macdonald-trained Augusta Proud had made a mockery of being passed in at the Adelaide sale at just $47,500. With Lindop aboard she won her first five starts, capped by Morphettville’s MM 2YO Classic, before heading to Queensland.

“It felt like being in a football team, just winning and winning and then you’re off to the grand final,” Lindop recalls. “It was great to be involved. It was a great group of owners from Port Augusta – hence the name – and Leon was from Port Augusta as well.”

Lindop was the first Australian female jockey to ride in a Melbourne Cup, the first to win a Group 1 (Exalted Time, 2006 Adelaide Cup), and the first with a metropolitan premiership, in 2005. But she was blown away with this trip, saying “the whole Gold Coast was Magic Millions crazy”.

62 / MAGIC MEMORIES

Augusta Proud was $5 second-favourite behind Gai Waterhouse and Nash Rawiller’s charge She’s Meaner, at $4.60. Lindop felt she had a good chance, especially from barrier two, but was “a little nervous”.

She’d had four earlier rides and finished 11th or worse. She was away from home turf, unfamiliar with her rival jockeys, was “more comfortable racing in our direction” and feared her filly would be too.

Still, Augusta Proud travelled sweetly behind the pace on the fence. Around the turn, Lindop moved towards the outside but that passage was slammed shut.

“In those big sprint races, there’s no time to think. It’s all instinct. I thought, ‘The outside didn’t work, just go back inside and keep on riding’,” she says.

With 200m left, Rawiller and She’s Meaner were nearly three lengths in front, but with some astonishing manoeuvrability Augusta Proud speared back to the fence and kept charging, ultimately claiming victory with the last bob of the head.

“I did enjoy beating Nash. He’s such a hard competitor. But he looked across and said, ‘Good on ya, Clare’. He was first to congratulate me,” says Lindop, who may only have grasped the full significance years later.

“My mantra was always ‘I’m a jockey, not a female jockey’,” the now retired rider says. “But later, to be recognised like that does start to feel special.

You connect the dots and realise that me achieving to X-level allowed the next wave of girls to come through.

“I wasn’t that much into waving the girl flag but I am pretty proud of it, being the only girl to win the race.”

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BARRIER Fun Welcome DRAW 2021

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Look for the SUPER VOBIS logo and share in the rewards Nominated horses can race for over $13 million worth of Super VOBIS bonuses on offer in over 840 races each season across Victoria. In addition to this, Super VOBIS nominated horses are eligible to be nominated for VOBIS Gold and race in the exclusive VOBIS Gold Premier Race Series worth $5 million.

Nominations for eligible 2020 born foals close 30 April 2022

FIND OUT MORE supervobis.com.au

SUPER VOBIS CONDITIONS: A two-year old displaying the Super VOBIS logo within this catalogue is considered nominated to the Super VOBIS incentive scheme, provided the relevant nomination fee has been paid by the original nominator of the two-year old. Payment of the nomination fee can be made in the following ways; 1. by credit card or cheque prior to the sale, or 2. by deducting the nomination fee from the proceeds of the sale of the two-year old, which is typically referred to as a “Sales Deduction”. PAYMENT BY SALES DEDUCTION: In order for the Super VOBIS nomination fee to be paid by “Sales Deduction”, the relevant two-year old must be sold in the sales ring during this specific two-year old sale. Therefore, if intending to purchase a passed-in or withdrawn two-year old post-sale, ensure the Vendor confirms that the nomination fee has been paid. Alternatively, for confirmation please contact Racing Victoria on telephone 03 9258 4694 or email vobis@racingvictoria.com.au If the nomination fee has not been paid the two-year old will NOT be Super VOBIS nominated.

MAGIC from Milburn Creek

From Wildes Meadow in the NSW Southern Highlands, our yearlings are raised on some of Australia’s finest horse country. They are expertly prepared by Scott Holcombe and his team, they are by a champion lineup of leading commercial sires from the farm’s quality mares.

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN COLTS

Lot 926 ch c Capitalist – Dorodansa by Bellamy Road

Lot 36 b or br colt Lonhro – Fascination Street by Elusive City Half -brother to SP, Gr3 4th Maotai. Dam is a multiple Group placed SW, this is her third foal.

First foal of a multiple stakes placed winner of 4 races and $239k in USA. American mares produced 7% of the SW in Australia in the past season.

Lot 228 b or br colt Dundeel – Luqyaa by Exceed And Excel

THE FABULOUS FOUR FILLIES Lot 8 b f Zoustar – Elouera by Street Cry

Second foal of multiple SP daughter of brilliant Group winning mare and multiple stakes producer CHARMVIEW.

This filly is the second foal of a multiple winning daughter of Gr1 winner RUSSETTING, from the family of Champion Sprinter SCHILLACI, 8Gr1wins, overall 16 wins $2.3m.

Lot 281 b c Dundeel – Montrachet by Fastnet Rock First foal of Sydney metro winning Gr3 4th mare from the immediate family of Gr2 Silver Slipper winner SATIN SHOES. Lot 443 ch c Dundeel – Rose Ahead by Dream Ahead First foal of a winning mare who is a halfsister to two SWs, DAYTONA GREY ( 12 wins $570k ) and MAIL IT IN ( 7 wins $429k ).

Lot 541 b c Justify – Soft Kiss by Bernardini

By UNDEFEATED USA Triple Crown winner Justify , this is the second foal of a mare by successful broodmare sire Bernardini whose young daughters have already produced 12 Gr1 winners including ATC Derby winner ANGEL OF TRUTH. Lot 790 b c The Autumn Sun – Belladini

by Bernardini Half-brother to SP, Gr3 4th Balaabeel, from the superior family of Gr1 performers FAIRY KING PRAWN, EASY ROCKING, COSMIC ENDEAVOUR, ANA ROYALE.

John Muir and Scott Holcombe invite you to inspect this quality draft at the 2022 Magic Millions Yearling Sale.

Lot 563 b f Snitzel – Stormy Victoria by Stormy River First foal of a SW, multiple group placed winner 6 races and equivalent of over $625k in France and USA. Next three dams by great sires Anabaa, Dehere and Lyphard.

Lot 632 b f Street Boss – Tizso Wicked

by Duporth.

Second foal of a Gr3 placed winner of 6 races and $160k from the family of USA HOTY and Champion3YO colt TIZNOW, also a leading American sire.

Lot 676 b f I Am Invincible – Walk With Attitude by Hussonet Half-sister to the brilliant SP Spend ( 2wins, $225K ). From the family of leading sire of sires Invincible Spirit whose outstanding sons at stud include leading sires I Am Invincible and Kingman.

Milburn Creek john@milburncreek.com.au | scott.h@milburncreek.com.au

Supplements Muzzles - Wire and Plastic Dog Biscuits and Kibble Collars and Leads and more.

Nutritional supplements Worm Treatments Grooming Gear Halters, Leads Accessories and more.

IN-STORE ONLINE EMAIL PHONE 245x330 Online Shop.indd 1

Australia & New Zealand www.horseandhound.com.au horseandhound@garrards.com.au 1800 060 896 23/11/2021 12:07:44 PM

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THE SCORE Anyone involved with thoroughbreds will tell you that they provide a continuous learning curve and the first to admit that there is always something more to discover is Suman Hedge.

“I am definitely not as overly opinionated as I used to be!” he laughed, “the horses are always here to make fools of us.”

Which is the reasoning behind a change in approach to buying horses. In the past Suman spent considerable time researching a catalogue before heading out to the sales whilst now he just glances at the pages, preferring to have an open mind before seeing the animals in the flesh.

“I had my biases against certain stallions and certain families and because of that I was not going to the sales with an open mind,” he said. “I was more likely to make sweeping observations whereas now I find myself to be more broadminded, looking at every horse as an individual with no preconceptions.”

It is after inspection that Suman now spends the most time on catalogue research, seeing which horses he likes before studying the pedigrees and the statistics.

A recent convert to I-pad catalogues, Suman admits that at first he preferred the hard copy. “The first couple of years using the iPad I thought ‘this is just not me’ but then I got used to it and now I see the advantages.”

“In regards to keeping information on spreadsheets and keeping in contact with clients by email it is all a lot easier. Plus I just ran out of space for all the catalogues and I don’t keep any now - all of my notes are recorded and retained on the iPad so that I can go back later and see what my thoughts were.”

78 / THE SCORE

KIRSTEN MANNING

Which is a great tool, Suman checking in years later to see what he didn’t like about a horse that exceeded expectations or what he did like about a disappointment; learning from each achievement and from each mistake.

“I like to review my notes, to brush up on things and make the necessary adjustments. Making a mistake can make you feel a bit stupid but it is the nature of the game; at the sales we see the external but not the internal; a horse’s heart, its lung capacity, its brain, its will to win. There are so many unknowns but that’s the beauty of the sport!”

Learning much during his time working with trainer John O’Shea, Suman uses a numerical system to rate the horses he inspects (every horse in the catalogue) with 5 being the average - “the majority of horses.”

“If a horse is 4 or below it means we really didn’t like it, a 6 is buyable and every now and then there is a 7 or an 8, the real stand-outs in the catalogue.”

“But we tend to get blown away in the ring with those horses as everyone likes them, they are the obvious ones. We have had more luck however securing those sort of horses at the weanling sales.”

It is essential, Suman noted, to follow through on the careers of horses he purchases, black-booking each horse to take note of their perfomances. Sometimes there is great pride when things go well, other times disappointment when they do not but “that is the nature of the game.”

E

2022 / 79

“It is a lot of work but I do love a volume sale,” said Jamie Walter, “those catalogues with 800 plus yearlings - you just know somewhere there is going to be value!”

Which is why Jamie so looks forward to the Magic Millions each year, combing through the large offering to look for that diamond in the not so rough whilst remembering something trainer Steve O’Dea once said to him about the sale - “that you would be happy to take half of these home!”

“The quality of the Magic Millions sale has just continued to increase,” Jamie said, “there are just so many nice horses.”

And what it comes down to, at the end of the day for a syndicator, is value.

“It all becomes about what price you put on them, that is the deciding factor.”

Jamie likes to peruse the catalogue when it arrives, getting an idea of which stallions and families are represented, noting that when he sees the horses he likes to ask “what am I seeing? More of mum or more of dad?”

He then starts the inspection process, grateful to Magic Millions for organising Hunter Valley inspections the month before the sales kick off.

“That has several advantages,” he said - “you can have a good first look at the horses and then once they are on site see how they have developed in those few weeks.

Plus it gives you valuable time to research the horses you liked.”

More research is conducted during the sales as he inspects though he is more of a note-taker than a pointscorer.

“I know many have a system but I just find that there are too many variables for set ratings.”

80 / THE SCORE

Jamie still keeps his records the old-fashioned way, in the many catalogues stored in his study - laughing that “I am still a bit of a dinosaur!”

“For the last five or six years I have been thinking that I should get an I-pad and I can see what they have to offer, having all that information at your finger-tips but in the back of my mind I have been waiting until the technology is so good that I would just have to embrace it.”

“One day I may pay someone to go through my catalogues and digitalize my notes but it would have to be someone who could understand my hieroglyphics!”

Whilst successfully sourcing many winners by himself, Jamie does prefer to include his chosen trainer in the buying process.

“I like to buy in tandem with the person who is going to train that horse,” he said. “It gives them a great involvement, greater attachment,” with the bonus of added confidence in a horse if both Jamie and trainer like what they see.

Unlike agents, Jamie does not have clients he goes to the sales to buy for, rather he buys on spec the sorts of horses he thinks will appeal to potential owners. Such as an Al Maher colt who caught his eye at the 2019 Adelaide Magic Millions Yearling Sale - secured by Jamie with Joseph Pride for $62,500.

A special horse for Jamie as his first Group One winner this year’s Epsom Handicap hero Private Eye.

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“If I haven’t got a horse sale coming up, I start walking the walls,” jokes Paul Moroney who has devoted most of his professional life to looking at thoroughbreds.

Well not just looking, seeking - the next winner, the next Group One winner, the next champion.

A process which begins with the arrival of the sale catalogue, though that is merely the starting point “I just flick through it to get an idea of any pedigree updates and to get a general feel for the sale,” he said.

So at this no point, no lists, no preconceptions.

Getting to as many studs as possible in the lead-up is where the process really begins, Paul - along with partner Catheryne Bruggeman - attempting to work through as much of the catalogue as they can before the sales actually begin.

It is during that time that they “take off all the obvious horses, those with the defects we can’t live with whilst also taking note of the horses worth a second look.”

And so by the time they get on site there is more time for the horses they want to look at again and to see for the first time those they are yet to inspect.

With the Magic Millions catalogue such an extensive one, Paul considers the Gold Coast sale one of his most challenging tests although the task has been made a little easier with he and Catheryne (“I found someone whose eye I completely trust”) inspecting half the horses each, then comparing lists and culling the types they don’t like before moving on to the next stage.

Which is the second and third looks, during which time he really starts to delve into the pedigrees.

During this part of the process Paul does not award horses any points or rankings but he does take extensive notes. And in his mind he has a picture of the ideal horse based on their breeding, what he calls a “genetic map.”

82 / THE SCORE

“I want to see in a horse the traits that have been most successful in that individual’s bloodlines; sire line and family. It may not just be the sire and dam, it can be a couple of generations back.”

Paul’s memory for not only the horses he has been involved with but also those he has seen, is a major factor here - he can look at a great grandson of Mill Reef, and see the Mill Reef in him. Or conversely see a lack of the right influences.

Technology has been a big aid for Paul who has been utilizing the benefits of his iPad for the last eight years. “It is so easy to use, it is great for lists and for referencing past notes and sales results.”

And practical for a traveller too, Paul liking to look back on past successes and mistakes to keep the “continuous learning process” going - his notes far easier to access on an iPad than in old catalogues.

Whilst admitting a preference for three-year-old types with the prospect of longevity, Paul does have a variety of clients with different aims and ideas.

He provides them with lists tailored to their needs though there are always the surprises... “the twoyear-old type who ends up needing time, the staying type who comes up early!”

At the end of the day however what Paul seeks above all else is a high class horse. He can’t guarantee it but is confident that he fulfils his ambition of “increasing the odds of success for our clients.”

2022 / 83

Ringside with TB GenerationZ KATRINA PARTRIDGE

Coolmore, Arrowfield, Yarraman Park, Raheen, Magic Millions, Sledmere, Twin Hills.

They are household industry names as are the people that own and manage them.

What, however, of the next generation?

You’ve seen them: one minute barely tall enough to peer over the sale rostrum as they stand alongside one of their parents, then blink and they are old enough to be inspecting yearlings or leading them through the ring and before you know it they are answering the phone or greeting you with a smile because (where on earth did that time go?) they are now running the farm or jockeying for a high level sporting or political career.

We sat down with nine children: Charlie Mitchell (14), Charlie Magnier (13), Rupert Tait (13), Jamesolan (13), Jack Murphy (12), Bella Bowditch (10), and Frank (10), Johnny (9) and Fred (6) Messara. Their thoroughbred lineage is impeccable. We wanted to know what they knew of their surname’s history and the company name associated with it.

84 / GENERATION Z

We wanted to know if Mum or Dad ever embarrasses them. We wanted to understand their hopes and dreams, what famous person they would love to meet, and what chores they hated. What became apparent during the course of each interview was that whilst entirely unique each child positively shone with their enthusiasm, insight, intellect, love of sport, a refreshing thirst for knowledge, a ‘real’ personality, warmth, and belief in the future. They were incredibly engaging and what really made them stand out was their extraordinary early understanding of what their generational thoroughbred DNA represented. Each knew and understood the substantive brands they were a part of. Many were (day-to-day) absorbing and appreciating what their parents do each day.

They understood the value of hard work, they were active learners when there are horses and farming involved: about life (and loss), and appreciating what distance (compared to city life) can have on both opportunity and also family relationships. The custodian role that their parents (and grandparents) play in these children’s development was integral. It is this experience that educates the next generation in the language of the thoroughbred; a language many of us take for granted. Vitor Belfort is credited with the quote ‘Legacy is not what I did for myself. It’s what I’m doing for the next generation.’ It is perhaps a trite saying - but the future of the Industry is in good hands. Watch this space ...

CHARLIE MITCHELL, 14, YARRAMAN PARK. Having grown up at the farm that is home to Australia’s Champion Sire - I Am Invincible - Charlie well appreciates the importance the horse has made to his family.

“We love Vinny. He has changed our lives and made this farm. He is the stallion everyone waits for and the bonus is he is a really beautiful horse. You can sit on his back - he is a real gentleman.”

Charlie is an integral part of the Yarraman operation (as is every member of the Mitchell family) and the hard work, good (and bad) luck that has laced their life story makes this 14 year old sound quite seasoned when he says. “We are very lucky - it’s all about luck. Dad has always worked so hard and he will never tell someone to do a job he will not do. He says if you have integrity and can earn respect then people will not only want to work alongside you but they will continue doing so.”

Brimming with good humour and insight, it’s not a stretch to imagine this young man assuming the management reins one day; he certainly understands the hard work it takes and the love of the sport flows through his veins.

“I love it - racing, the farm, all of it. I do my best bets on Thursday night and I have a Super Coach stable between me and Willa (my sister). I love it in particular watching anything that we have bred.”

? y a s y e h t d i What d

What do you look forward to most when you come to the Gold Coast?

Rupert: Two things really I love - the sale atmosphere is fast, full on and interesting. I like going up to the ring as well as being back at the stables with the horses for the behind the scenes work. I do also like the amusement parks and the places you can go.

Bella: Doing inspections because I get to meet loads of Dad’s clients and I get to see so many amazing horses that are going into the sale.

I also like the barrier draw as I get to see what lucky horses get to go into the amazing Magic Millions races.

Charlie Magnier: Definitely catching up with my Uncle MV and Emily and getting to go to the sales complex. Everyone there is so nice. It’s great being in the ring and with friends.

James: I love being at the Gold Coast in January, seeing all my cousins from Murulla and my friends and the atmosphere of the sales and the races.

Jack: Helping dad at the sales, going to the ring and seeing how good a horse looks. How strong they are, how good their step is and how good their forearm is. At the ring how do we sell a horse - where the bidders are going to be and how to watch the bidders.

Charlie Mitchell: The sales - going out on sale day - the buzz. I look forward to seeing friends that I haven’t seen in a year. The Sushi is awesome ! There’s so much better food up there than there is down here [in Scone]. There is also family time and a chance to go for a swim.

Frank: Going to the water parks.

Johnny: Looking at the horses with Dad. Fred: Going on the electric scooters at Surfers Paradise.

What is the first thing you pack in your suitcase?

Rupert: A cricket bat, a book and my phone.

James: My sale catalogue is the most important thing I pack.

Johnny: My Arrowfield hat.

Fred: Swimmers.

What are you really good at?

Rupert: Cricket (bowler).

Bella: Art and dancing. Tap, jazz ballet and lyrical.

JAMES NOLAN, 13, RAHEEN STUD. James Nolan may be a young adolescent but his knowledge of thoroughbred pedigrees would put many bloodstock agents to shame. Others in his family report on his ability to recognise every mare on the farm and his ability to swiftly recall their breeding, past foals, and runners.

“The Nolan name is probably well known in the racing industry because we have been involved in this Industry for a very long time,” James reflects. “My great grandmother and father started it in 1957 so that’s a long time ago and from all the way from then it has come a long way.”

The school goer (and accomplished polocrosse player) faithfully takes in his weekend Best Bets to his teachers each Friday.

Charlie M: I love showjumping and I am very fortunate to have 3 amazing horses. I also like soccer (Chelsea supporter), golf and tennis.

James: I have a lot to learn but I particularly enjoy helping to foal down the mares at the farm.

Jack: I really like cutting.

Charlie Mitchell: All the jobs that Dad doesn’t like to do - cleaning water troughs, pony yards, the garbage especially - as Dad leaves it for me everyday. I’m really into basketball and rugby.

Frank: Sports particularly basketball.

Johnny: BMX riding.

Fred: Maths.

“I just love the Industry, I love going to races, I love the racing, I love the horses.”

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say? y e h t d i d t a h W What is the most embarrassing thing your mum or dad does?

Rupert: When I’m with Mum rather than at boarding school she puts suntan cream on me about 10 times a day even to the point of rushing up at half time.

Charlie M: Dad’s fashion sense and colour coordination can be seriously questionable at times; luckily Mum is there!

Charlie Mitchell: That’s easy - Dad singing in front of my friends in the car. He’s not a very good singer.

He’s really loud and uses the wrong words. He sings to 80’s songs that no-one else has even heard of. But he loves it.

What ’s the first thing you do when you get to the Gold Coast?

Rupert: Bags my bed in the apartment, and if there is any time hopefully get to the beach.

James: My brother William and I try and get a lift down in the truck and help unload and then feed all the horses.

Jack: I go up in the horse truck with Dad and we unload the horses and put them in their stables.

Charlie Mitchell: Head straight to the sales with Dad. We go and check that the horses are ok and Dad checks that the staff are ok. We tell Mum we’re going for 10 minutes but it always ends up being the rest of the day by the time we have said hi to everyone.

Frank: I go to the Magic Millions complex with Dad.

If you could meet a famous person, who would it be? Why? Rupert: Barack Obama. I think he was a great leader, he looked to the future, he wasn’t caught up with everything, he accommodated for everyone, he was concise in his decisions and a great public speaker.

Bella: The Royal Family as I would get to see all the incredible jewels that they have and see the Palace.

Charlie M: N’Golo Kante. He plays for Chelsea. He is one of my sporting heroes - not just because of his talent but he is so down to earth and humble.

CHARLIE MAGNIER, 13. COOLMORE STUD. Flick forward to late July 2032 and don’t be surprised to see this youngster representing Australia at the Brisbane Olympics (his goal to compete against his Irish-born cousins) in showjumping. Like many I spoke with, Charlie sat on a horse before he could walk and is currently competing internationally on the showjumping circuit. Horses are in this adolescent’s blood but interestingly (given the Triple Crown winners, Champion Sires and headline horses that call Coolmore home) Charlie highlights Cox Plate victor Adelaide as his favourite.

“It’s a tough question but I’ll always remember [Adelaide] when he won the Cox Plate in 2014. I think he was drawn on the outside and Brian had a lot of confidence in him and his ability.

James: James McDonald as he is very famous and is very successful riding a lot of winners including Verry Elleegant; she is a great mare and they are a great combination.

Jack: Matt Gaines (world class cutter and trainer who has earned USD$9,003,776 -3rd highest-ever money earner in the sport). He just knows how the horse acts and what to do and he is really good with horses.

Understanding the horse is really important.

Charlie Mitchell: Michael Hooper or Michael Jordan - because of their mentality. They are so tough, whenever they get put down they get straight back up again.

Frank: Ryan Reynolds - he’s a really cool actor.

Johnny: Sylvester Stallone - he inspires me.

Fred: The animals in the Lion King.

86 / GENERATION Z

BILL, JAMES & BASIL NOLAN SNR

I had been lucky enough to go out to Werribee to the quarantine facility to watch his final pieces of work but my favourite memory of him is going out to see him the day after the race and being able to lead him from the stable. He has such a wonderful temperament and ever since that day we have had a special bond and he is the first stallion I visit in the barn.”

Coolmore is a global phenomenon; something the young Magnier understands.

“My grandparents and great grandparents surrounded themselves with brilliant horsemen and they themselves are brilliant horsemen. They are talented, they have the right people and horses and as a result they have had sustained success over many decades. There are also so many people in the family across the globe who are involved”.

THE MESSARA BOYS - FRED (6), JOHNNY (9) AND FRANK (10). ARROWFIELD STUD. They are descended from an Australian Breeding Empire and all three not only understand this but respect the hard work that made it happen. Six year old Fred is quick to pipe up that his Pa [John Messara] is very important as he is in charge of the farm.

Eldest brother Frank adds “Pa has a big responsibility looking after Arrowfield. He gets a phone call like every two seconds and always answers it - so does Dad - it’s really hard as they have to stare at a computer all day and type.

“Pa brought this property and built it from scratch. He had all the barns built and the fences and bought the horses. He is really important to the farm.”

“Yes, Pa is very good at picking horses,” states Johnny.

“I like going to the races too - I often go with him and sometimes I even get to go in the truck like I did the day Dad had Luna Mia running in the Kosciusko! That was so great!”

what are your goals and how do you plan to reach them?

say? y e h t d i d t a h W

Rupert: I would love to become an Australian cricket player. That would be amazing. Maybe own a horse stud. Every time I see a new TV show I’m like ‘I want to do that or that!’. There are so many options. I would love to be a sports agent and own or be the CEO of a massive ski resort in America.

If you got to be parent for a day, what rules would you have?

Bella: I really want to do some show jumping. Next year I am quitting dance after four years doing it to start riding.

Rupert: You have to play sport for at least 30 minutes a day.

Charlie M: I hope to be part of the next generation of the Coolmore Team.

Bella: Please listen to me and please be patient.

James: I really hope my future is at Raheen and to expand it. That means I will have to work a lot harder to make it as successful as my parents and grandparents have.

James: I’m not a big fan of rules but I would probably say to be respectful and have a good attitude to work.

Jack: You have to go to bed first.

Charlie Mitchell: Not many !

Frank: No rules.

Johnny: It’s going to be a yes day - parents have to do everything that their children tell them all day.

Fred: Everyone gets a free holiday.

What do you want your future to be like? Or

Jack: I really want to take over the farm and run thoroughbreds, cutting horses and cattle.

Charlie Mitchell: I want to be like Dad but I do love sport so will see where that takes me. Probably staying with the horses though. I love working with them, seeing them go from foals to the race track and what they become.

Frank: I’d like to be an NRL or NBA sports star.

I pick up manure and rocks. And I’m learning. I love the foaling unit as it’s where we ride bikes and it’s where I work.

Fred: I am going to use my maths and do shares like pa [John Messara]. I will work on the stock market so I can buy his house.

What do you think is the worst chore? Why? Rupert: Once every 4 months we have to go and pull out all the weeds from the garden bed.

Bella: Cleaning up other people’s mess especially my brother’s. He’s really messy.

Charlie M: Preventing WW3 breaking out between my sisters.

James: Cleaning the house.

Jack: Doing the dishes.

Charlie Mitchell: Putting out the garbage - Dad always seems to have just taken off his shoes when he realizes it needs to be put out so I then get told to do it.

Frank: Putting out the rubbish.

Fred: Doing the dishes.

Johnny: I’m going to run Arrowfield - I work here now.

2022 / 87

say? y e h t d i d t a h W What is something mum or dad always say to you?

Rupert: Try your hardest, have fun and enjoy the moment and don’t be too hard on yourself.

Bella: ‘Bella are you listening to me??’ I have said it 3 times already.

Charlie Magnier: To always be humble and not to cut corners.

James: That I’m very good outside yet I can’t even make my bed when I’m inside.

Jack: Go to bed!

Charlie Mitchell: Do the garbage ?!?! Dad always says never ask someone to do something that you wouldn’t do yourself. And that’s a saying he lives by.

Frank: Brothers stick together.

Johnny: Stay in your lane which means mind your business and don’t worry about what other people say or do; worry about yourself.

What is your mum or dad really good at or not very good at?

Rupert: Dad is very good at speaking and he’s very good on the business side of horse racing, he knows a lot about cricket but one thing he is probably not so talented at is mechanical stuff. Mum is a great horse rider but she doesn’t like public speaking.

Charlie Magnier: Dad is really good at looking after the staff on the farm and treats everyone the same and people say they like working for him.

Jack: Mum and Dad are really good at making the farm big and choosing the right horses and knowing how to control the farm.

Imagine you won a million dollars, what would you buy first?

Rupert: a very expensive cricket bat, a nice cool car, some stock as I need to keep the money going, and maybe some horses.

Bella: A horse for show jumping.

Charlie Magnier: I’ve been lucky enough to go around all the European sales for the last three months with Dad, MV, Paul Shanahan and some of the other lads.

I’ve really liked the Saxon Warrior yearlings that I’ve seen so I’d go with one of those colts.

James: A well bred race mare who was good on the track to breed from.

Jack: A big semi to drive the horses and the cattle.

Charlie Mitchell: A few broodmares as Dad could give me some advice there and if there is anything left over I would want to support people who need it.

Frank: A big mansion on a hill.

Johnny: I’d buy a stallion and a mare and keep breeding them both and then get more than a million dollars and I could spend that.

Fred: A mansion.

88 / GENERATION Z

RUPERT TAIT, 13.

TWIN HILLS STUD. Whilst ‘The Horse Capital’ is recognised as the nucleus of Australian breeding, Rupert is insightful enough even at 13 to understand that sometimes being a bit separate can have its advantages.

“I love the fact that we are apart from the Hunter and that not everyone around us is preoccupied with racing,” he states. “[Twin Hills] is a very large spacious farm which I love, it’s kid friendly with loads of places to play, and I love all the facilities as it offers everything.

Rupert is also no stranger to equestrian pursuits, acknowledging it is his Mother that is the “driving force behind all of us riding; it’s a great sport to do as a family.”

On a stud where racing is second nature, the sound of race commentary on TV and radio alike would be almost white noise to most but Rupert says he loves the gamble that is involved and the risk that sometimes won’t pay off.

“I have grown up with it which I think is probably part of it.

I love the atmosphere at the races no matter where you are in the world it is the same,” he says. “I love that anyone can go to the races no matter where they are from. I love the thrill of having a winner; of screaming ‘Yes! Yes! Yes!’ at the tv.”

Rupert is also well familiar with the significance of his family name.

“We have had a lot of horses that have won and been exceptional: two Golden Slipper winners, Tie the Knot won the Sydney Gold Cup twice and my grandfather, Dad and Mum have invested lots of time, money and effort into the sport and they love the thrill that comes along with that.”

JACK MURPHY, AGE 12.

SLEDMERE STUD He is young, quietly spoken and intensely talented. After just 12 months in the equine sport of cutting Jack was crowned NSW Junior Cutting Champion and placed second in the Rookies (all ages). Start chatting to him about what makes a cutting horse so good and you quickly realise that this is a child with an innate understanding of the workings of a horse’s mind and what motivates them to excel in hand and under saddle.

His desire to be with/around horses extends to the thoroughbreds his family are renowned for.

“Jack often feeds up with me over the weekend and you often spot him in the paddocks walking around the horses,” his father says. “He can put his hands on any horse even foals that no one else can handle and he has always been like that. Maybe that is why the cutting horses work for him so well and show for him - he has an affinity with them. He goes off whilst I’m watching the races and just walks around. It’s great to see. You can’t make kids do that. They have to be born with it.”

BELLA BOWDITCH, 10, MAGIC MILLIONS. January and the 2022 Gold Coast Yearling Sale looms near. Need any encouragement as to why Magic Millions is THE place to be? Just ask the 10 year old daughter of the Managing Director. “[Magic Millions] have sold some of the best horses in the world like Winx, Sunlight and Arcadia Queen,” says Bella. “For me I also get to go to the barrier draw and to the races and I get to see my Pop and my Uncle as they often have a horse running.”

What do you think would be the most difficult job in the world? Why? Rupert: Being in a prison maximum security unit and being one of the guards who has to break up the fights. That’s a very dangerous job.

Bella: Being the Prime Minister last year when Covid hit as no one had had to deal with this virus before and wouldn’t know what to do.

Charlie M: Maybe a politician. They are constantly having to make really hard decisions that can potentially impact so many people’s lives and you are constantly being criticized for everything and it would be hard to make everyone happy.

James: Prime Minister but I will leave that to my older brother seeing that he knows everything! You have to deal with a lot of things and everything that is happening in the world at that moment like Covid as well as deal with all the other leaders from all the different states and countries.

Jack: Being in an office as you are inside looking at a screen all day. I prefer being outside, being with the horses, driving the tractors.

Charlie Mitchell: Being a chef at a boarding school as the food is never much good. Actually the hardest job would be being a vet. You get to save horses’ lives but also when it goes wrong it would be very hard to cope with it. Working with animals you love and you can potentially lose them. The hardest jobs are often the most rewarding though - Mum says the big wins come with the big losses so being a vet or being a horse owner actually have a lot in common.

Frank: Being a magician as it would be hard tricking people and if you messed up you’d embarrass yourself.

Johnny: The people who have to go up the really big buildings and clean the windows particularly if they didn’t have a harness.

What did they say?

What is something that makes your family special?

Rupert: Our love for each other, we all look out for each other.

Bella: How funny and incredible they are.

Charlie M: Most of our family live on the other side of the world in Ireland, England and France which makes us a very tight family. We are all very close to our European family as well.

James: We always look out for each other and when someone needs a hand we help them out to make their life easier.

Jack: We all work together and help each other out on the farm.

Charlie Mitchell: Living on a stud and working together brings everyone together as a family. It’s really nice. We play tennis, we work together, we play cards, and we are all interested in same things ... except for music tastes !

Johnny: The time we spend together - we are always caring for one another.

Fred: We’re always together.

What do you think would be the best job in the world? Why? Rupert: Maybe the President of the United States - I think it would be very challenging but very rewarding.

You would have to make some very tough decisions but when they pay off and the public is happy then I think it would be a great job to have.

Charlie M: To be honest I would love to work at Coolmore. It’s such a beautiful stud, it has a world renowned roster of stallions and probably one of the best broodmare bands in the country. I’d love to be a part of that.

James: My dream job has always been to be a jockey but I don’t think I can due to my size so anything in racing or breeding and that comes back to my future at Raheen.

Jack: Having lots of horses and a cattle station.

Charlie Mitchell: Working with horses in general as it’s so calming for your head - it puts you in an entirely different place. I see them born, see them sold, see them with a trainer then race. You get to see your life’s work.

Frank: Playing sports.

Johnny: I want to be a horse; I’d like to be a stallion as I really like them. Snitzel - because he is my favourite as he is one of the best in the world and he is nice to pat.

Fred: A bird as then I could fly.

2022 / 89

BY THE NUMBERS 1,500 > participants flying into the Sunshine State each Jan for MM 7

7,000 > winks, nudges and nods will be added up over 7 days over selling 2,000 > trips to and from the sales complex by MM drivers

9

0 > the number of Golden Slipper winning colts sourced from a sale ring other than MM this century 1

4 > the number of races decided by a winning margin of a neck or less at 2021 MM Raceday 1

329 > the lot number of champion Winx at the 2013 GCYS 2

90 / BY THE NUMBERS

700 > MM room nights booked at The Star in January 2021 5,000 > bottles of champagne ordered for a sellout crowd at the GCTC

992 > boxes for horses at the Gold Coast Sales Complex

181 > the number of starters in MM races at the 2021 The Star Gold Coast Carnival

16 > Group One wins for MM graduates 20/21 season 170 > the lot number of the inaugural MM 2YO Classic winner Snippets in 1985

2,131 > times the length of the MM Complex – the distance run by D Chester on the beach each year (712 kms)

2022 / 91

112 > the number of times G Burns mentions he sold Winx each year

Countless > how many times S Davis will advise you to “buy the one you want”

2

20 > Black type races to be run during the Queensland Summer Carnival 939 > BOBS Eligible lots in this year’s catalogue

1

31 > yearlings catalogued for the 2022 GCYS from G1 winning mares 2 > the winningest Barrier for the $2m MM 2YO Classic

1

600,000 > dollars – the most expensive winner (Exhilarates) 3 > wins by the most winning vendor Widden Stud

4

92 / BY THE NUMBERS

100 > percent - the chances D Chester will say “they’ll get dearer as the sale goes on” in his first run

2.5 > days – the cumulative time D Chester spends planking annually

161 > QTIS 1ST Paid or Fully Paid lots 140 > Super VOBIS lots 20 > First Season Sires represented 107 > Individual Sires represented

10,000 > dollars – the least expensive 2YO Classic winner (Our Fiction)

4 > wins for the trainer record held by Gai Waterhouse 10 & 15 > luckiest barriers for the $2m MM 3YO Guineas 2022 / 93

1,700,242 > impressions MM Instagram posts achieved in January 2021 1,694 > likes for the best performing post in Jan 21

75

7,897 > horses sold by MM Australia-wide in 2021 2,000 > hours to go till the next Swan Valley MM Sale and we can’t wait!

52

29 > degrees – the average temperature at the MM Sales Complex 6 > hours max sleep on a sale night

90

572 > room nights booked at Glenelg each year for Adelaide MM

56

2,500 > coffees to keep the MM team awake and on track

94 / BY THE NUMBERS

75,374 > followers of Magic Millions on Instagram and Facebook 23,025 twitter followers

525,000 > dollars – a new Adelaide record for a yearling was set in 2021

90,000 dollars in Racing Rewards SA sale vouchers given away

568 > misplaced Alpacas, horses, dogs, goats, cats and humans homed at our WA complex during the February bushfires

45 > percent of statistics are made up!

2022 / 95

Three-time G1 winner MONTEFILIA

They WIN

They SELL

MONTEFILIA a $130,000 yearling with prizemoney of $1.9 million

They get you to the BIG DAYS

Hugh Bowman wins his 100th G1 aboard MONTEFILIA

Buy Darley in 2022

Kermadec, Astern, Brazen Beau, Exceed And Excel, Frosted, Harry Angel (first yearlings), Holler, Impending, Lonhro, Shooting To Win, Street Boss, Territories

98 / STEVE DAVIS

YOU CAN’T SELL ANYTHING IF YOU CAN’T TELL ANYTHING JESSICA OWERS

Hotel quarantine has been one of the unique experiences of the COVIDaffected world and, with Magic Millions plying its trade through live sales most of the way, there were few better stories to emerge than the fortnight spent on the tenth floor of a Gold Coast hotel by our own Steve Davis.

They say that good stories happen to those who can tell them, so Steve Davis must be a good storyteller.

He’s one of the longest-serving of the Magic Millions auctioneers, and you might argue it’s his job to tell stories. In the rostrum overlooking the sale ring, Davis has just minutes to spin the tale of each young racehorse that jogs in. There’s the pedigree and the page, plus the wit that draws the moss out of wallets around the auditorium. It’s not an easy gig, a quick-fire, high-pressure profession, but it’s storytelling in one form or another.

So in the winter of 2020, when COVID-19 had its first grip on local and international borders, Davis was to embark on one of his best stories yet, and it occurred as he made his way from Auckland to the Gold Coast for the 2020 Magic Millions National Sale. Worldwide, travel had come to a thudding halt and, in Australia, a fortnight’s hotel quarantine welcomed anyone flying in.

“I’ve got footage of Auckland airport from the day we left, and there was just no one there,” Davis says. “It was scary stuff, but it was new territory for everyone.

We’d had to apply to the Australian consulate over here in New Zealand just to be able to get in.”

Davis has been calling auctions on the Gold Coast since 1997, so his presence at the National Sale was critical.

He was one of the four-strong voices on the rostrum, a mainstay when it came to vendor and buyer trust. For weeks, the Magic Millions team had tapped away at getting him to Australia, which included the paperwork behind travel exemptions, quarantine bookings and flights. It was a mess, but it was a mess for everyone.

“Cassandra Simmonds was bringing it all together,” Davis says. “There was a lot of work done in the background just to get people out, and four of us were pulled together to fly over, which was a bit of a rigmarole even getting on the plane. But we had our passes and we had our masks, and we stood a metre apart, all that. It was like something out of a movie.”

Those were the early days of COVID. There was no vaccine, surface transmission was the great unknown, and headlines from the likes of Italy were appalling.

Magic Millions had pushed the National Sale back from its original May berth to July, and it was a feat of mankind that the sale went off at all. On arrival into the Gold Coast, Davis and his cohorts, which included bloodstock agents Marcus Corban, Bevan Smith and Paul Willetts, were hustled onto a quarantine bus, unaware of where they were going and who they’d be with. They were given a nicotine patch and a number for Quitline, and sent on their way.

2022 / 99

“It was like an episode of Squid Games,” Davis says.

“We were given a bus and this bus was our area, and it would dictate where we would end up staying. I was given this thing that said ‘Voco’, and I know all the hotels on Surfers Paradise but I’d never heard of Voco. As it turned out, it was the old Watermark hotel and they’d changed the name of it.”

The Voco hotel is sat along Hamilton Avenue in Surfers Paradise, a busy strip along the tourist trail. Davis had stayed there once when it was the old Watermark hotel, about 12 months previous.

He’d had no balcony or fresh air then, and he got no balcony or fresh air in July 2020 when he bunkered in for two weeks of quarantine.

100 / STEVE DAVIS

“IT WAS VERY REGIMENTAL,” HE SAYS. “THE WHOLE THING FELT LIKE A MASSIVE OVERREACTION TO US, LIKE WE WERE HEADING INTO PRISON OR SOMETHING. WE’D HAD NO KNOWLEDGE IT WAS GOING TO BE LIKE THIS WHEN HE GOT ON THE PLANE IN AUCKLAND, SO WE WERE ALL A BIT SHOCKED, TO BE HONEST.”

Be it Squid Games or a tense episode of Wentworth, the New Zealanders were marched to isolation on the tenth floor of the Voco hotel. Davis was put in room 1020 overlooking the canals, Corban in 1017 with Willetts and Smith down the hall, and the theatrics began.

“On the bus, I’d met this guy called Richard who recognised me from doing racing TV in New Zealand,” Davis says. “He was a Kiwi coming home to the Gold Coast and we’d got talking, so when he was put into the room opposite me, we kind of knew each other already.”

Within a short time of their room doors closing, when no one was supposed to be interacting, Richard had crossed the hall to visit Davis with an armful of cheese, ham, salami and strawberries. He seemed to be the guy that could get stuff, the one you wanted to know. The Morgan Freeman of Shawshank.

“If it wasn’t for Richard, we wouldn’t have got through it to the same extent,” Davis said. “He made it that bit more bearable, and I’ll never forget the last day or so before we were released.

Richard began drinking and Marcus was texting me, ‘your mate’s going off’. I could hear Richard hollering out in the hallway. Steve!

Steve! Where are ya, Steven!”

DAVIS HAS DONE THREE LOTS OF QUARANTINE SINCE COVID TOOK HOLD. IT BEGAN WITH THAT BAPTISM ON THE GOLD COAST, AND HE DID ANOTHER IN PERTH FOR THE FEBRUARY YEARLING SALE, PLUS A RETURN STINT ON FLYING HOME TO NEW ZEALAND. IT’S BEEN CHARACTER-BUILDING AT BEST, AND SOUL-TOPPLING AT ITS VERY WORST.

“If it was a prison floor, he was the guy running it,” Davis says. “He knew everybody’s name down our end within a day, and of course we weren’t allowed to mingle, but at feed time you’d stand in the doorway and have a chat, and I spent most of my time talking to this guy.”

On day two, Richard got found out with cigarettes in a delivery. On day three, the cigarettes were stashed up the clacker of a rotisserie chicken and successfully delivered. To disguise the smoke, he used a COVID mask over the detectors and, when it didn’t suppress the smell, he sent a request to housekeeping for cleaning supplies.

“He was unbelievable,” Davis says. “After a few days, I asked him what he was going to do with all the bread and salami and cheese, and he said he was making toasted sandwiches. He was using the bloody iron, and I fair-dinkum reckon this bloke had been inside.”

Richard denied that he’d ever been in prison, but he did admit to Davis that he almost served time for DUI charges and, as such, he had worn a bracelet. He knew which people to keep onside and how to do it, and within days he had claims of a medical certificate to grant him access to outside walks on the second floor. A little more than nine days in, he was sharing them with Marcus Corban.

Between them, the ‘in-mates’ had a WhatsApp group that kept them going through 14 terrible days. They hung in the doorways, as much for company as air conditioning when the afternoon sun made their rooms hotter than the hinges of hell’s gates. Bevan Smith took to boiling broccoli in the belly of his electric kettle. Each of them got used to the swabs throughout the week and the confinement and claustrophobia, and they even looked forward to the swish and thud of food delivery bags in the hallway.

In Perth, he shared an Airbnb with fellow auctioneer Grant Burns and Magic Millions’ former bloodstock consultant Chris Farrell, and, after home isolation, the trio celebrated its freedom with beers, prawns and laddish good times.

But that was short-lived when a COVID outbreak of just one threw Western Australia into lockdown, not to mention the bushfires that pushed livestock into the shelter of the Magic Millions complex in Middle Swan. For Davis, the whole thing has felt utopian.

“I always found days nine and 10 the worst,” he says. “By day nine, you’re realising that you’re past the halfway mark, but you’ve still got five days to go. It feels like you’ve been there forever, and so having Richard there that first time made all the difference. He was a character.”

In the time since, the pair of friends caught up on the Gold Coast again, and ‘Richard Quarantine’ hadn’t change an inch. His marriage had since collapsed, but he was the same ocker he had been in the Voco, the ineffable character that kicked the tenth floor through isolation. The whole episode will rank as one of Steve Davis’s greatest tales to tell, and he recounts it with all the kinks and comedy that it deserves. As they say, you can’t sell anything if you can’t tell anything, and this auctioneer has no issues there.

2022 / 101

Rebuilding Coast

the

The Gold Coast will come out of the gates storming in 2022 with an arsenal of new attractions ready to reclaim its mantel as Australia’s tourism capital.

102 / REBUILDING THE COAST

From new theme park attractions to Australia’s newest upscale hotel, the Glitter Strip is armed with plenty of fresh product to give it the edge.

The Covid-19 pandemic, which hit in January 2020 and turned life upside down, had a particularly calamitous impact on the tourism industry, which was worth around $6 billion in 2019.

Having lost more than $4 billion in 2020 and at least another $1 billion in 2021, it’s safe to say the past two years are a time the sector, which directly and indirectly employs more than 100,000 people, would like to forget.

But green shoots planted years before the pandemic are set to bloom in early 2022 when border restrictions will become a thing of the past and travellers will again be winging their way back to Queensland.

But now the Gold Coast faces a “knife fight” to secure these travel-starved tourists, with so many other destinations also working to win them over.

Luckily, the city has a big gun which is coming out early: the opening of The Star’s new $400m Dorsett hotel tower on Broadbeach Island.

The Dorsett hotel will open on Boxing Day, with visitors for the 2022 Magic Millions among the first to stay in its 313 rooms.

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NEWLY APPOINTED DORSETT GENERAL MANAGER MICHAEL FOSTER SAID THE HOTEL WOULD HELP RESHAPE THE CITY’S SKYLINE AND RELIEVE THE ANNUAL SUMMER ACCOMMODATION SQUEEZE, WHEN THE COAST’S HOTELS NORMALLY REACH 100 PER CENT CAPACITY. “Dorsett Hospitality International saw a great opportunity within the Australian market to launch its brand, especially on the Gold Coast where we have seen huge growth in recent years and we wanted to capitalise on that,” he said.

“Christmas and new year particularly is when it becomes a major destination and we wanted to support events like Magic Millions and the people who loyally follow those sales and races.”

“The Gold Coast has lacked new hotel product for the past few years and bringing in a new upscale hotel was the mission.”

The 53-storey Dorsett supertower, which is the city’s first new large-scale hotel built since 2018, is chock full of luxury features including state-of-the-art environmental control systems in hotel rooms and a range of Covid-safe measures such as paperless check-in.

There are also rooms designed for mobility impaired guests which including larger layouts and raised levels without stairs.

Mr Foster described the Gold Coast as being “on the cutting edge of a new hospitality frontier” in 2022 by offering features which were not present, even in recently built hotels.

“It’s important for the Gold Coast to have an edge with emerging trends,” he said.

But Mr Foster insisted that, despite its high-end features, the hotel itself was not aimed at the luxury market.

“We are not pitching to the luxury space – We’re going upscale and that’s where we will sit,” he said.

“It is all about building the right experience for our guests and we want to provide a service and culture which is flexible and adaptive.

“There has been a huge focus on boutique experiences recently and while the Dorsett isn’t that, it has character in abundance.

“Its character is shaped by the community in which it resides and it is about immersing our guests in the locations we operate. , and we will deliver this through working with local suppliers, be it brewers and artists who can do installations in the hotel.”

104 / REBUILDING THE COAST

The 15-year hospitality veteran said the Dorsett was different from other hotels because it had been designed and fitted-out to create a bespoke experience unique to the Gold Coast.

“The guests get an authentic taste of the Gold Coast as opposed to the cookie cutter experiences which you get through some other global chains,” he said.

“This is not a case of if you’ve been to one Dorsett, you’ve been to them all. They’re all different.”

Mr Foster was tapped for the General Manager post in February 2021 after successfully leading the opening of Brisbane’s Holiday Inn Express.

His career has taken him across the country in an industry which has changed dramatically since the mid-2000s.

The experienced hotelier said it was critical for accommodation providers to adapt to a reality of living with Covid and what that would mean for travel in the future.

“Anyone building hotel these days has to have (Covid) in the forefront of their mind,” he said.

“Travel is different from what it was two years ago and travellers are more conscious about this, so we have made sure to take all of this into account so we can cater to what will become the travel trends of the future.

“Being part of a progressive hotel company with a strong focus on technology has been exceptionally exciting for me.”

Its location in Broadbeach puts it in the midst of a multi-billion wave of tower developments currently rising around the dining and holiday precinct.

Developers, including Star and its partner Destination Gold Coast Consortium, have focused their efforts on the suburb because of its location close to the beach, Pacific Fair shopping centre and its connection to the soon-to-be-extended light rail network.

