A son of former sale graduate and leading Widden Stud sire Zoustar topped Day One of the Magic Millions National Weanling Sale on the Gold Coast today.
Presented as Lot 155, the good looking colt is the first foal of the Group Three Typhoon Tracy Stakes winner Embrace Me (Shamexpress) and he sold for $550,000 after a spirited bidding battle.
The colt, offered as part of a quality draft from Milburn Creek, acting as agent, was snapped up by Jim Carey as a pin-hook.
"He's a beautiful colt ," Carey noted. "A very straightforward and good moving colt."
"He'll come back to the farm and be re-offered next year."
"We're starting from a good base - he came off a great farm, he is a beautiful colt with a great colour, a great action and he's out of a bloody good mare, so we're delighted to get him."
"He was our pick of the sale, there were a lot of good judges as underbidders, so I just hope he's as popular at a sale next year," Carey added.
Milburn Creek supplied two other of the day's top five sellers - their Written Tycoon-Diamond Effort colt going to Yulong Investments for $350,000 and the Zoustar-Delectation Girl colt selling for $310,000 to the partnership of Suman Hedge Bloodstock, Redwall Bloodstock and James Harron Bloodstock.
Two of the prized offerings of the Edinburgh Park Unreserved Dispersal Sale finished second and third on the day's leaderboard of top sellers when they sold late in the day.
The Snitzel-Serena Bay filly offered as Lot 1320 was another star secured by Jim Carey - this one costing $480,000.
The filly is a half sister to this season's crack juvenile, the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trained Summer Loving. She was placed in January's $2 million The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions 2YO Classic.
Minutes earlier Edinburgh Park's Zoustar half sister to Glenfiddich sold to Yulong Investments for $425,000.
Across the day over $11.3 million was traded on 134 lots sold at an average price of $85,000 and clearance rate of 70.3 per cent.
"I think there's an unquenchable thirst for quality horses when they walk in the ring that the pin-hookers perceive will make the select sales next year," Magic Millions Managing Director Barry Bowditch said.
"I think in the ring there was a lot of confidence on those horses. There were some fantastic results throughout the day, there were 45 horses that made over $100,000. It was a really solid weanling sale, with an average of $85,000 and an increased median on last year."
"Those numbers are all great, we're pleased with the turnover. You'd like to turn over more horses, that's probably the one negative from today. The market, as we're seeing at the moment, is very, very strong, but selective.
"Whether they’re not liking the horse physically, on pedigree or on veterinary, there's reasons these horses fall through the cracks and either sell cheaply or pass in. I guess that’s a horse sale, that's the reality of it."
"I would have thought that the momentum and confidence will build out of today's sale because there's plenty of people that I know are here, are very motivated to buy and aren’t on the sheet yet," Bowditch added. "That augurs well for tomorrow."
To view the results of today's sale or to make an offer on a passed in lot click here.
Day Two of the National Weanling Sale will commence at 10am tomorrow (Friday).
SALE STATISTICS
(2022 Day One in Brackets)
Lots Catalogued: 248 (195)
Lots Sold: 134 (120)
Lots Withdrawn: 57 (41)
Lots Passed In: 57 (33)
Sale Gross: $11,390,000 ($9,970,000)
Average Price: $85,000 ($83,083)
Median Price: $60,000 ($52,000)
Sold %: 70 (78)
DAY ONE TOP SELLERS
$550,000 - Zoustar-Embrace Me colt (Lot 155)
Vendor: Milburn Creek (As Agent) / Buyer: Jim Carey (NSW)
$480,000 - Snitzel-Serena Bay filly (Lot 1320)
Edinburgh Park (Unreserved Dispersal Sale) / Jim Carey (NSW)
$425,000 - Zoustar-Nothin But a Dream filly (Lot 1316)
Edinburgh Park (Unreserved Dispersal Sale) / Yulong Investments (Australia) Pty Ltd (Vic)
$350,000 - Written Tycoon-Diamond Effort colt (Lot 133)
Milburn Creek (As Agent) / Yulong Investments (Australia) Pty Ltd (Vic)
$310,000 - Zoustar-Delectation Girl colt (Lot 126)
Milburn Creek (As Agent) / Suman Hedge B'stock/Redwall B'stock/James Harron B'stock (Vic)