Sale Ring Frenzy

Tara Madgwick - Wednesday Mar 21
It's been a long time since racetrack results generated by a first season sire have driven a sale ring frenzy, but that is what we are seeing in this country right now.

The dictionary definition of the word frenzy - a state or period of uncontrolled excitement or wild behaviour – and that pretty much sums up what happened at the Gold Coast this week.

Unprecedented demand for the progeny of Eureka Stud's Spirit of Boom is the talking point of the bloodstock world in a week where his progeny sold through the roof at the Magic Millions Gold Coast March Yearling Sale making for a record breaking sale.

The top 14 lots at this sale were all sired by Spirit of Boom with a filly from Hidden Flair the top seller at $430,000. Click here to see who bought his stock.

He had 37 yearlings sell at an average $167,500 and his aggregate of $6,197,500 accounted for nearly half of the overall sale aggregate.

To put into perspective the scope of his domination and meteoric rise, let's take a look at this sale last year.

At the 2017 Magic Millions Gold Coast March Yearling Sale, Spirit of Boom had 30 yearlings average $28,767 and his top seller at $90,000 was a filly from Dots and Spots that is yet to be named. Click here to see who bought his stock last year.

He was the tenth leading sire by average, although was the leading sire by aggregate given his big numbers. His aggregate $863,000 was about 10% of the overall sale aggregate.

The quality of his yearlings offered this year is in no way different from those offered last year, but the game changer is Spirit of Boom, who has shown himself to be a rare source of fast precocious two year-olds that can win the sort of sales incentive races beloved of owners.

You often don't need a particularly good horse, but you do need one that can run early and Spirit of Boom as the leading two year-olds sire in the country by winners has shown he can deliver the goods.

Leading Australian First Season Sires



Widden Stud and Woodside Park's Zoustar actually heads Spirit of Boom by earnings on the Australian First Season Sires List courtesy of his outstanding filly Sunlight, who won the Magic Millions 2YO Classic and is favourite for the Golden Slipper.

He too has become a sire in demand as we saw at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale in Melbourne at the start of the month where his Victorian conceived second crop were on fire.

ZoustarZoustar finished Inglis Premier Book One as the leading sire by aggregate with 29 yearlings generating $4,855,000 in turnover.

His average price of $167,414 also put him in elevated company with only Snitzel, Fastnet Rock, I Am Invincible, Pierro and Not a Single Doubt finishing ahead of him.

For Spirit of Boom to average virtually the same at MM March as Zoustar did at Inglis Premier is quite a stunning statistic given we are talking about two stallions that although they are both dual Group I winners, have come from very different starting points.

Spirit of Boom has stood at a fee of $11,000 in each of his first four seasons, while Zoustar has been at $44,000.

Zoustar is doing as you would have hoped given the level of opportunity and his profile, Spirit of Boom is over achieving by about a million miles.

What the future holds for these two potentially outstanding young sires will be fascinating to watch play out and the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale will be the next opportunity for the market to assess their worth.

Zoustar has 12 entries and you can see them here, while Spirit of Boom has two youngsters offered by Eureka Stud in Book Two, click here to see them.



Advertisment
More Reading...
Wild Ruler Winner Impressive at Warwick Farm
Annabel and Rob Archibald have high hopes for Wild Ruler 3YO Priory Park, who confirmed their good opinion of him when scoring a dominant win at Warwick Farm on Wednesday with James McDonald in the saddle.
Darley Announce 2027 European Fees -Night of Thunder Soars to €450,000
It will be Dubawi central at Darley in 2027 with the legendary 24YO sire priced at £350,000, but the roster is topped by his champion son Night of Thunder at €450,000 and there are three more G1 winning sons or grand-sons of Dubawi also added to a power packed roster.
Unraced First Season Sires Trial Report
It’s been a pretty steady start to spring in terms of 2YO races and we are still waiting to see a first season sire post a winner, but there has been action aplenty at the trials which would indicate the pre-Christmas period is set to ignite.
One to Watch – Mornington
A homebred for Seymour Bloodstock with an intriguing pedigree opened her account with a stylish win at Mornington on Tuesday.
Unraced Brother to G2 Winner Hope in Your Heart Tops MM Digital
Unraced three-year-old Dundeel gelding Putcee (Lot 4) topped the Magic Millions Digital (6-11 Nov) Sale which concluded this afternoon, selling for $30,000 to Liam Ruddy after 38 bids.
Doing Time Wins $100,000 Sprinters Challenge at Riccarton
Lee Callaway shared many jockeys’ rooms with Chris Johnson throughout his riding career, so it was only fitting that the Waikouaiti trainer took out the inaugural running of the Chris Johnson Three-Year-Old Sprinters Challenge (1200m) at Riccarton on Wednesday with Doing Time.
2027 Golden Slipper Entries – Sortable Sale Mail – Find Out More
The new season is nearly upon us and that means all over the country a new crop of rising two year-olds are taking baby steps in the best stables in the land with the Australian Turf Club announcing this week they had received 1881 entries for the 2027 Golden Slipper, so who is in the race?
Remembering Northerly – The Greatest Caulfield Cup Winner This Century
It's Caulfield Cup week, and what better moment to revisit the life and times of one of the greatest - if not the greatest - Caulfield Cup winner of the modern era.
Racing Industry Mourns Much Loved Izzy Neale
The thoroughbred racing industry is devastated tonight following news that apprentice jockey Izzy Neale, aged 22, has tragically died as the result of a race fall at Warren on Sunday.
Super Seth 3YO Leads Waller First Four in $100,000 Super Maiden
The $100,000 Super Maiden (1400m) at Warwick Farm on Wednesday delivered a first four for the Chris Waller stable with victory going to the well backed favourite Quarterback, who has a half-brother to be offered at the NZB Ready to Run Sale next week.