And the Dorsett is just the beginning of Star’s new offerings in coming years, with the integrated resort complex already expanding.

Construction began in early 2021 on Epsilon, the Dorset’s $450m sister tower.

The 63-storey supertower will also feature a new hotel and residential offering and is expected to open in 2024.

While construction activity is expected to peak in 2023, it is already beginning to rise rapidly from the ground, with hundreds of workers onsite.

Star has approval from the state government for a $2.3 billion masterplan for Broadbeach Island which will allow for up to seven towers to be built there.

No decision has been made on the final three highrises but an announcement is expected to be made in early 2022.

2022 / 105

106 / KEN LOWE

Thats my horse!

how a taxi ride 40 years on started a burgeoning bloodstock empire Plotting the path of Ken Lowe’s business and racing pursuits in a diagram would require a vast array of shapes and symbols, most pointing skyward Glen Latham He was ahead of the IT curve when it came to office computers in the 1980s. His keen interest in the patterns behind linebreeding could best be expressed with arrows. His introduction to his good friend and business partner, Steve Grant, a circle that starts and ends with a galloper called Bahroona Sahib. Then dotted throughout would be plenty of road signs all pointing to the township of Quirindi.

Whether it is racing as the Carpe Diem syndicate with its involvement in the Newgate stallion partnerships, racing and breeding as Grant Lowe Bloodstock, or successfully selling as a 50% shareholder in yearlings offered under the banner of Grant’s Silverdale Farm, Ken’s success in both racing and breeding leaves the impression it all happened rapidly. He will readily tell you that he is a newcomer to the industry who is trying to learn at a brisk rate, but then his family had strong ties to the inception of the Quirindi Jockey Club in 1946, with his grandfather Pat Lowe acting as honorary secretary. Ken’s own involvement as we know it today had its genesis with a modest investment in a New Zealand horse import when playing football in the mid 1970’s.

Ken’s parents grew up in Quirindi on the road north out of the Hunter Valley. They moved to Sydney during the war and rented at North Sydney. “Dad was a race lover and always had the radio on Saturday morning listening to Ken Howard, Clarence the Clocker and all those people. As a family, I can remember going to the Wallabadah Cup on New Year’s Day, but I didn’t go to the races regularly with dad as I played a bit of football and that was on Saturdays.”

By Gab Nutt

‘Playing a bit of football’ led Lowe to his first brush with racing as an owner. “My first involvement in racing was through the North Sydney Bears Rugby League Club when, in 1976, somebody was offering shares in a horse which had a value of $4,500, so I took two ninths of the ownership. He was registered as Bahroona Sahib (Bahroona), we nicknamed him Bruno, but it wasn’t until the horse had done well that we found out the purchase price from New Zealand was just $1,000!”

As mark-ups go on face value that looked a little on the high side, but it would turn out to be a shrewd investment. “Bruno ran third in the Canonbury Stakes on debut for Ken Tresize, before breaking his maiden the following August at Randwick in the Bank Holiday Handicap. Ken then took him to the Gosford Classic over 1600 metres against Saturday class three-yearolds where he sat last throughout before joining in late, winning, running away, as a 12/1 shot. In those days a $20,000 race was very good money.”

Bahroona Sahib’s victory that day would play a significant role in the long term fortunes of Ken and his family. “I met my wife Maree when I was teaching at Enmore Boys High, and we decided to backpack through Asia. We landed in Kuala Lumpur then travelled through Malaysia, Thailand and then Burma (now Myanmar). Then when back in Kuala Lumpur, we were married at the kitchen table in the presbytery of St John’s Cathedral with the priest, his assistant and two witnesses who didn’t speak English! By the time, we got back to Sydney, all I had was a Valiant Charger I’d bought for 500 bucks at the auctions, a racehorse and definitely nothing in the bank. We were looking for $25K properties around Enmore, Dulwich Hill and Newtown, before they became trendy, which was all we could afford with a small deposit. But winning the Gosford Classic was a life changing moment for the prizemoney. $400 on at 12/1, allowed us to buy a semi-detached house at Clovelly near Gordons Bay in the eastern suburbs. We couldn’t see much water, but we got the sea breeze!”

Bahroona Sahib’s knack of changing Ken and Maree’s fortunes didn’t stop there. “Bruno ran in the Canterbury Guineas, the Rosehill Guineas and acquitted himself well but it was extremely hard, taking on the likes of Belmura Lad and Luskin Star.

He ran in the Champion Stakes for three-year-olds (now the Spring Champion run in September) on Doncaster Handicap day, a race in which I managed to get a trifecta that paid $3200. On the proceeds, Maree and I took leave without pay and backpacked around Europe through their summer. At one stage Bruno was favourite for the Epsom Handicap but he developed a heart issue that required a twelve month

2022 / 107

spell. One of the other part-owners knew Gary Grant, who had a five-acre property at West Pennant Hills when it was pretty much all small farms and took Bahroona in while he recovered. Gary fed him a daily molasses potion that did the trick!”

When eventually, Bruno came back we gave him to John Rosenthal who didn’t gallop the horse on the training track, but he got him fit enough to win three open company races in a row. He was good enough to run third in the Doomben Cup behind Golden Rhapsody and won over $85,000 in prizemoney which would be over a million in today’s money. When he retired, we gave him to the strapper and that was the last we heard of the horse, for some time at least.

But Bahroona Sahib would re-enter the story as we will see later on.

The fact that Ken has the time and resources to invest in what is now his passion traces back to decisions that he and Maree made in the early 1980s when there were three (soon to become four) young children in the Lowe house. A science teacher by profession, he combined his teaching skills and an interest in the then fledgeling computing industry to offer after hours courses at the local TAFE for some extra cash. That interest would morph into a small computer import business that grew and grew, eventually becoming ASI Solutions, a hardware provider with key contracts with various government departments Australia wide. “In 1991 we became the first Australian computer company to go down the Quality Assurance route which made a huge difference when it came to tenders for Federal and State Government contracts. We grew the business wherever we went so when we won contracts to supply to government authorities in, say, Queensland and the Northern Territory, we would open an office there. In New South Wales we won contracts with the Department of Health, Police and Education, on the back of which the business grew quite quickly.”

Probably ASI’s major achievement came when working with Kevin Rudd’s Federal government. “In 2007, a wonderful man we had employed to run our Canberra office approached me saying he had the opportunity to build a data centre there and would we like to be involved? From around 2001 we had been supplying technology that focussed on energy efficiency and that became the basis for our ‘clean and green data centre’ in the capitol. The Federal Government became our tenants using a purposebuilt facility that was energy efficient and had redundancy. What we had designed was really state of the art.”

Over the next five years the data centre grew and required more funding. The Commercial Manager from the bank involved came to Canberra to approve the purchase of property and asked if we would be interested in going to the Darwin Cup in 2013.

He arranged for three couples to go, one of those couples was Steve and Eliza Grant. During a casual conversation between Maree and Steve while in Darwin, the subject of horses cropped up and she mentioned we had only really had one galloper and that was Bahroona Sahib, to which Steve replied, ‘I own that horse!’ The story was the strapper hadn’t been able to afford the horse, so she passed it on to Gary Grant who gave it to his brother… Steve! So, the Bruno ‘circle’ connects some 30 years after he last raced.

“At the time the Bank Manager had taken a 10% share in a horse that Steve had bred called Court Martial

108 / KEN LOWE

Miss (War Pass), but I originally declined Steve’s offer to take up a share myself. On arriving back from Darwin, I had to have eye surgery for a detached retina, and the recovery process meant I had to lay face down for a couple of weeks. With nothing else to do I opened up a TAB account and got into having a few small wagers. In the end, I sent a text to Steve to ask if the 20% was still available? I took it up and she did well, winning five races for Liam Birchley.”

That blossoming friendship with Steve began an exciting new chapter for Ken. “That Bank Manager started a 20 person group called the Dirty Grey Syndicate which Steve and I joined. The idea was the syndicate would buy 10% of four horses but that they had to be grey. The first purchase was 10%, of which we had just 0.5% each, of a grey Sebring yearling up at Widden Stud owned by Bloodstock Agent Louis Mihalyka of Laurel Oak Thoroughbreds. I went to Widden for their annual stallion parade and while there saw this colt, from which I bought the 20% Louis had left for sale. The horse was later named Sir Bacchus who went on to win eight races.”

“Steve and I met up for a coffee one morning and he mentioned that Richard Pegum had offered him shares in a number of horses and I said I’d bought 20% of the Sebring colt. So, we did some horsetrading and I wound up with a share in Dance of Heroes (Danehill Dancer) that did well for us as I’d get a pay cheque from him every two weeks or so.”

That bit of horse-trading would lead to an experience only a handful of Australians have been lucky enough to enter - the winner’s enclosure at Royal Ascot no less. “Among those horses was Kinema (Galileo) who was racing in England. I wasn’t going to go but Richard kept ringing me every two days explaining that Royal Ascot was the Olympics of racing and not everybody gets to have a runner there, you have to go. It was only a week before the race, so I bought two air tickets and we headed over, and for me it has to have been the most exciting win so far. The Duke of Edinburgh Cup is over 2400 metres, the horse was last into the straight, made his run out wide but eventually finished on the inside rail causing some interference as he went past. There was a protest, conducted on the most gentlemanly of terms, and fortunately it was dismissed. It was Ralph Beckett’s first winner at Royal Ascot, and we went back to the

car park afterwards and partied while Ralph and the chap who sold us the horse had their chauffeurs or butler’s serving us drinks! There was lots of food and drink going around and we got to sip from the Cup itself. I also loved the singing and entertainment after the last with the crowd banging out Sweet Caroline, something that should be introduced in Sydney to keep the crowd there for a while. (Given the reception at this year’s The Everest, Ken might get his wish!)

Royal Ascot was such a wonderful experience and for anyone who hasn’t done it, it should be on top of their bucket list!

Ken and Steve have also been on the fantastic ride that Newgate Farm have enjoyed through 2021.

“We were invited to join Henry’s (Field of Newgate Stud) group which has been outstanding. It is focused on him getting his next crop of stallions, is extremely well managed with great people to be associated with, all so friendly and nothing is a problem. Ironically, Fred Moses was Henry’s great, great grandfather on the maternal side and he and my grandfather were foundation members of the Quirindi Jockey Club. I only found out they would have been on the Committee together when I contacted the Club and said I was going to be in the area. The Club arranged for me to meet three people from the same era as my father who would have known my grandfather. I was given copies of documents from the time and when I showed them to Henry we realised our forefathers would have been mates having a couple of beers together just as we were doing at that moment.”

From there the friendship with Steve grew even stronger with Grant creating Silverdale Farm in the Southern Highlands. “I suppose it was only three years ago that he put his mind to bulldozing all the paddocks and putting in the irrigation. I don’t own a cent of Silverdale but I do have 50% of all of the bloodstock on the farm.”

Since making his initial investment in breeding stock, Ken has tried to soak up as much knowledge as possible when it comes to learning about that side of the industry. “I come from a science background and find it fascinating to look at the genetic makeup of superior horses and then match that with statistical data on stallions. I’ve also been studying the works

Top: Gavin Murphy, Ken Lowe, Henry Field & Billy Slater following Aim’s win in the $2m 3YO Magic Millions Guineas.

Top: Stay Inside, winner of the 2021 Golden Slipper.

Left: Bahroona Sahib returning to scale after winning the Gosford Classic.

Opposite page Bahroona Sahib with trainer Ken Tresize and owners.

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of Leon Rasmussen on linebreeding. That it has not been ascertained for certain whether the factors that produce a top quality horse are passed along via the mitochondria or through the other materials present in the DNA I find fascinating.”

Ken and Steve had a significant share in the Laurel Oak raced multiple Gr.1 winner Rebel Dane which led to one of last season’s more remarkable stories.

“To support Rebel Dane I’ve been buying mares and I purchased the Bernadini mare Caves for $1,000. I hadn’t even seen her before she went into the ring, but she was big, the type of physical I wanted to go with Rebel Dane. The subsequent first foal out of that mare is Subterranean who won the Gr.3 Ken Russell Classic which was a pretty big thrill. It also put Rebel Dane on the map and as a result he has a good book this Spring.”

Like all good horses Subterranean has a story behind him and in this case, it relates to Ken and Quirindi. “We sent Subterranean to Matt Dunn with the instruction we wanted to sell half of him for A$15,000 to cover our expenses. One morning a chap called Mitch Lowe was at the track to watch his three-year-old run and our, then, two-year-old kicked its brains in. Mitch is a syndicator and when Matt explained 50% was for sale he said he’d take the lot. Then one day at Randwick I got talking to Mitch’s

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dad Steve and we found out not only did we share the same surname, but both our sets of parents came from Quirindi. It turns out we were related.”

Anyone who has experienced the excitement of having a runner in a major race will tell you it can work the nerves over a bit, but in Ken’s case this year’s Golden Slipper was quite different. “The syndicate had bought into Stay Inside, Profiteer and Artorius and had bought Captivant as a yearling so had four runners in the Slipper and it was a case of which one to keep your eye on. Winning any Gr.1 is a thrill, and this might sound a bit arrogant, but I just expected to win the Slipper as we had three out of the top four in betting and would have been disappointed if we hadn’t. The only question was which of the quartet would win?”

2021 has also been a landmark year for Silverdale Farm and the bloodstock partnership of Grant and Lowe. Ken explained “This was the first year that we sold through Magic Millions in our own right.

Previously John Muir of Milburn Creek sold a few on our behalf but at our first go, we finished as the second leading vendor by average (5 lots sold at an average of $535,000) which I thought was an amazing achievement. We had one lot that held us back a little and that was a Shalaa colt who undoubtedly would have made more if he had sold

after Shaquero had won the 2YO Classic. Amongst the draft was Pantonario (Not A Single Doubt) which we stayed in after we sold it and she ran third on debut in this year’s Gimcrack Stakes (Gr.3).”

Ken clearly has the taste for being part of the excitement Magic Millions sales generate. “Selling on the Gold Coast was fantastic; it was like winning a race every couple of hours! We didn’t have any grand expectations on prices, and they were all there to sell, but when there were bidding wars going on I kept thinking ‘how good is this!’” For this January, we plan to have six to eight excellent quality yearlings for sale.”

The upcoming Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale will be just another step on Ken and Maree’s journey that has taken in Rosehill, Royal Ascot, the Gold Coast and many fascinating places in between, but has at its foundation Quirindi and paying ‘overs’ for a horse named Bruno.

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FIRST CROP YEARLINGS SELLING AT ALL MAJOR SALES IN 2022 · 2018 Longines Worlds Highest Rated Sprinter · Smashed Black Caviar’s Race Record in the Gr.1 T.J. Smith Stakes · Track record in the Gr.1 All Aged Stakes and Canterbury Stakes · Record winning margin of 4.5 lengths in the Gr.1 Golden Rose

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A passion for Italian culture passed down through generations

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Coming from a family of Italian heritage the Gemelli team of James, Alec and Paul Carney were brought up to appreciate good food and most importantly, how to cook it. Whether it be the annual sauce and salami making with Nonno, or simply sharing a glass of wine with family and friends, the brothers have always had a passion for Italian food and culture.

With mostly all imported products from Italy, they’ve created a hearty menu based on food they love to eat at home.

“BEING LOCATED IN QUEENSLAND WE HAVE ACCESS TO SOME OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY SEAFOOD AND MEAT WHICH WE INCORPORATE INTO OUR DISHES. ALL OUR PASTA IS MADE FRESH, IN-HOUSE FRESH DAILY WITH 00 FLOUR & FREE-RANGE EGGS. OUR PIZZA IS WOODFIRED AND COOKED IN A TRADITIONAL WAY.”

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“ALONG WITH OUR FOOD OUR WINE LIST HAS ALSO BEEN AWARDED “ONE GLASS” BY GOURMET TRAVELLER WINE MAGAZINE WITH A RANGE OF HIGH QUALITY IMPORTED AND LOCAL AUSTRALIAN WINE.”

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Set on the Gold Coast’s tourist strip, right across the highway from The Star Gold Coast casino and hotel complex, the rustic setting coupled with a vibrant atmosphere gives the unique experience of a modern Italian establishment. A combination of traditional methods and modern flair has allowed a menu influenced by the many diverse regions of Italy, to deliver the best of Italian culture to Broadbeach.

Gemelli Italian is located at 2685 Gold Coast Highway, Broadbeach.

Open for lunch Thursday-Sunday 12pm3pm and dinner Monday-Thursday 6pmLate, Friday-Sunday 5pm-Late.

Phone 07 5504 7413 to book or visit gemelliitalian.com.au

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Secret Passions GARY PORTELLI Racehorse trainer

Gary Portelli’s ultimate Magic Millions moment is still to come. Although he has won the Magic Millions Cup with Testashadow and the Open Sprint with Straturbo, he wants to win the big race (2YO Classic) one day.

Portelli’s father got him started on his hobby – pigeon racing. “My diversion from racing is to go racing.” The pigeon racing season runs from May until Grand Final weekend with races ranging from 100km to 1,000km and races can involve thousands of birds, although each trainer is restricted to racing a maximum of 25 birds in each race. Portelli once won a race from Bathurst with his bird beating home a field of 6,000 birds. There are a lot of similarities between horse racing and pigeon racing. Pigeon races vary in prizemoney in Australia from $300 to $50,000; while in Europe and China there is more money. “Mr Zhang of Yulong is one of the best flyers in China.

He came to visit my loft one day and his translator was shocked to hear my birds were only racing for prizemoney of $1,200. The weekend before the visit, one of Mr Zhang’s birds in China had won the equivalent of A$400,000.”

There are pedigree theories, sprint races, staying races, theories around the best ways to train birds, and of course, the thrill of winning.

Top quality birds, especially those imported from Europe, can be very expensive, a recent sale of pigeons from Belgium averaged $90,000.

Birds are tracked in their races through a GPS ring on their leg; basically they are driven to the starting point, and when they get home, the GPS is checked for their velocity through the race to determine the winner. “Hygiene is very important because they can pick up diseases from wild birds and they need a clean loft to keep them healthy and fit. It’s a lot of work to keep them healthy. Same as the horses, the more you put in, the more you get out.”

MICHAEL CRISMALE Director of Racing NSW Michael Crismale is a director of Racing NSW and has been involved in race club administration for around fifteen years. He has his own breeding and racing operation and counts his Magic Millions highlight as the sale of his Zoustar filly from Gliding for $600,000 in 2020. The sale improved when “my magic moment became his magic moment” when Crismale’s son sold Head of State (American Pharoah) for $850,000 at the same sale. Crismale outlined how his love of racing and love of football had similar pathways for him. He played “football (soccer)” as an amateur, and began his racing journey by owning shares in horses in small stables. In 2001, Crismale decided to embark on a deeper commitment to racing and attended his first sales series to buy fillies to race and breed.

That commitment led to becoming a director at the Sydney Turf Club, then the merger to form the ATC where he was Chairman for a while.

Outside of racing, Crismale’s working career meant plenty of travel to the UK, where watching Arsenal play live reignited his passion for football.

He took a small ownership share in the newly formed Sydney Football Club in 2005. Why football? It’s the engagement by fans and the match day experience.

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While racing produces a couple of minutes of exhilaration, footballs builds you along a journey through the whole game. “You never forget the big matches and the iconic places you’ve visited.

I’ve been lucky enough to see games at Wembley, and Champions games in Spain. Both football and racing give you that winning feeling often.

Complemented with that, both football and racing give me a sense of community and family, which is one of my strong values.”

SUMAN HEDGE Bloodstock Agent Bloodstock agent Suman Hedge counts his favourite Magic Millions moments as the wins in the sales company’s iconic race by both Capitalist and Sunlight.

The win of Capitalist was a proud moment for Hedge and everyone associated with his sire Written Tycoon and a highlight on the interesting journey Written Tycoon has taken them on. Hedge purchased Sunlight’s sire Zoustar as a yearling, so her win is also a highlight. When asked about his hobbies outside of racing, Hedge laughed. “Before COVID, it was travel and eating out. I love seeing new countries and experiencing new cultures.” As to where Hedge wants to go once travel is accessible again, the choices are varied and interesting. “Croatia looks beautiful.

Friends of ours have enjoyed the natural beauty there, I don’t know the culture so I’d learn a lot by visiting.”

SUMAN WITH DJANGO FREEMAN IN GERMANY 2019

A more racing focused choice for Hedge is Japan because it’s culturally different to here, has wonderful food, and of course the horses.

BEN ALLEN Jockey

JAPAN SELECT SALE, NORTHERN HORSE PARK

“I want to see the way they do things; Shadai Stallion Station, Northern Farms, and the way the crowds love racing. The growth of racing there and the popularity of the sport is astounding. It’s a wonderful thing.

Their breeding programs with the focus on stamina and soundness mean that Japan will be a future reservoir for stamina in the breed. Australia’s focus on speed has weakened the breed here and we will need an injection from Japan, and also Germany who have focused on soundness.” With a hobby curtailed by the COVID pandemic, Hedge spent 2020 doing “Forrest Gump style fitness” which began with walking ten minutes a day and extended out to six hour long walks. Seeing other people’s creativity explode during lockdowns with all the interesting things they’ve shared on social media has also been a quasi-way to travel and experience the diversity of humanity while stuck at home.

Allen doesn’t have a favourite band and he doesn’t play an instrument “unless you count playing trombone badly at school.” He wouldn’t mind learning the ukulele one day.

For Allen, being a DJ is about crowd pleasing, playing beats that make a crowd respond and jump and dance, and his favourite genres of music are house and techno.

The interesting thing about Allen’s hobby is that it’s not really compatible with being a jockey. A jockey’s hours are early mornings and long days, while DJs tend to work late into the night. “I tend to DJ in clubs when I have time off racing, but it’s tricky because DJs get booked a few months in advance, and I need to prioritise riding.” Allen’s other hobby is to breed Angus cattle. Why Angus? It’s a pragmatic choice. “They breed smaller calves and have less trouble calving than other breeds. They are good sound stock and are easy to work with.”

Jockey Ben Allen would love to gain an invitation to ride in the Magic Millions gallop along the beach. “I’ve never been, but it looks so much fun.”

His recent Gr3 winner Sansom (Charm Spirit) was a Magic Millions winner graduate. As to hobbies, Allen has a couple of ways to spend his time away from horse racing; he breeds Angus cattle and he likes to DJ. For someone who adores music and makes his own mixtapes to listen to while doing fitness,

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JAMES JORDAN Form Analyst James Jordan works for Racing.com as a form analyst and his face is familiar to those of us who watch racing television. He currently owns three broodmares and is selling his first yearling (by Shamus Award) at the Magic Millions sale in Adelaide in 2022. When asked about his best Magic Millions experience, he said, “When I was fourteen, I went to the Gold Coast sale. My Dad’s best friend worked for Bart Cummings and we followed him around the sale with Bart explaining what he looked at in each horse. It was an invaluable experience.” What many won’t know about Jordan is that he played in a band when he was at university studying media. The band, which Jordan laughingly says people can look up themselves, had some success. TripleJ liked their first album and they got plenty of airtime which resulted in them playing at the Clipsal 500 one year, as well as at Falls Festival in Lorne Victoria.

They toured a lot on the east coast of Australia, with Jordan playing guitar, bass guitar, and doing some of the singing.

Jordan still plays guitar, mostly for friends and family, and has a few guitars sitting in his office. “If I can’t figure out the form, I’ll pick up a guitar and play for a while. It seems to help.” Having played in a band in front of big crowds was a great grounding for being in front of the camera on racing television.

“Performance is about conquering nerves and learning to be yourself on stage is the hardest part.

It’s the same on television. Playing covers in pubs to small audiences taught me a lot about adapting to a crowd and reading the energy in a room. It’s more fun to play for thirty people who love your music, than to play for 10,000 who are just waiting for Powderfinger to come on stage. The same euphoria comes from doing on course television, six minutes out from the Melbourne Cup with an engaged crowd makes for compelling work.”

SU-ANN KHAW Bloodstock Consultant

GLOBAL GLAMOUR, G1 FLIGHT STAKES PRESENTATION

Su-Ann Khaw, MVRC board member, international bloodstock consultant and racehorse owner, is a foodie.

Her social media feeds are full of wonderful food and plenty of horses. When it comes to Magic Millions, two things stand out for her; the great hospitality from the sale company and from vendors, and the excellent approach to engagement with Asian clientele. “David Chester puts in so much effort to personally engaging with clients across Asia. It’s a real highlight for me. Magic Millions do a good job of making it easy for buyers to get to the sale, have a great time, and want to buy horses. It’s my favourite sale in the Southern Hemisphere due to the timing at the start of the year and Magic Millions always get a strong book of horses from vendors.” Khaw was part of the ownership of Gr1 winning mare Global Glamour (Star Witness) who was a Magic Millions graduate. Lockdown has made going to restaurants difficult, and Khaw has spent more time cooking at home.

SICHUAN CHILLI OIL

Cooking became a passion project that extended into a blog where Khaw shares recipes.

VEAL WITH ROAST ROMANESCO

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With travel soon being back on the table, Khaw is looking forward to revisiting her favourite restaurants; Amamoto in Japan which has two Michelin stars and “great balance between the cooked and sushi elements in their dishes, fantastic”, and 11 Madison Park in New York which Khaw visited before they switched to their plant based menu.

Another favourite was Dinner by Heston when it existed in Melbourne. “Because I travel so much for work, I would always try and find a day to try a new restaurant and eat like a local. It’s a good balance from working and travelling all the time, and a great way to get out of the racing bubble and meet new people.”

GABBY ELLIS Micro Trainer Gabrielle Ellis has a small team of horses at Warwick Farm and calls herself a micro-trainer with typically less than seven horses in work at any point in time.

Born in a racing family, Gabrielle rode trackwork for her father Steve Englebrecht as a teenager, then spent several years travelling the world to gain experience. Group placed city winner Cannyescent (Canny Lad) stands out as one of her best from very few runners. “Racing is so time consuming and you can feel absorbed by it that you end up neglecting yourself. For me, boxing improves my mental health and physical fitness, which helps me handle the demands and pressure of racing.” In her twenties, Ellis and her friend Kathy O’Hara wanted to try a new way to get fit and went to a boxercise class. With both of them being very competitive, they would box each other during the class with enthusiasm until the coach separated them for boxing too hard. From there, Ellis moved into competitive boxing, losing her first fight by a narrow margin. After an extended break, a few friends mentioned that she was still very strong and perhaps she should give boxing another try.

Two-time World Champion Billy Dib coached her for her next fight, which she won, and from there, she moved from being coached in the local park to a proper gym in Greenacre.

“It was a buzz to be part of a bigger team.” Ellis started training alongside Australian amateur champions, spending five nights a week in the gym with two hour sessions each time. Soon the hard work paid off and in September 2019, Ellis won the NSW Novice State title. The COVID pandemic put a dampener on Ellis’ progress in the sport, and while she set up a home gym for fitness, the lack of competition made it hard to find motivation. Now that vaccination rates have allowed gyms to open again, Ellis is keen to get back into the sport that keeps her mentally recharged and ready to take on the challenges of being a racehorse trainer.

CAM RAWILLER Jockey

Rawiller is a licenced greyhound trainer, who currently has three dogs in work, so definitely in the hobby realm. After trackwork each morning, Rawiller has a two hour gap before heading to his job at the races, and he uses that to work his dogs. They require plenty of walking, and he often takes them to the beach.

Galloping them to prepare for racing is vital too, very similar to preparing a horse. As a jockey, Rawiller watches a lot of racing, and as a naturally competitive person, he started to get interested in greyhound racing.

He’s always loved dogs and being a greyhound trainer blends his love of the animal with his competitive spirit.

Jockey Cam Rawiller loves the Magic Millions sales. “I used to go there as a kid and have the whole experience. Horses everywhere, of course, and the whole place is so well set up that everyone has a great time.

It’s an amazing atmosphere, they’ve really nailed it.

It’s a fantastic sale that everyone looks forward to each year.” As a jockey, fitness is a core part of the job, and Rawiller’s hobby provides him a good way to keep up his fitness outside of racing.

“They are such great animals, and so enjoyable to work with.” So far, Rawiller hasn’t bred any of his own, buying his dogs from online sales, but he hasn’t ruled that out for the future. “In horse racing, I’ve always loved following the big sales like Magic Millions, following pedigrees and conformation. In dogs you look for different things, but there are common factors. I’m trying to expand my knowledge across both horses and dogs.”

- Cam had his first winner as a greyhound trainer at The Meadows on 17 November this year with Forcefully.

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STYLE The excitement of The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions Raceday calls for a chic celebration of colour and glamour.

Top-to-toe detail, leaving no element to chance, will give the confidence to execute even the boldest of choices. It’s then that we get those random compliments from strangers that make our day.

Women’s Dresses L to R: Carla Zampatti, Max Mara Women’s Accessories L to R: Morgan and Taylor via David Jones Headband, Nars Bronzer via Mecca, Oroton Cuff, Seed Heritage Hat, YSL Clutch via David Jones, Tom Ford Lip Colour via David Jones Women’s Shoes L to R: Tony Bianco, YSL via David Jones Men’s Suit: Urbanna - Men’s Accessories: M.J. Bale Cufflinks, Urbanna Shoes, Urbanna Pocket Square, Aquila Belt via Myer, Hugo Boss Fragrance

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Gentlemen, the little details matter for you also – be sure to have your suit professionally fitted and factor in alterations, where required. Pocket squares are a given for you with cufflinks and lapel pins adding valuable style kudos.

Above all whatever you wear, wear it with confidence and have fun…after all that’s the spirit of the Magic Millions Carnival. *Items displayed are for inspirational purposes and are available at time of print.

Women’s Dresses L to R: Carla Zampatti, Maje, Isabel Marant via Incu Headpieces L to R: The Two Mrs Grenvilles via David Jones, Morgan and Taylor via David Jones , Morgan and Taylor via David Jones Women’s Accessories L to R: Billini Shoes, Billini Clutch, Oroton Necklace, Tony Bianco Shoes, Olga Berg Clutch via Myer, Oroton Ring Menswear: Urbana Men’s Accessories L to R: M.J. Bale Cufflinks, Urbanna Shoes, M.J. Bale Pocket Square, Ralph Lauren Fragrance, Tag Heuer Watch

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They say you can tell a lot about a person by the shoes they wear and it’s true! If you have a fabulous must-wear pair of shoes, then create your outfit around them and don’t forget to book in for a mani-pedi prior to the day.

Women’s Dresses L to R: Acler via David Jones, Isabel Marant via David Jones, Hugo Boss Women’s Accessories L to R: Morgan and Taylor Headpiece via David Jones, Chanel Lip Colour, Gregory Ladner Clutch via David Jones, Max Alexander Headpiece via David Jones, Kailis Earrings & Ring via David Jones, Olga Berg Clutch via David Jones Women’s Shoes L to R: Christian Louboutin, Mach and Mach via David Jones, Aje Menswear: Urbanna Men’s Accessories L to R: Andrew Williams Belt via David Jones, Shoes: Urbanna, Kailis Cufflinks via David Jones, Urbanna Pocket Square

With the action and adrenalin on the field, guests of the Pacific Fair Magic Louise Chambers has worked in fashion for over 10 years styling individual clients, media personalities, fashion events and photoshoots.

Her approach is to share tips on the science of dressing for each person’s body shape to empower her clients to feel confident when shopping for clothes and navigating new season trends. She works to find your personal style while considering your lifestyle, budget and existing wardrobe.

Louise is available for Personal Styling sessions in-centre at the Gold Coast’s unmissable shopping destination, Pacific Fair. *Items displayed are for inspirational purposes and are available at time of print.

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Millions Polo want to remain cool, calm, and collected while basking in the warmth of the Gold Coast summer and enjoying the marvellous hospitality on offer.

POLO

Think light weight, breathable fabrics in cool-tothe-eye tones – linens and cottons will be especially favoured with colours that reflect the surrounds – the blues of the coastal waters, yellows that bring their own sunshine, complemented by effortlessly chic neutrals and earthy tones.

LO

Accessories will be the order of the day for the stylish and sun smart – sunglasses and broad brim hats plus jewellery – sophisticated pearls or statement metallics will add glamour.

Cross body bags or clutches with wrist straps are perfect for keeping balance for the divot stomp and lastly, a spritz of your favourite summery scent before you leave home will keep you feeling fresh throughout the day.

Women’s Hats L to R: Morgan and Taylor via David Jones, Morgan and Taylor via Myer, Helen Kaminski via David Jones Women’s Dresses L to R: Polo Ralph Lauren, Oroton, Carla Zampatti Women’s Jewellery L to R: Kailis Earrings via David Jones, Oroton Cuff & Earrings Women’s Sunglasses: Oroton - Women’s Bags L to R: Olga Berg via David Jones, Oroton, Oroton - Women’s Shoes L to R: Billini, Wittner, Sandro Paris Men’s Accessories: Rayban Sunglasses via David Jones, M.J. Bale Belt, Milana Hat via David Jones, Ralph Lauren Fragrance, Urbanna Pocket Square Menswear L to R: Urbanna Jacket, M.J. Bale Shorts, Hugo Boss Shirt, Hugo Boss Jacket, M.J. Bale Shirt, Hugo Boss Pant - Men’s Shoes L to R: Hugo Boss, Urbanna

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Beer’s Berlin

One town, Albury-Wodonga, divided.

Steve Moran

“I’ve cried but only in the shower…and that doesn’t count, does it?” said Mitch Beer as he reflected on the trials of a border-straddling trainer over the past two years.

From the bushfires of late 2019 to the emerging pandemic in early 2020 it has been a testing time for the young horseman.

Brent Crawford, Beer’s Administration manager, says it’s been akin to living astride the Berlin Wall.

“One town, Albury-Wodonga, divided. It’s like we were split by the Berlin wall. Staff on both sides.

The rules constantly changing between New South Wales and Victoria. It was extremely difficult for everyone, especially Mitch who’s handled it so well all things considered,” Crawford said.

Most of us have empathised, from afar, with any border business operators whose commercial and personal lives have been even more complicated than the majority of the nation’s population.

In Beer’s case, the complications extended beyond staff to the management of 50 odd horses many of which he lost when it became impossible to relocate them from Victorian farms or nearly impossible to run them on tracks south of the Murray.

His duo annus horribilis began with a moratorium on running his horses anywhere as they were adversely affected by a bushfire-smoke engulfed Albury; extended to relocating horses from bushfire affected areas to eventually having to acquaint himself with Covid-19 rules and regulations on almost a daily basis.

“I’d make an instant coffee at home, drive to Mugachino in Albury to get a “real one” and while I waited for them to open at 5 (am), I’d be checking for any updates on the Covid rules and regulations and checking the bank balance which was usually depressing.

“The hardest part was the feeling that I was managing this on my own. Not that I didn’t have great support from people like Brent, many of my owners and the staff but the whole time you’re thinking you can’t let the staff know how grim things are looking,” Beer said.

BC - before Covid - life had been looking grand for Beer. The winners had flowed freely in the 18 months since his move to Albury from Mornington where he says he’d been miserable.

130 / MITCH BEER

That’s no longer his mood nor disposition despite the misery which has followed AD - after division of state borders.

And not a state of mind you’d associate with the trainer who’s built a strong social media following with his often amusing or irreverent posts. Chris Waller may have ten times as many horses but only twice the number of Twitter followers.

The restrictions on movement, of course, became the biggest nightmare for those dwelling on one side of the Murray River but working on the other.

This was especially so for Beer and his fellow Albury trainers.

It wasn’t just employees disadvantaged but also contractors including veterinarians and farriers.

And then horses, after a second wave of Covid-19, in Victoria in 2020, prompted Racing NSW to ban the transportation of horses into NSW. All the while, the Beer’s bank balance was diminishing and - all the while - he had to respond on the fly, as the communication of bans imposed was almost non-existent from the governing body.

Beer’s Victorian-based staff relocated in a matter of hours. More than 20 horses could not. They had to be transferred to other trainers. Another financial drain ensued.

“When the border closed mid-way through last year, we had very little notice to move some key staff in to Albury. We were very lucky to find a suitable AirBNB. At one stage, it looked like the caravan park might be our only option.

“These people willingly moved away from family and partners for three or four months. They were and are amazing but it was another financial burden for Mitch,” said Crawford who continues to provide administrative services for Beer, and many other industry participants, under the banner of Elite Racing Solutions.

Beer recalls that three cabins at the local caravan park did, indeed, house his staff on night one of the lockdown.

“The police and government authorities had booked out the hotels,” he said - as if they were doing their best to exacerbate local frustration.

“It was a crazy time. We’re trying to run with four sets of rules - from two state governments and two racing bodies.

“LOOK, AND IT’S NOT JUST BEEN US, BUT ALL THE TRAINERS HERE IN ALBURY. IT’S AMAZING HOW THE STAFF FROM VARIOUS STABLES HAVE HELPED EACH OTHER OUT.

2022 / 131

“We’d all joke we were living “the Unstable Life”, a mockumentary of Big Brother. We had eight young staff members living in the one house. The TV networks might have paid big bucks for it,” Beer said.

Beer says there was little assistance from any quarter and massive frustration as the ban did not apply to all horses.

“I think there were 18,500 positive COVID-19 cases in Victoria and not one of them was traced back to the transportation of a thoroughbred racehorse,” he said at the time. “That’s a statistic that got lost somewhere in the system.”

At the time of writing, complications remained in terms of visiting family and racing horses south of the Murray but Beer says the whole experience has had its positives.

“Rather bizarrely, I feel re-energised. Covid-19 has been the first real business hurdle I’ve had to overcome. It was out of my hands.

“I’m not a “woe is me” person and the losses we’ve endured will average themselves out over the next few years. We’re in a much better place now compared to where we were 12 months ago,” he said on the eve of Victoria’s stringent late 2021 lockdown easing.

He’s built a strong ownership base and is looking forward to 2022 and beyond.

“We’ve gone through a lot of rigmarole and it’s incredible what becomes normal. But we had to deal with it, as hard as it was, when we had half our horses on either side of the border and you could just about throw a rock from one to the other but you couldn’t transport them.

“Look, and it’s not just been us, but all the trainers here in Albury. It’s amazing how the staff from various stables have helped each other out.

“I’m not sure you’d say it’s been a roller-coaster because there hasn’t been many ups and I’m not going to say it’s been character building but it has made me realise how much I want do this because there’s been plenty of days when it would have been easier to just say “bugger it,” Beer said.

Beer has a plan. He has no desire to compete with the leviathan stables in terms of numbers but certainly wants be, on occasions, competing against them.

His success in Sydney’s Highway races has underlined his ability to find the right horse for the right race.

“We’re building a clientele to buy better horses and who doesn’t want to buy a nice, well bred yearling but there’s nothing wrong with the tried horse we can identify to win a Highway or even aim at the Kosciusko. Win a Highway and there’ll be three new horses in the stable,” he said.

Sunrise Ruby was something of stable standardbearer this year, winning three on end including a $100,000 Highway at Randwick and took her place as a well fancied Kosciusko runner but was repeatedly blocked for a clear run in the straight in that grand final.

Susan Langdon, the mare’s breeder and part-owner, has been one of many who has offered the stable significant support.

“I met Susan when I was working with Jason Warren and we bought Sunrise Ruby’s half sister Esprit Joy who ran second at Sandown, to Tawteen, at her second start but was then bitten by a snake and died.

“Susan was a client who’s become a good friend despite the fact I ring her with bad news 90 per cent of the time. She gave me two horses to train even before I had my licence. Paid my electricity bill when I started out. She’s a lawyer who helped me through the Covid saga. I might have finished up in jail otherwise,” he said.

Beer’s Echuca Cup success with Hanger, who was raced in New Zealand by Cambridge and Waikato Studs, has broadened his ownership base.

“I’m always on the phone to the New Zealand breeders. They probably think “who’s this annoying kid from Albury” but I persevere.

“We’ve got a Savabeel gelding out of a half sister to Queensland Derby winner Brambles for Waikato and a nice filly from Trelawney who are both unraced and showing some promise.

“I think, I hope, that they respect what we’ve done in a relatively short time; that we’re new and keen and having a go,” he said.

The support of Victorian owners and breeders Steve and Sally Watkins has also been significant. Steve Watkins famously trained 250/1 chance Abaridy to win the 1986 Caulfield Guineas.

“Steve’s been a great supporter of the stable and stuck despite the fact that we had a lot more bad luck than good at the start. It’s humbling really to get some very nice horses from a man who’s a Group 1 winning trainer himself. I met him through Sally as we spell horses at her Willaroon Park property which is about an hour from us,” he said.

Mitch’s Twitter feed will keep you laughing. Follow him @beermitchell

132 / MITCH BEER

Beer certainly has no regrets about his move from Mornington and believes that “out of town” trainers are better placed now than they’ve ever been.

“Maybe 15 to 20 years ago, you couldn’t have hoped to get nice horses to train if you weren’t at Flemington or Caulfield or Randwick but that’s changed plus the facilities here (Albury) are great and it’s less frantic. Albury’s a fantastic place to live,” he said.

Lockdowns and the on-line experience have also altered the complexion of racing according to Beer.

“You can now deliver an excellent product, training a racehorse from just about anywhere. There’s plenty of cheque books between Sydney and Melbourne.

“These days you get fantastic coverage of even the lesser meetings and people have become more connected via the TV coverage.

“Clients certainly want to be kept in touch via emails and videos and we’ve taken that to another level through the pandemic and I believe the demographic of people using social media has also changed through Covid. People, of all ages, are getting their news and Covid updates via social media,” he said.

Beer says that he has worked to develop a sense of inclusion and connection so that all clients take some delight in seeing the success of others.

“Twitter’s definitely worked for us because we haven’t tried to use it as a marketing tool. It’s just been fun and people have engaged with that,” he said.

Despite the tribulations of the past two years, Beer is focused on what’s ahead.

“I WAS LOOKING DOWN THE BARN THE OTHER DAY AND THINKING I COULD HAPPILY DO THIS FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. GOOD OWNERS, GOOD STAFF AND OUR STOCK HAS GOT BETTER AND BETTER IN THE THREE YEARS SINCE WE SET UP IN ALBURY,” HE SAID.

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LET’S GET LOUD! When Gary Cunningham decided to name the family’s first thoroughbred purchase after his wife, it did not take him long to come up with the perfect tribute... “Light Up The Room”.

Which says much about the personality of Lorilie Cunningham, effervescent and passionate, she brightens the day of each person who meets her.

A woman boasting an impressive and varied resume, Lorilie is a relative latecomer to the racing game but the sport is lucky to have her. For in a short time she and Gary have contributed not only financially with significant investment, but also to the image of racing at a time when there has been a definite aura of negativity about.

“When I started racing horses and talking to people about it so many would say to me ‘oh how can you do that, racing is so cruel.’ But I knew in my heart that it was not.”

And so instead of merely defending racing with words, she set about seeing what it was about racing’s image that fuelled the detractors - one of the main misconceptions being that owners simply use their horses for glory and cash (every long-time owner has a bit of a chuckle at that idea) with no thought to long term welfare.

“But what I have found is that most trainers and owners tend to be very passionate about their horses,” she said, citing trainer Tony Gollan’s wife Jane who - after years of helping to re-home the stable’s horses - has channelled considerable energy into the establishment of the Transitioning Thoroughbreds Foundation.

136 / LET’S GET LOUD

Putting retired horses through a 12 week reeducation programme in order to ascertain their suitability for other disciplines, Jane has been funded mainly by owners but would like to do more - which is why Lorilie stepped in.

By establishing “Well Groomed Racing,” an organisation that sets out to “change public perceptions about and showcase the deep love and respect of the animals prolific throughout the industry... and champion their post-racing life.”

With the twin aims of fundraising and increasing interest in racing, Lorilie organised and hosted a very successful event at an Eagle Farm meeting in September.

“It was just an amazing day,” she enthused. “It raised funds for Jane who is hoping to spend the money on helping owners and horses in regional Queensland whilst it also brought new people into racing.”

“We had a lot of people who had never been to a race meeting before and the feedback since has been great, many of them looking forward to returning to the track and enjoying carnival time.”

2021 / 137

THE TALK OF THE TOWN IN BRISBANE BACK IN FEBRUARY WAS THE “LET’S GET LOUD” EVENT HELD AT THE CITY HALL, AN EXTRAVAGANZA OF MUSIC, DANCING AND COLOUR.

Fund-raising is not new to Lorilie who has transferred her success in the business world (more on that soon), taking her skill sets to the philanthropic sphere.

It is a cause that Lorilie is passionate about, noting that calls to the service’s hotline “increased over 50% during covid.”

The talk of the town in Brisbane back in February was the “Let’s Get Loud” event held at the City Hall, an extravaganza of music, dancing and colour. All organised by Lorilie who also took part, happy to be up there on stage with the talent strutting her stuff!

Also involved in fundraising for male mental health issues, Lorilie certainly has her fingers in many pies - also thoroughly enjoying her role as management committee member for The Little Red Company, a Brisbane based musical theatre group that has staged a number of highly successful productions.

All part of the good fun and good aims of the “Dancing CEOs” group of which Lorilie is a proud member... an organisation in which “brave business leaders swap the boardroom for the dance floor to end domestic violence.”

Lorilie is a record breaking fundraiser for the group which raises money for Women’s Legal Service Queensland (for whom Lorilie is an ambassador) which provides free advice to women affected by domestic violence.

138 / LET’S GET LOUD

Drive has always been something that has come naturally to Lorilie who even dedicated the first ten years of her working life to something she did not particularly enjoy - accountancy.

“I started off at the University Of Queensland studying journalism but it was during a time of budget cuts and the course fell apart.”

Not wanting her time of study to go to waste she transferred to another course, not even sure years later why she chose commerce, laughing as she said “I went into it completely naive in regards to just how boring and dry it could be!”

But maybe it was just meant to be, her time in finance proving a valuable education for her future business and charitable endeavours.

And what success she (and her family) have enjoyed, proving a dab hand at whatever she sets her mind to doing.

Such as designing and selling her own (very vibrant) clothing and establishing and running with her daughter Stephanie Rooke the homewares boutique “Happiness Place.”

And then there is the decade spent building up a highly respected business in, of all places, Nashville Tennessee!

“My husband was managing health care centres here in Australia and during that time noticed how differently the discipline of physiotherapy was being practiced here than to aboard.”

Whilst now permanently based back home (with Gary remaining on the Board Of Directors), the Cunninghams have set their sights on another venture... which brings us to Lorilie’s horse racing story!

America in particular - physiotherapy there at the time (the mid 1990’s) conducted with an “exerciseand-a-hotpack” approach. And so the seeds of a business idea were sown - to take highly skilled Australian practitioners to the United States.

Whilst she and Gary have been long time casual horse racing fans (a younger Lorilie heading to the occasional race meeting with friends), the idea of serious involvement was not something they really considered until one day thinking it would be nice to visit the Magic Millions Sales.

An idea which saw the birth of “Results Physiotherapy” which now has 250 locations spread across twelve states. The Cunninghams played a big part in running the company (Lorilie overseeing the financial side) for ten years based in Nashville, the couple later working from Australia with regular trips north as their young family made their way through their school years.

“We had just partially sold our American business and we happened to be at the Gold Coast in early January so I said to Gary, ‘why don’t we go out and have a look?’”

“He walked out of the sales office, greeted us with a big smile and told us how best to buy a horse!”

Securing a table to watch the action, they began chatting with a lunchtime neighbour... Tony Gollan.

It did not take a great deal of arm-twisting for the Cunninghams to be talked into buying a horse and on the advice of Tony and agent John Foote an attractive filly by the dual W.S Cox Plate winner was secured.

On June 6, 2018 Light Up The Room made her debut at the Gold Coast. Gary was overseas and his and Lorilie’s kids either away or busy. And so Lorilie headed to the track by herself, on that relatively quiet winter Wednesday cheering up a storm!

First port of call was the sales office, enroute to where they came across Magic Millions Bloodstock Manager Clint Donovan.

2021 / 139

Light Up The Room wins a 3YO Handicap at Doomben pictured with Tony Gollan trainer, Brad Stewart jockey, strappers from Gollan Racing and family members Gary, Mitch, Stephanie and Julian.

“I REMEMBER WATCHING HER MAKE HER RUN IN THE STRAIGHT AND THINKING ‘OH MY GOD SHE IS GOING TO WIN!’”

“I was screaming there all by myself and proudly telling strangers ‘that’s my horse!’”

As anyone in racing knows - one’s first horse winning their first start, well that is a recipe for addiction and the Cunninghams certainly haven’t looked back. They derived great pleasure from Light Up The Room’s career, one which saw her win two city races - earning black type with placings at Group 3 and Listed level.

And now Light Up The Room is the dam of the first Cunningham foal, a Lonhro colt who Lorilie is just “dying to see!”

Recently returning a positive pregnancy test to Capitalist, Light Up The Room calls Ridgmont Farm in the Hunter Valley home and of course during covid border closures, a visit at the time of writing had not yet been possible. The first meeting is bound to be an emotional one!

140 / LET’S GET LOUD

The ideally located Scone property was secured early last year by a partnership consisting of Andrew Duneman, Neil Douglas and Cunningham Thoroughbreds.

They now own several well related broodmares within the partnership, as well as a few of their own whilst also racing a number of racehorses with the Tony Gollan stable - seeking the advice of industry expects such as agent Jim Clarke.

