Victorian breeders led the charge on the opening day of the Gold Coast Magic Millions Yearling Sale with two horses reaching the magical million dollar mark.
The sale was being dubbed “Mitho’s Millions”” after Rosemont Stud principal Antony Mithen sold an
I Am Invincible/Amanpour colt for $1 million to the Gai Waterhouse/Adrian Bott training partnership
It was the stud’s first million dollar sale.
But the day one sale topper was the $1.1 million paid by Coolmore’s Tom Magnier for an Exceed and Excel colt, out of unraced Frankel mare, Dream in Colour (GB), offered by Nick Wakim of Victoria’s Hilldene Farm.
Consigned by Milburn Creek for Hilldene, the colt was a standout that attracted plenty of spirited bidding before being knocked down to Magnier who said the yearling was liked by the entire Coolmore team.
“He’s just a very, very nice horse,” Magnier said.
“He was an exceptional physical, a very nice type out of a Frankel mare.
“All the judges were on him, we’ll take him home, break him in and see where we go from there.”
The colt’s dam is from the group winner Colour.
It was a mixed opening day for Ampulla Lodge at Bunyip which originally had two high quality yearlings for sale.
An Exceed and Excel/Zenaida colt was withdrawn but another yearling the stud had pinhooked, a Not a Single Doubt/Cariad colt, was sold for $520,000 to a group headed by the China Horse Club. The stud paid $280,000 for the colt as a weanling.
There was plenty of interest in the first Australian yearlings of stallion Cable Bay that stands at Woodside Park. All of his mares have been handpicked by renowned Australian breeder Rick Jamieson of Gilgai Farm at Nagambie.
Standing at a fee of $13,200, Cable Bay had a filly and two colts sold on the opening day. Melbourne Cup winning trainer Danny O’Brien paid $210,000 for a filly out of Brigite offered by Gilgai Farm, while Anthony Freedman/Blue Sky Bloodstock paid $80,000 for a colt from Balmodena. It was offered by Woodside Park Stud which stands Cable Bay. Dermot Farrington Bloodstock in the UK paid $120,000 for a Cable Bay colt out of Dal Riata (IRE).
Yulong Stud at Nagambie also had success on the opening day with a $340,000 result on a Fastnet Rock/ Zauberflote colt and accepted a $200,000 bid on a Not a Single Doubt/Descent colt.
Another yearling is headed to O’Brien’s Flemington stables after he paid $100,000 for an Unencumbered/Corsaire colt from Three Bridges Thoroughbreds at Eddington.
Kevin and Colleen Bamford’s Daisy Hill Farm sold their first yearlings at the Magic Millions. A Pierro/And Rock colt was bought for $160,000 by Cranbourne trainer Trent Busuttin, while a Rich Enuff/Drivel filly fetched $60,000 from Spicer Thoroughbreds.
As well as Rosemont’s $1 million result, the stud sold a Redoute’s Choice/Consistency colt to O’Brien for $165,000, a Sebring/Ygritte colt to Caulfield trainer John Sadler for $300,000; a Zoustar/Alpine Club(SAF) colt to Busuttin and an Exceed and Excel/Caraveli filly to Waterhouse and Bott for $250,000. The stud also sold a Hinchinbrook/Waterspell colt to Patrick Lee at Hong Kong for $200,000
The $1.1 million price tag for the Exceed and Excel colt was about $250,000 more than Wakim had expected.
“It was a very good result and we were very pleased, ”Wakim said.
“He was an outstanding colt and he has been outstanding from day one. We foaled him down at the farm and he was an outstanding foal, weanling and has progressed to be an outstanding colt.
“We thought he would be a three quarter of a million dollar colt and that’s where we came in with that sort of expectation but to go to where he did was a little bit unexpected, but very pleasing.”
Wakim said the colt had gone to a good home and the hope was that he’d progress into a good racehorse and he could only hope for the best for the team at Coolmore.
Wakim paid $750,000 for the mare, in foal to Exceed and Excel, at the 2018 at the National Broodmare sale.
“It was an excellent result after paying $750,000 for the mare and the first colt brings $1.1 million,” he said.“The mare went back to Exceed and Excel based on the colt and we now have a full sister at home who I would say is even a better type than this colt.”
Wakim said he would retain the filly and race her.
“”We bought the mare as a four year-old, so she is very young,” he said.
“She is only six now.”
The Frankel mare slipped to Exceed and Excel last year and isn’t in foal but will return to the stallion this season.
And there was no hiding Mithen’s excitement with the $1 million result from his Group 1 winning mare, Amanpour.
Going into the sales he was confident of a big sale.
“He is the second foal out of a Group 1 Northern Meteor winning mare by the hottest stallion in the country and looks like a rocket ship,” Mithen said before the sale.
And he was right – and obviously thrilled with the stud’s result on the opening day.
“It was satisfying to get the job done on the first day and may it continue,” he said.
“It’s the first time I’ve got $1 million, but unfortunately not the first time I’ve paid $1 million. But they are interlinked.
“I paid $1.5 million for the mother, Amanpour, and then get a million back out yesterday.”
Mithen said the colt created a lot of interest and the perception was that he looked fast and could be back for the big race next year.
“He is by the best stallion in the country and out of a Group 1 winning mare and looks like a fast running two year-old and is well put together.
“And they knew there was no point in buying this horse unless they had money in their pocket.
“But I did go up to the ring thinking this can happen, we can crack it today.
“But none the less it’s a nerve-raking and exhilarating experience all at the one time.”
Mithen said Rosemont Stud’s first day results averaged nearly $350,000.
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