The three top sellers all sold for $80,000 with local buyers competing with those from interstate and overseas to secure the next generation of racetrack stars from the Apple Isle.
Denise Martin’s Star Thoroughbreds teamed up with Brett Howard’s Randwick Bloodstock Agency to secure the first $80,000 seller on the day – the Gold Standard half sister to Zany Girl from Armidale Stud.
“We came to buy a colt and a filly,” Martin said. “The two we most wanted were the Gold Standard filly who is a half to the current two-year-old performer Zany Girl and the King’s Legacy as he was an absolute stand out.”
“We were able to purchase both and at the end of the day I think we’ve bought very well.”
“Well priced for two quality yearlings,” Martin added. “We are leaving as happy buyers.”
Later in the afternoon Joe O’Neill from Prime Thoroughbreds went to $80,000 to secure the Needs Further-Why For filly also from Armidale Stud.
“She’s a lovely filly,” O’Neill said. “I love Needs Further – we’ve got Zany Girl this year who is the top two-year-old in the state.”
“We’ve also had Our Long Sali, Bine and a number of them (Needs Further) over the years. I thought she was the pick of the fillies in the sale.”
“She’s very athletic with a great temperament and she comes from Armidale who I think are outstanding breeders down here.”
“We’ve had a lot of success with the Whishaw family,” O’Neill added. “This filly will go to Stu Gandy and she looks a two-year-old and he’s a great trainer of two-year-olds.”
Damon Gabbedy’s Belmont Bloodstock Agency teamed up with Tony and Calvin McEvoy of McEvoy Mitchell Racing to be leading buyer on the day with a spend of $215,000 for four lots.
Their Satono Aladdin filly from Shining Star offered by Macleay Thoroughbred Stud was the other $80,000 seller across the sale.
“We loved the filly,” Gabbedy said. “She was a real standout on type.”
“He is a seriously good stallion. His stats are 10 per cent stakes winners to runners in the Southern Hemisphere.”
“This filly would have stood out at any sale in Australia. She is out of an Exceed and Excel mare – he’s a champion broodmare sire.”
“Deep girth, great hindquarter and I think she will furnish into a beautiful filly. We are thrilled to get her.”
“We also got an All Too Hard colt for $60,000 – he’s a proper stallion. Sometimes those proven sires get forgotten about. I thought he was great value.”
“We love coming to Tassie. There’s some good value buying here and I think more mainland trainers should put it on their agenda.”
Across the afternoon 83 lots sold for a gross of over $1.9 million and average price of $23,488. The clearance rate currently sits at 74 per cent.
“The sale gross over the past few years has come back significantly which is disappointing,” Magic Millions Managing Director Barry Bowditch said.
“I thought we had a good, strong group of interstate buyers here – some participated with gusto, while others obviously didn’t find what they were looking for.”
“The local market was OK. They bought only marginally less than what they did last year.”
“To end up with a clearance rate of 74 per cent, isn’t sensational but it’s satisfactory. We thank Tim Brown and Tasracing – David, Blayne and Angela – it’s been a seamlessly run event and I thank them on that.”
“Magic Millions looks forward to working with Tasracing and TasBreeders in giving confidence to the industry from a local buyers perspective to come and buy yearlings here.”
“Obviously some of the best horses racing here in the state at two and three were purchased from this sale in recent years. We want to continue to promote that and give confidence to the local industry to come and support their local breeders.”
“From a local breeders’ perspective we want to be able to give them the confidence that they can sell good horses here and get paid well. The reality is, if we can do both of those things it will significantly improve this sale.”
To view the results of the sale or to make an offer on a passed in lot click here.
The sales focus now switches to the Gold Coast March Yearling Sale on March 10 and 11 before attention turns to the Adelaide Yearling Sale on March 17 and 18.
SALE STATISTICS
(2024 in brackets)
Lots Catalogued: 126 (140)
Lots Sold: 83 (90)
Lots Passed In: 29 (39)
Lots Withdrawn: 14 (11)
Sale Gross: $1,949,500 ($2,767,500)
Top Price: $80,000 ($145,000)
Average Price: $23,488 ($30,750)
Median Prince: $18,000 ($26,000)
Sold %: 74 (70)
TOP SELLERS
$80,000 – Gold Standard-Isn’t Life Strange filly (Lot 21)
Vendor: Armidale Stud / Buyer: Star T’breds/Randwick B’stock Agency (NSW)
$80,000 – Satono Aladdin-Shining Star filly (Lot 71)
Macleay T’bred Stud / McEvoy Mitchell Racing/Belmont B’stock Agency (Vic)
$80,000 – Needs Further-Why For filly (Lot 89)
Armidale Stud / Prime T’breds (Vic)
$70,000 – King’s Legacy-Lumic colt (Lot 29)
Armidale Stud (As Agent) / Star T’breds/Randwick B’stock Agency (NSW)
$65,000 – Wooded-Take All of Me colt (Lot 79)
Armidale Stud (As Agent) / CJ Cassar (Vic)
LEADING BUYERS
(ranked by total spend)
$215,000 – McEvoy Mitchell Racing/Belmont B’stock Agency – 4 lots
$166,000 – John Blacker – 8 lots
$150,000 – Star T’breds/Randwick B’stock Agency – 2 lots
$113,000 – Felicity Radley – 5 lots
$99,000 – Adam Trinder – 4 lots