Whilst horses bring great joy to Lorilie there are other aspects to racing that she relishes, the “wonderful people from all walks of life” she has met and the way the shared passion brings her family together.

Son Mitchell heads Cunningham Thoroughbreds whilst Xavier has gained invaluable experience spending time at Godolphin (currently working at the Gollan stables whilst completing his law degree)... making this breeding venture most definitely a family one.

“I FEEL SO BLESSED THAT WE CAN ENJOY THIS TOGETHER,” SHE SAID. “MY SONS WERE BORN A DECADE APART SO TO FIND SOMETHING THAT THEY CAN BOTH FIND A PASSION FOR IS JUST WONDERFUL. THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN REALLY POSITIVE FOR US AS A FAMILY.” The smaller aspects of the process of racehorse ownership have also been enjoyed by the family such as designing the silks and naming the horses.

Known for her flair and a deep abiding love of all things bright and colourful (you will not miss her on race day!), Lorilie was at first keen to have eyecatching colours for the family silks but realised that other may be keener on the more subdued.

“I liked the idea of something dazzling, gold and purple! But Mitchell’s tastes run a bit more to the classical and I was happy to come to a compromise.”

And she is very happy with the royal blue/gold striped silks agreed upon - “they look very striking,” she said.

Meanwhile the family’s horses are named by a mixture of historical or family meanings. “Many are named after our children and grandchildren and their interests whilst Gary as someone who loves history and reading puts a lot of thought into the meanings of names - some of which may not be all that obvious to others!”

One wonders after talking with Lorilie just how she fits in all of her interests and passions but where there is a will there is a way and she loves every minute of her day.

“I am so busy all the time,” she said, “but I feel privileged to be in the position that I can do so many things.”

2021 / 141

RACEDAY Faces

142 // SOCIAL RACEDAY 142 SCENE

2022 // 143 143 2021

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2022/ 145 2021

GAVEL FALLS

BY GLEN LATHAM

Ever so occasionally in someone’s working life, the fog shrouding the future lifts and the road ahead lays wide and open before them.

For Clint Donovan and his fledgeling, family owned, Donovan + Co, it took just one phone call for the path to clear leading to the next exciting phase, a strategic alliance with Magic Millions that blends the numerous skills he has honed since childhood with the company’s reputation for outstanding service.

The announcement in March that Clint was to take a step back from his roles at Magic Millions to scratch an itch in the property market came as a surprise to many. He was known as a mainstay holding the gavel at every Magic Millions sale for so many years and as a trusted advisor within the company’s Bloodstock Department. But then, having spoken to Clint, it is almost as if this step along the path to Donovan + Co being the go-to business when selling equine properties, was preordained.

Clint’s professional life owes much to his upbringing in Grafton in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales.

“Not that it was the buzzword back then, but I grew up in a ‘boutique’ livestock and property business.

Mum and Dad had their own Stock + Station agency in Grafton with a sale yard and a property arm as well. Growing up in that environment instilled in me the ethos of the independent, family business, so in a way I have followed in my father’s footsteps. It was those familiar values of a family owned business that originally attracted me to working at Magic Millions.”

While being family educated in the arts of the Stock and Station Agent, Clint was developing an affinity with horses. “I grew up on the back of a horse at rodeos and camp drafts, mustering and so on. My love for the Thoroughbred came through working for Stuart Ramsey of Turangga Farm in my late teens.

He took me on and then sold me a share in a horse that raced on Magic Millions day which is when I discovered the thrill of selling Thoroughbreds at a Magic Millions auction. From that day on I’ve had a connection with Magic Millions, and I shake my head at how lucky I’ve been. I love the industry and the people involved and it has been amazing to be part of it full time. I’m delighted that I’ll continue to have a relationship with Magic Millions as a consultant and auctioneer.”

The unique skills of a good auctioneer have their value across various strands and Clint eyed the property market with interest. “The property journey isn’t a new one for me having dabbled here and there, on and off over the years, putting a few different deals together for different parties. But I never really saw the opportunity to go out and do it on my own until my late thirties when I thought I’d really love to be doing something for myself like my father and mother did.”

146 / CLINT DONOVAN

“I looked at a couple of businesses to buy in the residential market around where I lived, and I thought I could reinvent the wheel and do it better by implementing some cool changes. What I hadn’t really appreciated at the time was the value of the database of clients I had in my phone and the goodwill I had earnt over fifteen years at Magic Millions. It wasn’t until Murray Murdoch of Figtrees Farm called and basically said ‘you are well respected in the bloodstock industry, you know what you are doing with property, you are a great auctioneer and you’ve learnt a lot with marketing at Magic Millions, maybe you could sell my farm for me?’ That phone call changed my path from conquering the Burleigh Heads residential market, which we may still do in time, to delivering a specialist service to the equine industry.” And suddenly the metaphoric fog had lifted.

Clint doesn’t hesitate when asked how important that conversation was. “I am truly fortunate that Murray slapped me in the face by way of a phone call effectively saying, ‘hey Clint can you sell my multimillion dollar farm?’

I’VE NOW WOKEN UP TO THE FACT THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR SOMEONE WITH RESPECT IN THE BLOODSTOCK INDUSTRY, ALSO WITH BROAD RURAL AND EQUINE KNOWLEDGE, WHO CAN CAPITALISE ON A SPECIALIST MARKET THAT REALLY ISN’T BEING CONCENTRATED ON. I find myself in the enviable position of being able to do what I’m good at for my business while maintaining a strong connection with Magic Millions.

I’ll still be at the sales, still be auctioneering and still appear on social media which really complements the list of high net worth potential buyers that I might know. There is an immediate trust there which is most important as the key indicator of a good agent or agency, that I see, is that their clients trust them.”

The benefits to all that the synergies Magic Millions and Donovan + Co bring are readily apparent. “This has evolved into a strategic alliance with Magic Millions with the two businesses complimenting each other perfectly. I bring the specialty knowledge and background in property transactions, and they bring one of the most respected brands right across Australia, a huge database of clients and a massive social media following which is paramount in the property game at present. The enquiries we get via social media at the moment far outweigh traditional platforms.” And when asked just how broad a market the alliance is targeting Clint sees unlimited opportunities; “There are hundreds of equine properties in South East Queensland alone, from a five acre equine enthusiast farm up to large scale commercial operations like Figtrees, and if they were to ever come up for sale, most importantly the client would benefit hugely from the combination of Donovan + Co and Magic Millions.”

Clint very much sees the alliance as another outlet for Magic Millions’ strong customer service ethos. “This is another way in which Magic Millions services their clients. If for any reason, be it upscaling, downscaling, selling your equine property investment, be it a set of stables or a horse farm of any scale, it is an extension of the service that Magic Millions can offer.

Our intention is to service the South East Queensland market, but with Magic Millions having offices in Adelaide and Perth, and a worldwide database that is pretty much unrivalled, the possibility is there to go nationwide when the opportunity arises and to do a great job for our clients when we do.”

It sounds like the potential for Magic Millions and Donovan + Co is boundless, and there’s not a skerrick of fog in sight!

ON A WINNER

2022 / 147

Ladies and Gentlemen, I’d like to have your attention please.

Now we are equals Heather Brown Pascoe

Look around the Magic Millions auditorium. Can you see all the women sitting at the tables, the owners and the buyers, the trainers and the jockeys? Can you see the syndicate bosses, the shareholders, the risktakers and the dreamers?

Equals. We are fast becoming a sport of equals, and that’s bloody marvellous, especially for those of us who were here back when the world was flat and women were the sideshow in the Sport of Kings.

Back in 1989 - yup, that’s thirty-two years ago - I flew up from Sydney to write a story on the Magic Millions for The Weekend Australian Colour magazine.

My editor, Peter Blunden thought it would be thoroughly entertaining to cover all that Eighties glamour and take a light-hearted look at it.

It was the 1980s era of glitz and glamour and Magic Millions were determined to show me a good time.

The night I arrived at my suite at the Marina Mirage I couldn’t see the bed for flowers. My shutters opened onto a dreamy moonlit beach and there were so many bottles of French champagne I thought about taking a bath in the stuff.

I had been invited to judge the fashions of the field and Magic Millions generosity knew no bounds. I was chauffeured to the track in the back seat of a pink Cadillac and the driver, a good old Queensland boy wearing a jaunty straw pork-pie, played the Best of Charlie Pride on the car stereo and sang along to Kiss an Angel Good Morning.

I was feeling pretty good about myself until I stepped out at the track.

The fashion was flash cash, all bright and glittering and I was pathetically underdressed.

This was not the place for simple dresses. My nails were too short, my heels were too low and my fascinator looked as if it had been torn from a mosquito net.

In the time-honoured tradition of Miss World, the contestants for Miss Magic Millions were going to be judged wearing swimsuits and bikinis.

For one moment I did a double take and assumed it might have been a cultural tribute to Paula Stafford and the Meter Maid days.

148 / NOW WE ARE EQUALS

I simply had no idea what it had to do with racing.

My story in the Weekend Australian was a howling success. The readers loved it. Peter Blunden and I still roll around with laughter when we talk about it.

Magic Millions sent me the largest bunch of thankyou flowers I’ve ever seen in my life. No publicity was bad publicity back in the Eighties. Money, sex and glamour ruled. The fearful, Covid-crippled world we now find ourselves in 2022 is dull by comparison.

It has been a long, hard haul for women to be taken seriously in the thoroughbred breeding and racing industry.

If you look back through history, you will understand it took a long time for women to be given the right to do most things. They had to chain themselves up in public places to get the right to vote, to get the right to drink, to get the right to control their own bodies.

Somebody always wanted to keep the ladies on the leash.

When I was a child, women were not even allowed to go to a public bar. You saw the yellow line painted on the floor and you watched your intelligent, stylish mother and her friends having to sit separately in the lounge to drink their shandy at a country hotel after the races. Then they had to stand outside and wait on the footpath for the men finishing a beer at the bar.

The little girls who witnessed that knew what it meant to be treated as a second-class citizen.

Thankfully, the wheel has turned. Those same girls grew up to became judges and doctors and CEOs and Chairperson of the Board, the women who wrote the front page, the women who stood for parliament, the women who made the movies, taught the children, told the stories.

They might show a bit of silver in the hair these days, but they still remember.

Which might explain why so many women who grew up in racing grew up angry. About the way they saw women being treated. About all the games they were forced to play.

We were given compensations for being nice.

There was Fashions of the Field where you could sip champagne and twirl around. If you were Miss Australia - somebody pretty and important - you could sash the winner or present the trophy rugs.

You were even allowed to work behind the bar pulling beers or serving scones and cream.

In the end, it was smarter to find yourself a man who went racing. Mrs Matrimonial somehow made you more legitimate.

Women were not allowed to train horses or ride in races. The more determined could own a share in a horse or own a mare and breed a foal. The administrators of racing often made exceptions for those who had enough money.

Career opportunities were strictly limited. Women were mostly relegated to being strappers and grooms. They could answer the telephone as chirpyvoiced receptionists and bring the morning tea into the board room for the gentlemen.

They were the rules. Don’t cause trouble. And put your lipstick on.

Eventually - at the same pathetically slow speed that dripping water makes a hole through sandstone things began to change.

On a warm, nondescript Saturday afternoon in October 2021, the entire card at Toowoomba races was ridden by women. It made the newspapers, but it was no big deal. Except for the fact that it happened.

There are women breeders such as Jan Clark at Daandine Stud near Warwick who bred Written Tycoon, currently the Champion General Sire of Australia. If that wasn’t enough, then she also bred his son Capitalist, currently the Champion 2YO sire of Australia. That’s no big deal, either, except for the fact that it happened.

There are now hundreds of women trainers established all over Australia from Gai Waterhouse to the new kid on the block Annabel Neasham - old blood, new blood. There are also scores of emerging female pre-trainers, women syndicators, women track commentators, women form commentators.

Ultimately, there’s an inescapable economic reality facing the Australian breeding and racing industry and that’s the desperate shortage of staff. This will force the greatest social change of all, exactly the same as what happened in World War Two when women were forced to step into exclusively male jobs in the factories.

SO HERE COME THE LADIES, FOLKS. HANDS AND HEELS.

For so long the industry has been built on the blood, sweat and tears of a virtual underclass of women strappers, stable hands, receptionists and cleaners.

They have mostly been poorly paid for their talent and their commitment and their selfless devotion dismissively referred to as ‘girls and their horses.’

There are still very few women at the pointy end of the totem pole in areas such as racing administration, stud management and in the major auction houses.

The question is this: where are all the leading women agents and auctioneers, anyway? Who said they lacked knowledge or that the female voice lacked authority?

Go tell that to all the leading auctioneers at the major art houses like Christies and Sotheby’s right around the world - auctioneers who also happen to be female - and they will laugh at you.

There are so many good reasons why our sport needs greater female participation.

For a start, women are intuitive. They have an instinctive bond with horses, simple as that. A horse can pick up a human heartbeat from a couple of metres away. They can smell fear and they can pick idiots from fifty paces.

The great American horseman Ray Hunt once said “The horse knows. He knows if you know. He also knows if you don’t know.”

So here’s another truth for you. While it’s always been a tough industry for women to be taken seriously, there’s a hunch that things changed for a couple of reasons.

Women have been determined and dogged and mostly, they made it on their own merits. There’s another reason that nobody talks about nearly enough.

All the good men out there - the fathers and brothers, husbands, partners, mentors - the men who genuinely love women, men who want to see them bloom. And these are the wonderful men who have stepped up and became our champions.

Heather Brown Pascoe comes from a cattle and sheep station family in North West Queensland who also bred and raced two Melbourne Cup winners. She has spent a lifetime racing and breeding horses.

Along with her husband Dr David Pascoe, they operate a small high quality brood mare band at Plaintree Farms on the Darling Downs.

My beloved friend Darryl Gollan was not only a great trainer and horseman. His gift was nurturing the insecure and the fragile. He was a master of delicate, fractious two year olds - and he was a master of helping nervous young women jockeys develop their careers.

Darryl’s son Tony - the leading trainer in Queensland - is no different. His stable uses a fleet of female jockeys and women hold senior management roles throughout his stable.

2022 / 149

150 / THE VET

the light Shining on an unsung Sale hero Katrina Partridge

On sale day, as a record priced yearling is knocked down to spontaneous applause, a tidal surge of attendant media, and a beaming buyer there is one person not standing ringside. That individual has been instrumental in getting that yearling to sale day but rather than soak up the limelight they are back at the farm doing what they do so well - caring for the health of the equine herd as a whole and ensuring the next sales class is on track for success

They are the stud’s veterinarian.

One of Australia’s leading names in this area is recently retired Dr John Freestone BVSc, DACVIM (LAIM), FRCVS, MACVSc - a man defined by many as ‘irreplaceable’.

Dr Freestone [John] has embodied handson world’s best veterinary practice, and shared his dedication and commitment with the many people he has worked with, taught, trained and mentored throughout his distinguished career.

John says that the role of a stud veterinarian can be summarised as someone who is always available, an excellent team player, someone who is always willing to learn, and in a world of increasing specialisation someone who is willing and able to be a generalist.

“If you’re a resident vet on a large farm you are always there. You have to be available,” he says. “You work alongside a large group including senior managers, the farm manager, farmers, and farriers. As a coordinated team your role is to establish that farm and then advance it. As a farm vet, if one of the horses gets sick it doesn’t disappear. It lives with you the whole time and you have to carry that responsibility.

There is therefore a real benefit to having someone onsite full time, watching the horses and playing a pivotal role in full time care compared to the vet that arrives, treats the horse, gets back in their car and leaves.

You can then rely on your resident staff to watch and treat your horses. What that means in practice is that a stud vet has to be responsive, available and be ever willing to watch over and care for the health and outcome of those horses you are responsible for.”

A graduate of Sydney University, colleague of the esteemed Dr Peter Rossdale OBE and equine veterinary medicine pioneer, Dr Doug Byars, DVM, John practiced in Canberra and

completed a Large Animal Internal Medicine residency at the University of California before taking up the position of Associate Professor at the Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge - a part of North America he is the first to admit he ‘had no idea where it even was’. It was here that John achieved Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and was boardcertified as an Internal Medicine specialist in the UK and Australia.

A prolific researcher with many published veterinary research papers and an academic at heart, John has provided the highest level of equine care to thoroughbred horses in Kentucky, Newmarket, Ireland and Australia.

Exposure to an extended international network of colleagues and high level mentors has underpinned his approach to equine care and training others; fortunately for those of us locally the call to bring that knowledge and expertise ‘home’ came in 1995 with a call from Coolmore Australia for John to join their new farm in the Hunter Valley; a role that commenced in May 1996.

“Working with Coolmore was a great experience. I worked with good people, good staff, good facilities and in a beautiful setting,” John reflects. “I take great pride and joy knowing there have been 58 individual Group One winners produced on the farm since I was there and I have had the opportunity to treat some of the best mares and of course stallions in the world from Sadlers Wells, Galileo, Storm Bird and Danehill who for me was the best of the lot. I can remember driving into the then Arrowfield [at Jerry’s Plains] when Danehill was there. One of the Irish lads was looking after him who I knew and he stopped and talked to me and he had Danehill walking next to him. Danehill put his head through the passenger side window of the car. That’s how quiet and gentle that stallion was. He was a fantastic horse.”

JOHN IS KEEN TO EMPHASISE THE IMPORTANCE OF THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN THE STUD VETERINARIAN AND THE STUD TEAM AS A WHOLE WHEN IT COMES TO PRODUCING TOP LEVEL THOROUGHBREDS. “You establish a team of individuals on a farm who become reliant on each other and with that reliance comes trust. So for example there will be a farrier who has been at farm a long time and when we have difficult foal orthopaedic cases or mares with bad feet then all those problems require that person involved as well as the unit manager; everyone looks at and discusses x-rays and move forward with managing that case.

The farm manager is integral to developing the herd health plan in terms of vaccination, drenching, and nutrition - relying on input from outside people - so that communication is very important. The farmers are essential for soil health, pasture and weed management. If you don’t have faith or trust in someone in the group it becomes more difficult.”

John also regularly relied on his peers in his day to day work; relationships that were set in stone early in his career and continued to evolve over time.

“There will always be situations where you will need to ask your colleagues for advice.

You come across things you haven’t seen before and it is sometimes easier to pick up the phone than go back through all the literature to try and figure out what’s going on. Particularly if it’s not in your area of speciality. If it’s a surgery question or a reproductive question in relation to a stallion with a rare reproductive condition then you rely on those specialists to lead and advise you.”

2022 / 151

Past and present Coolmore staff celebrate Dr Freestone’s career and retirement So is it possible to define the overarching role of a stud vet on a commercial farm? John says you could just as easily write a text book on the subject; something that becomes readily apparent as he details what is involved in producing a sale ready yearling.

“From the 1st August the season starts with the first foal. Once that foal is on the ground we have everything in place for preventative medicine for that foal to grow and be the best athlete he or she can.

From leg assessment to chest ultrasounds, parasite control, herd health in terms of weight and nutrition, vaccination and systematic x-rays and if required - surgery, endoscopic examination, and extensive handling - everything is focussed on producing the best product for the sale ring and racetrack some years down the track.”

Veterinary science has certainly changed over time and technology has revolutionized not just the world generally but veterinary science and its practice specifically. John points to three major developments in the past 30 years: “Ultrasound has been a diagnostic game changer for an animal that doesn’t talk. Ultrasound is your life.

You can rule things out that might not be diagnostic but they are in the sense that you can ultrasound a chest and say ‘lungs look fine- that’s not the problem.

“Back in 1983 during my first year residency at UC Davis ultrasound for use in reproductive equine practice had just been developed. One of the small animal vets raised his hand and asked if you really needed to do the examination internally [with your arm in their rectum] - could you not just attach the probe to a stick? That was the start. From there it went to using ultrasound to look at internal organs and assess everything we can now.

“When I went to Kentucky in 1992 the senior vets in that practice were still not using ultrasound. They had magnificent tactile skills so would assess the feel of a follicle to diagnose potential oncoming ovulation and uterine tone to assess pregnancy. During my time at that practice it would evolve to become the most skilled at assessing foetal sexing but it was obvious that the older guys were potentially going to get left behind as you couldn’t tell by tactile manipulation if there were twins. There was so much more information available with ultrasound.

152 / THE VET

“RADIOLOGY HAS ALSO BEEN LIFE CHANGING. WE NOW HAVE CORDLESS X-RAY MACHINES AND PORTABLE PLATES, MRI AND CAT SCANNERS BEING USED DIAGNOSTICALLY AND THAT WILL PROBABLY JUST CONTINUE TO GROW AS THEY ADAPT KNOWLEDGE FROM HUMAN DIAGNOSTICS AND MODIFY THOSE SYSTEMS SO THEY CAN BE USED WITH HORSES. “There has also been a revolution in the specialization of vets. When I came back from the USA there were no roles for specialist equine medicine personnel in equine practice. So I redefined my career from internal medicine to becoming a resident vet. Now all the big practices have employed specialists all the way through.”

John agrees that the introduction of radiographs has transformed yearling sale practices.

“There have been great advances in the use of transphyseal screws for defects in foals’ fetlocks and knees. Some of those horses will race absolutely fine without the intervention but it sort of becomes a bit of a beauty pageant where you want a horse with the best leg conformation. If a buyer has three horses on his list and he has to pick one he will probably pick the one with the best legs so a lot of time and effort is spent trying to get foals’ conformation correct.”

The interpretation of x-rays is always a matter of opinion but John says that as time goes on the repository of knowledge has translated to a shift in general opinion.

“We are learning more all the time,” he says.

“Originally the reports came out of the US on what was a significant lesion. As time has gone on, more x-rays have been taken and more experience gained as horses have raced with lesions that we know about, accordingly the advice on what is significant versus what is not significant has changed. There are lots of other little things that occur on a set of repository x-rays that years ago would have been deemed as significant but these days are not seen that way. It’s been a case of looking at these changes,

watching these horses race and saying ‘only one in ten seem to be impacted by this change so if I have a horse at a sale and a trainer comes to me and says this horse has x or y lesion then I can confidently say you have a 90% chance of that being fine based on the past decades of research’. There may still be differences in opinion - one surgeon out of that group may have had two or three horses who did have problems with that particular lesion so he might say a horse is at moderate risk when others will say it is low. The majority of time everyone knows what the significant lesions are and are on the same page.”

Beyond the horses he has cared for John says the thing that gives him the greatest career satisfaction is the number of younger vets he has been able to supervise.

“I have been able to mentor a large number of vet students when I was teaching at the uni, I have helped train a large number of vets and have tried to be a good teacher and mentor to the staff and let them learn. Those staff have left Coolmore and moved to other farms and the information they have and share has grown from there. That’s probably the best thing that I have done as a vet.

As Dr Freestone’s career well demonstrates the role of a stud veterinarian transcends diagnosis and application of equine medicine. An individual’s thirst for global knowledge and ability to share that experience and learning with others ensures that they play a major role in acting as a key player within a large on-farm group of experts. Beyond their sheer love of the animal these dedicated practitioners demonstrate an unfailing desire to provide every horse under their care with every opportunity to succeed.

CONSIDER THIS: WOULD THE YEARLING YOU ARE SO EXCITED TO BE OFFERING AT THE SALE THIS YEAR BE WHERE IT IS WITHOUT THE BEHIND THE SCENES WORK OF SUCH PEOPLE?

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READY FOR TAKEOFF ANDREW POTTS

The anticipation is almost palpable.

Australians have largely been grounded for the past two years, with virtually no international travel and only fleeting interstate holidays amidst rolling lockdowns, border closures and Covid outbreaks.

But those brief periods of activity in 2021 were just an amuse bouche for the cornucopia of flights set to take off in 2022 as tourism resumes.

And the Gold Coast will be the major beneficiary.

Data compiled by Destination Gold Coast in 2021 revealed the city is the top destination which travel-starved domestic tourists want to visit, beating out some of the nation’s biggest cities.

Time Magazine named the city one of the 100 greatest places in the world to visit, ranking it alongside Dubai, the iconic capitals of Europe and Athens.

The return of major events and conferences, including the 2022 The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions Carnival and GC 500 motorsports weekend, puts the Gold Coast on the comeback trail after a tough two years.

154 / READY FOR TAKEOFF

With international visitors also chomping at the bit to return to Australia, the city is poised to reap the benefits of this new wave of tourism.

And those flying into the city will be greeted by a new-look Gold Coast Airport.

More than $500 million has been spent in the past three years to expand its terminal to create an airport for the 2020s, which will come packed to the gills with an array of features and again make it competitive on the international stage.

The expansion is due to open in 2022.

QUEENSLAND AIRPORTS CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER MARION CHARLTON SAID THE 30,000 SQM TERMINAL EXPANSION WAS A “GAMECHANGER” WHICH WOULD ALLOW FOR FUTURE GROWTH AHEAD OF THE REGION CO-HOSTING THE 2032 OLYMPIC GAMES. “The expansion is being delivered as domestic and international tourism take off again and continues building in the longer term,” she said.

“The Gold Coast is regularly ranked as one of the leading destinations overseas holidaymakers want to visit and is already the country’s number one domestic holiday destination.

“It will double our terminal footprint and customers will experience a fresh, modern terminal, along with the same warm welcome and ease of use they have come to expect at Gold Coast Airport.”

The expansion will see the terminal become a threelevel building which will have significantly expanded retail offerings, new boarding facilities, a larger departure lounge and new baggage handling and border control facilities.

The centrepiece of the expansion will be four glass aerobridges, the first to be built on the Gold Coast.

These will allow passengers to board and exit planes in inclement weather and brings it to the same standard as terminals found in the nation’s capital cities.

The terminal’s design was refined to reflect the Gold Coast and northern NSW, with the building painted green and bronze to evoke the Hinterland on its western side and bright blues and greens on the east to resemble the ocean.

About 6.5 million people passed through Gold Coast Airport’s terminal in 2019, a record year for the complex.

But the Covid-19 pandemic hit the travel sector hard in early 2020 and, at its lowest ebb, the terminal was closed because of no regular passenger services operating at just 1 per cent of its capacity.

Ms Charlton said airport and tourism industry figures were working rapidly to restore international travel routes, paving the way for the return of highly lucrative overseas visitors.

2022 / 155

“Prior to Covid-19 there were international links between the Gold Coast and Singapore, Korea, Japan, Malaysia and four New Zealand cities – we expect connections to be quickly re-established when international travel resumes,” she said.

“Gold Coast Airport passenger numbers have been some of the fastest-growing in the country in the past decade – from 1.8 million passengers in 1998 to about 6.5 million annually in 2019.

“The airport needs to be able to accommodate the expected long-term growth in demand for the destinations we are the gateway to, and that is why $500 million is being invested in growing our airport precinct.

“Although Covid-19 has presented unprecedented challenges for our business and our people, we are confident in the future of our region.

“OUR POPULATION CONTINUES TO GROW AND THE REGION’S POPULARITY WITH VISITORS IS SHOWING NO SIGN OF SLOWING DOWN, SO WE ARE ENTERING A NEW CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF GOLD COAST AIRPORT – AND WE ARE GETTING READY FOR TAKEOFF.” Pre-pandemic data reveals the increasing strength of the Gold Coast’s events and tourism sector.

The Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre was consistently booked out with events to the point where an expansion is necessary, while the Gold Coast Turf Club’s facilities are set for a dramatic revamp.

Lights for night racing have been approved, as have expansions to its racing and grandstand facilities.

156 / READY FOR TAKEOFF

The Magic Millions Carnival and raceday, held each January has long been established as one of the key events on the calendar, injecting more than $25 million into the economy and delivering 47,293 visitor nights to local accommodation providers in 2019.

These figures marked a year-on-year increase of 4243 visitor nights on the previous year.

And it’s not just tourists.

The airport’s terminal expansion comes at a time when more people than ever want to live on the Gold Coast.

The city’s population is growing at a faster-thananticipated rate of more than 10,000 people per year, a figure supercharged by residents of southern states, exhausted by the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021, seeking a new life.

The Gold Coast’s real estate industry is now experiencing its biggest boom in more than 30 years, with a multi-billion dollar wave of tower development, including several new hotels, under construction.

The airport has already opened its $50 million Rydges hotel outside the terminal, near Coolangatta, putting it ahead of several other projects already underway.

With the 2032 Olympic Games just 10 years away and the city on the tip of a significant travel resurgence, the Gold Coast’s tourism industry is set for one of its busiest years on record.

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A sale day in the life…

Taming Team Maher

By Gab Nutt

January on the Gold Coast, it’s an unmissable event in our industry’s calendar and I have only missed four Januarys on the Gold Coast in my lifetime; Two when I was living in England, one was due to EI and the other one was in 1994.

When I was younger, January on the GC was more of a holiday. The Nutt, Mitchell, Freedman and Orton children would spend hours in the Marriott’s whirlpools and lagoon. Back then, everyone would stay in Surfers however Broadbeach has really upped their game, thankfully.

160 / A DAY IN THE LIFE......

I have such fond memories of the GC and as the years went by, my days were spent less in ‘holiday-mode’ and more in ‘work-mode’ at the complex helping Dad with his draft. Fair to say, the horseracing bug was caught early.

Just under 18 months ago, I was given the opportunity to be the Client Relations and Sales Manager for Ciaron Maher Racing but as most people know with our organisation, we wear a lot of hats. One day I am running social media and

selling down shares in horses and the next I am on horseback at the beach. Variety is the spice of life, correct?

Fortunately, this job brings our team to the Gold Coast every year and it is no secret, we make the most of every little bit of it.

Most mornings start with a short walk down to the beach for a quick dip to refresh oneself after trackwork (wash off the night before). There you will often be greeted by more than one familiar

face also trying to avoid being seen and/or swept away by the Broadbeach undercurrent! Our team is quite identifiable; the eyebrows, the long fringe, the hair (those once identifiable locks have disappeared for now – don’t ask why!), so perhaps this year the morning swims may be a little more inconspicuous.

After we’ve picked up a coffee from No Name Lane, and Ciaron his peppermint tea, we cram into a hire car and head to the complex for eight or so hours of inspections in the hot Gold Coast sun.

In my catalogue/head I’ve mapped out our day of inspections, and like many, sustenance is the key to these days, so the day is often scheduled around when Will can eat his 10 packets of chips and guzzle a Powerade, plus Arrowfield’s tent – nearly a daily pit stop - as CMR will never say no to hydration or snacks.

Some days, getting everyone back up and going is like watching the first two-year-old races of the season, it’s a test of both patience and persuasion from all parties, and every so often a set of blinkers is required, but as we all know, sometimes they don’t always work the way you planned – especially in the earlier inspection days!

Usually, we have a racing team conveniently stabled next door to the complex so at around 2pm we take our horses for a swim, pick and walk which breaks the day nicely. After that is done, we head back across to try and squeeze in another hour of inspections. Surprisingly, we don’t hang around at the bar for too long once inspections are done but rather, we head back to one of our apartments for a few hours, crack open some beers and go through the catalogue and shortlist. We do this every evening after inspections and on sale days. I won’t divulge too much of what goes on in those meetings, some things need to remain a secret!

Like most, we try and complete as much homework before the sale as we can and sharpen our notes on pedigrees, stallions and on-farm inspection comments. We know these vendors and their staff have put so much time and effort into these yearlings so we want to be prepared as best we can. We will inspect every horse again, some more than others, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we are on them.

When Ciaron likes a yearling, he doesn’t need to look at it 10 times to convince himself and we don’t vet a huge amount.

Flashing back to last October when Ciaron and I saw Coolangatta in the paddock he immediately loved her. I think we only looked at her once at the complex, same goes with the Merchant Navy two-yearold we like called Calico Jack so as they say, when you know, you know.

The evenings are often filled with dinners between clients and friends, then as we all know, who knows where the night can take you after that. You will find like-minded

Katie Page, Eileen Maher, Gab Nutt & Katie Bowditch - Away Game’s Racing Women’s Bonus presentation 2021

industry participants at the following watering holes; Moo Moos, The Loose Moose, Broadbeach Tavern and for the brave, Cavill Ave. Last January there was a spontaneous takeover at the Pink Flamingo with a big crew on the Saturday night after the races and it was something else.

Year after year the sale continues to produce top-class racehorses. Ciaron and David have enjoyed a great association with graduates from the sale and every year they go back searching for the next Away Game or Dubious. Both have their unique eye and know what they want in a racehorse, so together with Will’s experience (and my organisational skills) hopefully we find many diamonds in this year’s catalogue.

Anna & Gab Nutt, James Mitchell & Tim Maddocks at the Surfers Paradise Marriott in 2003

The Gold Coast in January is magic. I think that’s also part of the Je Ne Sais Quoi that makes Magic Millions what it is today.

The location, the sun, the restaurants/ bars, the bloodstock and the general enthusiasm within the industry to kickstart another year. It is unmissable and unbeatable.

MOST OF ALL, IT IS A SALE CONTAINING SPEED BUT YOU CAN’T FORGET YOUR STAMINA. Gab & Brian Nutt at the Magic Millions Sales Complex in 2005

2022 / 161

Raceday Winners 2021 NEWSREADER

Press Statement-Thinking of You 2nd Lady of Luxury, 3rd Hey Big Splenda Margins: 2.25 lengths x 0.1 length Time: 1 minute 9.95 seconds Breeder: R S & R W Dufficy, R de Courcy Cost: $170,000 at 2019 Gold Coast Yearling Sale Vendor: Yarraman Park Stud, Buyer: Champion Thoroughbreds Trainer: John O’Shea, Jockey: Brenton Avdulla

162 / 2021 RACEDAY WINNERS

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Epaulette-Icy Heels

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2nd So Dapper, 3rd Wapiti Margins: 2.75 lengths x 0.75 length Time: 1 minute 49.5 seconds Breeder: Vieira Group Pty Ltd Cost: $240,000 at 2018 Gold Coast Yearling Sale Vendor: Bowness Stud, Buyer: Robert Anderson Trainer: Danny O’Brien, Jockey: Craig Williams

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2nd Parry Sound, 3rd Elaborate Margins: 0.3 length x 1 length Time: 2 minutes 30.19 seconds Breeder: Bylong Park Cost: $200,000 at 2015 Gold Coast Yearling Sale Vendor: Bylong Park Thoroughbreds, Buyer: B K Racing & Breeding Trainer: Chris Waller, Jockey: Brenton Avdulla

2022 / 163

JONKER

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2nd Exhilarates, 3rd Roheryn Margins: Margins: 1 length x 0.5 length Time: 1 minute 9.12 seconds Breeder: Wicklow Lodge Cost: $45,000 at 2017 Gold Coast Yearling Sale Vendor: Fig Tree Thoroughbreds, Buyer: Doug Crich Trainer: Tony Gollan, Jockey: Jim Byrne

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Eurozone-Soft Landing

2nd Athiri, 3rd Snapdancer Margins: 0.1 length x 0.4 length Time: 1 minute 16.63 seconds Breeder: Bell View Park Stud, Foote Street Investments Cost: $120,000 at 2017 Gold Coast 2YOs in Training Sale Vendor: Rosemont Stud, Buyer: Roll the Dice Racing Trainer: Tony Gollan, Jockey: Ryan Maloney

164 / 2021 RACEDAY WINNERS

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Racing women’s bonus QUEEN OF WIZARDRY Not a Single Doubt-Miss Hufflepuff

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Breeder: Wallings Bloodstock Pty Ltd Cost: $140,000 at 2020 Gold Coast Yearling Sale Vendor: Tyreel Stud, Buyer: Aquis Farm Trainer: Annabel Neasham, Jockey: Stephanie Thornton

AWAY GAME

Snitzel-Elusive Wonder

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Breeder: Mill Park Stud P/L, Mills Thoroughbred Breeding Partnership Cost: $425,000 at 2019 Gold Coast Yearling Sale Vendor: Mill Park Stud, Buyer: Kerri Radcliffe Bloodstock Trainer: Ciaron Maher & David Eustace, Jockey: Glen Boss

2022 / 165

SHAQUERO

Shalaa-Fimatino

2nd Alpine Edge, 3rd She’s All Class Margins: 1.25 lengths x 1.25 lengths Time: 1 minute 10.39 seconds Breeder: R D Hannon Cost: $160,000 at 2020 Gold Coast Yearling Sale Vendor: Fernrigg Farm Buyer: Mulcaster Bloodstock Trainer: Chris Waller Jockey: Hugh Bowman

166 / 2021 RACEDAY WINNERS

$2,000,000 The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions 2YO Classic

2022 / 167

AIM

Star Witness-Vintage Strike 2nd Amish Boy, 3rd Away Game Margins: 1.75 lengths x 0.75 length, Time: 1 minute 22.43 seconds Breeder: B 2 B Bloodstock Cost: $200,000 at 2019 Gold Coast Yearling Sale Vendor: Newhaven Park (As Agent) Buyer: China Horse Club/Newgate Bloodstock Trainer: Peter & Paul Snowden Jockey: James McDonald

168 / 2021 RACEDAY WINNERS

$2,000,000 Gold Coast Magic Millions 3YO Guineas

2022 / 169

ELEVEN ELEVEN

$1,000,000 Pacific Fair Magic Millions Cup

Fastnet Rock-Smokin’ Alice

2nd Soxagon, 3rd Discharged Margins: 0.2 length x 0.2 length Time: 1 minute 22.69 seconds Breeder: I K Smith Cost: $230,000 at 2018 Gold Coast Yearling Sale Vendor: Edinburgh Park, Buyer: Greg Hickman Trainer: Gregory Hickman, Jockey: Nash Rawiller

THE ODYSSEY

Better Than Ready-Jessica’s Hope

$1,000,000 Racing Queensland Magic Millions QTIS Open Handicap

2nd Stuttering, 3rd Boomtown Lass Margins: 0.1 length x 0.3 length Time: 1 minute 16.53 seconds Breeder: A B Thomas Cost: $30,000 at 2018 Gold Coast Yearling Sale Vendor: Millbrook (As Agent), Buyer: Kelly Schweida Racing Trainer: Kelly Schweida, Jockey: Stephanie Thornton

170 / 2021 RACEDAY WINNERS

YAO DASH

$250,000 Magic Millions Rising Stars 3YO & 4YO Class 4 Plate (C,G&E)

Smart Missile-Rahy Storm

2nd Ruuca, 3rd Marsannay Margins: 2 lengths x 0.3 length Time: 1 minute 16.47 seconds Breeder: Newhaven Park Stud Cost: $90,000 at 2018 Gold Coast Yearling Sale Vendor: Newhaven Park (As Agent), Buyer: Dynamic Syndications Trainer: Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott, Jockey: Nash Rawiller

STOLEN JADE

So You Think-Jewel Theft

$250,000 Magic Millions Rising Stars 3YO & 4YO Class 4 Plate (F&M)

2nd Intrepidacious, 3rd Redoute’s Image Margins: 0.75 length x 0.75 length Time: 1 minute 17.16 seconds Breeder: G Harvey Cost: $120,000 at 2018 Gold Coast Yearling Sale Vendor: Baramul Stud, Buyer: Victory Lodge Trainer: Clarry Conners, Jockey: Brad Stewart

2022 / 171

ANIMATE

Animal Kingdom-Flowerchild 2nd Katy’s Daughter, 3rd Penasquito Margins: 0.2 length x 0.1 length Time: 1 minute 10.11 seconds Breeder: Arrowfield Pastoral Pty Ltd Cost: $115,000 at 2018 Gold Coast Yearling Sale Vendor: Arrowfield Stud (As Agent), Buyer: Australian Bloodstock Trainer: Kris Lees, Jockey: Nash Rawiller

172 / 2021 RACEDAY WINNERS

$250,000 Magic Millions Country Cup

$10.25

million raceday

Set on the fabulous Gold Coast is Queensland’s richest raceday, where millionaires are made. Seven of the nine races are worth over $1 million each, two are worth $2 million plus and of course there’s Australia’s richest Maiden at $250,000. All you have to do is buy at a Magic Millions Yearling Sale and nominate your purchase to the Magic Millions Race Series to be eligible to compete in Magic Millions races across six states throughout their entire careers.

Invincibella won at this meeting three years in a row, you could be next! $750,000 in Racing Women’s Bonuses are on offer annually to eligible all female owned horses.

The Programme for 2022 1. The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions 2YO Classic 1200m $2 million + $5,000 trophies AND $500,000 Racing Women’s Bonus + $3,000 trophy. Previous winners include Shaquero by Shalaa, Away Game by Snitzel and Capitalist by Written Tycoon. The 2022 Sale will feature 26 lots by Shalaa, 44 lots by Snitzel, 37 lots by Written Tycoon and 42 lots by Capitalist himself.

2. Gold Coast Magic Millions 3YO Guineas 1400m $2 million + $5,000 trophies AND $250,000 Racing Women’s Bonus + $1,500 trophy.

Previous winners include Aim by Star Witness and Pierata by Pierro.

The Sale will feature 7 lots by Star Witness and 20 lots by Pierro.

3. Magic Millions Cup 1400m $1 million + $2,500 trophies. Previous winners include Care To Think by So You Think.

The Sale will feature 19 lots by So You Think 4. Magic Millions Snippets 1200m $1 million + $2,500 trophies. Previous winners include Jonker

by Spirit Of Boom and Madam Rouge by Zoustar. The Sale will feature 41 lots by Spirit Of Boom and 50 lots by Zoustar.

5. Magic Millions Subzero 2400m $1 million + $2500 trophies.

Previous winners include Tumultuous by Fastnet Rock.

The Sale will feature 9 lots by Fastnet Rock.

6. Magic Millions Fillies & Mares 1300m $1 million + $2,500 trophies. Previous winners include 3-time winner Invincibella by I Am Invincible. The Sale will feature 54 lots

by I Am Invincible.

7. Racing Queensland Magic Millions QTIS Open 1300m $1 million + $2,500 trophies. Previous winners include The Odyssey by Better Than Ready. The Sale will feature 40 lots by Better Than Ready.

8. Magic Millions Open Hcp 1800m $250,000 + $1,500 trophies. Previous winners include Paradee by Epaulette and Etana by Shamus Award. The Sale will feature 9 lots by Epaulette and 4 lots by Shamus Award.

9. Magic Millions Maiden Plate 1200m $250,000 + $1,500 trophies. Previous winners include Newsreader by Press Statement. The Sale will feature 2 lots

by Press Statement.

2021 / 173

3 1 0

4 1 0

2

2

REAL SURREAL (position past the post: 1st). $325,000 Bonus + $1,140,000 prizemoney

OAKLEIGH GIRL (position past the post: 2nd). $325,000 Bonus + $300,000 prizemoney

5 1 0

2

LE CHEF (position past the post: 1st). $325,000 Bonus + $1,140,000 prizemoney

7 1 0

2

REAL PRINCESS (position past the post: 8th). $325,000 Bonus + $10,000 prizemoney 174 / THE YEAR IN REVIEW

6 1 0

2

FARAWAY TOWN (position past the post: 6th). $325,000 Bonus + $10,000 prizemoney

8 1 0

2

SUNLIGHT (position past the post: 1st). $325,000 Bonus + $1,200,000 prizemoney

0 2 0

2

AWAY GAME (position past the post: 1st). $325,000 Bonus + $1,160,000 prizemoney

9 1 0

2

DUBIOUS (position past the post: 2nd). $325,000 Bonus + $370,000 prizemoney

1 2 0

2

QUEEN OF WIZARDRY (position past the post: 4th). $325,000 Bonus + $90,000 prizemoney

MAGIC MILLIONS RACING WOMEN’S 2YO CLASSIC BONUS WINNERS 2022 will mark the 10th anniversary of the award of the $500,000 Magic Millions Racing Women’s Bonus run in conjunction with the 2YO Classic. We celebrate each and every woman involved in this ground-breaking world first initiative aimed at increasing female participation in ownership.

2022 / 175

Advertisers Index 3 Arrowfield 4 Coolmore 5 Vinery Stud 26 Godolphin Flying Start 28 Aushorse 29 Juddmonte 52 Magic Millions Insurance 53 Widden 64 Pryde’s EasiFeed 65 Equine International Air 74 Super VOBIS 75 Milburn Creek 76 Garrards Horse and Hound 77 HQ Insurance 96 Darley 97 Bhima 111 Rivenlee 112 Duncan Equine 113 Virbac 117 Widden 133 Irongate 134 Eureka Stud 153 Marcus Oldham 157 Horsepower 158 Stallions 159 Plusvital 178 Quest for a Classic Winner 179 Prism 214 International Animal Health Products 215 StableWizard 254 Arion

SUBSCRIBE TO 2022

www.stallions.com.au

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2022 Vendors 182 Arrowfield 184 Baramul Stud 186 Bhima 188 Bowness Stud 190 Coolmore 192 Corumbene Stud 194 Cressfield 196 Edinburgh Park 198 Emirates Park 200 Eureka Stud 202 Fernrigg Farm 204 Gleeson Thoroughbreds 206 Highgrove Stud 208 KBL Thoroughbreds 210 Kenmore Lodge 212 Kingstar Farm 218 Lime Country Thoroughbreds 220 Manx Park 222 Marquee Stud 224 Mill Park Stud 226 Newhaven Park 228 Raheen Stud 230 Rosemont Stud 232 Segenhoe Stud 234 Silverdale Farm 236 Sullivan Bloodstock 238 Telemon Thoroughbreds 240 Toolooganvale 242 Tyreel Stud 244 Vinery Stud 246 Widden 248 Yarramalong Park 250 Yarraman Park 252 Yulong

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Prism_USE.qxp_Layout 1 23/11/21 4:12 pm Page 1

Prism Plus Prism was born from a simple idea more than five years ago.

To build the best technological platform that the Equine industry has ever seen and make the lives of industry participants easier.

In that time, Prism has become the number 1 horse management software system in the southern hemisphere, with over 500 of the top trainers, breeders, studs, syndicators and spelling properties using the platform. In fact, so popular has it become that 75% of the Top 20 trainers in the Australian Trainers premiership all use Prism.

The Key to Prism’s huge growth has been the ability to work with their customers in building out new and innovative features. By doing so the technology stack has become both relevant and an invaluable tool for the industry.

As part of that engagement and innovation drive and to coincide with the Magic Millions, Prism has just released its next generation platform called PRISM PLUS.

180 / PRISM

PRISM PLUS builds on Prism existing platform and comes with a stack of new features for those progressive Trainers and Stud/Breeding Farms who need more out of their data and their software.

Prism Founder, Allan Bennetto, recently stated that “Five years ago when we first launched Prism, we helped to redefine and set the benchmark for how Stables and Farms managed their operations.”

“While our competitors are still playing catch up, we decided to work with our clients on going even further ahead, which is what you now see with the Prism Plus platform.”

Over 25 new features Built on Prism’s old Prism Connect Tablet App, the development team have added over 25 new features to the Prism Plus system including: • New Tablet Apps with Online and easy to follow Tablet dashboards for better oversight and trend analysis • Integration to microchip scanners and QR Codes for Horse Identification • Integration to weight scales and thermometers for easy weight and temperature management • Horse Welfare flagging for better horse injury and welfare management • Barn Screens for better Barn and Box management • QR Code scanning for Horse and Box identification • Customised Industry benchmarking data dashboards to help improve your stable and farms. And keep your finger on the pulse no matter where you are located.

“Prism Plus is a super exciting evolution for us. Not only does it provide unprecedented data insight for our clients and simplified infield/in-barn operation, but it also gives our clients the chance to fully customise their systems to however they want,” continued Bennetto.

Through our Development Credit system, our clients can now request something to be built specifically for them, which means they can be really specific in how they set up the Prism system.”

Prism Plus clients will also get the opportunity to be the first in their industry to get exposure to new innovations and the opportunity to beta test them prior to being released.

Prism Plus is available to all existing Prims Users as well as new clients. To learn more about this exciting development, look out for Prism representatives at the Magic Millions sales or contact Pete Whittaker on 0458896350 who will be more than happy to have a chat with you and maybe even shout you a beer or two.

For further information check out their website www.prism.horse

• Simple one click updates for key tasks • Digital Mare Management and Crush Reports (Breeding) • Premium 24/7 support • Dedicated advertising space on www.bloodstockexchange.horse • Development Credits for specific customisation of the platform

2022 / 181

2022 vendor

ARROWFIELD

PURE MAGIC ON SHOW AT ARROWFIELD

O

ne after another this Spring, Arrowfield’s Magic Millions graduates came out to play, and by the end of Cup Week at Flemington, one thing was guaranteed for this year’s Sale.

The Stud’s 73-lot Class of 2022 will be very busy indeed as soon as they start parading at the Gold Coast on 4 January.

First out was Ottavio and Wendy Galletta’s $1.9 million sale-topper Profondo (Deep ImpactHonesty Prevails), who placed in the Gloaming S-G3 before racing away with the 2000-metre Spring Champion S-G1 at only his third start a feat unmatched by any other Australian 3YO in recent history.

Next up was the brilliant Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained Victoria Derby G1 winner Hitotsu (Maurice-Love Is Fickle) whose $100,000 price-tag proves that a huge budget isn’t essential to secure a top performer from Arrowfield.

182 / 2022 VENDORS

Profondo and Hitotsu join Anders, Invader, Showtime and Tagaloa as valuable stallion prospects bought from Arrowfield’s recent Magic Millions consignments.

