FULL CIRCLE JOHN HUTCHINSON
The Gold Coast Magic Millions Yearling Sale has always punched above its weight. Year in, year out the company’s flagship sale has continued to serve up so many firsts, on so many fronts, dating back to the original sale in 1986 and 12 months later when the winner of the first running of the two year old race was the legendary Snippets. All the way through to a more recent innovation, the Racing Women’s Bonus, an instant success from day one, which was made worldwide famous through the deeds of the brilliant mares Global Glamour and Sunlight. In 2020, that program enters a new era to include the Magic Millions Three Year Old Guineas as well as extending to the company’s races in Tasmania and Western Australia. Like Topsy, the original Magic Millions concept has grown and grown to the extent that the Carnival is not just about the sale or the horseracing anymore, but instead a not-to-be-missed fortnight-long event. The Polo and the spectacular barrier draw on the beach, for example, simply add to the glitz. But, back to the horses. Being the first yearling sale of the year brings with it another significant angle for we die-hards, as the industry as one focusses on the sale-ring performance of the many well-credentialled first season sires taking guard in January. Make no mistake, the young pretenders do not get a head start but rather square off against many of the best progeny of the best stallions in the land and a strong showing in the ring will inevitably lead to support from breeders leading into the stallion’s fourth season at stud. Vendors may be on edge marketing their drafts, but always with one eye ahead to the following breeding season. It is the name of the game.
The list of first season sires to be represented at the Gold Coast in January compares more than favourably with any in recent years. At the helm is the superstar American Pharoah, the first US Triple Crown winner to have stood at stud Down Under. With his initial NH-bred crop showing exceptional promise and with his yearling daughter from the outstanding broodmare Leslie’s Lady selling for an astonishing $8.2m at Keeneland in September, it is fair to say that local and international interest in his initial Gold Coast offering will be sky high. Just seeing American Pharoah in the flesh has been good enough for me. Equine perfection. But I reckon for many, and the good folk at Magic Millions especially, the progeny of one freshman sire will surely be a highlight. As we know, the young Newgate Farm stallion, Capitalist, holds a special place in the company’s history as the undisputed champion of his two year old year. And while he was not the first horse to win the Magic Millions Two Year Old Classic - Golden Slipper double (the geldings Dance Hero in 2004 and Phelan Ready five years later also won both events) Capitalist is the only colt to have done so to date and with that comes expectations of the highest order ahead of the 2020 sale. Factor in his brilliant three length victory in the Breeders’ Plate, (a race also on the CV of other Magic Millions stars such as Snitzel, Sebring, Pierro and Vancouver) and Capitalist’s treble in those all-important races is unique. Many a Magic Millions legend has won one or two of those events but never all three, bar Capitalist.
2019 / 51 MMGC 20_Capitalist - DR.indd 51
2/12/19 10:20 am