Cup Day produced an encouraging debut performance by 2YO colt Le Gagneur (ShalaaRationality), bought for $200,000 and third in the Maribyrnong Plate-G3 for Robbie Griffiths and Mathew de Kock.

On Oaks Day, $500,000 buy Flying Evelyn (Not A Single Doubt-Champagne Run) powered home in the Red Roses S-G3, and $800,000 filly Satin Love (Snitzel-Madame Andree) was second at her 2YO debut in the Ottawa S-G3.

They’re in excellent company among the likes of Group-winning fillies Secret Agenda, Sweet Idea, Perignon, Scarlet Rain, Honesty Prevails and Missile Mantra - all sold by Arrowfield at Magic Millions.

Stakes Day at Flemington produced the Stud’s fourth Magic Millions graduate stakeswinner this season when Bend The Knee (Snitzel-Kneeling), a $300,000 purchase by trainer John O’Shea, defeated his fellow Arrowfield graduate Port Louis in The Amanda Elliott-LR. Graduate success wasn’t the only measure of Arrowfield’s contribution to Spring racing in Australia. By the end of Melbourne Cup Week, the Stud’s stallions headed no fewer than five sire premierships: 2YOs - Shalaa (sire of Inglis Banner RL 2YO winner Semillion and Group-placed Le Gagneur; 26 Magic Millions lots inc.

Arrowfield’s 6 colts, 6 fillies) 3YOs - Snitzel (sire of Group 1 winners In The Congo and Arrowfield-bred filly Yearning; 44 lots inc. Arrowfield’s 5 fillies, 4 colts) Second Season - Maurice (sire of Listed winner Mazu as well as Hitotsu and 16 other winners; 5 lots inc. Arrowfield’s two fillies and a colt) Third Season - Real Impact (sire of $2.4 million earner Count de Rupee – bought for $145,000 from Arrowfield at Magic Millions)

Arrow M Profo Spr

2022 draft Broodmares - Redoute’s Choice (7 stakeswinners as damsire inc. G1 winners Anamoe, Hitotsu and Profondo; 63 lots out of his daughters inc. six at Arrowfield).

That wasn’t all. Snitzel, already a four-time Champion Sire, is this season’s leading sire of stakeswinners with nine, among them Group 1 winners In The Congo (Golden Rose), Wild Ruler (A.J. Moir Stakes) and Yearning (Thousand Guineas).

These current highlights and the Stud’s eight Champion Sire titles in the past 16 years make the launch of first-crop yearlings by three new Arrowfield sires a notable event.

Sensational Champion 3YO Colt and five-time Group 1 winner The Autumn Sun has received the kind of support reserved for the best racing colt by the great Redoute’s Choice. Magic Millions has secured a mouth-watering 30-lot selection of his first progeny including eight colts and three fillies offered

by Arrowfield.

Bloodstock Manager Jon Freyer highlights five yearlings by The Autumn Sun: Lot 126 colt ex I Am Queen - “excellent first foal from a smart racemare, a well-balanced, athletic colt with plenty of quality.”

Lot 290 colt ex Mount Zero - “cast in the same mould as his sire, with lovely balance and short cannons, he could be early.”

Lot 601 colt ex Tap This - “built like a good horse, with a really good shoulder, lovely forearm, girth and hip.”

Lot 842 colt ex Cavaloce - “loads of quality, with good bone, length and scope.”

Lot 849 filly ex Champagne Run - “a real Magic Millions filly, very sharp and precocious and she’s a three-quarter sister to Flying Evelyn.”

Arrowfield’s 2020 Magic Millions sale-topper Profondo wins the 2021 Spring Champion S. G1.

Dual Group-winning sprinter-miler Showtime is the only son of Snitzel that Arrowfield has so far chosen to stand, and his first Magic Millions draft of 12 yearlings includes five fillies and five colts bearing the diamonds and jockey cap brand.

Jon’s pick is Lot 511 colt ex She Loves You - “he’s well-grown and athletic, with short cannons and plenty of substance.”

Arrowfield will also offer three colts and three fillies

by Deep Impact’s Group 1-winning son Real Steel.

Descended from the great European racemare and broodmare Miesque, he represents a new chapter in the spectacular story of Japan’s global racing and breeding success.

It’s a story Arrowfield has been telling for 20 years with horses like Magic Millions graduates Sunday Joy, Tagaloa, Hitotsu and Profondo, stallions like Maurice and Real Impact and a highly successful breeding partnership with Katsumi Yoshida’s Northern Farm.

Jon selects Lot 38 colt ex Fast Eva - “a Derby-style colt with a lot of scope, he’s typical of many of the Japanese-sired horses we’ve sold in recent years.”

The Arrowfield consignment is completed by three sons and four daughters of Dundeel, the sire of five Group 1 winners among his 16 stakeswinners; ten yearlings from the second crop of brilliant sprinting 2YO and 3YO Pariah; a three-quarter sister by Mikki Isle to Group-placed Providenceprovides; plus two colts and two fillies from the final crop of industry favourite Not A Single Doubt.

Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

38 51 70 92 103 122 126 131 159 164 165 188 195 198 201 211 227 267 271 290 295 308 322 331 435 448 462 504 505 509 511 527 554 584 601 602 616 627 704 713 723 727 732 771 776 777 785 819 839 842 849 886 927 930 946 948 997 1026 1042 1069 1079 1094 1103 1110 1134 1136 1142 1155 1161 1174 1175 1207 1223

Fast Eva Flidais Garaliya (IRE) Grito Hasta Manana Hurried Choice I Am Queen Iffranesia (FR) Jemison Joy Ride Julkkis La Pelegrina (USA) Lady Moura Laguna Azzurra (JPN) Later Gator (NZ) Line Honours Lunatique (JPN) Miss Dodwell Miss Match (ARG) Mount Zero Ms Rodarte Nanyo Venus (JPN) Normality Ocean Challenger Restless Soul (GB) Roseito Sabanci Sewreel (NZ) Shacked Up Sharnee Rose She Loves You Simply Carina (USA) Sport Chic Super Cash Tap This Tara From the Cape (USA) Testico (USA) Time Check (USA) You’re So Good (NZ) Zillow African Piano (JPN) Al Jasrah (IRE) Allariza (IRE) Bacarella Ballet Blue Bandol Bechuille Bollywood (JPN) Cat Woman Cavaloce Champagne Run (USA) Covertly Double Ranga Dream Date Peristrophe Phaedra Statuette Tresor Watchme Arleigh Besame Mucho Classic Curl (JPN) Danzon Didn’t Mention It Frictional Gesemi (NZ) Gottalikeher (NZ) Hussterics Indarra (NZ) Lahana Lanai (USA) Miss Hostie Never Fade (GB)

C/B. C/Ch. C/B. F/B. C/B. F/B. C/B. C/Ch. C/B.or Br. C/B. F/B. F/B. C/B. F/B. C/B.or Br. F/Ch. F/Br. C/Br. C/B. C/B. F/B. F/B. F/B. F/B. C/B. C/B. F/B. F/B. F/Ch. C/B. C/Ch. C/B.or Br. F/B. F/B. C/Gr. F/Ch. F/Br.or Gr. F/Ch. C/B. C/B. F/Ch. F/B. C/B. C/B. C/Ch. C/B. F/B. C/Ch. C/B. C/B. F/Ch. C/B. F/B. C/B. F/Ch. F/Ch. F/B. F/Gr. F/Ch. C/B. C/Ch. C/Ch. C/B. C/Ch.or Gr. F/B. F/Ch. F/Ch. F/B. F/B. C/B. F/B. C/Ch. F/B.

Real Steel (JPN) The Autumn Sun Pariah Dundeel (NZ) Shalaa (IRE) Real Steel (JPN) The Autumn Sun The Autumn Sun Shalaa (IRE) Dundeel (NZ) Shalaa (IRE) Shalaa (IRE) Dundeel (NZ) Not A Single Doubt Snitzel Showtime Shalaa (IRE) The Autumn Sun Shalaa (IRE) The Autumn Sun Real Steel (JPN) Snitzel Pariah Pariah Pariah Dundeel (NZ) Snitzel Snitzel Maurice (JPN) Maurice (JPN) Showtime Shalaa (IRE) Dundeel (NZ) The Autumn Sun The Autumn Sun Not A Single Doubt Shalaa (IRE) Snitzel Snitzel Not A Single Doubt Snitzel The Autumn Sun Not A Single Doubt Shalaa (IRE) Snitzel Shalaa (IRE) Shalaa (IRE) The Autumn Sun Real Steel (JPN) The Autumn Sun The Autumn Sun Pariah Dundeel (NZ) Snitzel Maurice (JPN) Showtime Mikki Isle (JPN) Showtime Showtime Real Steel (JPN) Showtime Pariah Showtime Pariah Dundeel (NZ) Pariah Showtime Real Steel (JPN) Pariah Showtime Pariah Showtime Shalaa (IRE)

www.arrowfield.com.au | Scone, NSW Paul Messara: 0438 248 258 Jon Freyer: 0408 583 888 Sally Gordon: 0421 080 021 Alison Brassil: 0439 338 630 Peter Jenkins: 0408 667 876

2022 / 183

“The Lipari and Royal Descent colts are star lots and anyone shopping at the top end will be very well advised to check them out”

(L) R

2022 vendor

BARAMUL STUD

PRESENTS ANOTHER HIGH QUALITY DRAFT

B

aramul Stud Manager Paul Thompson is looking forward to the 2022 Magic Millions, confident that the famed stud’s draft is a high quality one of great appeal.

Lot 453 is the first yearling out of the ATC Oaks-G1 winner Royal Descent to be offered for sale and also out of a high class race mare is lot 508 whose dam is the Oakleigh Plate-G1, 1100m winner Shamal Wind.

“It is a good draft with a mix of early foaling two year-old types and some later foals who will continue to improve.”

Descendants of Denise’s Joy continue to excel and lot 670 out of Villa Moura is a fine example, with lot 709 (half-brother to the Listed winner Confrontational) also from great family, that which produced Ethereal.

Having seven colts by star stallion I Am Invincible is somewhat of a coup for Baramul and of course they are all from outstanding families. First off the rank is lot 213 out of the stakes placed Redoute’s Choice Lipari, dam of the ATC Derby-G1, 2400m hero Levendi and the Group 3 winners Wu Gok and Marcel From Madrid.

Next up is lot 292 out of Mountain Laurel whose dam is the multiple Group One winner Private Steer whilst lot 446 is a half-brother to the stakes placed Time Is Precious from the family of Lotteria and Inferno.

184 / 2022 VENDORS

“The Lipari and Royal Descent colts are star lots and anyone shopping at the top end will be very well advised to check them out,” Thompson said.

So You Think is another stallion in form and his youngsters will be in as much demand as ever, Baramul excited to present a colt (lot 570) and a filly (lot 66). The former is out of Submissive, half-sister to the Vain Stakes-G2, 1100m winner Ingratiating whilst the latter is a sister to the Rosehill Guineas-G1, 2000m winner D’Argento.

Australia’s reigning Champion Sire Written Tycoon is also nicely represented in the draft by a filly (lot 183) out of the stakes winner Kryptelon and a colt (lot 538) out of Snitzel Blitz from a well known European family, that of the big race winners Arazi, Noverre, Joyeux Danseur and Jim French.

Meanwhile the multiple Champion Sire Snitzel has three fillies on offer, lot 250 from the prolific Summoned family, lot 351 a granddaughter of the dual Group 2 winner Palacio de Cristal and lot 556 a granddaughter of the Group 1 mare Isolda.

“The Palazzo Cristallo is a very precocious, strong type,” Thompson noted - a real twoyear-old type.”

Zoustar is another big name in the draft with four; a colt (lot 295) out of the Oakleigh Plate winner Mrs Onassis, a colt (lot 459) out of the Group 3 placed Rule The River (another Thompson highlights amongst the stars of the draft), a filly (lot 545) out of a half-sister to the Group 2 winner Sovereign Nation and a filly (lot 711) out of the stakes winner Zauberin.

Making an encouraging start to his stud career, Star Turn has nine due to go through the ring for Baramul including

2022 draft

a granddaughter of the dual stakes winner Cannyanna (lot 712), a colt out of a half-sister to the Group 3 winner Heart Testa (lot 991), a great granddaughter of Jezabeel (lot 1199) and a grandson of the NZ Filly Of The Year Tartan Tights (lot 1222).

Also well represented with nine yearlings is All Too Hard, his draft inclusive of a filly out of a granddaughter of Skating (lot 1006), and from the same family a grandson of the stakes winner Zauberin (lot 1068) and a grandson of Ha Ha (lot 1182).

Shalaa’s three include a colt (lot 1096) out of a half-sister to the stakes winner Latin News whilst Willowy’s sire Kermadec has two including a daughter (lot 1191) of the fast Group 2 mare Magically. Shooting To Win also has a couple including a granddaughter (lot 1015) of the NZ Champion 2Y0 ll Quello Veloce.

(L) Royal Descent (AUS) Winning the 2013 ATC Oaks.

(R) Levendi (AUS) Winning the 2018 ATC Derby

Other highlights for Baramul include some lovely fillies... lot 571 by Pierro out of the city winner Shemai line-bred to her own fifth dam Klairessa, lot 875 a Not A Single Doubt out of a half-sister to the city winner Impavido, lot 891 by Brazen Beau from the prolific “Leica” family and lot 1132 by Press Statement from the family of Lotteria.

And some very nice colts as well... a Justify halfbrother (lot 799) to the Group 3 winner Chivalry out of the Group 3 mare World Peace from the Denise’s Joy family, a Trapeze Artist (lot 223) out of a halfsister to the Hong Kong Derby winner Super Satin, a Vancouver (lot 965) out of a half-sister to Polar Success, a Headwater (lot 1017) half to the US stakes winner Broadway Missile, a Sidestep (lot 1077) from Vengeance Of Rain’s high class family, a Better Than Ready (lot 1080) half to two city winners, an Epaulette (lot 1115) from the Denise’s Joy family and and an American Pharoah (lot 1192) great grandson of dual stakes winner Cannyanna.

Paul Thompson was happy to answer a few questions for us...

What secret conspiracy would you like to start?

Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

66 183 213 223 250 292 294 351 446 453 459 508 517 538 545 556 570 670 700 709 711 712 875 891 902 965 971 991 1006 1007 1015 1017 1033 1034 1038 1039 1052 1068 1077 1080 1089 1096 1107 1115 1123 1132 1178 1182 1191 1192 1199 1211 1222 1224 1226

Fullazz Kryptelon Lipari Lucrezia (NZ) Medaglia Valore Mountain Laurel Mrs Onassis Palazzo Cristallo Rose of Sharon Royal Descent Rule the River Shamal Wind Shemai (NZ) Snitzel Blitz Sovereign Diamond Squandered Submissive Villa Moura (NZ) World Peace Zastava Zauberin Zestily Constitutional Croatian Darby’s Bid Rose Petals Sawn Off Shotgun So Stylish Sweet Lavender Swiss Mistress (NZ) The Quick One Theatre Fan (USA) Ventriloquism Very Puzzling Vitriolic Attack Waitemata Harbour Zingara Arcadia Lane Belgrade Bewitchment Cash Bonus Computer Delectable Dora Ecstatically Encrypted Forbidden Rose Latin Salsa Light Bulb Moment Magically Mahlani (NZ) Mate Moodlighting Nessie Niall No Clothes On

F/B.or Br. F/B. C/B. C/Ch. F/B. C/B. C/B.or Br. F/Ch. C/B. C/B.or Br. C/B.or Br. C/B. F/B.or Br. C/Ch. F/B. F/B. C/B. C/B. C/B. C/B. F/B. F/B. F/B. F/B. C/B. C/Br. F/B.or Br. C/Ch. F/Ch. C/Br. F/Ch. C/B. F/B. C/B. C/Ch. F/B. C/Ch. C /B.or Br. C/B. F/B. C/Ch. C/B.or Br. F/B. C/B.or Br. F/Ch. F/Br.or Blk. C/B. C/Ch. F/B.or Br. C/B. F/B. C/B. C/B. C/B. F/Br.or Blk.

So You Think (NZ) Written Tycoon I Am Invincible Trapeze Artist Snitzel I Am Invincible Zoustar Snitzel I Am Invincible I Am Invincible Zoustar I Am Invincible Pierro Written Tycoon Zoustar Snitzel So You Think (NZ) I Am Invincible Justify (USA) I Am Invincible Zoustar Star Turn Not a Single Doubt Brazen Beau Shalaa (IRE) Vancouver Star Turn Star Turn All Too Hard All Too Hard Shooting to Win Headwater All Too Hard All Too Hard Star Turn Star Turn Kermadec (NZ) All Too Hard Sidestep Better Than Ready Shooting to Win Shalaa (IRE) All Too Hard Epaulette All Too Hard Press Statement Shalaa (IRE) All Too Hard Kermadec (NZ) American Pharoah (USA) Star Turn All Too Hard Star Turn Star Turn Star Turn

That Baramul is a better place to work than other farms!

If someone asked to be your apprentice and learn all that you know, what would you teach them?

That horses are a whole lot easier to deal with than people.

What’s something your brain tries to make you do and you have to will yourself not to do it?

Criticize.

BARAMUL STUD baramul@baramulstud.com.au Paul Thompson Widden Valley Rd, Widden NSW 2328 (02) 6547 0506 admin@baramulstud.com.au

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2022 vendor

BHIMA NOD TO THE PAST AS BHIMA LOOKS AHEAD TO THE FUTURE

I

t was Mark Twain who said the famous words; “while history doesn’t repeat itself, it often rhymes.”

Mid-way through 2021, Mike and Kate Fleming, with the team from thoroughbred marketing agency Kick Collective, turned back the clock and took a deep dive into the history of their land and its past owners.

Established in 1953, Bhima is a historically significant name in the local Hunter region and has used the inspiration of that rich success archive to pave the path to an exciting future.

Insights were sourced from the Upper Hunter Historical Society and personal accounts from David Bath, son of Vivien Bath, who, whilst imprisoned in Changi POW camp conceived his dream of a horse stud.

Bath returned to Australia and purchased land then known as ‘Cliftlands’ in 1953 and Bhima Stud was born. The great Biscay, sire of Bletchingly whose progeny include the champion Kingston Town, Emancipation and Canny Lad, retired to stud at Bhima in 1969.

Fast forward to the modern era of Bhima, where Kate and Mike take ownership of the property in 2015. Incredible sales success has followed, cemented by a modern brand with a reputation for transparency. In 2019,

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Bhima became the first yearling vendor to make yearling health, background and ownership information, as well as x-ray and scope reports, freely accessible to buyers via the Kick Sales Platform. Kate and Mike are committed to continually developing trust in the Bhima brand by challenging outdated industry standards on sales transparency and integrity.

(Above) Satur Hill c1910 (Left) Bhima graduate Prague, as a yearling (Top) Bhima graduate, Four Moves Ahead

The journey into Bhima’s past was prompted by the undertaking of significant infrastructure works on the property. The yearling barn was an original, with an enviable graduate record including the likes of young stallions North Pacific and Prague, top mares and fillies Forbidden Love, Four Moves Ahead, Emeralds, Imperatriz and Rhapsody Rose, and elite racehorses such as Hong Kong’s Big Party, who recently returned home to the lush paddocks of Bhima for retirement.

In the new year the state-of-the-art yearling barn precinct will be unveiled, complete with parade lawn, 39 boxes, spacious breezeways, 2 wash bays, crush, scales, tack and storage rooms along with a staff kitchen and bathroom facilities. The new barn is ready to continue developing that impressive graduate record.

“We are chomping at the bit to get the yearlings into the new barn,” Yearling Manager Zoe Baylis said. “It is looking incredible and we are proud to be involved in utilising an amazing, state-ofthe-art facility with our future drafts. It just shows the level of investment and consideration Mike and Kate have for the direction of Bhima, our staff, clients and future graduates.”

Bhima will present a draft of 22 quality yearlings at the upcoming Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, ranging from sires including Australian Champion Sires Written Tycoon, Snitzel, Exceed And Excel and Lonhro, to emerging sires Dundeel (NZ), Pariah, The Autumn Sun, Fastnet Rock, Zoustar and Almanzor (Fr).

There’s a colt by Europe’s exciting sprinter Kingman (GB), from a three-quarter Galileo (Ire) sister to High Chaparral (Ire), a Not A Single Doubt filly from a half-sister to Valpolicella, and a Fastnet Rock colt from a sister to a Champion filly in France.

“The strength and diversity of our draft is something we are very proud of moving into January,” said Mike. “Our clients have supported a wide crosssection of stallions, so we have quality that appeals to all on the varied buying bench of the Gold Coast.”

“We’ve got proven sires - Snitzel, Fastnet Rock and Written Tycoon - who just keep going from strength to strength, to exciting young prospects such as Aquis duo, Invader and Brave Smash. We’ve got all bases loaded for buyer success.”

2022 draft Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

5 11 12 148 203 361 364 368 437 466 467 533 625 653 659 683 725 743 769 861 1048 1210

Elegant d’Oro Embroidered Silk (IRE) Empress Cixi (GB) Is What it Is Lazumba Patsy Boyne (IRE) Perfect Lyric (GB) Phenetic (GB) Rina Bettina (NZ) Sacredvista Saddaqa (USA) Sister Souss Tiberias (FR) Unique Magic (NZ) Valley Girl (NZ) Whisper Delovely Ailuros (NZ) Amerindia (GB) Azeema Circe Wyuna Misstrum

C/Br.or Blk. C/Ch. C/B. C/B. C/Ch. C/Br C/B. F/B. F/Ch. F/B. C/Ch. C/Ch. C/Br. F/B. F/B. F/B. F/B. C/B. C/B. F/B. C/B.or Br. C/B.

Lonhro Snitzel Almanzor (FR) Dundeel (NZ) Written Tycoon Kingman (GB) The Autumn Sun Almanzor (FR) Not a Single Doubt Zoustar Exceed and Excel Brave Smash (JPN) Fastnet Rock Brazen Beau The Autumn Sun Invader Pariah Dundeel (NZ) Harry Angel (IRE) Snitzel Astern Iffraaj (GB)

www.bhima.com.au 3 Moobi Road, Scone 2337 (02) 6545 1000 Mike Fleming: mike@bhima.com.au 0448 254 365 Kate Fleming: kate@bhima.com.au 0409 311 794

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John North has particular reason to be excited with Bowness presenting one of the very few colts from the third crop of the rising star Extreme Choice.

2022 vendor

by Kristen Manning

BOWNESS STUD AN EXCITING MUST-SEE DRAFT

B

owness Stud’s John North has plenty to be excited about as the 2022 Magic Millions approaches with his draft shaping as one of the must-sees of the sale.

“We had Dr Greg Nash here recently (the second week of November) and he was impressed by how forward our horses were,” North said.

“He struggled to find a fault amongst them and noted that they had been very well selected by Magic Millions. They are very forward and almost ready to go!”

North loves the atmosphere of the Magic Millions, noting that “it is a great time of year to be up there. Everyone is in a festive mood which is the right mood to be in to buy horses!”

“It is also a great opportunity to catch up with old friends who you don’t get to see throughout the year.”

North has particular reason to be excited with Bowness presenting one of the very few colts from the third crop of the rising star Extreme Choice.

Going through the ring early as lot 3, he is out of Egyptian Melody, a daughter of Exceed And Excel. One of just 32 members of his hot young sire, he is out of a placed

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daughter of the US Group 2 winner Sherine from the family of the Group 1 gallopers Bodemeister and She’s A Julie.

“He is a great type of horse who is going to attract a lot of attention.”

As will other members of the Bowness draft...

Lot 35 chestnut colt by Impending from Fascinating (by Choisir): a half-brother to the city placed three times winner Zounate, he is out of a winning 3/4 sister to the Listed winner Choistar from the Lea Lark family of Southern Halo and Miswaki.

Lot 291 br/gr colt by Frosted from Mountain Dew (by Snowland): half-brother to the metropolitan winner Good Soize out of a city winning daughter of the Group 2 mare Basra whose grandam is the US Group 1 placed stakes winner Silk’s Lady, halfsister to the Italian Horse Of The Year Miss Gris.

Lot 300 bay colt by Brave Smash from Music Media (by More Than Ready): by an exciting first season sire, he is a half-brother to this year’s Australasian Oaks-G1, 2000m winner Media Award out of a winning daughter of the Listed winner Harley Ma. Lot 373 bay colt by Churchill from Pink Rocks (by Fastnet Rock): his dam is a granddaughter of the expensive Group 3 winning mare Milanova who has produced the European Group 3 winner Pretty Perfect. Hails from the same branch of the prolific Fanfreluche family as the French Champion 2Y0 Colt Holy Roman Emperor and the NZ Derby-G1, 2400m winner Sherwood Forest.

The Brave Smash half-brother to G1 Australasian Oaks winner Media Award (above) is lot 300 in the Bowness draft.

half-sister to the dual Group 3 winning sprinter Fast ‘N’ Rocking and the Listed winner Good ‘N’ Fast. Her grandam is the stakes winner For The Good Times from the family of the big race winners Shiva’s Revenge, Happy Archer and Just Now. Lot 1171 bay colt by Real Steel from Lacey Lonhbreak (by Lonhro): half-brother to the triple winners Lacey Lynx Pack and Bid To Fame out of a placed mare from the family of the stakes winners Golden Pistols, Keep The Faith, Faithful Son, Always Fair, Ley Hunter and Lailani (GB Champion 3Y0 Filly).

Lot 1221 bay filly by Divine Prophet from Nervous Nellie (by Snitzel): third foal for a daughter of the city winning Montjeu mare Calm, dam of the multiple city winner My Guiliano. Member of a high class European family, one which has been represented at the elite level by Zafonic (European Horse Of The Year), Announce, Prohibit, Elmaamul and Midday.

Bluebloods asked John a few questions…

Who are your favourite stallions?

At the moment we are very excited about D’Argento. He is putting a really good product on the ground, we are very happy with what we are seeing.

Another favourite is our evergreen boy Bon Hoffa, the mares he gets are never elite but he just keeps upgrading them significantly. He gets Group 1 performers and is just so reliable.

What is the most important object you own?

My mobile phone, it is my office!

What is the most stupid way you have been injured?

Years ago as a young man I was on a stockhorse and I thought, just for fun, I would see how fast he could go so I gave him a dig - well he went sideways faster than he could go forward and off I came, I spent a week in hospital.

What is your most useless talent?

The ability to stand on a surfboard whilst living out in the bush!

Lot 468 bay filly by Flying Artie from Sadler’s Wish (by Not A Single Doubt): out of a tough race mare who won seven races, she is a half-sister to the Singapore based five times winner Revolution. This a real runners’ family with his dam’s stakes placed half-sister Silk And Money winning 12 races.

Lot 592 bay colt by Harry Angel from Sweetwater (by Starcraft): a member of the first Australian crop of his high class sire, he is out of a placed daughter of the stakes placed Redoute’s Choice mare Flowerchild, half-sister to the dual Group winning sprinter Wild Rain from the family of the superstar Northerly.

Lot 941 bay colt by Adelaide from Party Hard (by Fastnet Rock): bred on that great Galileo/ Fastnet Rock cross, he is a half-brother to three winners (from her first three foals) out of a city placed daughter of the Group 3 winning Bletchingly mare Party Time whose granddaughter Miss Frost was a stakes winner last spring.

Lot 950 bay colt by Divine Prophet from Plain Magic (by Magic Albert): his sire was recently represented by his first stakes winner whilst two of the first three foals to race for his stakes winning dam are city winners; Magic Conqueror and Magic Fox. Lot 1073 chestnut colt by Russian Revolution from Babelicious (by Not A Single Doubt): bred on a 3mx3m cross of Redoute’s Choice, he is out of a four times winning sister to the Listed winning juvenile Jackson from the family of Marscay and Subzero.

Lot 1140 bay filly by Spieth from Good Times Roll (by Exceed And Excel): her dam is a winning

2022 draft Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

3 35 291 300 373 468 592 941 950 1073 1140 1171 1221

Egyptian Melody Fascinating Mountain Dew Music Media Pink Rocks Sadler’s Wish Sweetwater Party Hard Plain Magic Babelicious Good Times Roll Lacey Lonhbreak Nervous Nellie

C/B. C/Ch. C/Br.or Gr. C/B. C/B. F/B. C/B. C/B. C/B. C/Ch. F/B. C/B. F/B.

Extreme Choice Impending Frosted (USA) Brave Smash (JPN) Churchill (IRE) Flying Artie Harry Angel (IRE) Adelaide (IRE) Divine Prophet Russian Revolution Spieth (NZ) Real Steel (JPN) Divine Prophet

www.bownessstud.com.au John North: 0428 846 270 john@bownessstud.com.au 2445 Moppity Road, Young, NSW

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2022 vendor

COOLMORE C

oolmore’s faith in the Australian thoroughbred industry has been demonstrated time and again since its involvement commenced almost four decades ago.

During that period the farm has been home to some of the giants of the breed, British and European Classic winners, American Derby winners and triple crown winners, spearheaded

by Danehill and High Chaparral, with Australian breeders having had the unparalleled opportunity to breed to these wonderful sires and to buy and sell their yearlings at the annual round of sales.

Coolmore’s offering at the 2022 Magic Millions sees the continuation of this policy, as they will offer the first crop of yearlings by two of the best credentialled sires ever to stand in Australia, Justify and Saxon Warrior.

Q. How would you describe your 2022 MMGC draft?

The yearlings are currently in the early stages of their preparations for the sale in January, and we are buoyed by the quality of the stock that we will offer at the Magic Millions. Once again, we will present an outstanding draft of horses with representation by a well-balanced blend of proven, up-and-coming and highly exciting young sires. As per previous years, the Coolmore Australia draft for 2022 will encompass quality stock to suit all budgets and personal preferences.

Q. Coolmore have enjoyed great results with their graduates of the MMGC sale.

What are some recent highlights for horses reared at Coolmore?

Everything that we do on the farm at Coolmore Australia is with the ultimate aim of producing elite athletes to excel on the track in the future, and we follow our graduates with great interest. The pastures and our staff at Coolmore are second-to-none and this has shown in the results on the track in recent years. This year our graduates success has been highlighted by the deeds of the likes of Avantage, The Inferno, Rocha Clock, Fangirl, Saif, Persan and many others.

Obviously the great Winx was raised and grazed on the farm and went through our 2013 Magic Millions yearling draft, however some other highlights from our recent Magic Millions offerings include Group 1 winners Vancouver, Sherwood Forest and Winning Ways and Stakes winners such as Rock and Love Tap. Q. Your draft features the highly anticipated first crop yearlings by Triple Crown winner Justify. They were

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very well received at the weanling sales, how have they progressed?

It is incredibly exciting to be offering the Lot Sex/Col Sire Dam first Australian-bred Justify yearlings to the market, particularly given the 1 C/B. Justify (USA) Eckstein quality of the individuals that we have 78 F/B.or Br. Justify (USA) Global Glamour on offer. For us, Justify is the most 94 C/B. Saxon Warrior (JPN) Gypsy Chimes (USA) highly anticipated sire that we have ever offered to the Australian market, 98 F/B. Justify (USA) Halle Rocks and the support he has received in his 154 C/B. Pierro Jalsah formative years has been unparalleled.

174 F/B. Fastnet Rock Keep on Singing (USA) It is so pleasing for us the physical 186 F/B. American Pharoah (USA) La Bella Luisa qualities of the Justify yearlings has 199 C/B.or Br. Justify (USA) Lake Geneva matched the quality of the mares he 225 F/B. Justify (USA) Lumina has covered. At the Magic Millions alone we offer the progeny of Global 226 C/Ch. Justify (USA) Luminous Eyes (IRE) Glamour, Savvy Coup, The Party 244 C/B. Rubick Maraam Stand, Eckstein, Lake Geneva and 245 C/B. Grunt (NZ) Marquise da Rossa a sibling to Pohutukawa. Three years 263 F/Ch. Written Tycoon

Miss Ballantine ago we set out to purchase the best 293 F/Ch. Justify (USA) Movie Role quality mares that would be suitable candidates for Justify and we are 301 F/B. Snitzel Muzyka very pleased with the way that they 318 C/B.or Br. Justify (USA) Night Call have progressed through each stage 355 F/B. Vancouver Paprika of their development.

371 F/Ch. Justify (USA) Pickin’ Time Q. Justify was a horse of extremely 376 F/B. Merchant Navy Pittsburgh Flyer rare ability. What are some common 381 F/B.or Br. I Am Invincible

Pontiana characteristics of his stock and why 420 F/B. American Pharoah (USA) Rayaheen do you think Australian owners and 451 F/B. Pride of Dubai Rotterdam trainers will be drawn to them?

Any horse that wins the US Triple 465 F/B. Capitalist Sacred Point Crown obviously has to be an 472 F/B. Pierro Santuzza (NZ) exceptionally talented horse, however 482 C/B. Justify (USA) Savvy Coup (NZ) he is the only Triple Crown winner ever 593 F/B. Pierro Swift Lady (NZ) to retire undefeated. In his six-start 594 F/B. American Pharoah (USA) Symi career, he won four Group 1 races and 600 F/B. Fastnet Rock Tantalus (NZ) was never headed. The mixture of his blistering speed and stamina will serve 615 F/B. Fastnet Rock Test the World (NZ) him well in Australia, and he has thrown 622 C/Ch. Justify (USA) The Party Stand (NZ) his immense strength and power into 629 F/Ch. Justify (USA) Tingu (FR) his yearlings. Across the board, they 671 C/B. Written By

Vintage Rock have great hips and hindquarters, 689 C/Ch. Saxon Warrior (JPN) Wickedness (USA) forearms and gaskins and plenty 714 C/B. Harry Angel (IRE) Zumoorooda of bone, which will surely appeal to local trainers. His progeny look 740 F/B. Deep Field Amanee tough and hardy, which is very 753 C/B. Pierro Aqua d’Amore encouraging to see and we are 817 C/Br. So You Think (NZ) Bobine (USA) supremely confident that they will 840 F/B. Saxon Warrior (JPN) Cat’s Wish thrive in Australian conditions.

882 F/B. Spirit of Boom Countercurrent Q. Saxon Warrior is a sire with great 919 F/B. Kingman (GB) Djiva (GB) credentials for success in Australia.

988 F/B. Saxon Warrior (JPN) Smart Company Why do you think his progeny will be successful in Australia?

1058 F/B.or Br. Pride of Dubai Airlie Avenue (NZ) Saxon Warrior is one of the fastest 1065 F/B. Saxon Warrior (JPN) Aneto and most precocious sons of the 1082 F/Br. No Nay Never (USA) Blue Money great Deep Impact, and is a Guineas 1127 F/B. Churchill (IRE) Feirin 2 0 2 1 V E N D O R winner out of a Galileo mare just like 1181 F/Ch. Rubick

Leviosa Night Of Thunder who has been very 1184 C/B. Rubick Little Less Lip successful in Australia from limited opportunities. Saxon Warrior won two Group 1 races in his first four starts as a two and three-year-old over a mile, beating four-time Group 1 winner 02 6576 4200, Jerrys Plains, NSW Roaring Lion on each occasion. He is • John Kennedy: 0432 559 828 | jkennedy@coolmore.com.au one of the best sons of Deep Impact, • Colm Santry: 0412 344 566 | colm@coolmore.com.au and we have seen the continued • Paddy Oman: 0408 456 964 | paddy@coolmore.com.au power of the Japanese-bred horses • Tom Moore: 0432 050 940 | tmoore@coolmore.com.au continue this year, with top-flight • Rob Archibald: 0438 458 137 | rarchibald@coolmore.com.au winners throughout the world, including • Emma Pugsley: 0421 410 457 | epugsley@coolmore.com.au the emergence of Maurice in Australia.

2022 draft

TOP: Justify retired to Coolmore as the only ever undefeated US Triple Crown winner. He has covered some of the Nation’s best mares and his first crop yearlings at Magic Millions 2022 are set to be show stoppers. Coolmore has shown its faith in the magnificent chestnut by purchasing elite mares to be covered by him. A selection appears as follows: ABOVE LEFT: Global Glamour by Star Witness was multiple Gr.1 winner of over $1.55m, she was purchased at MM

by Coolmore for $1.55m to visit Justify.

ABOVE RIGHT: Savvy Coup by Savabeel was a multiple Gr.1 winner of over $723k, she was purchased at MM

by Coolmore for $1m to visit Justify.

BOTTOM LEFT: Eckstein by I Am Invincible was a Gr.1 placed multiple Gr.3 winner of over $1.18m, she was purchased at MM by Coolmore for $750k to visit Justify.

The progeny of these three mares are catalogued as lot 1, lot 78 and lot 482.

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There’s no shying away from the fact this year’s Corumbene draft for the Gold Coast is packed with precocious types which significantly narrows the search for the 2023 2YO Classic winner.

2022 vendor

CORUMBENE STUD W

hen a farm like George Altomonte’s Corumbene Stud has built a reputation for producing Golden Slipper and Blue Diamond Stakes’ winners, it follows that the market will be looking for more of the same.

They won’t be disappointed with Corumbene’s 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast draft built around speed and precocity as we discussed with Farm Manager Trent Hewitt.

The list of G1 performed juveniles bred, sold or raced by Corumbene is a lengthy one headed

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by Glen Latham

by the likes of Golden Slipper winners Sebring and Overreach, and the Blue Diamond winner True Jewels. Using the logic that if you keep doing things right then the right result will follow, then the chances are that Corumbene will present at least one, if not more, future stars in their thirteen strong draft this January. By design a case can be made for each and every one of the baker’s dozen that they could be in the winner’s circle at next year’s Magic Millions race day.

With Snitzel’s reputation for getting results in the sale ring and over at the Gold Coast track, his colt out of Ichihara, lot 130, looked a good place to start. Trent explained “He’s a very sporty colt with a good bit of leg and length to him, and looks like a real sprinter. He should definitely come to hand as a two year-old.” As a four time Australian Champion sire Snitzel needs no further introduction while Ichihara is a daughter of General Nediym and winner of the

G2 Magic Night Stakes at two. Her dam Cut A Dash is a three-quarter sister to Whisked (Whiskey Road), dam of the great Tie The Knot (Nassipour), while she herself is a full sister to Isurava a listed winner at two and dam of Corumbene’s former star Menari (Snitzel).

This colt’s full-brother made $2.8 million as a yearling.

Prospective buyers looking for a handsome son of Capitalist can have their choice of not one, but two Corumbene colts that are very closely related. Both chestnuts, lot 129 is out of Icedginger (Tale Of The Cat) and lot 471 out of her stakes winning daughter Samantha (Snitzel). “They act and look like twins in the paddock. The only difference I can see is the Icedginger is a little bit flashier with a couple of white socks, but in mannerisms, temperament and physique they look very, very similar. The Samantha colt is a dead ringer for his father, a very streamlined type that will make it as a two year-old. He looks the real deal to me while both look to be very early horses, built for a bit of speed. We are expecting they will be very popular.”

Dam of four winners to date, Icedginger was placed third in the Wyong Magic Millions Classic before that race gained restricted listed status while Samantha won the listed Fireball Stakes and was runner up in the G3 Birthday Card Stakes.

This is the family that gave us True Jewels (Brief Truce) and her dual G2 winning halfsister Wager (Flying Spur) who was runner up in the G1 Blue Diamond, AJC Sires’ Produce and Champagne Stakes’ at two.

Looking further through the draft Corumbene will offer a filly by Deep Field again with a strong connection to juvenile success. She is the second foal of the So You Think mare Varese, a half-sister to Sebring (More Than Ready), the G2 Ajax Stakes winner Pureness (Tale Of The Cat) and to Falkenberg (More Than Ready) who was third in the G1 Queensland Oaks.

“This filly was one of our nicest looking foals and she has developed beautifully.

Although she too looks an early type, it wouldn’t surprise me if she could get over a little ground later on,” Trent said.

The draft also has a pair of colts by Menari starting with lot 311 out of the Choisir mare Natalia. We all knew what a tremendous talent Menari was, and he was retired leaving us with the feeling we hadn’t quite seen everything he had to offer. Well, Corumbene have doubled-down looking to replicate that ability by sending him Natalia who is out of his unraced halfsister Booralee. It is an interesting strategy which on looks at least has paid off with Trent remarking “If he had a bit more of a white blaze he’d be the spitting image of his father. Whoever buys him will have plenty of fun with him.” The other Menari in the draft is lot 1041, a colt out of the Exceed And Excel mare Walkway from the family of dual W S Cox Plate winner Northerly (Serheed). “He’s an unbelievable looking type, really well put together with strong looking legs. He looks like he’ll make

a three year-old where the Natalia is a definite two year-old type.” It augurs well that Menari’s first runner Menari Magic was a winner on debut.

The draft will be led off by a pair of yearlings by the ever-dependable More Than Ready who is still getting top class horses in the twilight of his career.

Lot 17 is a colt out of the So You Think mare Eternity, a half-sister to the previously discussed Ichihara. Trent thinks the colt is “A real stunner.

He’s the only foal out of the dam and she’s thrown a really nice type.”

Lot 73 is the other More Than Ready, this one a filly out of Ghenwaa, a twice winning daughter of Street Cry and a half-sister to the very speedy stakes winners Taraayef (Lonhro) and Haybah (More Than Ready). Trent thinks “She is a very stylish looking filly. This is the dam’s third foal and all have been exceptional types. George kept the now two year-old which is with the Snowden stable and they are very happy with her.”

Lonhro remains a source of quality types and he hasn’t broken with tradition with Corumbene’s colt out of Choice Cat which sells as lot 57. In Trent’s opinion “He’s not overly big, but a very solid type. He’ll run as a two year-old for sure.”

By Redoute’s Choice, Choice Cat is out of the speedy American Tale Of The Cat mare Cat By The Tale, a Grade 2 winner at Santa Anita. Amongst her five winning foals are Choice Cat’s full siblings, the G2 placed Raphael’s Cat and Tale Of Choice, while her half-brother Port Louis (Maurice) ran third in the BRC G2 Sires’ Produce Stakes last season and was listed placed over the Flemington Carnival. Port Louis looks sure to make it six winners for the mare, and it will be no surprise if it isn’t in a stakes race before the sale starts.

The farm’s final Book One offering is a Rubick filly out of the four-time winner Damedge, a Redoute’s Choice three quarter-sister to the G2 Matriarch Stakes winner Vintedge (Flying Spur) and a half-sister to the listed winner Youths Edge (Jeune).

The quality doesn’t abate with Book Two starting with lot 982, a filly

by Vancouver out of Sheer Style, winner of the Magic Millions Clockwise Classic at Ballarat. Then there is the previously mentioned Menari – Walkway colt followed by a Pride of Dubai filly out of Marishka who comes with a bagful of residual value as lot 1197. Marishka is a full sister to Bahia dam of Overreach, the G2 winner Standout and Outreach while the mare herself has visited Capitalist this season. Closing out the sale for Corumbene is a Headwater filly out of Lonhro’s daughter Merrygoen from the family of Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner Away Game (Snitzel) selling as lot 1202. Trent feels she is a “neat, compact filly that looks likely to come to hand early and could be a lot of fun setting her for the early two year-old races.”

There’s no shying away from the fact this year’s Corumbene draft for the Gold Coast is packed with precocious types which significantly narrows the search for the 2023 2YO Classic winner.

2022 draft Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

17 73 129 130 311 471 663 857 900 982 1041 1197 1202

Eternity Ghenwaa Icedginger Ichihara Natalia Samantha Varese Choice Cat Damedge Sheer Style Walkway Marishka Merrygoen

C/Br.or Blk. F/B. C/Ch. C/B. or Br. C/B. C/Ch. F/B. C/Br. F/B.or Br. F/B. C/B. F/B. F/B.or Br.

Corumbene Stud

More Than Ready (USA) More Than Ready (USA) Capitalist Snitzel Menari Capitalist Deep Field Lonhro Rubick Vancouver Menari Pride of Dubai Headwater

corumbene@alto.com.au www.corumbenestud.com.au Trent Hewitt (stud manager): 0428 115 528 Dunedoo, NSW

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2022 vendor

by Renée Geelen

CRESSFIELD

BRINGS A DIVERSE QUALITY DRAFT FOR 2022

B

uyers have come to expect yearlings with mouth-watering pedigrees from Cressfield, and their draft of thirteen yearlings for the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale won’t disappoint. Four of their yearlings are out of G1 winning mares, and the draft of yearlings represent ten different quality stallions. The latest pin-up horse from the Cressfield drafts at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale is promising three year-old Jamaea (Headwater) who won the G2 Percy Sykes Stakes last season as a two year-old.

“2022 sees Cressfield bringing a slightly larger draft than in other years,” said Liesl Baumann.

“Magic Millions has delivered very strong results for us historically with good clearance and healthy averages. We have chosen to take a more complete draft of yearlings here this year rather than placing one or two at later sales. We have done this for a couple of reasons, one is to capitalise on a likely buoyant early market and the other is to allow us to streamline our on-farm operations. In doing so we assembled quite a diverse range of types, sires, and strengths of pedigrees. While there is less uniformity on type, we believe we bring a bunch of quality well related horses that should appeal to a broader buying bench.”

A pair of I Am Invincible yearlings will attract plenty of attention, particularly the colt, lot 422, out of Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner Real Surreal (Real Saga). This colt is Real Surreal’s third live foal, and this family is a typical speedy colonial family with Real Surreal being a half-sister to G3 winner Benny’s Buttons. “A really masculine, handsome colt with a nice clean throat latch and good bone.”

The other I Am Invincible is a filly, lot 489, with huge residual value, being the second foal of G1 Robert Sangster Stakes winner Secret Agenda (Not A Single Doubt) who is from the Joie Denise family. “A smaller precocious type, with a strong shoulder, broad across the hips and a very laid back nature.”

Royal Ascot winner Merchant Navy has started his stud career strongly with a group placed two yearold in the first few months of the new season and

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both his colts in the Cressfield draft are out of G1 winning mares. lot 377 is the fourth foal of dual G1 winning sprinter Platelet (Strategic) whose first foal is a dual winner. “A good boned colt with a nice length to his hip and a big relaxed stride.” Lot 438 is a half-brother to sire Headwater out of G1 winner River Dove (Hurricane Sky). “A big strong framed colt, muscular and well developed.”

Mid Summer Music won eleven races, including the G1 Stradbroke Handicap, and her filly, lot 256

by All Too Hard, is a half-sister to group placed Euphoric Summer who won the Magic Millions 2YO Clockwise Classic. Mid Summer Music has fashioned a good record at stud with all her three foals to race being winners. “A filly with few markings, is clean boned, with good feet and a broad nostril.”

One of Cressfield’s best families is that of Listed winner Personify, the dam of Cressfield’s G1 VRC Oaks winner Personal, and two half-sisters to Personal have yearlings in this draft. Lot 15 is a colt by Champion Sire Exceed and Excel, and this colt is the second foal of winning mare Epitomise (More Than Ready). “A later colt that is developing before our eyes. He is a neat, racy type.” Lot 366 is a Dundeel filly out of Personification (Redoute’s Choice) who has left four winners to date. “A truly athletic, good walking type of filly with a lovely front end really reminiscent of her sire.”

Cressfield bred Headwater and they will offer two of his colts at Magic Millions, including lot 367 who is out of Pfeiffer 20 2 1 (Storm V E N Cat), D O an R imported halfsister to two stakes winners, while lot 809 is out of super tough Listed winning racemare Black ‘n’ Tough (Tough Speed) who won thirteen races up to a mile. “Easily the best foal out of the mare, a well- proportioned, well -developed colt.

The one you notice in the paddock straight away.”

Closely related to Headwater is lot 1043, a No Nay Never filly is the second foal of Water Rising (Fastnet Rock), who is a half-sister to Headwater.

A Russian Revolution colt, lot 720, is out of winning mare Adelie (Red Ransom) who is a full sister to G2 winner Portillo (dam of Ghisoni) and a half-sister to G1 winner Snowland and stakes winner Snippetson.

The Deep Field colt is bound to draw the eye of good judges. From the Personify family comes lot 53 whose winning dam, Floreana (Snitzel) is a half-sister to stakes winner Villami, and Cressfield’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale group placed winning graduate Aquagirl.

Five time G1 winner The Autumn Sun’s first crop of yearlings look exciting, and Cressfield will present a colt, lot 163, out of G2 winner Jeu de Cartes (Stravinsky), dam of four winners including stakes placed Merited.

Jeu de Cartes is a half-sister to Champion Stayer Nom Du Jeu, and both are out of dual G1 winner Prized Gem.

2022 draft

Dumbest way you’ve been injured?

I was leading a colt at a sale and he had just started to jack up and not want to go back into his box. I went to flick him with the end of my lead behind my back but in doing so I hit the tip of my ring finger against my leg. I hit my finger hard enough that it broke but didn’t realise it at the time. It wasn’t until three weeks later that I noticed the tip of my finger starting to droop and I decided I should see someone. It required pins and two operations.

The best and worst purchase you’ve ever made?

I had a rush of blood recently and purchased a large, gorgeous, hand-made Moroccan floor rug, then immediately felt buyer’s remorse.

It’s beautiful and I do love it however I now get to watch kids drop their crumbs and spill their drinks on it.

What’s something your brain tries to make you do and you have to will yourself not to do it?

Hit the snooze button!

Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

15 53 163 256 366 367 377 422 438 489 720 809 1043

Epitomise Floreana Jeu de Cartes (NZ) Mid Summer Music Personification Pfeiffer (USA) Platelet Real Surreal River Dove Secret Agenda Adelie Black ‘n’ Tough Water Rising

C/B. C/Ch. C/B. F/B. F/B. C/B. C/B.or Br. C/B.or Br. C/B.or Br. F/B. C/B. C/B.or Br. F/Br.

Exceed and Excel Deep Field The Autumn Sun All Too Hard Dundeel (NZ) Headwater Merchant Navy I Am Invincible Merchant Navy I Am Invincible Russian Revolution Headwater No Nay Never (USA)

www.cressfield.com.au 02 6545 0500 liesl@cressfield.com.au Parkville, NSW

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2022 vendor

by Glen Latham

EDINBURGH PARK PROMISING CROP OF FIRST SEASON SIRES

M

ost vendors take a draft to a sale knowing they have a horse or two that might not be quite what the buying bench wants. Ian Smith of Edinburgh Park Stud has no such concerns as the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale approaches with only those guaranteed to appeal to a discerning market getting aboard the truck at Wingham.

As he explained “We have been very selective in the draft of eleven horses that are going to the Gold Coast. They all have physical appeal as mature, early running types and are by the right stallions.

We are proud that our draft doesn’t have a tail with all being by top end, commercial stallions. It’s a work in progress and the quality of our drafts are getting better. A lot of our stock are running before Christmas which is what Magic Millions buyers want to see.” Trainers with horses from his 2021 draft are

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making the right noises and by sale time the results should be rolling in. “We are getting good reports on the stock we sold last year with a number of them ready to go around Christmas time with some being aimed at the Magic Million races.”

Putting a draft of this quality in some sort of order is far too challenging, so we threw a couple of youngsters by proven stallions at Ian for comment, starting with lot 342, Snitzel’s son out of Our Crown Mistress (Star Witness). “The first foal of an exceptionally good racemare, this guy is a big, strong, strapping colt, but a well-balanced, lovely mover with a fantastic temperament. He just looks a readymade racehorse.” Our Crown Mistress won five of her eleven career starts including a pair of listed races and comes from the family that gave us Classique Legend (Not A Single Doubt) and the five time G1 winner Racing To Win (Encosta De Lago).

Lot 500 is an impressive filly by Exceed And Excel out of Sebring’s stakes placed daughter Serena Bay. “Serena Bay’s first foal is a Not A Single Doubt colt purchased out of our draft last year by the Fung family. Named West Of Africa, he’s with Annabel Neasham, the stable having big raps on him and looks on a path to the Magic Millions 2YO Classic. The purchaser of our filly will get themselves a jump and run type, have a 2023 Magic Millions candidate on their hands with potential residual, Serena Bay having a Written Tycoon filly on her and currently being in foal to Snitzel. Serena Bay was an exceptionally fast juvenile and from what we know of the two year-old it looks like she definitely throws runners.”

Thrice a winner as a juvenile and third in the G2 Percy Sykes Stakes, Serena Bay certainly came to hand early.

Asked if he had one yearling he thought might be flying under the radar Ian pointed out lot 576, the Harry Angel colt out of Sun Valley which he thinks will appeal to buyers looking for an out-and-out sprinter. “As a physical he looks an early running, fast type. He’s another jump and run type which you would expect from a world-class sprinter like Harry Angel. This guy is out of a Commands mare from a family that continually throws up stakes winners and the page has really jumped since I purchased this mare.” Sun Valley is a half-sister

much in the mould of Lonhro; good boned, well-balance and a strong individual.

We sold her first foal, a Spirit Of Boom filly, out of this ring last year. Now named Boomsita we are hearing good things from the Kris Lees stable about her. This is a cross that has thrown multiple stakes winners.”

Testa Rossa has quietly gone about his business as a broodmare sire, his G1 winner’s count now standing at five. He’ll get every opportunity to make it six with lot 411, a daughter of Pierro and the six time winner Quicksilver Lass. This filly is a half-sister to the Chris Waller trained, Star Thoroughbreds owned, recent Melbourne metropolitan winner Gabeira (Deep Field). “This is a Magic Millions pedigree if ever there was one, Quicksilver Lass’ half-brother Fullazzaboot (Sepoy) beating all bar a flying Sunlight (Zoustar) in the 2018 2YO Classic while another half-brother in D’Argento (So You Think) won the G1 Rosehill Guineas in the Star Thoroughbred silks. She offers plenty of residual as a broodmare once she has finished winning on the track.”

Anyone who has been slightly envious watching on as the Edinburgh Park bred Eleven Eleven (Fastnet Rock) has won on consecutive Magic Millions race days gets the opportunity to tap into the same family with lot 562, a So You Think filly out of Sticky Fingers by Duke Of Marmalade. “I put this filly into the sale because she is a big strong individual. It’s an American family I’ve had a lot of success with, not just with Eleven Eleven but the likes of Glenfiddich (Fastnet Rock), etc. We got exactly what we wanted with this mating. She’s a lovely bodied, well grown out filly which we’ll offer to the market as an opportunity for buyers to get into a family that just keeps on producing stakes performers. So You Think over the blood of Danzig is a cross that works.”

to Tenley (Medaglia d’Oro) who won the G2 Reisling Stakes at two, and is from the family of Golden Slipper winner Vancouver (Medaglia d’Oro) and the Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner Bradbury’s Luck (Redoute’s Choice) so lacking precocity won’t be an issue.

Eleven Eleven, winner of both the Magic Millions Guineas and Magic Millions Cup in successive years amongst his eight successes and over $2.2m in prizemoney has been a wonderful advertisement for Edinburgh Park, lot 562 at the 2022 MM sale, the So You Think-Sticky Fingers filly offers access to this wonderful family.

One colt that made a strong impression when sold as a weanling is lot 335, a son of Brave Smash which Ian had to outbid a few good judges to acquire. “I have a massive amount of time for Japanese stallions in general and I have a big opinion of Brave Smash. Typical of the Japanese breed this colt looks a tough, readymade racehorse. He’s also one of the best bred Brave Smash’s on the ground as his dam Olympic Medal is an American bred daughter of Medaglia d’Oro out of Redoute’s Choice’s half-sister Taste Of Heaven (Encosta De Lago). He’s starting to furnish into an excellent type and by sale time he’ll be an impressive individual. He’s a horse that should be on a lot of people’s radar as the family has some serious sex appeal.”

Selling as lot 675 is a Written Tycoon colt out of a half-sister to the tough, G2 Matriarch Stakes winner Oceanex. “The Written Tycoon - Waikato River colt has a fantastic one page family, constantly producing stakes winners. This is the best foal the mare has produced and her first foal, Spectacle (Teofilo), has been stakes placed for Tony and Calvin McEvoy. A flashy grey, he is of course by Australia’s reigning Champion Sire and this guy looks like the runner to put the mare really on the map.”

Lot 914 has plenty of appeal for the local market as Ian explains. “This is a colt for the Queenslanders. He’s the first foal out of Diminish, a Fastnet Rock half-sister to Buffering. A big strong boy, we’ve been massive supporters of Zoustar who is on an upward trend. A lot of the good horses to come off Edinburgh Park have been first foals and I see no reason this fellow won’t join that list.”

Edinburgh Park will also offer a Lonhro colt out of the tough Commands mare Awasita as lot 766.

The winner of five races, it didn’t matter what the going or how tough the opposition, Awasita turned up and gave her all every start. “This guy is very

The More Than Ready filly out of Flying Single is ‘another that should be on the list of all breeders. The dam is a half-sister to Not A Single Doubt and is also the grandam of the Restricted Listed winner Lady Jivago (Beneteau). “She is a rare jewel to be fair, and we are presenting her to market with the view she will be well sought after.”

Ian is also pleased to offer a colt from the first crop of Trapeze Artist out of Fortune Of War whose Zoustar colt fetched $550,000 from this ring last January. This is a cracking family as his half-sister Spoils (Snitzel) was stakes placed on three occasions at two. A daughter of General Nediym, Fortune Of War was a handy two year-old being stakes placed down the Flemington straight while she is a half-sister to the Group winners Sertorius (Galileo), Pretty Brazen (Brazen Beau), Dollar For Dollar (High Chaparral) and Clifton Red (Sebring).

Eleven Eleven’s recent high profile Kembla Grange success showed he is on track for a remarkable third successive Magic Millions raceday win, and took his earnings to ten times his purchase price. Whose to say history won’t repeat from amongst the outstanding 2022 Edinburgh Park draft.

2022 draft Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

55 59 335 342 411 500 562 576 675 766 914

Flying Single Fortune of War Olympic Medal (USA) Our Crown Mistress Quicksilver Lass Serena Bay Sticky Fingers Sun Valley Waikato River (NZ) Awasita Diminish

F/B. C/Ch. C/B. C/B. F/B.or Br. F/B. F/B. C/B. C/B.or Gr. C/B. C/B.

More Than Ready (USA) Trapeze Artist Brave Smash (JPN) Snitzel Pierro Exceed and Excel So You Think (NZ) Harry Angel (IRE) Written Tycoon Lonhro Zoustar

EDINBURGH PARK www.edinburghpark.com.au Ian Smith: 0419 637 892 ian@edinburghpark.com.au Wingham, NSW

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2022 vendor

by Glen Latham

EMIRATES PARK QUIET ACHIEVERS WITH BIG RESULTS

T

he re-emergence in 2021 of Emirates Park as a vendor under its own banner coincided perfectly with an exciting year on the track. Outstanding results on the Gold Coast in January were followed by a string of successes from the likes of Hilal, Najmaty, Enthaar, Marboosha and Group 1 glory with Vega One. Emirates Park’s General Manager Bryan Carlson discussed the year past and the exciting times ahead for the Murrurundi farm.

To say 2021 has been a good year for Emirates Park grossly plays down the farm’s accomplishments.

But then, that is in line with how the business operates, quietly achieving and letting results market the product. It was at last January’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale that Emirates Park returned as a vendor in their own right, and a quality draft saw the farm leave Bundall as the leading vendor by average, eight lots selling at $470,000 apiece. Giving credence to the policy of selling quality over quantity, from that octet came two, seven figure yearlings out of a total of just twelve for the whole sale.

Thereafter followed a string of successes on the track across the length and breadth of the country.

In Melbourne, the brilliant Enthaar won the G3 Chairmans’ Stakes at Caulfield and Najmaty the listed Redoute’s Choice at the same track. In Sydney Hilal would finish runner up in both the ATC Sires’ Produce and Champagne Stakes’ at G1 level, then return in the Spring to win the G2 Stan Fox Stakes and score a bloodless victory in the rich Bondi Stakes. Across in Perth the Mulaazem filly Liwa won the listed Supremacy Stakes at Ascot and was narrowly beaten in the G2 Karrakatta Plate while Marboosha went to Queensland and found

G3 success in the Gold Coast Guineas. Then, just weeks later, the Emirates bred and part-owned Vega One flew late for G1 glory in the Kingsford-Smith Cup at Eagle Farm. The sprinkles on the icing on the metaphoric cake came when the Emirates owned Al Maher sired a fifth G1 winner with Private Eye saluting in the Epsom Handicap at Randwick.

But it was the return to the Gold Coast as vendors that was the most fulfilling for Bryan and the team.

“To finish as the leading vendor by average at our first year back under our own banner was a great result, and it was a first for Emirates. To get one seven figure yearling was good but to get two was excellent,” he said. The two lots were a Not A Single Doubt colt out of One More Honey that sold to the Fung family for $1.8 million and a Written Tycoon colt out of Taqaseem that went to Spendthrift Australia for $1.2 million.

Again this year the Emirates draft will focus on quality, as Bryan explains “We will be concentrating on taking ten to fifteen horses to the major sales as it’s structurally a good number to work with.

On both type and pedigree we feel we are taking a very strong draft to the Gold Coast.”

Bound to be popular amongst the Emirates offerings is Najmaty’s full sister, by I Am Invincible out of Najoom, a stakes winning daughter of Northern Meteor. To sell as lot 306, this lass will be a gilt edged investment given she hails from one of the strongest families in the Stud Book with the G3 winner Mica’s Pride and her G1 winning sons Criterion and Comin’ Through, along with the young stallion Bull Point, featuring on the page. For those looking for a colt from that family lot 662 is a goodbodied son of Deep Field out of the G2 winning sprinter Varenna Miss, a daughter of Mica’s Pride.

2021 VENDOR

Stakes winning filly Najmaty (by I Am Invincible) whose full sister is lot 306 in Emirates Park’s MM 2022 draft.

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The progeny of Snitzel have come out firing this season as he looks to secure a fifth Champion Sire title and lot 428, his colt out of Red Lodge, has tremendous appeal.

“Red Lodge is a stakes winning mare we bought in America by the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Midshipman who is starting to make a name for himself as a broodmare sire. We’ve confidence in the mare having kept a Kittens’ Joy colt of hers in the UK and off the back of Snitzel having such a good year I think this colt should sell well.”

Red Lodge’s dam is out of the multiple Grade 1 winner Memories Of Silver who is also the dam of another dual Grade 1 winner in Winter Memories.

For those in the market for a potential stallion lot 452 should be high on inspection lists.

A son of I Am Invincible, his Irish bred dam Roudha is a daughter of Galileo and carries the blood of Redoute’s Choice through her Australian bred second dam, the dual G1 winning sprinter Melito. Bryan believes potential buyers will be impressed with the physical presented before them, “He’s a very forward, ready to go horse and we expect he will be one of the leading colts in the sale.

Melito by Redoute’s Choice, Champion Australasian 3YO filly, dual G1 winner of $1.9m is the second dam of Emirates Park’s I Am Invincible colt, lot 452.

2022 draft We have retained his full sister Tajneed who is doing all the right things with Peter and Paul Snowden.”

One stallion that has had a bumper Spring is Spirit Of Boom and Emirates Park have two yearlings of his that are worthy of inspection. The very first offering from the farm for the sale, lot 100 is his filly out of Harbour Fun who is a halfsister to the dam of the Golden Slipper winner Mossfun and the Singapore Champion Aramco. “She is a very strong filly, forward enough to run as an early two-year-old and a possible for the Magic Millions Classic. She will sell well,” Bryan commented.

The other Spirit Of Boom is lot 606, a colt from a family known for precocity.

Out of the four time city winning Choisir mare Tell Me, Bryan believes the good judges will like what they see. “He’s a strong, athletic type, an exceptionally good mover and not typical of a first foal. He will sell well as he’s a nicely put together colt.”

Bryan acknowledges the quality of Book Two yearlings on the Gold Coast has improved dramatically in the past few years and is confident the farm’s six entries will prove popular. The farm’s Book Two consignment will be led off by lot 1086, one of the few Starspangledbanner’s on offer for the week.

State Of Rest’s W S Cox Plate reminded the market what the sire is capable of, and this colt is out of a half-sister to Liwa.

There is also a quiet excitement around the farm looking forward to the Gold Coast in January 2023. That will be when the first foals by Brazen Beau’s son Tassort, owned in partnership by Emirates Park and Newgate Farm, will debut as yearlings. His first crop hit the ground this Spring and are making quite an impression. Presenting them for sale will be the next step in the resurgence of Emirates Park as a player at the top end of the market.

Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

100 106 296 306 428 431 452 606 662 821 1086 1109 1144 1194 1198 1218

Harbour Fun Heredera Mulhimah Najoom Red Lodge (USA) Refuge Bay Roudha (IRE) Tell Me Varenna Miss Boomex Buroog Dhahab Grojsman Malaahy Masroora Nahab

F/B. F/B. F/B.or Br. F/Br. C/B. F/Br. C/B. C/B. C/Ch. C/B. F/B. F/B.or Br. F/Br. F/B.or Br. C/B. C/B.

Spirit of Boom Brazen Beau Deep Field I Am Invincible Snitzel Astern I Am Invincible Spirit of Boom Deep Field No Nay Never (USA) Starspangledbanner Pride of Dubai Santos Rubick Better Than Ready Better Than Ready

Murrurundi NSW 2338 www.emiratespark.com.au Bryan Carlson: 0415 275 885 e: bryan@emiratespark.com.au

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Spirit of Booms are very good at taking out Magic Millions races so I’d say any of them are a chance!

2022 vendor

EUREKA STUD

ENCRYPTION TO IMPRESS WITH FIRST YEARLINGS ON OFFER by Kristen Manning

W

hat a great spring it has been for Eureka Stud, Spirit Of Boom represented by his first Group One winner with a gutsy all the way Manikato Stakes, 1200m victory for Jonker whilst Incentivise from a great old Eureka family has proven himself one of the best stayers in the country.

Meanwhile Encryption has his first yearlings being prepared for the sales, giving everyone at Eureka plenty to look forward to - including the upcoming Magic Millions which Harry McAlpine always enjoys...

What puts the magic into this race and sales series for you?

The timing of the sale is very good with the buzz of horses being set for the race series.

And also it being the beginning of the year when people have reset and are looking to try their luck on some fresh horses.

It all resonates into a great atmosphere.

Who are your favourite stallions?

I can’t go past Spirit of Boom but this year we are excited to see Encryption’s first crop of yearlings sell and we have some very racy individuals to sell by him. He is a very good looking and impeccably bred son of Lonhro who had the talent to go with it.

Describe your draft.

Encryption (AUS)

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We have some exceptional Encryptions including a half-brother to the exciting Miami Fleiss. And the Spirit Of Booms out of the nice mares he is receiving are outstanding types again; including a full sister to Outback Barbie and a half-brother to Pippie.

Which horse in your draft looks the best chance to win a Magic Millions 2YO Classic or 3YO Guineas?

Spirit of Booms are very good at taking out Magic Millions races so I’d say any of them are a chance!

Encryption was a pre-Christmas Group placed two-year-old who trained on to win the Danehill Stakes-G2, 1200m so I am sure they will also be contenders.

Eureka’s Magic Millions draft is so often a first port of call for many buyers and many will be eager to inspect the newest group of Spirit Of Booms...

Jonker (AUS)

by Spirit of Boom Winning the Magic Millions Snippets ($1m) in 2021

FILLIES Lot 86 bay from Goodlookin Gambler (by Johannesburg): sister to the stakes winner Perudo and the promising Blackjack Boom out of a half-sister to the record-breaking Emirates Stakes-G1 winner Scenic Peak.

Lot 162 bay from Jessamin (by Stratum): second foal for a juvenile city winner from the family of the triple Group winner Away Game, the Randwick Guineas-G1, 1600m winner Inference and the stakes winners Modern Wonder, Oak Park, Liberty Rose, Grand Jardin, Kanzan, Dragon Leap, Ranier and Kordia.

Lot 400 Pure Purrfection (by General Nediym): sister to one of her sire’s best performers, the four times stakes winner Outback Barbie. Also a half-sister to the metropolitan winners Purroni and Frosty Mango, she is out of a Listed winning daughter of the dual stakes winner She’s Purring (daughter of another stakes winner in Ringside Lady) who also produced the stakes winner Global Warming.

Lot 474 Sarisara (by Red Dazzler): 3/4 sister to Boomsara, winner of five races including the Vo Rogue Plate-G3, 1350m and the Magic Millions Guineas-RL,1400m. Also a half-sister to the promising Sakura Star, she is out of a Group 3 placed multiple city winner whose stakes placed half-sister McFly is dam of the Group 3 winner Chapter And Verse.

Lot 631 Tiyatrolani (by Captain Sonador): second foal for a stakes winning daughter of the city winning Encosta de Lago mare Tiyatro from the family of the terrific mare Staging, multiple Group winning dam of the Group 1 gallopers Duporth and Excites and grandam of the South African Champion 2Y0 Colt Delago Deluxe.

Lot 774 Balabina (by Red Dazzler): first foal for a city winning half-sister to the stakes winner Firenza, dam of the dual Group 3 winner Tuscan Fling and grandam of the dual Listed winner Assertive Approach. Also hailing from this family are the Group winners Kiwia, Lite’n In My Veins, Written Beauty, Hi World, Immortal Love and Ducimus.

Lot 1195 Malasun (by Red Ransom): daughter of a Blue Diamond Preview-Listed winner who has three winners amongst her first four foals to race.

Grandaughter of the dual city winning Encosta de Lago mare Malapert whose son Stokehouse won the Autumn Classic-Gr.2, 1800m. Durable stakes winners Gay Tulip (11 wins) and Valdazair (12 wins) also hail from this family.

COLTS Lot 383 Prada Miss (by Northern Meteor): his dam is a stakes placed city winner whose dam is a halfsister to the Group 2 winner Our Famous Eve. Fourth dam is the classy and tough New Zealand mare Battle Eve, winner of 25 races and dam of the triple Group 2 winner King Delamere.

Lot 883 Coupe Express (by Ne Coupez Paz): halfbrother to the dual Group 1 winning sprinter Pippie and brother to the promising Boom Express who at the time of writing had won two in a row. His dam is a city winning half-sister to the stakes placed Timely Truce.

Lot 906 Defiant Dame (by More Than Ready): his Gimcrack Stakes-Listed, 1000m winning dam has produced the 14 times winner Grand Cross. She is a half-sister to the Group 3 winner Hidden Warrior from the family of the Group 1 gallopers Red Tracer and Shellscrape.

Lot 916 Diva Dee (by Encosta de Lago): out of a Group 3 placed daughter of the stakes placed True Doubt whose half-brother is the dual Group 1 winning stallion Road To Rock.

Lot 1102 Daddys Little Girl (by General Nediym): brother to the stakes placed winner Boom Daddy out of a two times stakes placed metropolitan winner from the family of the Group 1 winners Starline and Beechcraft.

Meanwhile there are five Encryption yearlings in the Eureka draft; a halfbrother (lot 145) to the stakes winner Peacock, a half-sister (lot 235) to the stakes placed Cochrane and the exciting Miami Fleiss, a half-sister (lot 951) to the multiple city winner Plumaro, a colt (lot 1011) from the family of VRC Oaks-G1, 2500m winners Miami Bound and Arapaho Miss and the first foal (lot 1156) for the metropolitan winner I Am Poppy.

Other Eureka yearlings of interest include an Exceed And Excel filly (lot 9) out of a metropolitan winning daughter of the stakes winner Golden Pedigree, a Brazen Beau colt (lot 146) whose dam Iriomote is a city winning half-sister to the recent Woodbine International Stakes-G1, 2400m winner Walton Street, a Hellbent half-brother (lot 282) to the stakes placed Maqsad out of a halfsister to Grand Armee from the family of Anamoe, Better Than Ready (lot 1044) 3/4 brother to the stakes winner Jagged Edge, a Jungle Cat colt (lot 1135) out of a half-sister to Spirit Of Boom and Temple Of Boom and an Epaulette colt (lot 1076) out of the multiple city winner Basara from the in-form family of Incentivise and Prince Of Boom.

2022 draft

Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

9 86 145 146 162 235 282 383 400 474 631 774 883 906 916 951 1011 1044 1076 1102 1135 1156 1195

Elusive Meteor Goodlookin Gambler Iridescente Iriomote Jessamin Madame Fly Moojeh Prada Miss Pure Purrfection Sarisara Tiyatrolani Balabina Coupe Express Defiant Dame Diva Dee Plumage Te Amo Weekend Saga Basara Daddys Little Girl Gentle Spirit I Am Poppy Malasun

F/B. F/B. C/Br. C/B.or Br. F/B. C/B. C/B. C/B. F/B. F/Br. F/B. F/B. C/Br. C/Br. C/Br. F/B. C/B. C/Br. C/Br. C/B. C/B. C/B. F/B.

Exceed and Excel Spirit of Boom Encryption Brazen Beau Spirit of Boom Encryption Hellbent Spirit of Boom Spirit of Boom Spirit of Boom Spirit of Boom Spirit of Boom Spirit of Boom Spirit of Boom Spirit of Boom Encryption Encryption Better Than Ready Epaulette Spirit of Boom Jungle Cat (IRE) Encryption Spirit of Boom

www.eurekastud.com.au Eureka Stud, Cambooya, QLD 4358 Harry McAlpine: 0407 736 317 Scott McAlpine: 0408 700 724 Angus McAlpine: 0417 745 347 harry@eurekastud.com.au

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Cusack winnning the Ballart 2YO Classic in November. his full sister will be on offer at at MMGC 2022 as lot 792 from Fernrigg Farm

2022 vendor

by Glen Latham

FERNRIGG FARM HUGE POTENTIAL IN 2022

R

ae-Louise and Padraig Kelly can be justifiably proud of Fernrigg Farm’s achievements in such a short space of time, a reputation built on the ethos of offering affordable horses to the market. “It’s so important for our farm that our horses run well and not just sell for big money,” Rae-Louise explained.

And it’s an impressive Gold Coast sold list that she rattled off. “Shaquero was purchased for $160,000 and has won $1,443,075, we sold Krone as a yearling for $60,000 and she has won $1,431,150 and now we have the promising Cusack (Not A Single Doubt) purchased by Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young for only $200,000 heading to the Magic Millions race.”

That’s right, the 2021 Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner Shaquero (Shalaa) was a Fernrigg offering and now the same farm has one of the 2022 favourites in the Magic Million Ballarat 2YO Classic winner in Cusack.

The Fernrigg team will head to the Gold Coast with a select draft of seven horses and if everything falls into place amongst them will be one of the fillies of the sale in lot 792, Cusack’s full-sister. Out of the dual winner Belle Que (Street Hero), this lass sells at the Friday session and just 24 hours later there is every chance her full brother could claim the prize everyone wants.

Besides what fate might have in store for Cusack there also is the attraction that this filly comes from one of those blue chip families it is so hard to acquire the blood of. Belle Que is a granddaughter of Money Begets Money (Bite The Bullet) dam of the listed winner Moqueen (Uncle Mo) and grandam of the dual listed winner Malice (Teofilo). Money Begets Money is also a sister to the top producer Mica’s Pride who foaled the G1 winners Criterion (Sebring) and Comin’ Through (Fastnet Rock), the G2 winner Varenna Miss (Redoute’s Choice) and the listed winner Silently (Anabaa); in short the family oozes quality. Rae-Louise is clearly very taken with her saying “She is very much like her big brother. Very smart, quick to learn and easy to handle but will unexpectedly stick one on you if you’re not paying attention! She has the Not A Single Doubt blaze and rich coat. The mare is an absolute dream to have

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on the farm and combined with having Not A Single Doubt’s flawless temperament this filly will be a trainer’s dream.”

Fernrigg has become a rich source of stock for the pinhook market, and the traders will be extremely interested in lot 525, a Deep Field colt out of the winning Lonhro mare Silk Slippers. Dam of one winner to date, Silk Slippers carries plenty of pedigree as a daughter of the G1 Australian Oaks and Storm Queen Stakes winner Danendri (Danehill).

That makes her a half-sibling to the G3 winning stayer Zingam (Zabeel) and to the listed winner and G1 placed Banc De Fortune (Galileo) who also gets credit as the grandam of recent G1 Levin Classic winner Bonham (Per Incanto). Another daughter of Danendri in the unraced Zona (Zabeel) found success as a broodmare foaling G1 VRC Oaks and Storm Queen Stakes winner Faint Perfume, dam of the Group winners Good Idea (So You Think) and Chains Of Honour (Redoute’s Choice). This is the terrific family that produced the G1 One Thousand Guineas, and the race now known as the J J Atkins Stakes, winner Copperama (Comeram).

If speed is your thing then lot 412 should get the pulse racing. By I Am Invincible this filly is the first foal of the brilliantly fast Quilista. Wet or dry it didn’t matter, Quilista simply burnt off her rivals as she did in successive starts in the G2 Sapphire Stakes at Randwick and the G3 Birthday Card Stakes at Rosehill. The daughter of Scandal Keeper and halfsister to the G3 John Monash Stakes winner Red 2021 VENDOR Can Man (Gingerbread Man) won nine of her career starts to 1400 metres. “A beautiful, scopey filly who presents herself with so much grace. You won’t find a better attitude on the farm. She is extremely well balanced and a fine example of what the champion sire I Am Invincible can produce,” said Rae-Louise.

Another filly bound to have pace is the Invader three-quarter sister to G1 Robert Sangster Stakes winner Spright out of the Dash For Cash mare Dashoff that sells as lot 903 on the Saturday night.

Spright was a tough sort winning six times and was G1 placed in both the William Reid and A J Moir Stakes’ at weight-for-age. Her I Am Invincible half-

sister Mine Two was also G3 placed as a juvenile while further back in the family can be found the likes of the highly talented G3 winner Kaepernick (Fastnet Rock).

Fernrigg will also offer a colt by I Am Invincible’s promising young son Overshare as lot 497. This fellow is out of the Canadian bred mare Sense Of Pride (Lemon Drop Kid) which had an interesting career winning twice and being Stakes placed at Woodbine before being imported and running fourth in the listed Angst Stakes at Randwick beaten a length. At stud she has produced three winners headlined by the G1 Flight Stakes third Foxborough (Dissident). Sense Of Pride is a half-sister to the Grade 3 Virginia Oaks winner Nellie Cashman (Mineshaft) and is out of the multiple Stakes winning Alison’s Winner, a daughter of Pine Bluff.

When your dam’s name is Black Pearl there is every chance you will be a stunner, and that’s the case for lot 811, a filly by the G1 Australian Guineas winner and first season sire Grunt. With the twice winning Black Pearl a daughter of Savabeel, this filly is the product of the phenomenally successful cross of his blood with that of O’Reilly. Black Pearl’s grandam was the ever-dependable Tights mare Waihora’s Lass, eleven times a winner including the G2 Auckland

2022 draft Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

412 497 525 792 811 903 910

Quilista Sense of Pride (CAN) Silk Slippers Belle Que Black Pearl (NZ) Dashoff Devious Rumor (USA)

F/B.or Br. C/B. C/B. F/B. F/Blk. F/B.or Br. C/Ch.

I Am Invincible Overshare Deep Field Not a Single Doubt Grunt (NZ) Invader Exceed and Excel

FERNRIGG FARM www.fernriggfarm.com Rae-Louise: 0452 531 561 rae-louise@fernriggfarm.com Denman, NSW

Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes. Waihora’s Lass made her mark as a producer foaling the G2 Zipping Classic winner Legible (Zabeel) who went on to produce the three-time G2 winner and multiple G1 placed Trusting (Tale Of The Cat).

It is clear any mare that notches up twelve wins up to Stakes grade had plenty of ability. And that is the case for the American bred Street Boss mare Devious Rumor whose impressive colt first foal by Exceed And Excel finishes off the Fernrigg draft as lot 910. A handsome chestnut with an early foaling date, his dam had enough speed to win between four and six furlongs. His grandam is a half-sister to the multiple stakes winner Coco Belle (Storm Boot) from a family carrying plenty of Stateside blacktype. There is no doubt this colt has impressed Rae-Louise. “He’s a very precocious son of Exceed and Excel and has been a farm favourite since the day he was born. He has a huge personality and gives you 100% in anything you ask of him. He is compact, has great bone and a huge engine, a real Magic Millions yearling.”

So the Fernrigg/Magic Millions 2YO Classic double is on, and should Cusack win the big one what odds a third success in 2023? One thing that is for certain the farm’s seven youngsters heading to the Gold Coast will appeal to a wide range of buyers.

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Menari Magic is being aimed at the 2022 Magic Millions 2YO Classic.

2022 vendor

by Renée Geelen

GLEESON THOROUGHBREDS BUILDS A STRONG RECORD

W

hen a small farm with only a select band of broodmares produces a horse like G1 winner Rothfire, buyers should sit up and pay attention. Rothfire (not offered at auction) won seven of his first eight starts as a two and three year-old including the G1 JJ Atkins Plate, the G2 Champagne Classic, and the G2 Run to the Rose with earnings of nearly $1million. The Darling Downs property is beginning to see strong results thanks to a programme of pasture improvement over the last few years.

Gleeson Thoroughbreds have built a strong record of racetrack performances from very few horses presented.

This is the biggest draft that Gleeson Thoroughbreds will present at the Janaury Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale with eleven yearlings on offer. In 2021, they took only one yearling to the sale, and she is already an early two year-old winner: Menari Magic who won Australia’s first two year-old race, the Pat O’Shea Plate, on debut in September 2021.

Menari Magic is being aimed at the 2022 Magic Millions 2YO Classic. We spoke to Simon Gleeson about their 2022 draft.

Which horse in your draft looks the best chance to win a Magic Millions 2YO Classic or 3YO Guineas?

For the 2YO Classic, lot 157, the Spirit of Boom filly out of Jefe. She’s very precocious and looks a real early type. Her dam is a half-sister to a filly that ran in the Magic Millions 2YO Classic in 2008. For the 3YO Guineas, either lot 804, the Impending filly from Bimini Road, or lot 781, the colt by Neorealism from

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Be Alle Belle. He’s an absolute standout on type for us, and his sire was an incredible racehorse in Asia.

Sire of G1 Golden Slipper winner Kiamichi in his first crop, Sidestep is represented in the Gleeson draft by lot 979, a half-brother to G3 placed winner Love For All, out of winning mare Shadows (Dane Shadow), who is a half-sister to Listed winner and G1 placed Danabaa.

With three colts and one filly by quality Queensland based sire Spirit of Boom, vendors will have a great starting point for their inspections of this draft. For those looking for a horse with precocious credentials, lot 1229, is a colt by Spirit of Boom, first foal of No Time Like Now (Nicconi) who was a two year-old winner herself, and is a half-sister to two year-old winner and G1 placed Heart Skipt a Beat, both out of a full sister to listed winner Back on Target. Another first foal is the colt, lot 1206,

by Spirit of 2 Boom, racemare 0 2 1from Vgood END O R Miss Adequate (O’Reilly), a close relative of NZ’s top two year-old and G1 winner O’Marilyn (O’Reilly), dam of recent G2 Skyline Stakes winner O’President. The other colt by Spirit of Boom, lot 460, is the second foal of Run Remie Run (Pierro), a half-sister to stakes placed Enzed Girl, from the family of G1 winner Aloha, dam of group winner and multiple G1 placed Libertini.

The Spirit of Boom filly, lot 157, is the second foal of Jefe (Stratum), whose two year-old is already named, from a good early running family.

Flying Artie is kicking goals early in his career with G1 winner Artorius, and Gleeson Thoroughbreds have a colt of his, lot 1128, who is the first foal of Fiery

Hussy (Sizzling), a half-sister to their G1 star Rothfire. Another first foal is the filly, lot 804,

by Impending out of city winner Bimini Road (Real Saga) who is a half-sister to group placed winner Kiloton, from the family of fan favourite Kementari.

From the family of Jetball and Marwina comes lot 20, a colt by Better Than Ready out of winning mare Exceed Expectation (Exceed and Excel), who has built a strong record as a broodmare with all four of her named foals being multiple winners.

International G1 winner Neorealism is a three quarter brother to G1 winner Real Impact and brings strong Japanese bloodlines to Queensland. Gleeson Thoroughbreds will present a Neorealism colt, lot 781, who is a half-brother to two city winners and is from the family of G1 Golden Slipper winner Belle Du Jour.

Superbly bred Encryption will have two yearlings in the Gleeson draft, with lot 953

Menari Magic (by Menari) puts the spotlight on his sire by winning the first 2YO race of the season.

2022 draft being a colt who is the first foal of winning mare Poppy Darling (Pluck), a halfsister to listed winner Notonyourlife; while the filly, lot 1078, is from the Lonhro family. Her dam, Belief (Reset), is a half-sister to group placed winner Gergis and to the dam of G3 winner Circular.

What is something that everyone looks stupid doing?

The Macarena. I know I look stupid attempting to dance to it.

What is the dumbest way you’ve been injured?

I ruptured my Achilles tendon playing touch footy against a bunch of twelve year old kids.

If someone asked to be your apprentice and learn all that you know, what would you teach them?

Be genuine and a team player.

Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

20 157 460 781 804 953 979 1078 1128 1206 1229

Exceed Expectation Jefe Run Remie Run Be Alle Belle Bimini Road Poppy Darling Shadows Belief Fiery Hussy Miss Adequate No Time Like Now

C/B. F/Br. C/B. C/Ch. F/B. C/B. C/B. F/Ch. C/B.or Br. C/B. C/B.

Better Than Ready Spirit of Boom Spirit of Boom Neorealism (JPN) Impending Encryption Sidestep Encryption Flying Artie Spirit of Boom Spirit of Boom

Gleeson Thoroughbreds

Simon Gleeson 0466 586 968 gleesonsimon50@hotmail.com

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“ I’m extremely proud of Highgrove’s record as a leading vendor, our figure of 8% plus stakes winners to yearlings sold is consistently one of the nation’s best. Buyers can trust our product, and they know we are committed sellers.”

2022 vendor

by Andrew Reichard

HIGHGROVE STUD OFFERS DRAFT OF OUTSTANDING QUALITY

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riple G1 winner Incentivise is the most recent living, breathing, galloping advertisement for the virtues of South East Queensland’s fabled Darling Downs, situated at altitude heading west from Toowoomba.

His consecutive G1 wins over 1,600m, 2,000m and 2,400m, followed by a brave second to champion Verry Elleegant in the 2021 Melbourne Cup saw him join the ranks of legendary thoroughbreds bred and raised on the Darling Downs such as Bernborough, Tails, Eye Liner, Naturalism and Show A Heart just to name a few.

Ron and Debbie Gilbert’s Highgrove located on some of the finest dark chocolate soil on the downs at Westbrook has contributed significantly to the

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Darling Downs honour roll in recent times both in the sales ring and in the heat of competition on Australian racetracks.

Highgrove fillies have gone on to produce G1 winners, establishing important families for their new owners.

Ron Gilbert takes up the narrative, “ I’m extremely proud of Highgrove’s record as a leading vendor, our figure of 8% plus stakes winners to yearlings sold is consistently one of the nation’s best. Buyers can trust our product, and they know we are committed sellers. Nothing gives me more satisfaction than to see our sales yearlings go on to glory for their new owners. In recent times from our small drafts we’ve sold G1 performers such as Summer Passage, Noire, Attention, Thronum and Legally Bay, the dam of Merchant Navy, plus brilliant juveniles such as Global Quest and the flying Dusty Tycoon. Many of the

We’ve also seen Jet Spur distinguish himself at stud, and G1 placed Thronum’s full brother Verne is our most recent star graduate, following an unlucky first up second to In The Congo, he won next start, then exacted revenge by defeating In The Congo who franked the form as the subsequent winner of The Golden Rose G1. He is an exciting prospect, currently back in work.

’s re

e st

Ron is passionate about promoting the Darling Downs, having been involved in a very successful campaign to spread the message to the wider industry some years ago. “ It’s ideal country for raising equine athletes, with mineral rich soil watered by an underground stream that is filtered through basalt, so when our horses are tested for bone density they top the class. There have been some wonderful stallions located on the Darling Downs over the years, with Spirit Of Boom and Better Than Ready the latest to make their marks on various leading sire lists.

The Incentivise highlight reel has been great for his breeder Steve Tregea and a wonderful, timely reminder for Australian horse breeders and owners about the merits of the Darling Downs.”

The success rate of Highgrove yearlings in the sale ring and subsequently on the track is the result of careful planning and fastidious attention to detail at every stage. Ron Gilbert is a keen student of thoroughbred pedigrees, always looking for crosses that work and sires with the right credentials. Highgrove is a family owned property, exclusively for yearlings, with the premium broodmare band of 25 or so quality mares being kept on their nearby adjoining farm called Balmoral. Ron explains ”I originally had the idea to separate mares and yearlings from reading about Tesio, and although our farms are closer than his were, in practice it works out extremely well, for various reasons, not the least of which is horse health control.”

The Highgrove draft for the 2022 Magic Millions January sale is a select offering of five youngsters, three colts and two fillies by a quintet of Australia’s elite young commercial sires.

Snitzel’s G1 winning son Russian Revolution is a stallion Ron Gilbert has supported strongly, his faith being rewarded with the stallion’s second runner Russian Conquest winning the Max Lees Classic at Newcastle on debut.

Highgrove’s MM colt lot 41 is the farm’s first yearling into the ring in 2022 and is out of the Fastnet Rock mare Fast Return with second dam being a Highgrove gem in Flamboyance. The Snitzel/Danehill cross has produced G1 winners Sword Of State and Media Award, multiple G1 placed Soul Patch and the crack sprinter Profiteer.

Next colt will be lot 57 from the first crop of five time G1 winning champion Australian 3yo The Autumn Sun who is by sire of sires Redoute’s Choice. This colt is out of the winning Street Cry mare Folk Song from another top Highgrove family responsible for the recent G1 winner Summer Passage. This colt is bred on one of the most successful crosses anyone could wish for, the Redoute’s Choice/ Street Cry mix has produced 13SW and 13 SP horses for almost 15% stakesperformers to runners.

But even more significantly, SIX of the 13 Sw are G1 winners, including FARNAN, ANAMOE, TREKKING and SAVATIANO.

In other words 46% of the SW bred on this cross are G1 winners. That’s as good as it ever gets.

The third of the colts trio is lot 552 from the first crop of the dual G1 winning Sunday Silence sprinter Brave Smash, out of the Redoute’s Choice mare Sponsored, again from the prolific proven Highgrove family of SUMMER PASSAGE, EXCITABLE BOY, GET TO WORK and ORDER OF THE SUN. Sponsored is the dam of the flying filly Dusty Tycoon whose 4 wins and $257k have already bought much enjoyment to her Mirunners syndicate of many owners. She has been a flagship first runner for Steve Brown’s innovative Mirunners concept.

To put the icing on the cake, this colt is bred on the “cross of the moment”, The Sunday Silence/Redoute’s Choice mix making headline Spring Carnival news with G1 winners PROFONDO and HITOTSU embellishing this cross which had already produced dual G1 winning 2YO KING’S LEGACY. The Highgrove MM fillies are by two of the most exciting young sires in the nation, one proven, one first season.

Lot 156 is by the great Pierro out of the SW Choisir mare JAPHILS with second and third dams by Polish Precedent and Mill Reef adding real substance to this pedigree. Pierro’s six individual G1 winners include the VRC Oaks winner PINOT and triple G1 winner ARCADIA QUEEN and most significantly all six are bred on the same Pierro/Danehill cross as this filly.

Lot 266 is from the eagerly awaited debut crop of the crack racehorse, Australia’s Champion 3YO Trapeze Artist, winner of four of the nation’s elite G1 races and over $5.5m in prizemoney. This filly’s dam Miss Delveen is by multiple champion broodmare sire Encosta De Lago, while second dam CALVEEN was a G1 winner of 10 races and Champion sprinter and miler in NZ. The Snitzel/ Encosta De Lago cross has been responsible for three G1 winners INVADER, SUMMER PASSAGE, SWORD OF STATE and G3 winning filly SURE KNEE (7 wins $531k) from 69 runners, and over 72% winners to runners, a great strike rate.

What is the most important object you own?

My little pocket notebook that I use to record inspections at the sales.

Priceless, and doesn’t need electricity.

What is the most impressive thing you know how to do?

I make a mean spaghetti marinara, and my crumbed prawn cutlets aren’t too bad either.

If someone asked to be your apprentice and learn all that you know, what would you teach them?

Paying attention to details is something I’ve always focussed on. Whether it’s building , cooking or breeding thoroughbreds, God is in the details.

No shortcuts.

2022 draft Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

41 57 156 266 552

Fast Return Folk Song Japhils Miss Delveen Sponsored

C/Ch. C/Ch. F/Br. F/Br. C/B.

Russian Revolution The Autumn Sun Pierro Trapeze Artist Brave Smash (JPN)

www.highgrovestud.com.au Ron Gilbert: 0418 700 007 Westbrook, Darling Downs, Queensland

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With thirty yearlings by a range of proven and unproven sires on offer, the KBL Thoroughbreds draft looks to have something for every buyer.

2022 vendor

by Renée Geelen

KBL THOROUGHBREDS PROMISING CROP OF FIRST SEASON SIRES

S

ale preparation experts KBL Thoroughbreds have already seen racetrack success from their most recent Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale draft with Cavalla (Nicconi) who won as a two year-old on debut in September 2021. In 2022, KBL Thoroughbreds will present another quality draft of thirty yearlings on behalf of their clients.

Kandice Pritchard of KBL Thoroughbreds spoke to Bluebloods about what she loves about this sale.

“I enjoy the whole process of getting yearlings ready for sale, and then to watch them continue to develop as they become racehorses. Following the journey of each horse is a great thrill.”

Which horse in your draft looks the best chance to win a Magic Millions 2YO Classic or 3YO Guineas?

The Capitalist filly (lot 656) is a proper built two year-old, so she’s my pick for the Magic Millions 2YO

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Classic, while the filly by The Autumn Sun (lot 76) seems suited to the Magic Millions 3YO Guineas on type.”

With thirty yearlings by a range of proven and unproven sires on offer, the KBL Thoroughbreds draft looks to have something for every buyer.

Pritchard’s pick for the 2YO Classic, the Capitalist filly lot 656, is the first foal of two year-old winner and stakes placed Uratta Belle (I Am Invincible). There is plenty of two year-old form in this family. Capitalist is a son of Champion Sire Written Tycoon, and KBL Thoroughbreds will offer a Written Tycoon filly, lot 46, out of city winning stakes placed mare Fine Mist (Good Journey) whose first foal is a two year-old winner by Capitalist, therefore a three-quarter sister to this yearling. “She looks an early type.”

A colt with a stallion’s pedigree is lot 962; by Spirit of Boom, this half-brother to stakes placed Sutter

County is out of Listed winner Rio Osa (Canny Lad), herself a full sister to G1 winner Preserve (dam of Safeguard and Archives), and a half-sister to G1 winner Denman, and to the dams of Golden Slipper winner Kiamichi, Soul, and Amazing Beats.

A half-brother, by first season sire Trapeze Artist, to G1 Australian Derby winner Quick Thinker is lot 1055, and this colt has a stellar pedigree with his stakes placed dam Acouplamas (Al Maher) being the dam of three stakes horses already. Another yearling by an exciting first season sire is lot 76, mentioned earlier as a 3YO Guineas candidate. By The Autumn Sun, lot 76 is out of Group winner Girl in Flight (Commands) whose first foal is a winner of three races.

A Justify colt, lot 1172, out of speedy G3 winner Lady Melksham (Artie Schiller) is a half-brother to Avon River who won at two and ran fourth at listed level.

An Impending colt with upside is lot 407, being a half-brother to two winners out of a tough fast mare in Queen of Eight (Haradasun). “The two year-old from Queen of Eight has been named Athletica and

he won a trial at Randwick recently in impressive style. The yearling by Impending looks an early type too.” Also

by Impending is lot 456, a half-brother to three year-old Group placed winner Miss Inbetween, out of winning mare Ruby Ninetails (Red Ransom) from the family of Zipping.

Cavalla Winning the Darley Spring 2YO Preview on 22/9/21

A full brother to G3 winner Tailleur (Shooting to Win) and a half-brother to Group winner Raiment is lot 864, out of six-race winner Clothing (Commands) from the family of G1 winner Over.

Lot 1228 by Better Than Ready is a halfbrother to G1 placed winning two year-old Heart Skipt a Beat. Another well-related filly is lot 255, a Nicconi half-sister to stakes placed city winner Spaceboy; while lot 1010 is a colt by Satono Aladdin from Listed winner Tarloshan (Istidaad).

Other stallions represented are Better Than Ready (lots 681, 741, 1230), Brazen Beau (lot 513), Deep Field (lots 202, 664), Divine Prophet (lot 1176), Epaulette (lot 1000), Flying Artie (lot 1188), Harry Angel (lot 498), Invader (lot 1215), Saxon Warrior (lot 1112), Shooting to Win (lot 1029), Sidestep (lot 999), Smart Missile (lot 1081), So You Think (lots 91, 395), Winning Rupert (lot 994).

What is the most annoying way you’ve been injured?

My partner kicked a horse toy ball over the fence while I was leading a horse.

The horse shied and broke my foot.

What is the most important object you own?

My barn here at KBL Thoroughbreds.

It’s how it all started.

What is something you can’t resist buying?

Horse rugs. I have a whole shed full of them!

2022 draft Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

46 76 91 202 255 395 407 456 498 513 656 664 681 741 864 962 994 999 1000 1010 1029 1055 1081 1112 1172 1176 1188 1215 1228 1230

Fine Mist Girl in Flight Greyt Love Laugh a Little Miatoko Protest Queen of Eight Ruby Ninetails Sent From Above She’s a Youeffoh Uratta Belle Venture Capital We’s Done Amarela (NZ) Clothing Rio Osa Songbird (ARG) Still Cool Street Idol Tarloshan (NZ) Typecast Acouplamas Blind Trust Do a Deal Di Lady Melksham Lashezz (NZ) Lucy’s Legacy Mulinello (NZ) No Time Nufoos

F/B. F/Gr. C/Gr. F/B.or Br. F/B.or Br. C/B.or Br. C/B. C/B. F/Br. C/B. F/B. F/B. C/Blk. F/B.or Br. C/B. C/B.or Br. C/Ch. C/B. C/B. C/Br. C/Ch. C/B. C/B. C/B. C/B. C/Ch. C/B. C/Ch. C/Br. C/Br.

Written Tycoon The Autumn Sun So You Think (NZ) Deep Field Nicconi So You Think (NZ) Impending Impending Harry Angel (IRE) Brazen Beau Capitalist Deep Field Better Than Ready Better Than Ready Shooting to Win Spirit of Boom Winning Rupert Sidestep Epaulette Satono Aladdin (JPN) Shooting to Win Trapeze Artist Smart Missile Saxon Warrior (JPN) Justify (USA) Divine Prophet Flying Artie Invader Better Than Ready Better Than Ready

KBL THOROUGHBREDS Kandice Pritchard 0422 349 188 kbl.thoroughbreds@gmail.com www.kblthoroughbreds.com.au

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Brilliant early 2YO winner Heroic Son has been a fine advertisement for Kenmore Lodge whose MM 2022 draft promises to unearth more precocious prospects for buyers.

2022 vendor

by Glen Latham

KENMORE LODGE

TYPES THAT WILL APPEAL TO ALL BUYERS

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I

t must be gratifying when marketing your horses as precocious types and one juvenile from the draft wins as early as October 2nd. That’s the home run Cameron and Kellie Bond of Kenmore Lodge hit last year, and they’ll take a strong draft of 21 horses to the Gold Coast looking to replicate the feat.

What made the sale of the colt now known as Heroic Son (Heroic Valour) even more special was that Kellie bred the horse, he went through Book Two and that trainers Peter and Will Hulbert were able to snap up the colt out of the Show A Heart mare Pirelli Princess for a below average price of $50,000. Not only has Heroic Son once again shown that there are diamonds to be found in Book Two, but that Kenmore are willing to sell good horses at realistic prices.

And even more pleasing for his breeders is that the colt is on a path to the Magic Millions 2YO Classic.

Recently Cameron and Kellie were able to expand Kenmore by 400 acres, almost doubling the farm’s size and creating the opportunity to improve on their already outstanding preparation model. Buyers inspecting the Kenmore draft will be able to witness first-hand the benefits the expansion has provided.

Looking at the draft it is clear there are types that will appeal to all buyers, from

those sifting through the elite horses right down to those looking for the next Heroic Son. At the upper end of the scale is Kenmore’s Written Tycoon colt which, according to Cameron, is “a big, strong, early maturing type and really a standout.” Selling as lot 248, he is the first foal out of the Doomben winner Maybe Markle making him a three-quarter brother to the G3 Gunsynd Classic winner Trump (Written Tycoon). A daughter of Denman, Maybe Markle is a half-sister to three other winners and comes from the family of the dual G1 winning mare Flitter (Bluebird).

Also bound to be popular upmarket are two of the progeny of Extreme Choice, of course sire of the Golden Slipper winner Stay Inside who was bought out of this ring in 2020. “We have a pair of yearlings by Extreme Choice, probably the hottest sire in Australia, if not the world at the moment, and both are good examples of the sire,” said Cameron.

First through will be lot 566 a colt out of the Street Cry mare Street Lass making him a half-brother to three winners the best of which is the tough campaigner Al Mah Haha (Al Maher) who added the Goulburn Cup to his resume in November. A winner over 1000 metres Street Lass is a half-sister to the Brisbane Listed winner Bidii Babe (Not A Single Doubt).

The other Extreme Choice is a filly out of Almost Tempted, an unraced Snippetson full sister to Fast Clip, the best of whose six wins came in the G2 Tulloch Stakes. This is an extraordinarily strong page as their dam Hint of Glory (Honour And Glory) produced eight individual winners five of which won at Stakes level. They include the G1 Emirates Stakes, now Cantala Stakes, winner Sky Cuddle (Snippets) who went on to produce Champagne Cuddles (Not A Single Doubt) who was a G2 winner and multiple G1 placed. Others out of Hint Of Glory were Highly Recommended (Fastnet Rock) who won the G2 Alister Clark Stakes and is making a name for himself as a sire, the G3 winning sprinter Sky Love (Octagonal) and the listed winners Hint (Reset) and Undeniably (Fastnet Rock). This filly will sell as lot 735.

When asked if he had a yearling that might surprise potential buyers Cameron pointed to lot 722, a Dundeel colt that is a nice colt from a very current family.

Placed once from just three starts, his dam Afiado is out of the good mare Sharp (Danzero) who won the G2 Light Fingers Stakes and produced the Stakes placed filly In The Vanguard, Afiado’s full sister by Encosta De Lago.

In The Vanguard has shown the quality the family offers as the dam of last season’s G1 ARC Diamond Stakes winner Sword Of State (Snitzel). This is the family of the ill-fated Angst (Kala Dancer) who swept all before her as a Spring three year-old including the G1 Flight Stakes. Afiado has one foal to race, that being Navalha (Sebring) who is twice a winner in New Zealand from just six starts.

Another filly that can expect to be out of her box often is lot 894, Capitalist’s daughter out of the unraced O’Reilly mare Crystal Nights. The dam is a halfsister to the six time winner Antonio Giuseppe (Shocking) who ran second in the The Metropolitan-G1 at Randwick. Cameron has a high opinion of this lass saying “The Capitalist is a cracking filly, born and raised on the farm. Buyers will be impressed with her physique.”

The first crop of Almanzor made an impact at sales on both sides of the Tasman last year, and with good reports filtering back from various trainers his colt out of Baubo that sells as lot 780 makes appeal. “This colt came to us on the mare and has been a very nice horse to work with,” Cameron explained. Although New Zealand born herself, and her foal conceived at Cambridge Stud, Baubo did her racing in Australia breaking her maiden at Newcastle for Chris Waller. A daughter of Rip Van Winkle, Baubo is out of the listed placed Akela (Al Akbar), dam also of the three-time Group winner and four-time G1 placed Savabeel mare Lady Kipling who produced the G2 Moonee Valley Fillies Classic winner Fascino (Charm Spirit).

Kenmore will send a smart daughter of first crop sire Written By out of Patins

by Choisir to sell as lot 943. This is a classy family as Patins is out of a halfsister to Golden Slipper winner Vancouver and the G1 Robert Sangster Stakes winner Juste Momente (Giant’s Causeway) from the family of a Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner in Bradbury’s Luck (Redoute’s Choice). In keeping with many of the Kenmore draft, precocity is easy to spot here.

One interesting filly whose value continues to rise is lot 647, Headwater’s daughter out of Sandcastles. That makes her a half-sister to Cordyceps Six (Star Turn) who is one of the rising stars of Hong Kong racing with a pair of victories this season already. This filly should come to hand early as Cordyceps Six won at two and her grandam Junebug (Shovhog) was placed second in the season-opening Gimcrack Stakes.

Amongst the other colts in the draft is the handsome fellow by Snitzel’s G1 winning son Invader out of Senorita De Vega, a winning sister to the dual listed winner Snitch (Lope De Vega) and a half-sister to the Singapore

Champion and West Australian sire Gingerbread Man (Shamardal). There is also a colt by Pride Of Dubai out of the Listed winner Tukiyo from the family of Spanish Whisper, and a Russian Revolution colt out of a Charge forward full sister to the G1 winner Headway in Empress Matilda. Kenmore will also be represented by a smart first crop son of Encryption out of Jennifer Juniper, the dam a Time Thief half-sister to the Melbourne G3 winner Whateverwhenever. There is also a colt by Masked Crusader’s sire Toronado out of Papillon Rouge from a strong, stallion producing family, and a Pariah colt out of Top Of The Rock (Easy Rocking), from a family that has produced the Stakes winning sprinters Dynamic Love (Brave Warrior), Key Bar Nights (Anabaa) and her son Barbed (Canny Lad).

There is also a nice mix of fillies including a daughter of Better Than Ready out of the five time winner Valid Contract (Magnus) and a Russian Revolution filly out of Medaglia d’Oro’s daughter You Are Golden, a four-time winner from a strong American family.

And for anybody looking for another Heroic Son, Kenmore have another solid Book 2 selection. For those with an eye for a colt there is lot 1084, a Headwater out of Sebring’s daughter Bring Me Love. The dam’s first foal I’ve Bean There (Spill The Beans) was good enough to run fourth in the G1 Champagne Stakes at Randwick and comes from the family of Hong Kong Champion Sacred Kingdom. There is also an Invader colt, lot 1185, out of the Golden Slipper winner and successful sire Stratum’s half-sister Live And Dream (Rock Of Gibraltar) dam of three winners from as many foals to race.

Amongst the fillies is lot 1137 a Lean Mean Machine out of Gibraltar Moon. That makes her a half-sister to American Genius (All American) who came to hand early enough to be placed in both the Listed Maribyrnong Trial Stakes and the Magic Millions Clockwise Classic, and to the Stakes placed Singapore sprinter Star Genius (Starcraft). Then there is lot 1193, another Lean Mean Machine this time out of the unraced Street Cry mare Main Chance, a half-sister to Goodwood’s G1 Nassau Stakes winner Favourable Terms (Selkirk).

2022 draft Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

13 160 248 354 566 635 647 722 735 780 894 943 968 976 1031 1049 1074 1084 1137 1185 1193

Empress Matilda Jennifer Juniper Maybe Markle Papillon Rouge Street Lass Top of the Rock Tukiyo Afiado Almost Tempted Baubo (NZ) Crystal Nights (NZ) Patins Sandcastles Senorita de Vega Valid Contract You are Golden (IRE) Bad Romance Bring Me Love Gibraltar Moon Live and Dream Main Chance (USA)

C/Br. C/B. C/Ch. C/B. C/Ch. C/Ch. C/B. C/B. F/Ch. C/Br.or Blk. F/B. F/Ch. F/B. C/Ch. F/B. F/B.or Br. C/B. C/Br. F/B.or Br. C/Ch. F/Br.

Russian Revolution Encryption Written Tycoon Toronado (IRE) Extreme Choice Pariah Pride of Dubai Dundeel (NZ) Extreme Choice Almanzor (FR) Capitalist Written By Headwater Invader Better Than Ready Russian Revolution So You Think (NZ) Headwater Lean Mean Machine Invader Lean Mean Machine

www.kenmorelodge.com 420 Rosenberger Road Wyreema, QLD 4522 cameronbond@bigpond.com Kellie Bond: 0407 657 538 Cameron Bond: 0487 884 285

2022 / 211

The headline act in this draft of eleven yearlings is lot 325, the Russian Revolution half-sister to Stay Inside, who has won three of his five starts to date including the G1 Golden Slipper.

2022 vendor

by Renée Geelen

KINGSTAR FARM A QUALITY DRAFT WORTH YOUR ATTENTION

W

hen a farm known for their two year-old speed brings a half-sister to a recent G1 Golden Slipper winner to the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, people should sit up and pay attention. Kingstar Farm sold Stay Inside (Extreme Choice) at the 2019 Magic Millions National Weanling Sale and 2022 will be Kingstar Farm’s second ever Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale draft.

Bluebloods spoke to Conor Phelan about his draft for 2022.

What puts the magic into the Magic Millions Gold Coast race and sales series for you?

“Timing is everything in the breeding game, and being the first yearling sale of the year, Magic Millions get the jump on everyone else. It’s location, location, location, and the combination of the yearling sale with the race series, the polo, and fabulous hospitality turns Magic Millions into a festival event.”

The headline act in this draft of eleven yearlings is lot 325, the Russian Revolution half-sister to Stay Inside, who has won three of his six starts to date including the G1 Golden Slipper. She is only the third live foal for her dam Nothin Leica Storm (Anabaa) who was a winner over 1150m and is

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Boss. Kingstar Farm’s draft includes a Street Boss filly, lot 548, who is the third live foal of winning mare Sozzini (Bernardini), herself a daughter of USA Listed winner Bonifacio.

a half-sister to the dam of stakes placed winners Dinnigan and Pouting Lips. This is the family of G1 Caulfield Guineas winner Wonderful World. “Russian Revolution won the Max Lees 2YO Classic with Russian Conquest recently to give him his first winner and a great start to his stud career. Our yearling has been a standout filly since she was born, and got better looking after last year’s Golden Slipper!

One of the best yearlings on our farm and an absolute highlight for us to sell a half-sister to a Slipper winner.”

Golden Slipper winner Stay Inside (above right) has been a wonderful advertisement for Kingstar Farm, his Russian Revolution half-sister, lot 325 in the farm’s MM 2022 offering is sure to be one of the most sought after fillies in the sale.

A pair of yearlings by Golden Slipper winner Capitalist also have strong two year-old form in the families. The colt, lot 109, is a full brother to Sneaky Shark (Capitalist) who ran second in the 2021 Listed Karaka 2YO Million at his most recent start. Their dam, Hidden Attraction (Hidden Dragon) is a half-sister to dual G1 winner Atomic Force. The Capitalist filly, lot 826, is the third foal of stakes winning mare Brook Road (God’s Own) who won six races and was multiple times group placed. Brook Road is a half-sister to stakes winner Nepean from the family of Singapore Horse of the Year Top Spin, and Zou Dancer.

A half-sister to G3 South Australia Fillies Classic winner Mimi’s Award is lot 765, and this filly is by second crop sire Menari out of Aunt Mimi (More Than Ready) who is a half-sister to group placed winner Superare, and whose dam is listed winner and G1 placed Strawberry Field. Also

by Menari is the colt, lot 338, the third foal of stakes placed winner Opinionated (Markane).

Opinionated is a full sister to stakes placed winning two year-old Marking Time, and this family is full of horses who win multiple races, demonstrating a level of soundness in the family.

“These two are the only Menaris we’ve got and we are putting them both here. There aren’t many of them around and he’s already had a two year-old city winner from his first small crop. We produced a Slipper winner from Extreme Choice’s small crop, let’s hope we can do it again with a Menari.”

Deep Field’s twelve stakes winners include G1 winner Portland Sky. Kingstar Farm will present a filly, lot 878, who is a half-sister to two black type performers in G3 placed city winner Miss Moana, and listed placed Hollywood Mo. Their dam, Coral Reef (Galileo) is a winning half-sister to Listed winner Chevauchee.

Timing is everything with horses, and the deeds of Anamoe have shone a light on his sire Street

Alongside the half-sister to Stay Inside, Kingstar Farm will present two colts by second season sire and G1 winner Russian Revolution. The second foal of winning mare Munjai (Trusting) is lot 299, and this is a strong early maturing family. Munjai is a half-sister to Listed Breeders’ Plate winner Whittington, and the family also includes G3 Blue Diamond Prelude winner Bardego, dam of G1 sprinter Volpe Veloce. Lot 184 is the fourth foal of city winning mare Kuchinskaya (Red Dazzler), whose first two foals are winners. This is the family of Written Beauty, Tuscan Sling, and Assertive Approach.

Kingstar Farm’s own Bull Point has produced plenty of good early maturing winners including Inglis Nursery placed Encountabull. They will present two colts by Bull Point, both with strong two year-old form. Lot 980 is the third foal of Japanese city winner Unrevealed (Forest Wildcat), whose first foal who won twice as a two year-old last season. Unrevealed is a full sister to group winner Brownie Points, dam of three stakes winners in America. The second foal of city winner She Brings (Sebring), lot 980, is a colt whose two year-old older halfbrother is already placed early in the season. This is the family of two year-old listed winner Ulfah and Full On Aces.

What’s something your brain tries to make you do and you have to will yourself not to do it?

Put my hand up for one last bid when I’m already over budget.

What is something that everyone looks stupid doing?

Dancing after 10 beers. You might not realise it but everyone else does.

What is the silliest way you’ve been injured?

I have two of them. A split decision to take up rugby union in mid-30s and jumping up on a horse bareback rather than leading it. On both occasions, shoulder surgery was required (left shoulder for rugby, right shoulder for being a cowboy).

2022 draft Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

109 184 299 325 338 548 765 826 878 980 1030

Hidden Attraction Kuchinskaya Munjai Nothin Leica Storm Opinionated Sozzini Aunt Mimi Brook Road Coral Reef She Brings Unrevealed (USA)

C/Ch. C/B. C/Ch. F/B. C/B. F/Ch. F/B. F/Ch. F/B. C/Ch. C/Ch.

Capitalist Russian Revolution Russian Revolution Russian Revolution Menari Street Boss (USA) Menari Capitalist Deep Field Bull Point Bull Point

www.kingstarfarm.com.au 463 Dalswinton Road, Denman, NSW 2328 Adam Cook; adam@kingstarfarm.com.au 0427 901 201 Conor Phelan; conor@kingstarfarm.com.au 0437 842 852

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26/10/21

2:17 pm

New StableWizard automation system delivers equine edge

I

n any elite athlete, physical ability and the right temperament puts you in the position to win the race, and the same goes for every racehorse.

But superior training can give any runner the edge.

StableWizard was inspired by the vision of Kevin Maloney, Chairman of Australia’s premier Segenhoe Stud, to take transformative automation technology into the field of racehorse management. The cloudbased, real-time information system was created through a two-year development process embedded with Australia’s leading trainer Chris Waller and is now in operation in a number of Australia’s leading stables, including Queensland’s outstanding Tony Gollan Racing stable.

Owners and trainers are benefitting from the performance winning edge StableWizard can offer through its focus on horse welfare, delivering AI via over a million data inputs.

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Thoroughbred horse welfare has been in the spotlight in Australia and globally and the founders of StableWizard believe their product will not only elevate and modernize equine management, but it will also have positive repercussions globally creating what will be considered the new standard in the industry.

With the eyes of trainers, owners, and a rigorous regulatory regime having oversight on every horse in Australia, the $9.5 billion local industry and its global counterparts have been ripe for automation in the training field.

“StableWizard automation is like the transformation from horse and cart to the automobile for this industry,” says Maloney.

StableWizard customises an individual horse’s data and the array of training and welfare activities into a simple, online accessible portal tailored for each

racehorse and this level of personalised information is a boon to owners who are able to gain significant oversight of their investment.

Unlike any other system, StableWizard is delivering on its promise to improve horse welfare, efficiency, accuracy and safety in stable operations, ultimately enhancing the trainer’s ability to drive results.

Developed during the reign of WINX and now with champions like Nature Strip, Verry Elleegant, Vega One and Jonker, the platform is horse centric, retaining a huge array of data for an individual horse that can be quickly accessed to make decisions from anywhere. Importantly, its alert-based system means the technology tells trainers instantly if an issue arises that needs intervention such as abnormal temperature or diet.

Every individual horse has a full personalised profile in the system, available in an instant, from medications, vet administration, performance data, and associated worksheets.

The horse centric system is designed to put equine welfare first and in doing that delivers workflow efficiency, that saves time and money for a whole stable operation. The speed and accuracy of the data delivery to the trainer informs critical training decisions to protect the health of the horse.

The alert system optimises the trainer’s ability to care for individual animals efficiently.

The team have also pioneered an equine temperature testing technology and now offer the StableWizard Temperature Wand, an Australian designed and manufactured equine temperature testing system that digitally transmits results to the trainer, automatically filtering information and raising alerts for elevated temperatures with an inbuilt exemption-based program.

Immediate notification of an abnormal result enables timely intervention by a trainer preventing unwell horses from being worked or raced when they shouldn’t be.

The transformative device improves staff safety and efficiency and information accuracy via the StableWizard platform.

Queensland trainer of the Year Tony Gollan is enthusiastic. “It’s huge with the welfare of horses, with care for early detection of viruses. It is helping our stable an enormous amount,” he said.

Chris Waller says it has been transformative at his operations and his team have assisted to develop additions to the platform such as automating staff check in and out and feed board digitisation.

He says the finer details the system offers can “make the difference to winning big races or not”.

Veterinary expert Dr Malcolm France says alert system provides an exceptional capacity to ensure a horse’s health and welfare.

“I think it’s essential that the horse racing industry adopt new technologies with a foundation in animal welfare science that is now available.

That’s important for the performance of the animals themselves as well as the welfare,” he says.

across the whole equine sector. Preventing personnel accidents and providing robust data for horse wellbeing is a win for everyone,” says Maloney.

“The potential uses for StableWizard in this environment are almost limitless and we plan to introduce more components to develop it into a full suite of solutions for the delivery of equine welfare, a purpose very near and dear to our hearts,” he concluded.

Chairman Kevin Maloney

Waller says the owners are big winners too with StableWizard.

“The benefits to our clients, the owners, are clear as we can be more effective, timely in our communication to them, elevate our level of care, and provide a full picture data record of their horse.”

Maloney has his eyes set on the future adaptations the system can offer into the stud arena and beyond.

“The Temperature Wand is a game changer for staff wellbeing. We invested enormous research into getting this to be such a transformative technology solution to a very conventional and essential task

2022 / 217

We’ve had a three year-old stakes winner out of every one of our Magic Millions drafts, and are excited to present another draft of quality yearlings in 2022.

2022 vendor

by Renée Geelen

LIME COUNTRY THOROUGHBREDS

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Lonhro fillies are highly sought after, and lot 333 is the first foal of Oh My Mimi (Snitzel), a winning half-sister to G3 Black Opal Stakes winner Barbaric, with their dam being Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner Mimi Lebrock. “Fillies from this family have sold tremendously well this year. Stakes placed Diddles made $1million at the recent broodmare sale. We sent Oh My Mimi to Lonhro hoping for a filly because he’s starting to be an outstanding damsire with the likes of Gatting. For a first foal, this filly has size, bone, substance, scope, and is very forward. Oh My Mimi has a Zoustar colt foal at foot.”

Champion 2YO Farnan’s winning half-sister Summer Surf (Big Brown) has her first foal for sale in Lime Country’s draft.

She is by G1 Manikato Stakes winner Brave Smash and can be found as lot 575. Farnan’s pedigree is filled with quality; his half-brother won a Listed race and was fourth in the G1 Golden Rose, and his dam (this yearling’s granddam) is Group winner Tallow.

I

t’s been a big year for Lime Country with a move to a new property in the Hunter Valley. The exciting new move isn’t the only big news with boom three year-old, and Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale graduate, Head Of State (American Pharoah) winning the G3 Gloaming Stakes. In 2021, Lime Country’s Magic Millions graduates Nudge won the G3 Pam O’Neill Stakes, and La Mexicana won the G3 Kevin Hayes Stakes.

Lime Country’s Jo Griffin said, “We’ve had a three year-old stakes winner out of every one of our Magic Millions drafts, and are excited to present another draft of quality yearlings in 2022.”

[Above] Head Of State winning the Gloaming S_G3 on 25/9/21 [Below left] New farm at Blandford NSW [Top right] Nudge winning the Magic Millions Classic on 5/6/21

I Am Invincible is the hottest sire in Australia, and Lime Country is excited to present his filly, lot 29, who is the second foal of winning mare Faith In Hand (Fastnet Rock) herself a full sister to G1 winner Amicus, and a half-sister to two year-old stakes winner Cheer Leader, from the family of Starspangledbanner. “She was born on our farm, then she went back to Makybe for winter before heading here for this preparation.

She’s been a standout since she was born; she’s obviously by I Am Invincible when you look at her.

She’s all class and quality, absolutely athletic, and should go at two.”

Lime Country’s graduate Head of State is by American Pharoah, and in 2022, they will present a filly by American Pharoah, lot 756, out of G2 winner Arinosa (Dash For Cash).

Arinosa was a tough race mare, winning nine races up to 1550m, three at Group level, and her first two foals are already winners.

Zoustar is hot property, and Lime Country’s yearling filly, lot 187, is out of La Flourescent (General Nediym), a half-sister to two Group winners in Savvy Nature and Addictive Nature, from the family of G1 One Thousand Guineas winner Hasahalo. La Flourescent has fashioned a strong record as a broodmare with three winners so far including La Girl who ran fourth in the G3 Ottawa Stakes on debut at two.

“I’m pretty sure we have the only Spieth filly in the sale and she’s a cracker.” A half-sister to Group winner Highlad, lot 304 is a daughter of G1 placed stakes winner My Lady’s Chamber (Arena). Another well-related filly is the Divine Prophet half-sister to recent Listed winner Ellsberg, lot 220, whose dam Love of Liberty (General Nediym) is a winning half-sister to Electric General.

With Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner Shaquero in his first crop, Shalaa’s 2022 yearlings are going to be keenly sought. Lime Country will present lot 425, a half-brother to stakes placed winner Coin Collector, out of Group placed city winner Recoinage (Flying Spur). This is the family of G1 winner Princess Coup, dam of Champion Griffin in Hong Kong and Group winner Thewizardofoz.

Impending colt, lot 744, is the first foal of Ametrine (All Too Hard), a half-sister to Group placed winner Touch of Mink, with both being out of a daughter of Makybe Diva herself.

Two yearling colts from the Redoute’s Choice family round out the draft and they are the Almanzor colt, lot 430, who is the fourth foal of Refreshing (Stratum), a half-sister to Sangria. Refreshing is one for the linebreeding fans, being a close cross of Redoute’s Choice and his full sister Monsoon Wedding.

By first season sire Showtime (Snitzel), lot 697, this colt is the third foal of Without Saying (Sepoy), a half-sister to the dam of Summer Sham.

This colt’s pedigree also linebreeds back to Shantha’s Choice (4mx3f).

What secret conspiracy would you like to start?

Lime Country are working with a powerful group of international investors to buy out Magic Millions - and Gerry’s financing it.

What’s something your brain tries to make you do and you have to will yourself not to do it?

Say what I’m thinking.

Are you a budgie smuggler or board shorts type of gal?

Neither. However, I’m an enthusiastic watcher of both.

2022 draft Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

29 187 220 304 333 425 430 480 575 658 697 744 756

Faith in Hand La Fluorescent (NZ) Love of Liberty My Lady’s Chamber Oh My Mimi Recoinage Refreshing Savaria (NZ) Summer Surf Valkyrie Diva Without Saying Ametrine Arinosa

F/B. F/Ch. F/Ch. F/Ch. F/B. C/B. C/B.or Br. C/B. F/Br. C/B. C/Ch. C/B. F/Ch.

I Am Invincible Zoustar Divine Prophet Spieth (NZ) Lonhro Shalaa (IRE) Almanzor (FR) I Am Invincible Brave Smash (JPN) Zoustar Showtime Impending American Pharoah (USA)

528 Timor Road, Blandford NSW 2338 www.limecountry.com.au Greg Griffin M: +61 429 002 964 E:greg@limecountry.com.au Jo Griffin M: +61 428 960 669 E: jo@limecountry.com.au

2022 / 219

2022 vendor

MANX PARK PRODUCES CONSISTENTENCY

by Renée Geelen

C

onsistency is the name of the game at Manx Park. Among their recent Magic Millions graduates is three year-old Construct who ran second on debut as a two year-old in the G3 Breeders Plate and came back this season at three to win over 1200m, as well as place in the G3 Up & Coming Handicap.

Another Manx Park Magic Millions Gold Coast graduate is Axe who took his record to six wins during the 2021 Brisbane winter carnival and placed in both the Listed Eye Liner Stakes and G3 BRC Sprint Handicap.

Bluebloods spoke to Manx Park manager Peta Tilden about the 2022 sale.

What do you love about the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale and race series?

Can I be honest and say that the timing is convenient? The sale is early in the sales season which suits the way our farm works.

Of course, Magic Millions always produce a great event that buyers love too.

A Dundeel half-sister to a Derby winner, “Yes please” I hear you say. Lot 484 is a half-sister to Angel of Truth, winner of the G1 Australian Derby and she is the fifth foal of city winning mare Scarletini (Bernardini). This is a cracking family with quality damsires through the pedigree.

Dundeel is one of Australia’s most exciting

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Another filly with plenty of precocity in her pedigree is lot 247, a Nicconi half-sister to this season’s group placed three year-old Construct. Their dam, Martindale Hall, won four races and is a daughter of Blue Diamond Prelude and Blue Diamond Preview placed Romantic Flyer.

“A well muscled, big strong filly with great bone, very calm and easy going, and a good walking filly.”

It’s hard to go past a young stakes winning mare who already has left a Listed winner, and in lot 1099, buyers get a chance to have a crack at an Overshare half-brother to Listed winner Por Que No, who is out of triple Listed winner Cryptic Message (Cryptograph).

Besides having an outstanding stakes winning pedigree, this colt will be so much fun to name!

Overshare-Cryptic Message lends itself to all manner of sly social media jests. This colt is from a tough North American family with plenty of black type form.

“He has excellent hindquarters, and will develop into a nice horse. He’s a loose walking type of colt.”

The Champion Second Season Sire for 2020/21 Headwater has made a promising start to his stud career with group winners like Jamaea and Wisdom of Water. His colt, lot 1147, is the first foal of winning mare Hakwa (Harbour Watch) who is a half-sister to several horses with strong Hong Kong form, including nine race winner Bear Chum and current season winner Drops of God. Hakwa is out of a winning daughter of G3 winner Dottoressa with plenty of sprinting speed in the family.

“A nice type of colt that should suit the Hong Kong market. He has a lovely shape about him, and is a good walking horse.”

What’s something practical that you wish you were better at?

Saying no. I’m good at making other people money, but not so great at making any for myself.

What’s the most important object you own?

My father’s watch. He was a clearance diver, and his watch is a Rolex submariner. I wear it every day.

Construct (AUS) Wins the 1200m Illawarra TC David Clout Maiden P.

stallions with five G1 winners in his first two crops, and this filly has the pedigree to be another star for him.

“She looks like Angel of Truth and is a very athletic filly.”

The depth Manx Park’s draft of yearlings for the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale continues with lot 24, a filly by Australia’s hottest sire I Am Invincible, and this filly is a half-sister to Manx Park G3 placed graduate Axe and one other winner. Throw in the residual value of having sires Encosta de Lago and Flying Spur in the family, and this filly is well worth an inspection.

“I think she could be anything. She’s the standout of our draft. A beautiful filly who is big, forward, good moving, and has a great temperament.”

G1 Blue Diamond winner Written By’s first crop of yearlings will make their debut at this sale and his filly, lot 18, is a half-sister to winning two year-old and stakes placed Stop Making Sense.

There is plenty of early maturing form around this yearling filly, with her dam, Etoile Fille (No Excuse Needed), being a city winning two year-old who is a daughter of group winner Starcent making Etoile Fille a half-sister to G1 placed Ambitious, dam of group winner Strike the Stars. This is the family of recent G1 winner Savy Yong Blonk.

If someone asked to be your apprentice and learn all that you know, what would you teach them?

I could teach good work ethic. I do everything, foaling down, walk-in, mares, clean the boxes. If I’m asking someone else to do something, I’ll do it too.

If you are looking for well-prepared yearlings from a property that continually produces consistent racehorses, Manx Park is a great bet.

2022 draft Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

18 24 247 484 1099 1147

Etoile Fille (NZ) Exselva Martindale Hall Scarletini Cryptic Message (CAN) Hakwa

F/Ch. F/B. F/Ch. F/B.or Br. C/B. C/Br.

MP

Written By I Am Invincible Nicconi Dundeel (NZ) Overshare Headwater

61 Windella Road Sutton Forest, NSW 2577 Peta Tilden 0403 172 707 petatilden1@gmail.com accounts@manxparkagistment.com.au

“She should go early. She’s not big but has good bone and is a real racy type of filly.”

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Marquee Stud is the ideal place to raise strong, athletic, healthy and well conformed individuals.

2022 vendor

by Kristen Manning

MARQUEE STUD OFFERS BUYERS PLENTY OF CHOICE

W

ith G1 winner Redzel (Snitzel) as a headline graduate from Marquee Stud’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale drafts, it’s no surprise to see them back at the sale after a few years away. Redzel, who Marquee Stud sold for $120,000 in 2014, won the first two runnings of The Everest as well as the G1 Darley Classic and G1 Doomben Ten Thousand, with earnings over $16 million. In Marquee Stud’s most recent Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale draft in 2019, they sold both their yearlings offered and both are now winners.

Bluebloods spoke to Marquee Stud’s Mark Alati about their 2022 draft.

Who are your favourite stallions?

I’m a big fan of colonial stallions, such as Snitzel, Written Tycoon, but my absolute favourite is Exceed and Excel, who I think is a freakish worldwide phenomenon. I also love Lonhro, and this one is the pick of our draft. All Too Hard is underrated, blending speed and stamina. It depends on what suits the mare too, I like to look at the nicks too.

In one of their biggest Magic Millions drafts, Marquee Stud will present eight yearlings by eight different stallions, giving buyers plenty of choice. Two fillies out of stakes winning

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American mares have plenty of residual value to go with their racing potential. So You Think leaves good looking competitive horses, and his filly, lot 328, is out of Listed winner Nursery Rhyme (Tale of the Cat), who is a half-sister to a Group winner.

Nursery Rhyme has left three winners so far, and she is the granddam of stakes placed Ramazzotti.

“She looks like an early comer, more so than you’d expect from pedigree. She should race at two and is very attractive like her sire.”

Juvenile Listed winner Link to My Heart (Stravinsky) is the dam of lot 212, a Nicconi filly, and this is another strong American family with plenty of precocious form that will suit the types buyers like at this sale. “By a speed stallion and looks the part, ideally suited to the early two yearold races like the Gimcrack.”

Lonhro colts are sought after at the sales, so lot 871 provides a good opportunity for buyers and this colt is the first foal of Concubine (Redoute’s Choice), a winning half-sister to stakes placed pair Knight Exemplar and Laqyaa. The only other colt in the Marquee Stud draft is by Rubick, lot 974, and his dam, Search the Stars (Tale of the Cat) has left five winners from as many to race, including a full brother to this yearling who won in Hong Kong recently.

“He’s not a typical Lonhro, being more of a Magic Millions earlier type. The Redoute’s Choice nick with Lonhro is an amazing cross. This colt is a fantastic specimen in every way, correct, forward, an all-round impressive individual.”

Champion Sire Exceed and Excel needs no introduction, and his filly, lot 644, is out of stakes placed city winner Triple Six (Dehere) who is out of a half-sister to G1 winner Calveen. “By one of my personal favourites with a fantastic pedigree.

She could be a Magic Millions type of horse and develop into a miler.”

Brazen Beau is living up to the lofty expectations set on his stud career with fifteen stakes winners led by G1 winner On The Bubbles. His filly, lot 415, is from one of Australia’s best families, and her dam, Rainbeam (Fastnet Rock) has already left a two year-old winner. This is the family of Group winners Head of State, Summer Passage, Shania Dane, and Scintillation. “A very strong filly, who we are selling on behalf of Hilbene Farm who are developing a reputation as very good breeders.

She is a compact strong type of filly, an absolute jump and run horse, who is ideally suited to Magic Millions. She has blossomed through the prep and should catch a lot of people’s eyes.”

Young mare Iguazu Falls (Pure Theatre) has already left two winners and she is a half-sister to international group winner Il Cadetto from the family of classy German two year-old, Nasr Allah. Marquee Stud will offer her fourth foal, lot 1158, a filly by G1 Sires Produce Stakes winner Invader. “A big strong powerful filly built to run early and she will catch the eye of many good judges.”

A filly by second season sire and group winner Supido, lot 1159, is the second foal of winning mare Imposition (Commands), who is a three-quarter sister to Soul, a stakes winner in Australia and England, from the family of Golden Slipper winner Kiamichi, and Denman.

“A big strong forward black filly, by a well credentialled young sire. The mare has done fantastic job, as she looks like a runner, and is an ideal syndicator’s horse.”

A Rubick colt, lot 974, is a half-brother to five winners and is out of Search the Stars, a half-sister to Group placed winner Fast and Sexy from the family of Pride of Dubai. “An absolute cracker of a type. He’s a full brother to Ka Ying Spirit who won on debut in Hong Kong recently and is trained by David Hayes who has a big opinion of him.”

What’s the best website name you’ve seen? vipbettingservices.com.au If someone asked to be your apprentice and learn all that you know, what would you teach them?

I was working as an electrician on a house for a wealthy guy and he gave me this advice, which he’d been told by a guy who had a successful business in tractors. “Forget about crawl before you can walk, just get up and run.”

It’s a great way to think about starting a business.

What is the most impressive thing you know how to do?

I can remember people’s phone numbers after dialling them a few times.

2022 draft Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

212 328 415 644 871 974 1158 1159

Link to My Heart (USA) Nursery Rhyme (USA) Rainbeam Triple Six Concubine Search the Stars Iguazu Falls Imposition

F/Ch. F/B.or Br. F/B. F/B. C/Br. C/Ch. F/Ch. F/B.or Br.

Nicconi So You Think (NZ) Brazen Beau Exceed and Excel Lonhro Rubick Invader Supido

295 Warrah Ridge Road Willow Tree NSW 2339 T: +612 6747 1789 F: +612 6747 1776 info@marqueestud.com.au www.marqueestud.com.au

2022 / 223

2022 vendor

by Renée Geelen

MILL PARK STUD RAISES CHAMPIONS

W

hen a farm has a Hall of Fame section on their website and it’s continually updated with G1 winners, it’s obvious there is something about the grass down at Mill Park Stud. Their recent Magic Millions Yearling Sale graduates include Champion 2YO Filly Away Game, and stakes winners Peltzer, Banquo, Mickey Blue Eyes, Warning, Seradess, Whatafox and Ecumenical.

From their current draft of three year-olds who went through the sales comes very promising listed winners Cerberus and Total Babe (twice Group placed from four starts).

Mill Park’s Chris Watson spoke to Bluebloods about their draft of nine yearlings, all by different stallions and mostly out of young mares, for the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

What puts the magic into Magic Millions for you?

It’s the first sale of the season for Australia, so it comes with a lot of anticipation.

It’s the end of the breeding season and a great reason to catch up with people.

The race series is a magnificent event with plenty of prizemoney on offer, highlighted by seeing the two year-olds up and running as well as the quality older horses. Throw

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group placed mare Whatalovelyday (Domesday). This is a branch of the Leica family that includes G1 winners Leica Guv and Light Fantastic.

A Capitalist colt, lot 285, is out of G2 placed winner Moreau (Snitzel) who is from the same family as Arazi and Noverre. It’s a Myth (Sepoy) was a typically tough fast multiple stakes placed winning mare from Mill Park’s Divine Madonna family, and her first foal, a colt by Deep Field is lot 151. A Street Boss colt, lot 81, is the first foal of winning mare Go Straightandhard (Medaglia d’Oro), herself a half-sister to Adelaide Guineas winner So We Are. The first foal of a full sister to group winner Seradess is lot 47, a colt

by Epaulette. “I wouldn’t normally take an Epaulette to a Magic Millions Gold Coast sale, but this is a magnificent colt whose dam is a full sister to a current stakeswinner in Seradess. He’s the nicest conformed horse in our draft.”

“I’m looking forward to presenting the stock of first season sires, particular this colt by The Autumn Sun. He’s a beautifully conformed colt with a lot of presence, and is a balanced good style of a horse. The team from Magic Millions really liked him, and he should be extremely well received.” Lot 127 is the second live foal for Magic Millions Fillies and Mares Handicap winner I Am Zelady (I Am Invincible), whose first foal by Snitzel is a winner this season.

I Am Zelady is a half-sister to stakes winners Excites Zelady and Zelady’s Night Out.

By Russian Revolution, lot 358 is a filly out of winning mare Pasadoble who is a three-quarter-sister to Diamond Earth. “She’s a lovely filly. I’ve got a lot of time for the Russian Revolutions. I think he could be one of the sires that’ll have early two year-olds. She is a lovely big strong scopey style of filly with great muscle tone and a lovely bit of quality to her.”

What secret conspiracy would you like to start?

South Australia is the leading nursery for producing sound tough top level racehorses!

What is something that everyone looks stupid doing?

When you reach middle age and still think you can mix it with the youngsters!

What’s the most useless talent you have?

An absolute expert omelette maker.

Away Game $2 million Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner $500,000 Magic Millions 2YO Classic Racing Women’s Bonus winner $250,000 Magic Millions 3YO Guineas Racing Women’s Bonus winner

in warm weather and holiday festive feel, and it’s a great time.

Do you wear budgie smugglers or board shorts to the beach?

Definitely board shorts.

Which horse in your draft looks the best chance to win a Magic Millions 2YO Classic or 3YO Guineas?

The So You Think colt (lot 739) is a half-brother to a recent stakes winner from a miler/middle distance family, so he’d suit the 3YO Guineas.

He’s a lovely style of a horse, beautiful and balanced, typical of So You Think, and will progress with age. For the 2YO Classic, the Trapeze Artist (lot 865) is an obvious choice being closely related to Away Game. He looks like a forward, early style of horse that I could see appearing in this race.

As mentioned by Watson, the Trapeze Artist colt, lot 865, is out of Cocoa Doll (More Than Ready), a young half-sister to Champion 2YO Filly Away Game and Listed winner Modern Wonder. Cocoa Doll’s first foal was a two year-old winner last season, so she already has form on the board.

Watson’s pick for the Guineas is the half-brother,

by So You Think, to recent G3 winner Ecumenical (Zebedee), lot 739, and this colt’s dam, Amalgamate (Zenno Rob Roy), is a city winner of four races from a family littered with multiple winners.

A half-sister to G2 Moonee Valley Fillies Classic placed Whatafox (Foxwedge), is lot 682, and this yearling filly is by Impending from city winner and

2022 draft Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

47 81 127 151 285 358 682 739 865

Fire and Glory Go Straightandhard I Am Zelady It’s a Myth Moreau Pasadoble Whatalovelyday Amalgamate Cocoa Doll

C/B. C/B. C/Ch. C/Ch. C/B. F/B. F/B. C/B. C/Ch.

Epaulette Street Boss (USA) The Autumn Sun Deep Field Capitalist Russian Revolution Impending So You Think (NZ) Trapeze Artist

MillPark LIMESTONE COAST

We Raise Champions

www.millparkstud.com.au (08) 8575 6033 Chris Watson 0417 838 489 cwatson@millparkstud.com.au Meningie, SA

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English Newhaven’s Champion sprinter dual G1 winner of over $3.4m has two close relatives in the farm’s MM 2022 draft, lot 140, a Written Tycoon filly and lot 404, a Trapeze Artist filly.

2022 vendor

by Paul Vettise and Andrew Reichard

NEWHAVENPARK New Magic from NEWHAVEN

F

ew farms have an honour roll to match that of John Kelly’s Newhaven Park, Boorowa. The recent Gr1 and Magic Millions winners bred and raised at Newhaven are continuing this tradition, they are among the best horses to come off the historic property. The Magic Millions 3YO Guineas win of Aim in 2021, the MM 2YO Classic and MM Wyong 2YO Classic wins of Unenencumbered, the Gr1 Golden Rose win of In The Congo, following on from Gr1 wins by the crack fillies Odeum and Shout The Bar and that pair’s memorable Gr1 quinella in the Gr1 Empire Rose S, the feature fillies and mares race at the 2020 Victorian Spring Carnival is all the evidence buyers need to put Newhaven Park’s superb 2022 Magic Millions draft on their “must see” inspection lists.

John Kelly was in a positive mood when I spoke to him, “ I’m proud of Newhaven’s wonderful traditions, Wilkes, Wenona Girl, Burst, Marauding, English, too many to name, but you can’t rest

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on your laurels, we are always looking to breed the next champion, the next Gr1 winner, the next Magic Millions winner, the next moneyspinner for our clients and potential buyers.”

“We’re taking 30 well chosen youngsters to the Gold Coast in January, including seven by current Australian Champion Sire Written Tycoon and two from the first crop of his Gr1 Blue Diamond winning son Written By. There are yearlings by Champion sire Savabeel, hot young stallions Toronado and Pierro, and a couple by Champion sprinter and much awaited first season sire Trapeze Artist, to name but a few.”

“We will be offering a number of yearlings from the wonderful proven families of our Champion filly and mare English, Gr1 winner Ofcourseican, Might And Power, Zeditave, Supara, Yao Dash, Noire, Hasna and Jamaican Rain.

There will be something there to suit every budget, our priority is to sell, Newhaven sold seven yearlings

in the 40k to 100k range in 2021, so don’t be afraid to come and inspect our yearlings.

You might find your own Magic Millions winner, we sold Unencumbered for $70k and Aim was dearer at $200k but still within the range of many buyers looking for value.

We take the early foals out of precocious families to this sale, they usually select themselves.”

“I find the Magic Millions January Sale one of the year’s highlights, we finally get to see the progeny of the new crop of stallions, the strength of the market is established, it’s time to catch up with clients and fellow breeders, which will be particularly pleasing this year after the various lockdowns. And of course the Gold Coast is an exciting place to visit, a fantastic setting.

Ofcourseican (outside right) winner of the G1 Coolmore Classic has two close relatives in the farm’s MM 2022 draft, lot 221 a Written Tycoon filly and lot 1212 a Better Than Ready filly.

I asked John to offer some comments on his draft and he made the following observations.

“Lot 583 by Written Tycoon out of multiple G2 placed Supara is a very fast-looking filly. She’s a stylish individual as well and I think she’ll go very early,” Kelly said. “We think she is an outstanding filly, beautifully athletic and very strong, she’s top class.”

Written Tycoon is the sire of another of Kelly’s favourite fillies, lot 28, who is the first foal of the unraced Violence mare Fairway Lady, a half-sister to the North American stakes winners Cage Fighter and As Seen On TV. “Fairway Lady is an imported mare and this is a very nice filly, as is the Trapeze Artist out of With Purpose,” he said.

The daughter of Trapeze Artist is lot 696 and her dam is by Pierro and won four times. With Purpose is out of Paprika, who was a two-time listed winner and the McKay Stakes-G3 winner Streetcar Magic also features.”

“We’ve also got some lovely colts, including the Written By out of Heriz, a Redoute’s Choice mare, who has left a stakes winner already, he’s a magnificent colt,” Kelly said. Lot 108 is a half-brother to the dual Group 3 winner Jamaican Rain and the stakes placegetter Diasonic and a host of international Group performers on the page.

“We’ve got a lovely Written Tycoon colt out of Hittite who is a Redoute’s Choice daughter of Hades,” Kelly said. He will be presented as lot 115 and his half-sister

by Spirit Of Boom sold at the Gold Coast this year. Named Hattusa, she recently finished third on debut at Eagle Farm from Helen Page’s stable and their third dam Hasna was a multiple Group 1 winner.

Kelly also has high hopes for lot 273, a son of Toronado and Miss Softhands, a five-time winner by Bel Esprit, who is out of a sister to the Cranbourne Cup-listed winner Kattavia. “He’s a beautiful colt and the sire couldn’t be going any better.”

Other proven stallions represented in the consignment are Spirit Of Boom, Better Than Ready, Rubick, Smart Missile and Mikki Isle while youngsters by younger stallions include Merchant Navy, Spieth, Saxon Warrior and Performer.

The consignment also features a daughter, lot 568, and a son, lot 1098, of resident stallion Xtravagant, whose yearlings have sold for up to $270,000.

The former is out of Stregheria, a halfsister to Hong Kong black-type winner Captain Sweet while the colt is the first foal of the winning Snitzel mare Crusher.

“We’re very pleased with Xtravagant, who has already had a stakes winner in He’s Xceptional. They are starting to come good as spring three-year-olds, which is what you would expect for a stallion by Pentire out of a Zabeel mare,” Kelly said.

“We think they are very promising and he was a terrific horse.” Xtravagant was a dynamic performer who streeted his opposition in the New Zealand 2000 Guineas-G1 and underlined his class when he crushed his older opposition in the NRM Sprint-G1.

I Am Invincible’s son Super One and Cool Aza Beel, a son of champion stallion Savabeel joined Xtravagant at Newhaven Park in 2021. Super One was successful in five of his eight starts and won twice at stakes level in Singapore and has a winners to runners ratio of better than 41 per cent while Cool Aza Beel earned champion two-year-old honours in New Zealand courtesy of his victories in the Sistema Stakes-G1 and the Karaka Million-RL. The Newhaven Park yearlings will be in their regular spot in stable G and John Kelly and his team look forward to parading them for inspection.

2022 draft Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

28 84 108 115 116 140 221 222 273 274 404 414 520 568 583 696 834 862 961 1001 1022 1071 1098 1117 1121 1152 1164 1166 1203 1212

Fairway Lady (USA) Gold Rush (NZ) Heriz Hittite Hollyweird Infra Dig Lucky Can Be Lucky Louie Miss Softhands Misty Rock Puzzle Rahy Storm (USA) Shy Girl (USA) Stregheria Supara With Purpose Cap Gris Nez Classic Charlotte (USA) Repute Sugarparma Touch Too Much Aware Crusher Ehtifaal Emphatically Hoist Just a Blur Kamili Micondesa Moonsong

F/Ch. C/Br. C/B. C/Ch. C/B. F/Ch. F/Br. C/B. C/B. F/Ch. F/B. C/Ch. F/B. F/Ch. F/B. F/Ch. C/B. C/Ch. C/B. C/B. F/Ch. F/B. C/Ch. C/B.or Br. F/B. C/B. C/Ch. C/B. C/B.or Br. F/B.

Written Tycoon Savabeel Written By Written Tycoon Written By Written Tycoon Written Tycoon Pierro Toronado (IRE) Saxon Warrior (JPN) Trapeze Artist Written Tycoon Merchant Navy Xtravagant (NZ) Written Tycoon Trapeze Artist Written Tycoon Merchant Navy Spirit of Boom Better Than Ready Performer Better Than Ready Xtravagant (NZ) Better Than Ready Spirit of Boom Rubick Spieth (NZ) Smart Missile Mikki Isle (JPN) Better Than Ready

NEWHAVEN PARK STUD (02) 6385 8335 John Kelly 0412 654 620 jknewhavenpark@bigpond.com

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2022 vendor

by Kristen Manning

RAHEEN STUD PRESENTS A QUALITY DRAFT

T

he best start to the 2020/21 racing year made by any first season stallion has that been made by Raheen Stud’s high class sprinter Heroic Valour.

With 83 two-year-olds on the ground he has not been afforded the same opportunities as some of the more expensive horses but at his fee of $7,700 he is one of the best value young stallions in the country.

At the time of writing in early November, the Auckland Diamond Stakes-G1, 1200m winner had been represented by three winners from his first five runners with Mishani Persuasion impressive saluting (whilst still racing greenly) at Eagle Farm at just his second outing whilst Heroic Son and Heroic Angel both created big impressions winning in easy style at debut.

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All three have interesting pedigrees, Mishani Persuasion being bred on a 3mx3m cross of Danehill with his dam being by Commands who hails from the same prolific Mumtaz Mahal family as Heroic Valour’s dam sire Nassipour whilst Heroic Son has a 6fx7f cross of the terrific mare Flower Bowl as well as crosses of Blushing Groom, Nijinsky II and Vice Regal.

Heroic Angel meanwhile has continued on the good work of the Fastnet Rock/Storm Cat cross, one which provides for a cross of Crimson Saint, Storm Cat’s grandam who is also the dam of Fastnet Rock’s dam sire Royal Academy.

Heroic Valour’s early success has come as a somewhat pleasant surprise to Basil Nolan who was expecting them to show talent on the back of good success at the sales which flowed on from the great types he has been siring.

“I did think that they would be showing their best as later two year-olds,” he said, “I just wasn’t sure if they would be pre-Christmas types.” Meaning that there is plenty to look forward to!

Nolan has always been a fan of Heroic Valour who he describes as “a lovely horse who marks his progeny well.”

“When a foal comes in you can tell which ones are by Heroic Valour, he is an easy horse to do anything with and his foals are the same.”

Nolan is looking forward to selling 11 members of Heroic Valour’s second crop at the Magic Millions, a sale he has always been a keen supporter of.

“It has been a marvellous concept from day one,” he said, recalling a very early visit to the site when it was “still a swamp!”

Lot 1105 bay filly from Days Of Innocence (by Lion Hunter): out of a mare bred on the same Danehill/Vice Regal cross as Heroic Valour, she is a half-sister to stakes placed Grey Missile (ten wins) out of a sister to Chautauqua’s Group 1 dam Lovely Jubly.

“The sale and race day is at the right place at the right time with the Gold Coast always a great place to be around Christmas and New Year.”

Lot 1113 bay filly from Domitilla (by Strategic): another line-bred to Milan Mill, she is a half-sister to the stakes winner Sylpheed out of a three times winning halfsister to the Group 2 winner Free Wheeling from the successful Toltrice family.

Raheen’s Heroic Valours are a well bred bunch...

Lot 243 brown colt from Maputo Express (by Lonhro): second Heroic Valour foal for a city placed half-sister to the stakes placed MacArthur from the prolific Savana City family. Boasting Danehill, Nijinsky II and Sir Tristram crosses he brings together Mumtaz Mahal descendants Nassipour and Octagonal.

Lot 588 bay filly from Sweet Cherub (by Canny Lad): bred on the same Heroic Valour/Canny Lad cross as Heroic Angel, she is a half-sister to the exciting stakes winner Sweet Dolly, unbeaten from her four starts last summer.

Lot 934 chestnut colt from O’Venus (by Anabaa): half-brother to six winners including the stakes winner Throssell and the stakes placed Germayne Lass out of a half-sister to the Group 3 filly Vigil.

Lot 995 brown filly from Sop (by Dodge): another out of a Canny Lad (a horse who served Raheen well as proud shareholders) line mare, her dam is a 3/4 sister to the stakes winner Con’s Army.

Half-sister to the talented Golden Avenger who has won five of his 14 starts including his last two in easy fashion.

Lot 1005 brown colt from Sweet Adaline (by Lonhro): second foal for a city winning daughter of the Group 2 winner Adaline from the family of the recent Group 2 winner Extreme Warrior. His dam’s cross of Mumtaz Mahal’s best local influence Eight Carat should pick up nicely with Heroic Valour’s strain of Nassipour.

Lot 1036 brown colt from Virginia Plain (by Sebring): out of a winning half-sister to the stakes placed Tongsai Boss from the family of Singapore star Rocket Man, he carries a 6fx7m cross of Milan Mill, grandam of Heroic Valour’s second dam sire Western Symphony and dam of the legendary Mill Reef.

Lot 1059 chestnut colt from All About Julia (by Pierro): another out of a Lonhro line mare and another line-bred to Milan Mill, he also carries a 2mX3f cross of Fastnet Rock who is yet to have a runner as a line-breeding subject. He is the first foal for a winning mare whose dam is a 3/4 sister to Zipping.

Lot 1061 chestnut filly from Alyssa Jean (by Dodge): half-sister to the stakes winner Too Good To Refuse out of a halfsister to the stakes winners War Of The Worlds and Conquered Dream from that great New Zealand “Heights” family.

Lot 1157 bay filly from I’m Adorable (by Captain Sonador): a 3/4 sister to lot 1113 being out of a placed daughter of Domitilla, he boasts cross of Milan Mill and Crimson Saint.

Whilst Heroic Valour is obviously Nolan’s favourite stallion, he also has a major soft spot for Zoustar in whom he has been a long time shareholder. “He has been pretty special to us,” he said and Raheen have three lovely yearlings by him going through the ring; lot 694 (a colt out of a half-sister to Missrock), lot 721 (the first foal for the stakes placed Aeecee Tong De) and lot 249 (a halfsister to the promising Flower In The Wind out of a city winning daughter of the stakes winner Strawberry Field).

Two Spirit Of Booms are also highlights of the draft; lot 439 (second foal for a city placed daughter of the US stakes winner Pardon) lot 690 (a colt out of the multiple city winner Widow’s Walk).

Also going through the ring for Raheen is a Nicconi filly (lot 1054, the first foal for a daughter of the juvenile stakes winner Defiant Dame) and lot 1131 (an Encryption colt out of the multiple city winner Fleet Riane whose first three foals are all multiple winners).

Nolan is delighted with the overall quality of the draft, saying that “we try to improve each year and this is as good a group of yearlings we have ever sent to the Magic Millions.”

“The Zoustar/Wisdom Tree colt is an extremely nice type and probably my pick of our draft and the half-sister to Sweet Dolly is also impressive. And we have a high opinion of of Fleet Dove whose half brother is our Encryption colt.”

2022 draft Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

243 C/Br. 249 F/Br. 439 F/B. 588 F/B. 690 C/B. 694 C/B. 721 F/Br. 934 C/Ch. 995 F/Br. 1005 C/Br. 1036 C/Br. 1054 F/Ch. 1059 C/Ch. 1061 F/Ch. 1105 F/B. 1113 F/B. 1131 C/Ch. 1157 F/B.

Maputo Express Meadow Rock Garden Sweet Cherub Widow’s Walk Wisdom Tree Aeecee Tong De O’ Venus Sop Sweet Adaline Virginia Plain Absolute Rock All About Julia Alyssa Jean Days of Innocence Domitilla Fleet Riane I’m Adorable

Heroic Valour Zoustar Spirit of Boom Heroic Valour Spirit of Boom Zoustar Zoustar Heroic Valour Heroic Valour Heroic Valour Heroic Valour Nicconi Heroic Valour Heroic Valour Heroic Valour Heroic Valour Encryption Heroic Valour

1585 Goomburra Road, Gladfield via Warwick. Qld 4370 (07) 4666 1172 Basil Nolan 0407 140 711 basil@raheen.com.au

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With a highly-credentialled group of youngsters to sell at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in January the farm is poised to further its progression.

2022 vendor

by Paul Vettise

ROSEMONT STUD DRAFT IS AN ALL-MALE AFFAIR

R

osemont Stud enjoyed a stellar 12 months on and off the track in 2021 and with a highly-credentialled group of youngsters to sell at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in January the farm is poised to further its progression.

The Victorian operation’s draft is an allmale affair and features representatives of resident sires Shamus Award and Starspangledbanner.

Both stallions continued to make a serious impact in 2021 with Shamus Award’s son Incentivise a spring star with Group 1 triumphs in the Makybe Diva Stakes, Turnbull Stakes and the Caulfield Cup and a runnerup finish in the Melbourne Cup-G1. His other elite performers include dual G1 winner Mr Quickie, Oaks winners Duais and Media Award and multiple G1 placed Soul Patch and Swats That.

Starspangledbanner also made his mark during the spring with his son State Of Rest claiming top honours in the Cox Plate-G1 while Brooklyn Hustle carried the Rosemont colours to victory in the Dane Ripper Stakes-G2 and the Proud Miss Stakes-G3.

Further afield, Castle Star and Hermena Estrella were successful at Group 3 level in Ireland.

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to our team for foaling him down and nurturing him through,” Mithen said. “Well done to the office crew as well who oversaw the importation of the mare in foal to Frankel, we bought Bellwether at the Tatt’s Broodmare Sale from Juddmonte and sent her back to Frankel and got a lovely product. A couple of people who have seen him have already got him as the stand-out.”

Another high-quality offering from Rosemont will be lot 645, who hails from the legendary Eight Carat family. “The I Am Invincible is a belting colt, the first foal of True Excelsior who is Group 1-performed Exceed And Excel mare.

It’s a beautiful family and he’s a speedy-looking type and the culmination of I Am Invincible and Exceed And Excel, that’s what you like to see,” Mithen said.

“There’s also a Snitzel colt who is a full-brother to a two-year-old stakes winner and he’s a big, strong colt who will be well found.” Lot 873 is a full sibling to the Talindert Stakes-Listed winner Prairie Fire with their dam Consistency an unraced half-sister to the Adelaide Guineas-G3 winner Nina Haraka, dam of The Thousand Guineas-G1 runner-up Extension Of Time. It is the family of the Lightning Stakes-G1 winner Snitzerland and the Aurie’s Star Handicap - G3 winner Sooboog.

“We’re very happy with the draft and as it’s turned out they are all colts. We will be racing quite a few yearlings that we have bred and it just so happened that the precocious types we had on the sell list were all colts,” Mithen said.

Standing alongside Shamus Award and Starspangledbanner at Rosemont is the Blue Diamond Prelude-G3 winner and Blue Diamond Stakes-G1 runner-up Hanseatic, Starcraft, Strasbourg and Nostradamus.

“We really do want to become one of the premium stallion farms at least in Victoria, if not the country. Hanseatic is a beauty - a son of Street Boss and the family of Black Caviar with precocious two-year-old speed,” Mithen said.

“Starcraft keeps churning out winners and giving breed to race guys a horse at an affordable fee, Strasbourg covered 120 mares last year and over 100 this year so he’s a live ticket in the lottery, which we know it is, so he’s popular enough and Nostradamus is going well. We very much appreciate the support of all breeders as our stallion division is relatively new on the scene.

It’s nice that we are getting the recognition, we’ve got good stallions that are competitively priced and can get you the real deal.”

Mithen is also excited about two future stallion prospects in Galileo’s son Maximal, who was sixth from the outside gate in the Golden Eagle in his Australian debut, and two year-old stakes winner Brereton.

Rosemont Stud will offer four colts by their sensational young sire Shamus Award (above right) at the MM 2022 sale, they are set to follow in the footsteps of his triple G1 winning son Incentivise and dual G1 winning Mr Quickie (above left, main photo).

“It has been very rewarding to see the rise of both horses to premium-class stallions. They’re still standing at Victorian market rates, I’m not sure for how long though,” Rosemont principal Anthony Mithen said. “Those breeders that have sent mares to Shamus Award and Starspangledbanner this season will be pretty pleased with themselves and well done to them.”

Shamus Award will be represented by a quartet of colts, lots 52, 269, 390 and 693, in Rosemont’s draft at the Gold Coast and all four are expected to be hot ticket items. “Magic Millions were pretty keen to raid our paddocks and get some nice Shamus Awards to the Gold Coast to showcase him and they will be popular,” Mithen said.

Starspangledbanner has a colt, lot 473, in the draft and he is a brother to the five-time winner Starosa with their dam the Iffraaj mare Sardaaj.

She was successful on two occasions and showed her class when runner-up in both the Levin Classic-G1 and the Eight Carat Classic-G2.

“We race Starosa with partners in Queensland and she’s on track for a black-type campaign through the summer carnival,” Mithen said.

“It will be good to see her in stakes races and promoting her brother.”

There is also a unique individual in the consignment with lot 795 the only representative of global super sire Frankel in the sale. The colt is a half-brother to multiple winner Edited with their dam Bellwether is a half-sister to The Metropolitan Handicap-G1 winner Mirage Dancer [Frankel], while the second dam Heat Haze won twice at the highest level in North America.

“The talk horse in our draft will no doubt be the Frankel. It’s taken a lot of effort and holding our breath to get a Frankel this far and well done

“Maximal will end up on our roster if he’s good enough and we’ve agreed terms with Juddmonte that he’ll end up here. He has to do it on the track in the autumn and give us a big moment in the sun and I’m sure he will,” he said. “Brereton as well for the Rosemont-led Victoria Alliance has obviously got good stallion potential.

“He’s a precocious two year-old and is still in work and we could see him in the Merson Cooper Stakes or the Magic Millions in the months ahead.

Winning the Maribyrnong Plate is no mean feat for a Zoustar colt and he is a significant horse for our future as well.”

2022 draft Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

52 269 390 473 516 645 693 795 873 958 1070

Flintoff Miss Ethics (SAF) Princess Rock Sardaaj (NZ) Sheila’s Star True Excelsior (NZ) Winterinthewoods (SAF) Bellwether (GB) Consistency Rawoof Auditioned

C/Br. C/Br. C/B. C/Ch. C/Ch. C/B. C/B. C/B. C/Ch. C/Br. C/Br.or Blk.

Shamus Award Shamus Award Shamus Award Starspangledbanner Capitalist I Am Invincible Shamus Award Frankel (GB) Snitzel Pride of Dubai Winning Rupert

rosemontstud.com.au (03) 5220 6500 Ryan McEvoy 0439 802 837 ryan@rosemontstud.com.au

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For a farm with a large consignment perhaps a couple of Stakes winners from any one auction would be satisfactory, but to have 26% of just one draft join the elite of the sport is astounding.

2022 vendor

by Glen Latham

SEGENHOE STUD A SUPERB DRAFT OF 30 YEARLINGS

W

hat do dual G1 winning colt and first season sire King’s Legacy, the G2 winners Poland and Vangelic, the G3 winners Holyfield and Barbaric, and the Listed winner Ellsberg have in common?

If you answered they were part of one of the most successful sales in Magic Millions history then ‘well done you’, but more accurately and more remarkably, they were all sold by just one farm, Segenhoe Stud at the 2019 Gold Coast Sale.

For a farm with a large consignment perhaps a couple of Stakes winners from any one auction would be satisfactory, but to have 26% of just one draft join the elite of the sport is astounding.

When discussing the feat with Segenhoe’s General Manager Peter O’Brien, he pointed out that such results aren’t just an outlier. “Overall, over the past ten years, the farm is running at just under 16% Stakes performers to yearlings sold which would have to be one of the highest rates in Australia, a record which we are very proud of”, he explained.

And early indications are the 2021 graduates are going to carry on in the same vein with Peter offering up a couple of horses to ‘black book’ even this early in the juvenile season. “We are particularly keen to watch two horses from last year’s draft starting with Wild Calm (American Pharoah) who flashed home in the Gimcrack Stakes, when beaten a nose for fourth recording the fastest late sectionals for the day. Annabel Neasham believes she is a Golden Slipper filly. The other one to watch is an I Am Invincible colt called Vinnie’s Spirit who trialled brilliantly the other day and Gai (Waterhouse) has high aspirations for him.”

With 30 yearlings entered for the 2022 Gold Coast Sale at least eight will have to win Stakes races for Segenhoe to set a new personal best, but speaking to Peter, and having made a fruitless search for chinks in their respective pedigrees, the old record can be considered under threat. O’Brien said “We have our biggest draft by a long way ever at the Magic Millions and it’s a superb draft which is testament to the way the sale has grown. The terrific management team in place at Magic Millions

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gives us breeders great confidence to bring our best stock to the sale.”

Singling out yearlings from a draft that offers different qualities and makes appeal to a broad spectrum of buyers can be a thankless task, but after some gentle nudging Peter discussed a few of his favourites. “We have an absolutely magnificent Not A Single Doubt colt out of the G3 winning, G1 placed mare Miss Admiration (Sebring) to sell as lot 261. We raced the mother who was as tough as old boots, and this colt is as good as you will see.

He’s a typical Not A Single Doubt; he’s not big but low slung with a terrific action and looks an absolute racehorse. I’d be very surprised if he didn’t top our draft, if not the sale.”

Peter also likes the Written Tycoon colt out of Taraji.

“We bought him when he was one of the standout weanlings of the year. He comes from the family of Music Magnate and from the day we bought him he has just got better and better and better. He reminds me a lot of Capitalist, that type of Written Tycoon, and obviously the sire is going from strength to strength. I’ll be surprised if there is a better looking one by the sire than this fellow.”

Then there is lot 309, a Per Incanto colt out of the three time winning mare Nasaayim. As a $500,000 pinhook from the Shadwell Australia dispersal he must have been stunning. “He’s a beautiful colt from a speed family from a Redoute’s Choice mare who is out of an Elusive Quality mare who is out of a Snippets has blood of three 2 0mare, 2 1 soVhe EN Dthe OR of the best broodmare sires of our lifetime. All I can say is he’s a special colt.”

Asked to single out a colt that might surprise a few people it took a while for Peter to answer as if spoilt for choice. Finally he landed on lot 591, the Dundeel colt out of Sweetener by Snitzel. “This fellow just exudes quality and is probably the best moving colt that we have. He’s a very precocious looking Dundeel with a big hip and a short back while his dam is from the family of Secret Agenda (Not A Single Doubt). He’s a half-brother to a horse of Gary Portelli’s called Disruptor (Dissident) who he thought was a Group horse until he went amiss.”

Each of the fourteen fillies that will travel from Rouchel to Bundall go there backed up by big pedigrees. Take lot 12, the Not A Single Doubt – Houston Benefactor filly. for example. “The dam is a beautiful Encosta De Lago mare whose daughter Starla (Snitzel) is knocking on the door to win a Stakes race. Again a typical Not A Single Doubt, strong, short coupled, great mover, precocious and flashy, you won’t miss her.”

Another in the same bracket is lot 716, a Zoustar filly out of Abbey Road, a daughter of the three time G1 winning sprinter/ miler Private Steer (Danehill Dancer). “Gai Waterhouse thought Abbey Road was a genuine G1 horse. She was beaten a nose on debut by the subsequent G1 winner Peeping, that pair putting five lengths on the rest of the field. Abbey Road comfortably lost her maiden status at her next start but then unfortunately broke down. Her owner John Camilleri has bred her up properly, as she deserves, and this is definitely the best foal she has had, a beautiful, big, scopey filly with a terrific action. The dam’s first foal Ticket To Ride (Vancouver) ran third in the G3 Gimcrack Stakes.”

2022 draft

“John also has lot 669, the I Am Invincible filly out of Villa Carlotta, a G2 placed daughter of Street Cry from the famous family of Redoute’s Choice. I would say this is our best filly, she’s just all quality with a great hip and a great action and for me she is the best ‘Vinnie’ filly I’ve seen.” High praise indeed, but when we questioned if she really was that good, Peter simply replied, “oh, she is!”

Then there is lot 707, the Shalaa filly out of Zara Bay. “Zara Bay is a Stakes placed sister to Merchant Navy and for me hails from one of the most active families around, Stakes winners coming from each dam on the page seemingly every season. Her first foal, Saucey Horsey (So You Think) is already a winner and I know the Maher/Eustace team have lofty ambitions for her, thinking she could be a G1 filly in the Autumn.”

Having twisted Peter’s arm for a colt to follow we couldn’t let him get away without finding a filly that might also fly a little under the radar. He pointed out lot 582, a filly by The Autumn Sun out of the Stakes winning mare Sunset Rock (Domesday). “This filly is an unbelievable mover and the mating with one of the best colts of a generation gives the mare every chance to get a good horse. I like fillies with a bit of sass in them and this filly certainly has that.”

So in a short space of time we had discussed nine of Segenhoe’s thirty strong draft. Now comes the tricky task of working out which of them is going to contribute to the farm’s impending personal best.

Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

110 121 124 136 182 217 242 259 261 309 337 410 413 494 502 526 555 567 582 591 603 669 684 707 716 844 899 905 912 933

Hidden Talent Houston Benefactor Hurtle Myrtle Impulsive Koonoomoo Look to the Stars Mambo Lady Mining Tycoon Miss Admiration Nasaayim Oohood Quick Feet Radharcnafarraige (IRE) Sempre Libera Set for Fame Silver Frost Sprout Street Secret (USA) Sunset Rock Sweetener Taraji Villa Carlotta Whistling Dixie (NZ) Zara Bay Abbey Road Celebrities Choice Dame Margo Fonteyn (NZ) Deer Valley Diana’s Star Dynastic Lady

F/B. F/Ch. F/B.or Br. C/Ch. F/B.or Br. F/B. C/Ch. C/Ch. C/B. C/Ch. C/B. C/B. C/Ch. F/B. F/B.or Br. C/B.or Gr. F/B.or Br. C/B. F/B. C/B. C/Ch. F/B. C/Ch. F/B. F/Br. C/B. C/B. C/B. F/B. F/B.

Deep Field Not a Single Doubt Deep Field Snitzel Justify (USA) Snitzel Extreme Choice Rubick Not a Single Doubt Per Incanto (USA) Pride of Dubai Fastnet Rock Exceed and Excel Deep Field Shalaa (IRE) Written By Merchant Navy Snitzel The Autumn Sun Dundeel (NZ) Written Tycoon I Am Invincible Deep Field Shalaa (IRE) Zoustar So You Think (NZ) Exceed and Excel Trapeze Artist Not a Single Doubt More Than Ready (USA)

www.segenhoegroup.com.au Aberdeen, NSW 02 6543 9777 Peter O’Brien: 0411 852 149 Brian Clarke: 0448 302 436 Darren Corbett: 0457 439 777

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2022 vendor

by Andrew Reichard

SILVERDALE FARM SILVERDALE GOES FOR GOLD

T

hey say a week is a long time in politics, but it is the blink of an eye in the thoroughbred breeding industry.

It seems only yesterday that Steve and Eliza Grant’s Silverdale Farm at Avoca in the NSW Southern Highlands was about to offer the first draft of yearlings under its own banner at the Magic Millions January sale.

Yet here we are a full year later and the second offering of seven quality yearlings is already undergoing the farm’s meticulous sales preparation process for the 2022 Magic Millions in January.

Although the year has flown by, Steve Grant and his team have fitted a lot into that period, with infrastructure improvements and an exciting workplace program being instituted.

Steve Grant elaborated on the developments, “We’ve completed several infrastructure projects, including a new vetting facility, nine post foaling turnout yards with shelters, two undercover pavilions for our parade area, 25 turnout day yards for yearlings, and we’ve increased the yearling preparation boxes up to a total of 28, each with its own woodchip yard.

And of course we have continued with the extensive landscaping.” Steve’s background in construction and development has served him well in these endeavours. Silverdale has been widely admired by those lucky enough to visit. It was impressive on my last attendance pre-COVID, I can’t wait to check out the recent additions.

Farm manager Rob Petith takes up the story, “We were delighted with our 100% clearance rate at our first ever sale season offering yearlings under our own banner and to come second on the vendor averages at Magic Millions was a pleasant surprise.

But it’s testament to Steve’s vision that we approach everything with the attitude of doing the best job possible, to prepare yearlings that are the complete package. By that I mean we realise there is more to it than just achieving good prices in the ring.

We aim to offer soundly reared, well educated youngsters that buyers can take home with confidence, knowing they have a quality grounding to work with. So that whatever may occur after, they have a solid education that will see them well through their lives and ensure that they will always be desired. We aren’t just preparing horses for sale, we’re preparing them for life. Silverdale are genuine sellers. We set modest reserves and aim to sell them in the ring.

Our farm policies also seem to be paying off with horses raised on this young property already include the G3 winner SUBTERRANEAN and Gimcrack S G3 3rd Pantonario at her only start. I have a wonderful assistant manager in Helen Boyes with a great team of passionate hard working staff members all striving to achieve our goals.”

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Another exciting development during the year has been the launch of The Silverdale Farm Intern Program, in partnership with TAFE NSW, offering high school students a five day fee-free immersive experience at the farm’s world-class facilities with visits to nearby Goulburn racetrack and racing stables included. A scholarship program will also be launched. Steve Grant continued, “Without the TAFE system I wouldn’t have received such a tremendous start in business as a young bloke, so I’m delighted to be able to offer similar opportunities to young people looking to enter our industry. We need their fresh ideas and enthusiasm.”

Silverdale will offer seven yearlings in 2022 with six of them by the leading commercial sires Snitzel (2), Deep Field (2), Toronado and Smart Missile, and the other by exciting first crop sire, the undefeated USA triple crown winner Justify.”

“Ladies before gentlemen” seems to have been decreed by the fates for this offering of seven, as the four fillies will enter the ring first, followed by the three colts. They will sell in the following orderLot 327 ch f Justify - Now Now by Danehill Dancer Half-sister to multiple Group winner and G1 placed Fiesta, winner of $1.59m.

Justify is one of the best credentialed sires ever to stand in Australia. He is by Scat Daddy

by Johannesburg by Storm Cat. The Scat Daddy/Danehill Dancer nick has 9 runners for 9 winners including SW (Listed) ATOMIC BLONDE in USA. The broad Storm Cat/Danehill Dancer and reverse cross has 1117 runners for 51 stakes winners (4.56% SW/R) and 10 G1 winners.

Note: 19.6% of the SW are G1 winners. 12.5% is average and over 15% is elite.

Lot 341 b f Deep Field - Ostentatious by Shamardal Second living foal of Ostentatious, this filly is a halfsister to Rules Don’t Apply by Dissident, City winner of $126k.

Deep Field is emerging as a leading young sire with G1 winner PORTLAND SKY and SWs COSMIC FORCE, QUANTUM MECHANIC, FITUESE etc.

The Deep2Field/Shamardal 0 2 1 V E Nnick D Ohas R 1 runner for 1 winner, Astronomicelle. (3 wins 86k, Melbourne metro placed).

There are already 8 individual G1 winners out of Shamardal mares, with 6 of the 8 by Northern Dancer line sires like this filly. They include G1 winners PRIVATE EYE (ATC Epsom H) and CONVERGE (BRC JJ Atkins P). Shamardal is the broodmare sire of 6.9% SW to runners, absolutely elite.

Lot 496 b f Snitzel - Sense Of Hite by Street Sense Third foal and half-sister to ATC Australian Oaks placed Quintessa, Dissident Stan Fox 4th Acrophobic.

Four times (consecutive) Champion sire Snitzel needs no introduction.

The Snitzel/Street Sense nick has 1 runner for 1 winner, Ortaire in Japan.

The broader Snitzel/Street Cry cross has 7 runners for 7 winners including brilliant multiple stakes winning 2YO SANDBAR, 4 wins $525k, G2 and G3 placed, 4th Gr1 ATC Golden Rose.

Lot 590 b f Snitzel - Sweet Sherry by Bel Esprit First living foal of a G2 winning Bel Esprit mare, winner of $657K who ran 7th to Capitalist in The Golden Slipper.

Another by the peerless Snitzel and this cross is one of his best.

The Snitzel/Bel Esprit nick has 7 runners for 7 winners, 2 G3 winners.

(28.57% SW/R) namely IMMORTAL LOVE and SYLVIA’S MOTHER. This filly is bred on a reverse parallel pattern of Northern Dancer/Nijinsky and Nijinsky/ Northern Dancer. The reverse parallel pattern has been a particularly successful strategy in its many forms.

The Northern Dancer/Nijinsky mix with multiple strains of both or either has yielded 588 stakes winners and 88 individual G1 winners (15% G1 W/SW) including such notables as ANAMATO, CIRRUS DES AIGLES, FLINTSHIRE, GALAXY STAR, MENDELSSOHN, NAKEETA JANE, PRIVATE EYE, QAFILA, QUICK THINKER, QUINTESSENTIAL, VEANDERCROSS and SHOALS. Note: This cross has been particularly effective for fillies as the list above includes multiple

2022 draft

Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

327 341 496 590 668 724 843

Now Now Ostentatious Sense of Hite (NZ) Sweet Sherry Vigilance African Rainbow Caves

F/Ch. F/B. F/B. F/B. C/B.or Br. C/B. C/B.

1091 Sheepwash Road, Avoca NSW 2577 0410 464 345 rpetith@grantbloodstock.com.au silverdalefarm.com.au

G1 winner SHOALS, QTC Oaks winner QUINTESSENTIAL, SAJC Derby winning filly QAFILA and most significantly another SAJC Oaks winner ANAMATO who is the dam of current champion Australian 3YO ANAMOE. Lot 668 b or br c Toronado - Vigilance by Sepoy (Mr Prospector line) The dam who won four races in succession is by Golden Slipper winner Sepoy.

Toronado is the leading 4th crop Australian sire as we go to press.

The Toronado/Sepoy nick has 1 runner for 1 winner, the stakes placed Scissor Step, 2 wins, G3 2nd and 4th, $231k from just 8 starts.

Toronado has sired 19 SW and 5 of them have a return of Mr Prospector in the mare (26.31%), just like this colt.

Lot 724 b c Deep Field - African Rainbow by Foxwedge (Danehill line) Second foal from stakes placed Foxwedge mare.

Another by the successful young G1 sire Deep Field.

The Deep Field/Foxwedge nick has 1 runner for 1 winner.

Deep Field has had 9 SW from mares by sons of Danehill including the G2 winners QUANTUM MECHANIC and COSMIC FORCE, as well as G3 winners BIG PARADE and FITUESE and Caulfield Guineas G1 runnerup Aysar.

Lot 843 b c Smart Missile - Caves by Bernardini (by A P Indy] Half-brother to Pre-Christmas City winning 2YO and G3 winner SUBTERRANEAN (winner of $257k).

Smart Missile has been a revelation, siring both quality and quantity with 70% winners to runners including G1 winner MAID OF HEAVEN, plus CROSSHAVEN, BALLISTIC BOY etc.

The Smart Missile/Bernardini nick has 3 runners for 2 winners including Finucane Missile, 7 wins $94k.

Justify (USA) Deep Field Snitzel Snitzel Toronado (IRE) Deep Field Smart Missile

Smart Missile is by Danehill’s son Fastnet Rock. The broad Danehill/ A P Indy cross and its reverse has 26 SW including G1 winners CONVERGE (BRC JJ Atkins P), LUNAR FOX (VRC Australian Guineas) and QAFILA (SAJC Derby).

Steve Grant was happy to answer some questions for Bluebloods.

What puts the MAGIC into this race and sales series for you?

It’s all in the timing. A culmination of 3 years of planning, 14 months of nurturing, 9 weeks of preparation, for 120 seconds of Magic in the sales ring, then add 12 months of hoping for the most exciting 68.95 seconds of absolute Magic to win the Millions.

If someone asked to be your apprentice and learn all that you know, what would you teach them?

All that I know. Obviously a trick question!

What is the most impressive thing you know how to do?

Be patient.

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2022 vendor

SULLIVAN BLOODSTOCK

by Glen Latham

F

or the first time at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale a distinctive blue and white “shingle” will adorn the Chester barn welcoming buyers to inspect the maiden yearling draft of Sullivan Bloodstock.

In time owner Sherah Sullivan believes the logo will become synonymous with highend quality, her six January offerings being excellent examples of the boutique calibre horse her farm will offer.

Sherah’s journey in Thoroughbreds began in her native Matamata in pony clubs before starting work with yearlings as a fifteen year-old at JK Farm down the road from home. In between then and starting her own business in 2021, Sherah spent time travelling the world learning from the best people and horses in Ireland, England, France and America, working the various sales before landing in Australia at Arrowfield Stud. “I was then really fortunate to get a foot in the door managing Noorilim Park for quite a few years before branching out on my own.”

The horse tasked with leading off the Sullivan Bloodstock draft is lot 85, an impressive colt by the ever-reliable Smart Missile out of the American bred mare Golden Phoenix. A granddaughter of A.P. Indy

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through her sire Suave, Golden Phoenix won five times from 4 ½ to 7 furlongs and was twice Stakes placed. She hails from a strong American family, but the pedigree is truly international with the G2 Edward Manifold Stakes winner Bring Me Roses (High Chaparral) and the G2 Bobbie Lewis Stakes winner and sire Face Value (Red Ransom) tracing back to the prolific broodmare Ivory Maid (Sir Ivor) who also appears in the tail female line of this colt. Speaking about the colt Sherah explained, “There is a lot to like about this colt, he has plenty of substance and is an exceptionally good looking individual who will be sure to catch the eye of trainers. He’s a great mover and is a horse that has come to hand very quickly. He is thriving on the prep and the work that we have set him which is something I love to see.”

Glamour colt Anamoe has finally delivered Street Boss the kudos he deserves, and buyers have their choice of a colt and a filly by him from Sherah’s draft. The colt will sell as lot 240 and is out of the New Zealand bred mare Mamasan, three times a winner in her homeland. Amongst her earlier foals is the Melbourne listed winner and G2 placed Pure Pride (Shocking) and the listed placed Acquisto (Thewayyouare). Another foal is the three year-old Unencumbered filly Princess Biddy who showed tremendous ability finishing third in the listed Wanganui Guineas when making her debut. Mamasan is a Shinko King full sister to the G3 Taranaki Cup winner Madame Shinko from the family of dual Australian G1 winner Srikandi (Dubawi). Sherah has a big opinion of this fellow saying, “This colt should be highly sought after, and rightly so. His dam Mamasan is somewhat a blue hen mare now and I know Chrissy Bambry holds his half-sister Princess Biddy in very high regard. The mating has picked up on an already successful Street Cry cross that we saw in Pure Pride, and I have no doubt that this horse can add further black type to the already glittering pedigree. He is very much a Street Boss, extremely well balanced, short coupled and light on his feet.”

The other Street Boss is a chestnut filly with an August foaling date that sells as lot 139. She is out of the three-time winning Shamardal mare Inflection, a half-sister to the listed winner Choice Words (Choisir) who would later foal the speedy I Am Eloquent (I Am Invincible), a Melbourne listed winner and G2 placed in Adelaide. Of this filly Sherah said “She is incredibly strong for a filly and has traits which I have seen consistently in high performing race fillies. They have that workmanlike way about them with an underlying bit of grit.

I think this filly has that and I look forward to seeing in whose hands she will fall. Both of mine

by Street Boss have a remarkable resemblance.”

Flying Artie’s first crop certainly made their mark and Sherah offers a colt well-qualified to match the deeds of the likes of Artorius. Lot 614 is the first foal of the once raced Written Tycoon mare Tennessee Tycoon, a half-sister to Pergram (General Nediym) who won the listed Queen Adelaide Stakes at two. Their dam Tennessee Royal (Royal Academy) is out of the grand producer La Nebbia (Zephyr Bay) who foaled the tough G3 winner and G1 placed Nina Haraka (Fraar) who in turn dropped the listed winner and

G1 Thousand Guineas runner up Extension Of Time (Dash For Cash). Another daughter of La Nebbia was Nina Haraka’s full sister Monte Rosa, dam of the G1 Lightning Stakes winner Snitzerland (Snitzel) and her full brother the G3 winner and sire Sooboog. It is plain to see this colt comes from a family that oozes speed. “This horse has a lot of quality about him and he is extremely athletic.

He has a terrific hindquarter on him and is a horse that I feel will continue to thrive in the prep. He is very straight forward and has a great demeanour about him. He also possesses the Written Tycoon influence which will only add to his appeal,” Sherah explained.

Sherah will offer a lovely filly that should be at her best over a short course being by Champion sprinter Harry Angel out of Tiny Taj, a daughter of the Golden Slipper winner Sepoy. Tiny Taj only faced the starter five times, but recorded three wins from 1000 to 1200 metres. She is one of six winners out of Rinky Dink (Distorted Humor) who will be best remembered as having won the G1 Australasian Oaks, but it should be noted she also won the listed Ottawa Stakes, the juvenile fillies sprint on Melbourne Cup day, so she too clearly came to hand early. As a broodmare she spread her influence getting the G2 QTC Cup winner and sire Galah (Redoute’s Choice), a sprinter, and the G1 Queensland Oaks runner up Pygmy (New Approach). Clearly this filly has impressed Sherah, “This filly is a beauty, she’s very feminine with a beautiful head and has a lovely loose walk. She covers the ground with little effort, and I love to see horses move like her. I feel she is a really exciting addition to our draft by a very exciting first season sire.”

The last of the Sullivan Bloodstock draft to take the stage will be lot 823, and as a son of Champion Sire Written Tycoon, he’s bound to be popular.

He is the second and final foal of the Pierro mare Boscobella who was placed in Brisbane. Boscobella was out of Georgette Silk (Flying Spur) who was precocious enough to win the listed Widden Stakes at two. Again this is another jump and run family for further back can be found the G1 Allan Robertson Fillies Futurity Stakes winner Sydney’s Dream (Bletchingly), the G3 Gimcrack Stakes winner Marskin (Marscay), her daughter Donna Natalia (Anabaa) who won the same race and was placed third in the G2 Silver Slipper, and G1 The Galaxy winner Charge Forward (Red Ransom) who has had such an impact on the Golden Slipper as a broodmare sire. This is also the family of the top Hong Kong performer Southern Legend (Not A Single Doubt).

“This colt has a lot of presence and is a powerhouse of a horse. He has a strong shoulder and forearm along with a huge gaskin and hindquarter.

He also possesses a beautiful head with a soft, kind eye and has a terrific temperament and constitution. He’s a lovely horse who will present himself well up at the Gold Coast.”

So there you have the farm’s first six yearlings worthy of a trip over to the Chester barn to inspect, and all ready to make the Sullivan Bloodstock brand instantly recognisable.

2022 draft Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

85 241 823 139 614 630

Golden Phoenix (USA) Mamasan (NZ) Boscobella Inflection Tennessee Tycoon Tiny Taj

C/B. C/Ch. C/Br.or Blk F/Ch. C/B. F/B.

Smart Missile Street Boss (USA) Written Tycoon Street Boss (USA) Flying Artie Harry Angel (IRE)

Sherah Sullivan 0402 415 784 • sullivanbloodstock@gmail.com

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2022 vendor

by Glen Latham

TELEMON THOROUGHBREDS

OFFER WELL CONFORMED EARLY TYPES

T

elemon Stud’s owners Dan and Rae Fletcher have experienced the thrill of Magic Millions success from both sides of the fence. In partnership they bred and sold the filly that would win the 2018 Magic Millions 2YO Classic as Sunlight, with Rae joining the all-female ownership group. Just four years on and the Fletcher’s will head to the Gold Coast with a quality draft of 14 yearlings, the first occasion Telemon will have sold at the Magic Millions flagship sale.

Dan and Rae purchased Telemon Stud in 2016 and took over management in 2018. As Dan explains the beautifully appointed farm at Innisplain has gone through a few name changes in its history as a Thoroughbred enterprise. “It’s had a few names: Noble Park, Racetree, Sun Stud and now Telemon, but the one constant has been that top horses keep coming off our hills. Of the yearlings we are taking to Magic Millions we’re hopeful there’s another Buffering, Gold Edition or Zoustar in our draft.”

Dan and Rae will head to the Gold Coast with a simple plan for their draft. “Getting good people to take them home and let them fulfil their potential is the name of the game. We sell at Magic Millions

because it is a really good platform to offer wellconformed, early types and get them into good homes. We have taken them this far, but they can’t fulfil their potential unless we get them into the best racing programs and have them perform, and ultimately that’s what we want to be judged on.”

One filly that will have no problem finding a home is lot 329, Champion Sire Written Tycoon’s daughter out of O’Rachael. Dan described her as “a typical Written Tycoon, a nice moving filly, muscular, nice and square and looks like she’ll be early. Her mother was a G1 performed two year-old by Northern Meteor, so she’s got a precocious, profile and she presents that way physically. She’ll be a filly plenty of people will find and when they do they will love her.” A three time winner, O’Rachael was placed in the G1 Diamond stakes at two at Ellerslie.

Another that will be popular is lot 67, Russian Revolution’s daughter out of Fully Chargeable by the noted broodmare sire Charge Forward. Dan is pleased with her progress saying “She’s very forward and has an excellent topline. We’ve great confidence in the family and have invested in her half-sister Niccovi (Nicconi) who we have in foal to none other than I Am Invincible. Niccovi was

Dan and Rae Fletcher

2021 VENDOR

up to the very best speed fillies in her Spring Carnival year being beaten a half head by Sisstar (Zoustar) in a G3 sprint at Flemington.

Obviously we raced Sunlight and Sisstar, so we were very familiar with Niccovi and a filly from this family that is really being bred along makes her very appealing.” Fully Chargeable is already three for three runners to winners.

Astern is a stallion on the rise and Telemon have a lovely filly of his to offer out of the four-time Group winner Fiesta’s sister Reprimand. “Because of her physicality we thought she would be a perfect candidate for Magics. Reprimand is a big, imposing type with an impeccable action and she has passed those attributes through into this big, forward filly. We think Astern is a stallion that is doing a very good job with his best ahead of him such that we have supported him once again this season with some handy mares.” The filly, with an early foaling date, sells as lot 434.

There are some stunning colts among the draft as well, lot 339 by Golden Slipper Sire Sidestep out of the Spinning World mare Orbiting Belle, an excellent example. “Credit to the Magic Millions inspections team for finding him and putting him in Book One: they loved him. There isn’t much between him and the Sidestep - El Mansura (lot 1118) for the best Sidestep colt on the farm. Orbiting Belle was a stakes performer as a juvenile and has thrown a really good two year-old in Curvature (Snitzel). This colt is fluent and very well-made from a precocious family.

He’s a great advertisement for Sidestep who is going from strength to strength.”

A persuasive case can be made that All Too Hard is one of the most underrated and best value sires in the country and he has another nice type in lot 841, a colt out of Causeway Queen. “Again the Sunlight connection is there as he is out of a stakeswinning Giant’s Causeway half-sister to the dam of the Magic Millions winner and from a family that needs no introduction. Not only is All Too Hard prolific with winners and stakes winners but he has shown he can get those X-factor type horses like Behemoth and Alligator Blood. This colt is a big, scopey sort of horse that is nice and correct and very relaxed. He’s a plain headed customer but he won’t be condemned for that. Again he’s a strong, Magic Millions type.”

For Dan and Rae this sale brings with it a different kind of excitement as they watch the first yearlings by the international G1 sprinter and resident stallion Jungle Cat go through the ring. Telemon have two Jungle Cat’s in their draft, but they will be watching with interest how much success their clients who have supported the horse achieve. “There are four or five Jungle Cat’s from other farms that are

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Jordan Fletcher and Robyn Parker lead Sunlight after her Magic Millions 2yo Classic win

going to the Gold Coast that I’ve been and inspected and they are all really attractive, strong, really good physicals that are great candidates for Magic Millions. When you are using a horse like Jungle Cat you are asking him to impose himself genetically and when you look at the physical makeup of his progeny he has certainly done that. If there is going to be a stallion come from relative obscurity to take things by storm next season then I think he has a really good chance.”

Dan’s argument carries merit especially when looking at how his sire Iffraaj’s reputation has blossomed lately. “Since we got Jungle Cat, Iffraaj has really put a marker down. Wootton Bassett wasn’t particularly well known at the time, neither was Almanzor nor Hot Streak who has a G1 winner in Europe in his first crop, so Iffraaj has really franked himself as a sire of sires. Among the eighty-odd stakes winners by Iffraaj, the fastest of the lot is Jungle Cat. People who know the sire line will recognise his stock as having a very distinctive structure and a very distinctive head, so genetically Jungle Cat is really asserting himself and if they gallop like they look then he is a very exciting prospect.”

The first of the Jungle Cat’s off Telemon is lot 996, a colt out of the listed placed Startling Pleasure who has the G1 VRC Oaks winner Sandy’s Pleasure (What A Pleasure) as his third dam. “He’s a good type without being overly big, and we selected the mare specifically as a good pedigree match for Jungle since Iffraaj himself has a terrific record across Danehill line mares. His dam is four winners from her first four foals to race.” The other Jungle Cat is a Book 2 filly that sells as lot 1091, the first foal out of Star Witness’ daughter Casual Witness.

Also in Book 2 Dan and Rae have an excellent filly by another exciting first season sire in Harry Angel. “This filly is out of Tinjirarni, an Exceed And Excel mare and this filly has a lot of Exceed And Excel about her. A good moving filly by a world-class sprinter, she’s a Book 1 quality filly that we’ve deliberately placed in Book 2 as we think she will be a standout.” Tinjirarni won twice in Sydney, has had three foals race for as many winners and is a half-sister to the G1 winner at two in Apercu (Encosta De Lago).

The recent stakes win by Divine Prophet’s two year-old daughter See You In Heaven has highlighted the stallion’s ability to get a precocious type and Telemon will offer his daughter out of Adio from a family littered with juvenile blacktype as lot 1057. “Her mother is a really lovely Lonhro mare who was dominant in winning her only two starts. John Hawkes thought she was Group class but she broke down unfortunately. Adio has already thrown

a listed winner in Charliese (Foxwedge) who continues to accrue blacktype as recently as Melbourne Cup day. Now that Divine Prophet has sired a stakes winning juvenile this past Spring, hopefully this filly will be well found. She has plenty of size and quality.”

The Telemon draft also carries another colt by Sidestep and fillies by Better Than Ready, Pride of Dubai and Rich Enuff all worthy of an inspection no matter what the budget. With so many good horses having previously come off the farm, the odds are there is another waiting to be bought in January.

2022 draft Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

67 323 329 339 434 841 935 996 1020 1024 1057 1091 1118 1208

Fully Chargeable Not a Princess O’Rachael Orbiting Belle Reprimand Causeway Queen O’Raghailligh (NZ) Startling Pleasure Tinjirarni Transonic Adio Casual Witness El Mansura Miss Kindilan

F/B. F/B. F/Ch. C/Br. F/B. C/Ch. F/B. C/Br.or Blk. F/B. F/Ch. F/Br. F/Br. C/B. C/Br.

Russian Revolution Better Than Ready Written Tycoon Sidestep Astern All Too Hard Pride of Dubai Jungle Cat (IRE) Harry Angel (IRE) Rich Enuff Divine Prophet Jungle Cat (IRE) Sidestep Sidestep

100 Oaky Creed Road, Innisplain Qld 4285 07 5544 1003 0455 559 412

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2022 vendor

by Renée Geelen

TOOLOOGANVALE BRINGING A SELECT DRAFT NORTH Tambo’s Mate, G3 winner of nine races and over $640k, his Epaulette halfsister is lot 942 in the Toolooganvale draft.

I

t’s been a while since Toolooganvale took yearlings north of the border to Queensland, but the trip in 2022 will be worth it. With horses like G1 winner Invincibella and stakes winners Prairie Fire, Secret Blaze and Savanna Amour coming from their paddocks, buyers would be remiss to overlook the select draft of four yearlings that Toolooganvale will present in 2022.

Bluebloods spoke to Toolooganvale’s Geoff Harris about the four yearlings they will offer to buyers, and why each of them has an appealing story.

What puts the magic into the Magic Millions race and sales series for you?

Magic Millions have created a carnival atmosphere that makes the most of the holiday summer vibe of the Gold Coast.

It’s the first sale of the year and continually gets good results for vendors, particularly as they attract lots of overseas people.

Hopefully the international buyers will be able to be in attendance this year.

Of the four yearlings in the Toolooganvale draft, the Epaulette filly stands out. “She’s a good sized filly, nice and athletic, with plenty of bone, and is a sensible type who should go early. It’s a good running family with plenty of city winners.” One

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Highly Geared brilliant stakes placed Sydney metro winner of 10 races, and $351k, her second foal, a filly

by Menari is lot 111 in the Toolooganvale draft.

of those winners is Tambo’s Mate; the type of racehorse you’d dream of owning. He’s consistent with ten wins from 26 starts and has earned over $600,000, including victory in the 2020 Gr.3 BRC Sprint Handicap, and this spring, he’s already picked up four cheques with two wins in succession at the time of printing including the 2021 Listed Keith Noud Handicap over 1200m. His half-sister, lot 942, is by proven sire Epaulette whose sixteen stakes winners include G1 winners Red Lark and Soqrat. This yearling filly’s dam, Passagemaker (Canny Lad) has left three winners at stud who have won 22 races between them, and Passagemaker was herself a winner over 1200m and 1250m. This is a tough family, with Passagemaker’s dam Georgia Belle being a Listed winner, and Passagemaker’s half-brother being a city winner of nine races.

G2 Run to the Roses winner Menari got the best start to his stallion career when his first crop filly Menari Magic won the first two year-old race of the season in Queensland recently. With only 19 live foals in his current crop of two year-olds, and twenty-three in this crop of yearlings, lot 111 is a rare offering. Toolooganvale’s yearling filly is the second foal of quality racemare Highly Geared (Ad Valorem). Highly Geared won ten races including several in Sydney up to 1100m, and was placed in the Listed Chief de Beers Handicap. This is the family of G1 winner Imposera, Teranaba and Imprimatur. “She’s a well balanced nice filly with an athletic action.”

Already known as ‘the special K colt’, lot 695 is one of only four colts by fan favourite Kementari.

G1 Randwick Guineas winner Kementari had only seven live foals from his only crop, before being gelded and put back into work where he has added to his already impressive race record with a win in the 2021 G2 Gilgai Stakes. This colt is the third foal of With Care (Bernardini) who won three races up to 1300m, and is a half-sister to Your Excellency, a city winner of thirteen races, from the family of G1 winner Bawalaksana, Gr.3 two year-old winner Shaaheq, and Group winner Payroll and Arbeitsam.

“There’s not much to say about him except that he is a dead-ringer for Kementari. He looks just like him, which is exactly the outcome we hoped for.

He’s a nice, strong type.”

Rated the World Champion Sprinter after winning the G1 July Cup and G1 Haydock Sprint Cup (the same race won by Danehill) as a three year-old, Harry Angel’s first crop are yearlings in 2022. His colt, lot 1012, is out of winning mare Tea Roses (Exceed and Excel), herself a half-sister to stakes winners Chinchilla Rose, Ferocity, Chiaramonte, and Leone Chiara (dam of Champion 3YO Colt Star Witness as well as Nostradamus, and Embracer). Tea Roses has a three year-old and four year-old currently in work, who look like they will break their maidens in the next few months. “This is a great family with a staggeringly strong colonial pedigree. Magic Millions Gold Coast is a good sale for him as it suits the type of horse that he is.”

“We are really looking forward to following the careers of the yearlings we will sell in January 2022 and hope that they will add to the list of winners that have come off the farm so far.”

What is the most impressive (non-horse) thing you know how to do?

I love building and renovating houses. We are currently doing up our place which was originally built in the 1870s. It has all the old beautiful features like wooden floors, but unfortunately all the original fireplaces were removed at some point, so I’ll need to reinstate them.

2022 draft Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

111 695 942 1012

Highly Geared With Care Passagemaker Tea Roses

F/B. C/B.or Br. F/B. C/B.

Menari Kementari Epaulette Harry Angel (IRE)

TOOLOOGANVALE FARM Geoff Harris 0409 453 312 Zac Harris 0427 368 473 toolooganvale@bigpond.com

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Tyreel Stud continues to enjoy success both on the track and in the sales ring and another Magic Millions full of highlights beckons

2022 vendor

TYREEL STUD T

yreel Stud continues to enjoy success both on the track and in the sales ring and another Magic Millions full of highlights beckons.

Already showing talent at the trials are last year’s graduates Lalaguna, Narnia and Bridget Wenlock with those and others who went through the ring in 2021 ending up in the capable hands of Ciaron Maher & David Eustace, Greg Hickman, Richard & Michael Freedman, Chris Waller, Annabel Neasham and John Sargent.

Tyreel manager Robert Sims takes us through another exciting Tyreel draft...

Lot 120 bay filly by Fastnet Rock from Hot Augusta (by Zabeel): bred on the highly successful Fastnet Rock/Storm Cat cross that provides for a cross of the terrific mare Crimson Saint, she is a half-sister to the recent winner Gaius out of a sister to the

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by Kristen Manning

Light Fingers Stakes-G2, 1200m winner Adrift and half-sister to the Karaka Million-RL, 1200m winner Xiong Feng and to the dam of this year’s triple Group winner Entriviere. Her city placed five times winning dam is also a 3/4 sister to the W.S Cox Plate-G1, 2040m winner Maldivian.

“A strong, athletic filly with great scope to develop.

Brings together two greats of the stud book in Zabeel and Fastnet Rock and is from a most progressive family.”

Lot 128 bay colt by Spirit Of Boom from Iamhere (by I Am Invincible): his dam is a four times winning granddaughter of the high class race and broodmare Triscay, five times Group 1 winning dam of seven winners including The Galaxy-G1, 1100m winner La Baraka who is in turn dam of the Magic Night Stakes-G2, 1200m winner Alizes who has two Group 1 winning grandchildren; Alizee and Astern.

“One of the strongest representatives of Queensland’s sire sensation. With great looks he has the ability to stir the imagination, especially considering what a great family he is from.”

Lot 149 chestnut colt by Capitalist from Isabella (by Poet’s Voice): he is the second foal for a half-sister to the Listed winners Golden Pistols and Keep The Faith from the family of the GB Champion 3Y0 Filly Lailani (the winner of three Group 1 races in three different countries) and the Group winners Faithful Son, Always Fair, Ley Hunter, Yalta and Naheef.

“A striking son of the Champion First Season Sire prepping very nicely. He has great balance with a terrific workman like attitude.”

Lot 232 bay/brown filly by Deep Field from

Lot 677 chestnut colt by Written By from Wanted Diva (by Wanted): his dam is a city winning 3/4 sister to the stakes winner Rockolicious from the wonderful Jesmond Lass family that has produced the Group 1 gallopers Canny Lass (this fellow’s third dam), Canny Lad, Camarena, Camarilla, Guelph, Sepoy and Bivouac.

“Sure to be one of Written By’s strongest and most precocious sons at the Magic Millions. A four star colt.”

Lot 691 bay/brown colt by Brazen Beau from Wildenstein (by Redoute’s Choice): a half-brother to this season’s winner Wild Tycoon, he is out of a city winning daughter of the Listed winner Allez France who produced another six winners including the stakes winning two-year-old Superfly. The wonderful filly Burst hails from this family.

“A real quality offering with great strength and movement, he is a colt who has kept on improving at every stage.”

Lot 828 bay colt by Pride Of Dubai from Bulle de Champagne (by Hurricane Run): bred on an interesting 4mx4m cross of the Group 3 winning high class broodmare Coup de Folie via her sons Machiavellian and Exit To Nowhere (also carrying strains of their relations Halo, Northern Dancer and Danehill), he is a half-brother to two winners out of an imported daughter of the French Group 3 winner Serisia whose son Contributer earned the title of Australian Champion Miler with his two Group 1 victories.

“A colt who requires a second inspection for serious buyers; his sire is showing great potential and this fellow has a truly International pedigree.”

Lot 851 brown colt by Deep Field from Charleah (by Myboycharlie): like Verry Elleegant, he boasts a cross of Eight Carat’s daughter Cotehele House, fourth dam of Deep Field and dam of this colt’s second dam sire Commands. He is a 3/4 brother to the dual Group winner Cosmic Force out of a half-sister to the Group 3 filly Onemorezeta.

“A powerful moving colt, bred by the same breeders (Ascot Park) and with the same fast look as his close relative Cosmic Force.”

Lot 856 chestnut filly by Deep Field from Chocolicious (by Kahal): a half-sister to the Group 3 placed multiple winner Notation, she is out of a South African Group 1 winner whose dam Candy Box was successful at Group 3 level.

Mabkhara (by Anabaa): what a terrific job her dam is doing, her five to race all being winners with three of those; Wandabaa, Malkovich and Seewhatshebrings all earning black-type. This is the prolific Group 1 Easy Date (her fifth dam) family of Snippets, Rewaaya, Sense of Occasion and Ertijaal as well as of the high class stallion Not A Single Doubt.

“A sharp, precocious filly from a current speed family, who is really developing into a Magic Millions type.”

Lot 537 bay filly by Not A Single Doubt from Smiles For Layla (by Zabeel): a halfsister to the recent city placed winner Laffalong, she is out of a dual city winner from the same family as lot 120 with their dams being full sisters by the prolific broodmare sire influence Zabeel.

“A striking, elegant filly from a great racing family offering a rare opportunity for investors to acquire one of the last Not A Single Doubt fillies to be offered at public auction.”

Lot 613 brown filly by Street Boss from Tennessee Gold (by Lonhro): second foal for a winning half-sister to the stakes winner Pergram from a popular family which continues to deliver the goods with stakes winners such as Nina Haraka, Extension Of Time, Prairie Fire, Snitzerland, Hard Landing, Sooboog, Tennessee Jack, Tennessee Vain, Tennessee Morn, Malaguerra, Tennessee Midnight, Aloha, Libertini, Seabrook, My Emotion, Cool Aza Beel, Tennessee Mist, Tennessee Magic, Trezevant, Mirror Mirror and No Looking Back.

“A quality filly with athletic movement and a very focused mind.”

“A sensational filly with great muscle tone and frame.”

Lot 895 bay filly by Better Than Ready from Crystal Wand (by Stratum): the second live foal for a winning 3/4 sister to the Golden Slipper Stakes-Gr.1, 1200m winner Crystal Lily from a strong stakes performing family whose members include the stakes winners Amaethon, Crystal Web, Crystal Wit, Crystal Dreamer, Persuader, The Actuary and Carrara.

“It could be said that we are saving the best for last with this outstanding filly.

She has great size, strength and physique. She will arguably be one of the best representatives of her ever-improving sire.”

2022 draft

Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

120 128 149 232 537 613 677 691 828 851 856 895

Hot Augusta (NZ) Iamhere Isabella Mabkhara Smiles for Layla (NZ) Tennessee Gold Wanted Diva Wildenstein Bulle de Champagne (IRE) Charleah Chocolicious (SAF) Crystal Wand

F/B. C/B. C/Ch. F/B.or Br. F/B. F/Br. C/Ch. C/B.or Br. C/B. C/Br. F/Ch. F/B.

Fastnet Rock Spirit of Boom Capitalist Deep Field Not a Single Doubt Street Boss (USA) Written By Brazen Beau Pride of Dubai Deep Field Deep Field Better Than Ready

TYREEL STUD www.tyreel.com Linda Monds m: 0427 948 244 e: linda@tyreel.com

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2022 vendor

VINERY STUD

by Renée Geelen

FARNAN, ARTORIUS, EXHILARATES, MORE TO COME IN THE 2022 VINERY MM DRAFT

V

inery Stud has an outstanding record with their Magic Millions drafts with G1 Golden Slipper winner Farnan and G1 Blue Diamond winner Artorius as well as Magic Millions winner Exhilarates, and Group winners Hard Landing, Letzbeglam, and Kooweerup, all offered since 2018.

Bluebloods asked Vinery’s Adam White what puts the magic into this race and sales series?

The whole carnival atmosphere really. It’s always great to see people enjoying the Gold Coast and a lot get to share it with their families. During the sales it’s always nice to see people having success in the sale ring. And then on Saturday there are so many success stories for breeders, owners, trainers, etc. during what is a fabulous day’s racing and with sensational prizemoney on offer.

With twenty-nine yearlings in their 2022 draft by a spread of fifteen sires, there is plenty of early speed on offer, highlighted by two colts by one of Australia’s hottest sires: I Am Invincible. Lot 39 is a half-brother to five-time G1 winning sprinter Santa Ana Lane, out of winning mare Fast Fleet (Fastnet Rock), while Lot 911 is out of G1 winner Diademe (Savabeel), who has already left two-year-old Stakes winner Unition and G2 placed Conqueror in her first two foals to race.

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The progeny of Snitzel always attract plenty of attention and Vinery will offer Lot 805, a half-sister to G1 Australian Oaks winner and New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year, Sofia Rosa who is out of well related Bislieri (Encosta de Lago); and Lot 158, a half-brother to G3 winner Felines, and Stakes placed Domesticated, out of Jellicles (Tale of the Cat), a city winning half-sister to Singapore Champion Better Than Ever.

Vinery’s All Too Hard has had a massive last couple of seasons siring the likes of G1 winners Behemoth, Alligator Blood, Forbidden Love and Hong Kong sprinting star Wellington. Vinery will present three colts and a filly by All Too Hard.

The colt, Lot 387, is a half-brother to Stakes placed winner Maurice’s Medad out of Presslist (Librettist), a half-sister to Vinery sire and G1 winner Press Statement, and to G1 winner Pressday. A half-brother to Stakes placed city winner La Scopa, Lot 738, is out of Stakes placed winner Amalfi Dream (Testa Rossa), who is a half-sister to G2 winner Drumbeats; while the other colt, Lot 866, is the third foal of city winner Cocoexcel (Exceed and Excel) from the Headturner family. The All Too Hard filly in this draft is Lot 394, out of Proposal (More Than Ready), a winning daughter of G1 winner Sacred Choice.

Artorius (AUS) Winning the 2021 Gr.1 Blue Diamond

More Than Ready has been a stalwart for Vinery with 212 Stakes winners. Vinery will offer four of his yearlings at Magic Millions; led by the exciting prospect, Lot 470, a brother to G1 placed, Listed winner Better Than Ready, and to Stakes placed winner Sally’s Day; both out of city winning mare Sally’s World (Agnes World), who is a half-sister to Group winner Publishing and Listed winner Miss Mooney Mooney. We all know how well American mares succeed down here, and Lot 604 is a half-brother to G3 winner Blueeyesintherein, out of two-year-old winning USA mare Tartufi (Mr. Greeley). Lot 449 is a colt out of Hussy By Choice’s tough city winning full sister Rosenet (Hussonet) from the family of Castelvecchio, Maid of Heaven and Planet Ruler; while Lot 152 is a colt from Ivory Rose (Green Desert), an imported mare from the family of Lope de Vega.

With his oldest crop only three-year-olds, Star Turn continues to demonstrate what an exciting young stallion he is with the likes of Miss Hipstar and Startantes. Vinery will present two colts by their young sire at Magic Millions, including Lot 754, a half-brother to Stakes placed three-yearold Roots, from Arctic Success (Big Brown), who is a half-sister to G1 Golden Slipper winner Polar Success. Lot 680 is a Star Turn colt out of Warm Charge (Commands), who is a young unraced daughter of Stakes winner Warm Smytzer.

A half-sister to G1 winner Nettoyer, by first season sire The Autumn Sun, is Lot 863, and her dam, Cleanup (Dehere) won twice as a two-year-old and is a half-sister to G3 winner She’s Clean. A three-quarter sister to Listed winning sprinter Outback Barbie (Spirit of Boom) is Lot 254, a filly by Spirit of Boom from winning mare Meow (More Than Ready) who is herself a half-sister to Listed winner Pure Purrfection, the dam of Outback Barbie.

Three fillies and a colt by Zoustar are bound to grab the attention of good judges, with all of them having quality pedigrees, led by Lot 530, a halfsister to Listed winner Miss Hipstar (Star Turn) and Group placed winner Still Single, out of Listed winner Single Style (Not A Single Doubt). The filly, Lot 88, who is the second foal of Graciousness (Street Cry), a winning half-sister to Vinery stallion Casino Prince, from one of Australia’s greatest Stakes producing female families. A half-sister

to dual G3 winner Native Soldier is Lot 796, and she is out of G2 Sapphire Stakes winner Belong To Many (Belong to Me) who won eight races. The Zoustar colt, Lot 177, is the first foal of G3 Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes winner Khulaasa (Epaulette), herself a half-sister to Listed two-year-old winner Bulbula (dam of Aryaaf who won the G3 Ottawa Stakes).

A Dundeel daughter of G1 Toorak Handicap winner Allez Wonder (Redoute’s Choice), Lot 911, is a half-sister to G3 winner Kooweerup and Group placed Prompt Prodigy and heads up a trio of Dundeel fillies in the Vinery draft. A close relative of G1 two-year-old Yourdeel is Lot 4, who is also a half-sister to G3 SAJC Breeders’ Stakes winner Broadband, dam of this season’s Group placed twoyear-old Drisana, from the family of Anamoe. The other Dundeel filly is Lot 478 from Satya (Redoute’s Choice), a young winning daughter of G1 winner Star Satire.

Do you wear budgie smugglers or board shorts to the beach?

Board shorts What’s the best website name you’ve seen?

An Indian restaurant on the Gold Coast actually. www.getitindia.com.au What is the most important object you own?

A little ashamed to say my phone. It’s difficult to function when it’s not there, although sometimes enjoyable.

Also represented in the Vinery Stud Magic Millions 2022 draft are Deep Field (Lot 190), Exceed and Excel (Lot 398), Russian Revolution (Lots 286, 609), Street Boss (Lot 230), Trapeze Artist (Lot 673), and Vancouver (Lot 379).

2022 draft Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

4 39 88 152 158 177 190 254 286 379 387 394 398 449 470 478 530 604 609 673 680 734 738 754 796 805 863 866 911

Electric Dreams Fast Fleet Graciousness Ivory Rose (GB) Jellicles Khulaasa La Sevena Meow Moretti Pocket Power (USA) Presslist Proposal Pure Beauty Rosenet Sally’s World Satya Single Style (NZ) Tartufi (USA) Tempting Delight Viviette (IRE) Warm Charge Allez Wonder Amalfi Dreams Arctic Success Belong to Many Bislieri Cleanup Cocoexcel Diademe (NZ)

F/B. C/B. F/Ch. C/B. C/B. C/Br. C/B.or Br. F/B. C/B.or Br. C/B. C/B. F/B. F/Ch. C/Ch. C/B. F/B. F/Ch. C/Ch. C/Br. C/B. C/B. F/B. C/B. C/Ch. F/B. F/B. F/Ch. C/B. C/B.

Dundeel (NZ) I Am Invincible Zoustar More Than Ready (USA) Snitzel Zoustar Deep Field Spirit of Boom Russian Revolution Vancouver All Too Hard All Too Hard Exceed and Excel More Than Ready (USA) More Than Ready (USA) Dundeel (NZ) Zoustar More Than Ready (USA) Russian Revolution Trapeze Artist Star Turn Dundeel (NZ) All Too Hard Star Turn Zoustar Snitzel The Autumn Sun All Too Hard I Am Invincible

Peter Orton: 0418 276 454 Adam White: 0414 800 918 Harry Roach: 0401 970 006 www.vinery.com.au adam@vinery.com.au

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2022 vendor

WIDDEN

by Andrew Reichard

WIDDEN’S BANNER YEAR

A

s the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling sale draws near, heralding the start of an exciting new year, few farms commence the upcoming sales season on the back of as successful a 2021 as the Thompson family’s historic Widden Stud.

The addition of the Victorian branch to complement Widden’s long-established Hunter home farm in “the valley of champions” was a milestone in what has been a remarkable year, expanding their stallion roster to a 21 strong offering, providing breeders a wide range of commercial sires to suit any budget.

On the racetrack, Widden looked on with pride as Nature Strip, by the farm’s stalwart Nicconi, harnessed his extraordinary raw talent to become the nation’s top sprinter, his consistency and authoritative win in The Everest stamping the seal on his greatness. Widden’s flagship stallion Zoustar was a runaway winner of the Australian Champion 4th season sire title, and has distinguished himself as a leading commercial sire whose trajectory looks set for dual-hemisphere success.

The Victorian Spring carnival saw Widden-bred Magic Millions graduates Daisies, Biscayne Bay and Our Playboy excel in elite company. Daisies confirmed herself as one of the best of her generation, winning the G3 Ethereal S, followed by a second in the G2 Wakeful S to Willowy, and a close 5th to her in the G1 VRC Oaks. Biscayne Bay matched those achievements, following on her win in the G3 SAJC Sires as a 2YO with thirds in both the G3 Ethereal S and the G1 VRC Oaks.

Antony Thompson is optimistic about the upcoming year, “Just when we thought things couldn’t possibly get any better, Brereton (by Zoustar), who we sold for $1m at MM in 2021, came out with guns blazing, placing second in the Listed Debutant Stakes and winning the time-honoured Gr3 Maribyrnong Plate at his second start. He’s shown himself to be a serious stallion prospect for his Anthony Mithen led group of owners, and there are bound to be more

Written By, G1 Blue Diamond winner will have seven of his exciting first crop in the Widden draft at the MM 2022 sale.

colts with similar qualities going under the hammer on the Gold Coast in 2022.”

Turning to Widden’s draft of 42 yearlings for the Magic Millions January sale, it’s clear Antony is not exaggerating: there are several serious stallion prospects among them, as well as a number of beautifully bred fillies, with both racing and breeding potential. Before noting the individual highlights, an overview of the draft is most illuminating.

The 2022 renewal sees the long-awaited debuts of yearlings by Widden’s young guns, the quadruple G1 winning Australian Champion 3YO Trapeze Artist and the Champion 2YO colt, Blue Diamond winner Written By. Not only were the pair great racehorses, but significantly they are both by Australian Champion sires, the former by four-time champion Snitzel, the latter by incumbent title holder, Written Tycoon.

“We’re really excited to be consigning first crop yearlings by two such well-credentialled young sires, among the best in our long history. We have 10 in the catalogue by Trapeze Artist and 6 by Written By, from some great families, and we can’t wait to parade them for potential buyers.”

“We’ll also be offering 10 yearlings by Widden headliner Zoustar, who has attracted some of our clients’ best mares, as well as our own. With a 42 strong entry, we have no doubt that there’ll be something to suit all pockets. Last year, we sold 35 of the 36 yearlings we offered, with price tags ranging from $45k through to a sales-topping $1.9million. We set realistic reserves and are prepared to meet the market where possible.”

The strength of the Widden draft is such that even an edited highlight reel wouldn’t fit on these pages, though the abbreviated version should whet even the most discerning buyers’ appetites.

Among likely stallion prospects are two sons of Trapeze Artist and another by the sought after I Am Invincible.

Lot 514 - Trapeze Artist out of She’s Not by Falvelon.

From the family of recent Victoria Derby winner

Trapeze Artist shows off his style and power at Widden.

His first crop yearlings at MM 2022 will be among the highlights of the sale, with 10 represented in the Widden draft.

Hitotsu and underrated sire Love Conquers All, a close relative to Lean Mean Machine, who is embarking on his own stud career.

Lot 853 - Trapeze Artist out of Cheeky Babe

by Bel Esprit. From a real “stallion family” featuring All Too Hard, Magnus and young gun Ole Kirk. Worth noting is that this colt’s dam has strong pedigree similarities to 25 start unbeaten Champion Black Caviar.

Lot 393 - I Am Invincible out of Prompt Response by Beneteau. A colt sure to be the cynosure of all eyes, a first foal from this Gr1 winner of over $1.6 million.

If you are looking for a Classic filly and potential foundation mare, there are several candidates to be found in the Widden draft.

Lot 406 - Zoustar out of Quayside by Street Cry. A notable female line, her first three dams are all Oaks performers

2021 VENDOR

Lot 605 - Star Witness out of Taylor’s Command by Commands. A full sister to Group-winning Swift Witness.

Lot 61 - Trapeze Artist out of Fratianne

by Lonhro. This impeccably bred filly is a half-sister to Group winners, Tenley and Biscayne Bay. This is the solid gold family of Skating, Juste Momente, Vancouver, Murtajill, Sunset Run and MM 2YO winner Bradbury’s Luck.

Lot 574 - Zoustar out of Summer Sham

by Not A Single Doubt. This filly is the second foal of Summer Sham whose third dam Shantha’s Choice is responsible for a stellar lineup of Gr1 performers including Redoute’s

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2022 draft

Choice, Platinum Scissors, Manhattan Rain, Echoes Of Heaven and Shoals.

Broodmare of the 20th century La Troienne continues to deliver the goods through her female line descendants, with the Best In Show branch arguably the “Best in Australia” via Shantha’s Choice, whose son Redoute’s Choice and grandson’s descendant Written Tycoon have both been champion Australian sires. There isn’t a finer family in any Stud Book, a blue hen in waiting if ever there was one.

The Magic Millions’ Raceday is a world-first concept that has established itself as an occasion of high stakes racing, fashion and glamour. The Widden team are no strangers to the excitement this prestigious event generates, boasting 13 wins by Widden graduates over the past decade. Antony and Katie Thompson have retained shares in a number of Magic Millions’ laureates, most notably triple G1 winner and all time auction record-breaker Sunlight, victrix of the 2018 renewal of the $2 million 2YO Classic and Madam Rouge who was first past the post in 2020’s $1 million MM Snippets, as well as Stratum Star, whose performance secured his place in the famed Widden Stud stallion barn.

“The crown jewel of Queensland’s Summer Racing carnival and proven source of champions, this uniquely lucrative race series provides graduates the opportunity to return annually as they progress through their racing careers, and we’re confident this year’s Widden draft will replicate the success the market has come to expect from what is undoubtedly Magic Millions’ showcase sale,” said Antony Thompson, who was happy to answer a few questions for Bluebloods: What are the best and worst purchases you have ever made?

A KTM 450 dirt bike qualifies for both categories.

What is the most important object you own?

My wedding ring. Objects aren’t as important as family and friendships, but having said that, if I lose my wedding ring, I’m in trouble!

What’s on your bucket list?

To walk the Kokoda track with my daughter Amy. We were booked in last year but due to COVID we were disappointed not to be able to tick off the experience.

Widden’s draft can be viewed at stable blocks D and E.0

Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

16 42 48 60 61 71 104 175 224 307 312 314 360 382 393 405 406 476 492 514 521 542 549 559 572 574 579 605 621 637 666 717 748 778 787 807 829 831 853 877 879 929

Espurante Faustine Firemaid (USA) Fox Swift Fratianne Genesta Hear the Chant Kennocha Lucy Mae Nangami Natchwhali (NZ) Nelum (GB) Patricia Dawn Positive Problems Prompt Response Quality Coup Quayside Satellites Secret Trail She’s Not Shy Talk Somnium Special Bid (NZ) Star Flight Summer Girlfriend (USA) Summer Sham Sunday Rose Taylor’s Command The Messina Nymph Totally Sure Vezalay Absolute Heaven Another Coup (NZ) Bar Queen Jojo Beethog Bisutti Buthayna Candela Cheeky Babe Cool Passion Coromandel Dream ‘n’ Believe

C/B. F/Br. C/Br. C/B. F/Gr. or B C/B.or Br. F/B. F/Br. F/Ch. F/Ch. C/Gr. F/Ch. C/B. F/Ch. C/B. C/B.or Br. F/B. F/Br. F/Ch. C/B. C/Br. C/Ch. C/B.or Br. C/Ch. C/Ch. C/B. C/Ch. F/B. C/Ch. F/Ch. F/B.or Br. F/Ch. C/Ch. F/Ch. F/B. C/Ch. C/Ch. C/B. C/Ch. F/Br. C/B.or Br. C/B.or Br.

Trapeze Artist Zoustar Sioux Nation (USA) Zoustar Trapeze Artist Maurice (JPN) Zoustar The Autumn Sun Zoustar Written By Trapeze Artist Written Tycoon Zoustar Written By I Am Invincible Trapeze Artist Zoustar Deep Field Snitzel Trapeze Artist Deep Field Nicconi Almanzor (FR) Deep Field Zoustar Zoustar Written By Star Witness Written By Written By Zoustar Written By Trapeze Artist Russian Revolution Nicconi Trapeze Artist Written By So You Think (NZ) Trapeze Artist Lonhro Trapeze Artist Trapeze Artist

www.widden.com • info@widden.com 02 6549 9999 Widden Valley, NSW Antony Thompson: 0427 470 507 Derek Field: 0408 492 495 Matt Comerford: 0424 742 672

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Better Than Ready-Freezethemillions colt-one week out of the paddock

2022 vendor

by Kristen Manning

YARRAMALONG PARK

Joanie Foster – winners are grinners

B

etter Than Ready just keeps going from strength to strength and on the back of another stellar season he continues to prove popular with breeders, owners and trainers. All of whom will be keen to inspect his Magic Millions yearlings, including ten members of the Yarramalong draft.

“Our 16 strong draft is full of athletic two year-old types including a full brother to the Champion Queensland Two Year-Old Alpine Edge. He is sure to impress and is a mustsee lot,” said Richard Foster.

“The Harry Angel colt from one of Shadwell’s best families is also a stand-out and we have six first foal yearlings from active families and six from already proven mares.

They are bred on the Yarramalong hills and display strong bone and great constitution.”

“Calm temperaments and confidence are a feature of our draft; horses who are bred and raised to race early and win.”

Lot 62 brown colt from Freezethemillions (by Freeze): brother to Alpine Edge, the Group 3 winner who was a fast finishing second in the 2021 Magic Millions Classic.

His stakes placed dam is a descendant of the influential matriarch Summoned, a family which continues to excel at the highest levels.

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placed Cloak. Grandam Screen is a Lonhro Group 3 winner from the family of Group 1 winners Dracula, Miss Sentimental and Complacent.

Lot 1170 brown filly from La Tikka Rosa (by Freeze): sister to the Hong Kong winner Larson, city class Field of Roses, the lightly raced placed Tikka Ready and promising Typical You. Out of a multiple city winning mare who is a half-sister to the multiple city winner Pink Perfection from the family of Group 1 winners Valley Girl and Round The World.

Lot 1201 black filly from Merirosvo (by Lonhro): second foal for an imported winner who was fourth in the Santa Anita Oaks, Group 2. Third dam is the US Champion 3Y0 Filly Smuggler whose dam is the six times Group 1 winner and Hall of Fame inductee Inside Information, a high class US family.

Lot 150 brown colt by Harry Angel from the Shadwell mare Istiraaha (by Redoute’s Choice): first live foal for a half-sister to the Group 1 miler Rewaaya from the wonderful Easy Date family of Snippets, Ertijaal, Sense Of Occasion and Not A Single Doubt.

Lot 979 chestnut filly by Territories from Serial (by Sepoy): first foal for a daughter of the Group 1 mare Regal Cheer (in turn daughter of the Group 2 winner Regal Chamber). Serial is a half-sister to the dual stakes winner Knoydart.

Alpine Edge winning McLachlan S_G3 on 26/12/2020 Lot 324 bay/brown colt from Not A Single Woman (by Not A Single Doubt): son of a winning sister to the stakes placed Free Of Doubt and half-sister to the two times Group 3 placed Wazzenme from the family of Flemington spring carnival stakes winners Inspire and Our Joan Of Arc. Lot 486 brown filly from Seagull (by Exceed And Excel): a sister to talented recent 2YO winner Mouette, she is a daughter of a half-sister to the dual stakes winner Soothing from the prolific Song Of Norway family that has produced the big race winners Black Caviar, All Too Hard, Magnus and Ole Kirk.

Lot 573 brown filly from Summer Glen (by Snitzel): out of a city performed race mare whose dam is a half-sister to the Group winners Grey Song and Tonz More Fun, the stakes placed Fairessa and the dam of the Group 3 mare Dirty Thoughts.

Popular Queensland mare Slanchyvah also hails from this family.

Lot 869 brown colt from Commanding Epic (by Commands): his dam’s first three foals are all

by Better Than Ready and all have ability including the triple city winner Girls Are Ready. Hails from the family of the flying Angst.

Lot 949 bay colt from Pilgrim (by Danehill): his dam’s 11 winners include Better Than Ready’s stakes placed Paredo, the city winner Ready To Roam and the lightly raced three year-old winner Gypsy Ilse. Also a half-brother to the stakes placed Snipzu (dam of the Group 1 placed The Drinks Cart) and the multiple city winner Pizonie.

Lot 1027 bay colt from Trickett (by General Nediym): half-brother to two winners out of a city winning sister to the Group 2 filly Ichihara and the Listed winners Au Chocolat and Isurava (dam of the Group 2 stallion Menari) from the family of Whisked and Tie The Knot.

Lot 1150 black filly from Hepburn (by Exceed And Excel): sister to the highly touted two year-old Ready Golightly. Dam is a sister to the Listed winner Inquiry and half-sister to the Group 3

Lot 1056 brown colt by Tosen Stardom from Across The Ditch (by Savabeel): first foal for a daughter of the Group 3 placed Sheila’s Star, half-sister to the stakes winner Jacqueline Rouge out of the Group 3 mare Northeast Sheila.

Lot 1063 bay colt by Grunt from Andaluz (by Husson): dam is a daughter of the Group 2 mare Olonana who is a half-sister to the Breeders Plate winner Super Savings. Hails from the same strong family as lot 949.

Lot 1130 brown colt by Rubick from Finishing Touch (by Invincible Spirit): bred on the same cross as Yes Yes Yes being a first foal for an imported UK winner whose grandam is the stakes winner Hi Dubai, sister to the champion Fantastic Light.

Lot 1139 chestnut colt by Russian Revolution from Goldie River (by I Am Invincible): dam is a half-sister to the Listed winner Ragged Rascal out of the Listed winner M’Lady Pedrille. Family of the Group 1 winner Diamond Drille and the high class stallion I Am Invincible (his dam sire).

Richard had one last comment If you could pass on one golden rule to any apprentice it would be?

It takes a lifetime to build your reputation and 60 seconds to lose it, so always be true to the best human values in everything you do.

2022 draft Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

62 150 324 486 573 868 949 978 1027 1056 1063 1130 1139 1150 1170 1201

Freezethemillions Istiraaha Not a Single Woman Seagull Summer Glen Commanding Epic Pilgrim Serial Trickett Across the Ditch (NZ) Andaluz Finishing Touch (GB) Goldie River Hepburn La Tikka Rosa Merirosvo (USA)

C/Br. C/Br. C/B.or Br. F/Br. F/Br. C/Br. C/B. F/Ch. C/B. C/Br. C/B. C/Br. C/Ch. F/Blk. F/Br. F/Blk.

Better Than Ready Harry Angel (IRE) Better Than Ready Better Than Ready Better Than Ready Better Than Ready Better Than Ready Territories (IRE) Better Than Ready Tosen Stardom (JPN) Grunt (NZ) Rubick Russian Revolution Better Than Ready Better Than Ready Better Than Ready

Yarramalong Park “Breeding to Win”

www.yarramalongpark.com Richard Foster 0417 192 515 richard@fosterracing.com.au

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Houtzen, winner of the MM 2YO Classic 2017 and here winning the Gr3 P J Bell Stakes at Randwick

2022 vendor

by Andrew Reichard

YARRAMAN PARK YARRAMAN PARK, HELLBENT ON REMAINING INVINCIBLE…

I

t has taken over 30 years for brothers Arthur and Harry Mitchell to become “overnight successes” in the breeding industry. When they took the decision to purchase a large stake in G1 placed I Am Invincible from the Gall family, they had the usual high hopes that accompany such ventures. To have their expectations met, then exceeded as the magnificent bay stallion gradually rose to become Australia’s highest fee sire is something else entirely.

Arthur Mitchell relates that “I Am Invincible was a brilliant performer, after his devastating first start win as a 2YO he was early favourite in Golden Slipper markets. Despite being troubled by hoof problems he was a G1 runnerup to the mighty Takeover Target, he was a G3 winner of five races, a G3 placed winning 2YO, so he was actually a terrific racehorse. He was by a stallion who has since turned out a decent sire of sires and out of a mare by crack broodmare sire

Canny Lad from the Gall family’s wonderful “Pedrille” family. When we inspected him, we simply had to become involved, he is such a superb individual, and fortunately he has passed on his looks and his talent to his offspring. Harry and I have to pinch ourselves occasionally, but we reckon it was worth the years of hard work.

“Vinnie” started off at 10k and attracted nice mares commensurate with that fee, but it still amazes us that over the past few seasons he has been covering the nation’s best mares, including such household names as Alizee, Black Caviar, Bonny O’Reilly, Booker, Catchy, English, Essaouira, Kenedna, Lucia Valentina, Mossfun, Nayeli, Samantha Miss, Snitzerland, Tallow, Volpe Veloce, and Winx just to name a few. The yearlings out of his biggest and best books are now coming to market, so we are looking forward to offering his best bred crop at Magic Millions in January. The spectacular win of

Hellbent

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his son Home Affairs for his Coolmore led group of owners in the very G1 race they sponsor, the VRC Coolmore Stud S couldn’t have come at a better time. He was a beautiful yearling as his $875k yearling price indicates and I’m confident we have several stallion prospects in this draft.”

There are 14 yearlings by I Am invincible in the farm’s 34 strong draft, and another eight by his G1 winning sprinting son Hellbent.

It is a long established tradition in the thoroughbred business, and an extremely successful strategy, for a farm that strikes gold with a stallion to identify a suitable young son to carry on the line. The G1 winner and multiple G1 placed Hellbent, winner of almost a million dollars, has a better race record than his illustrious sire and offers buyers the opportunity to be part of the next stage of the incredible ride on which “Vinnie” 2 0Yarraman 2 1 V EPark, N Dthe O RGall family and has taken those that had faith in him.

Some of the highlights of the Yarraman Park 2022 draft include the following lotsLot 32, b c Hellbent - Falerina by Stratum.

This is the first foal of a Sydney metro winner of four races, second dam is SW Jade Diva, family of Group winners Bliss Street and Jade Marauder and G1 placed G2 winner Thunder Fantasy.

Lot 119, b f Hellbent - Hoss Amor by General Nediym. This filly is a three quarter-sister SW Quantico (by I Am Invincible) so bred on a proven nick.

2022 draft

Lot 196, b c I Am Invincible - Lady Sharapova by Fastnet Rock. This colt has definite stallion potential being from the family of champion Alinghi and the brilliant sire Beneteau.

Lot 253, b c I Am Invincible - Meliora by Ad Valorem. This colt is a full brother to Blue Diamond Prelude G3 winner I Am Immortal who has already found a home on the roster at Swettenham Stud.

Lot 503, b f I Am Invincible - Set to Unleash by Reset. This filly is a full sister to MM 2YO Classic winner Houtzen, multiple Group winner of 7 races and $2.13 million. A star of the sale.

Lot 523, b c I Am Invincible - Silently by Anabaa. This colt is another with sire potential being from a stakes winning, stakes producing dam who is a halfsister to two G1 winners including champion Criterion, 4 G1 wins, $7.3 million.

Arthur Mitchell said “there are some cracking individuals in this draft, “Vinnie” continues to pass on his great looks, and Hellbent is following suit.

We also have attractive individuals by Deep Field, Exceed And Excel, Extreme Choice, Invader, Not A Single Doubt, Trapeze Artist, Written Tycoon and Justify.”

Arthur Mitchell was happy to answer some questions for Bluebloods.

What puts the MAGIC into this race and sales series for you?

The Magic Millions sale and the associated races suit the precocious horses Yarraman Park is looking to breed. This sale has stood the test of time, the $10million plus raceday prizemoney is extraordinary, and we really like supporting the whole concept.

What is the most useless talent you have?

Can I take the fifth amendment? Probably golf. I love it, but is anyone good at it?

What are the best and worst purchases you’ve ever made?

The best is I Am Invincible, the worst was a townhouse in Sydney off the plan.

What is something everyone looks stupid doing?

Pilates, but it’s very good for you. I’m living proof.

Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

32 107 118 119 138 144 153 196 229 253 332 385 403 444 454 503 523 589 617 640 654 726 728 749 760 764 800 803 832 884 893 901 907 909

Falerina Heritage Lane Honolulu Lass Hoss Amor Indrabeel (NZ) Involving Jalan Jalan Lady Sharapova Luskintyre Lass Meliora Octavia Precious Moment Pursuits Rose of Choice Royal Missile Set to Unleash Silently Sweet Kiss Tetsuko Trail of Secrets Universal Moon Air Apparent Al’s Magic Miss Any Day Will Do As it Lies Atomic Kitten Bernarsini Bidii Babe Canny Time Courtesan (NZ) Crown Witness Dancing Express Defy the Odds (GB) Dendee

C/B. F/B. C/B. F/B. F/B. F/Ch. F/B. C/B. C/Ch. C/B. F/B. C/B. F/B. F/B. C/B. F/B. C/B. F/B. F/B. F/B. C/B. F/B. F/B. C/Ch. F/Ch. C/B. F/B. F/B. C/B. C/B. F/B. C/B. F/B. C/B.

Hellbent Hellbent Hellbent Hellbent I Am Invincible Extreme Choice Hellbent I Am Invincible Justify (USA) I Am Invincible Zoustar Trapeze Artist I Am Invincible I Am Invincible I Am Invincible I Am Invincible I Am Invincible I Am Invincible Zoustar I Am Invincible Extreme Choice Hellbent Hellbent Invader Written Tycoon Exceed and Excel Deep Field I Am Invincible Zoustar Not a Single Doubt I Am Invincible Hellbent I Am Invincible I Am Invincible

p: 02 6545 1961 e: studoffice@yarramanpark.com.au Matt Scown 0481 989 661 matt@yarramanpark.com.au

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Among the most awaited first season offerings at the MM 2022 will be those

by Yulong’s magnificent dual G1 winner Grunt with 11 of his finest in the home farm’s draft.

2022 vendor

YULONG

by Glen Latham

OFFERS TREMENDOUS OPPORTUNITIES

T

he rise and rise of Yulong at the top end of the international market continued unabated through 2021, and if the outstanding draft they will take to the Gold Coast is anything to go by, 2022 looks likely to be just as prosperous for the farm and their clients. We spoke with Yulong’s Nominations and Sales Manager Troy Stephens about what buyers can expect from the Victorian farm when they get to the Gold Coast.

When one considers the investment in bloodstock and facilities made by Mr Yuesheng Zhang, nobody could begrudge he and his Yulong Investments the success that has followed, particularly over the past twelve months in both hemispheres. Lucky Vega, now covering his first book at the stud’s Mangalore base, added a second in the Royal Ascot St James’s Palace Stakes G1 to his facile Phoenix Stakes G1 win at two where he left the likes of European Champion

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St Mark’s Basilica and the G1 Prix Jean Prat winner Laws Of Indices toiling in his wake, while on home soil Hungry Heart proved to be a class act.

Troy explained the opportunity had been there for buyers to have Hungry Heart race in their colours, “We want to be a leading commercial operation and sell top quality, world class athletes. It’s very satisfying for Mr. Zhang and our team here at Yulong to see Hungry Heart, who we raised and offered in our first ever Magic Millions draft, go on to not only win two G1’s but be crowned Champion Three-YearOld Filly in Australia last season. We hope this gives buyers confidence in the way we raise and prepare our horses here at Yulong.”

And Yulong will offer tremendous opportunities again on the Gold Coast in January. Their list comprises multiple offerings by the crème of the local stallion market and a trio by international star Lope De Vega, all of which are sure to be

popular. But for Yulong, Troy, and one particular stallion, the sale has special significance. “It’s a big year for all our team here at Yulong with our foundation stallion Grunt’s first yearlings to be offered at Magic Millions. With 15 Grunts catalogued it’s a great representation for the stallion and all told we will be presenting a draft of 33 yearlings which we are very proud to be offering.”

We asked Troy to recount Grunt’s career.

“By Champion sire O’Reilly, Grunt was quick to impress on the track, his only start as a two year-old resulting in a third to eventual G1 Thousand Guineas winner Aloisia and G2 placed Salsamor. Grunt broke his maiden impressively at the beginning of his second campaign when starting a four race winning streak. Showing his talent, the

Savabeel and was crowned Champion Middle-Distance Horse in NZ having won two G1s and placing at Group level on a further 13 occasions. Savabeel is very quickly becoming a proven broodmare sire. He is the broodmare Sire of G1 Goodwood winner Savatoxl and the Gai Waterhouse trained G1 Flight Stakes winner, Never Been Kissed. Her Zoustar colt is a very classy, balanced individual and I see him being popular among buyers.”

Dual G1 winner Hungry Heart (above) has been a wonderful advertisement for horses raised on the Victorian farm.

third of those victories came in the G3 CS Hayes Stakes followed by success in the G1 Australian Guineas at only his fifth career start. Grunt returned as a four yearold to impressively win the G1 Makybe Diva Stakes by two lengths at Flemington, beating eight G1 winners in the process.

He retired with a Timeform rating of 123 as a four year-old, ranking him as elite among his generation. We couldn’t be happier with the types he is leaving, and we are really looking forward to showcasing them up on the Coast.”

With a draft with such depth of quality singling out individual horses is incredibly difficult. But when pushed Troy came up with four, led off by lot 860, a Grunt filly, the first foal from the five time winning stakes placed Dane Shadow mare Cinematic. “Grunt has really put a lot a quality and strength into this filly, she has a beautiful shape, and I can see her being popular among buyers. She looks like a real trainer’s filly. O’Reilly has worked particularly well with Success Express having produced 36 stakes winners, 24 Group winners and 8 individual G1 winners including Probabeel, Mo’unga and Amerelinha. The cross is currently running at 73% winners to runners.”

On pedigree lot 25, the I Am Invincible filly out of Extremely, looks one of the picks of the sale. “Extremely has been a very special mare having produced the G1 Blue Diamond and AJ Moir Stakes’ winner, and now sire sensation, Extreme Choice. We sold a full brother to this filly last year at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale to Mick Price & Michael Kent Jnr for $550,000. Speaking to Michael Kent this week he reported on the colt “A nice, well-balanced colt that has a very trainable demeanour and we really like him. We have put him away for the Autumn and we look forward to seeing him hit the track then.” We see this filly in a similar mould, she moves well, is very balanced and just looks fast. I Am Invincible crossed with Mr. Prospector (sire of her damsire Hussonet) has produced 43 stakes winners (7.6%), along with four very recent G1 winners such as Loving Gaby, On The Bubbles and 2021 Coolmore Stud Stakes winner Home Affairs.”

Finding a star amongst the colts was an unenviable task, but Troy suggested lot 544, Zoustar’s son out of Soriano as one that would stand up to a critical look. “Soriano was a terrific race mare by

Mr Zhang and Yulong have had tremendous success with the progeny of Lope De Vega, and they give the market three opportunities to again tap into his blood. Selling as lot 298, his colt out of Munees Gemini, a young daughter of Galileo’s son Australia, provides an interesting cross with there being plenty of statistical evidence supporting the argument the mating works.

Said Troy “Local buyers will already be very familiar with the capabilities of Lope De Vega. From just four Southern Hemisphere crops he produced the G1 winners Gytrash, Santa Ana Lane, Vega Magic and Vega One, as well as the G2 scorers and G1 placegetters Spanish Reef and Spanish Whisper.

This colt looks sharp, he’s balanced, has great strength and quality and has been a horse that had taken my eye months ago when walking through the paddocks inspecting yearlings. ” These four yearlings are just ‘tasters’ for what lies amongst this high quality draft. Recent history tells us if we charted Yulong’s progress it would most definitely show an upward curve with the Gold Coast Sale another opportunity for buyers to join in on the ride.

2022 draft Lot Sex/Col Sire

Dam

25 30 82 95 97 99 298 316 350 372 442 518 544 564 665 701 703 718 755 757 767 812 815 845 860 923 986 989 1050 1124 1126 1146 1153

Extremely Faith’s Encore Gold and Diamonds (NZ) Gypsy Diamond Gypsy Tucker Happy Odyssey (IRE) Munees Gemini (IRE) Next Meeting (USA) Pageantry Pikari Star Rockzel (NZ) Shoot the Breeze Soriano (NZ) Storytime (NZ) Veruschka (GB) Written Era You Only You (IRE) Acing Shamrock Argentinian Gold Arizona Belle (IRE) Awesome Amy Bleu Roche Blue Morpho Celebrity Belle Cinematic Dongxing Princess Singles Smiles for Naara (NZ) Yulong Venus Fallacy Fataawy Haafra Head Holy Seal

F/B. C/B. F/B. C/B. F/Br. C/B. C/B. C/Ch.or Gr. C/B. C/Br.or Blk. C/B. C/B. C/Ch. C/B. C/B. C/B. C/B. C/B. C/B. C/B. C/Br. F/B. F/Ch. F/B. F/B. C/Br. C/B. C/Br. F/B. C/B. F/B. C/B. F/B.

I Am Invincible Exceed and Excel Zoustar Lonhro Grunt (NZ) Lope de Vega (IRE) Lope de Vega (IRE) Justify (USA) Snitzel Written Tycoon Exceed and Excel Snitzel Zoustar I Am Invincible Snitzel Zoustar Lope de Vega (IRE) Capitalist Grunt (NZ) Pierro Pierro Zoustar Not a Single Doubt Grunt (NZ) Grunt (NZ) Pierro Grunt (NZ) Grunt (NZ) Grunt (NZ) Grunt (NZ) Grunt (NZ) Grunt (NZ) Grunt (NZ)

www.yulonginvest.com.au 115 Grenada Rd, Mangalore VIC 3663 | (03) 5796 2741 Sam Fairgray: 0418 427 568 | samfairgray@yulonginvest.com.au Troy Stephens 0455 316 666 | troy@yulonginvest.com.au Harry King 0457 496 666 | harry@yulonginvest.com.au

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For a one-stop thoroughbred resource... visit arion.co.nz Australia and New Zealand’s leading thoroughbred pedigree provider Since our inception in 1996, Arion has grown to be the sole provider of thoroughbred pedigree pages to all thoroughbred auction houses in Australasia, including New Zealand Bloodstock, Magic Millions and William Inglis. We are pleased to have a close working relationship with AAP, The Australian Studbook, New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing and Weatherbys (GB) Our website site features • over 4 million thoroughbreds and their race records • race results added daily from over 60 countries worldwide • a choice of catalogue pedigree styles covering William Inglis, Magic Million and NZ Bloodstock and in PDF or RTF format • a Stallion Roster covering ALL stallions currently at stud in Australasia • Horse Tracker - Register your stallion with us: We will inform you by email when progeny by the stallion have trialed, entered in races and the subsequent race result.

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