In the lead up to the 2026 Magic Millions Yearling Sale we’re going back to the beginning of one of the great stories of bloodstock and how a bargain yearling changed the face of the Australasian racing and breeding industry forever.
Read Part 1 Snippets – In The Beginning
They needn’t have worried, because the scruffy Lunchtime colt they booted from the premises was now a sleek athlete poised to launch their company on its rise to unparallelled success.
Now named Snippets, the colt began racing in October of 1986, winning his first two starts prior to “the big one”, for which he was installed as favourite.
On January 10th 1987, Snippets bolted away to win their million dollar race - “The Magic Million” - by four lengths.
Sally was there to see it, and that was a bit of a miracle in itself.
The trainer supervised Snippets at trackwork on Thursday morning, but 24 hours later she was in emergency surgery for complications from a collapsed lung.
“The doctors said I only had a 50-50 chance of surviving the surgery. I may never have seen Snippets again, but I didn’t think about that,” Sally told a reporter who caught up with her in retirement.
“The doctors wanted me to stay in the hospital, but I discharged myself the next morning.
“There was no way I was going to miss that race!”
Family and staff prepared Snippets for his fateful assignment on the big day.
A fragile Sally arrived trackside an hour before the race, and stood on the mounting yard fence to watch her boy make history.
“I watched his colours the whole way. I knew he had it when they were coming down the straight,” she recalled proudly.
The exciting colt was quickly transferred to Kris Lees’ stables at Newcastle. He could do no better than fifth in Marauding’s Golden Slipper, but immediately redeemed himself by blitzing the field in the AJC Sires Produce Stakes.
The brilliant speedster returned at three to scorch the turf with memorable G1 victories in Melbourne (Oakleigh Plate) and Sydney (The Galaxy)
The Galaxy win came on a bottomless track at Randwick, an early indication of the Snippets progeny's love for heavy ground.
The colt was also runner up to the great sprint mare Special at WFA in the G1 Lightning Stakes.
Racegoers were astounded by his pure raw speed and breeders were determined to get a piece of it.
When he retired in April 1988 Snippets was Australia’s 13th millionaire racehorse and a winner of nine races in 14 lifetime starts.
He was an Australasian 2-Year-Old Champion and Australasian Champion 3-Year-Old Sprinter - the Magic Millions could have wished for no better flagbearer.
While the son of Lunchtime was the golden graduate, by the middle of 1987, fifty precocious horses from the inaugural catalogue had already won races.
Four that had finished behind him on the Gold Coast had contested Marauding’s Golden Slipper alongside Snippets, and Mother Duck, Alshandegha and Boasting.had all won Stakes races.
After this success was established, Queensland's controversial Minister for Racing (aka Minister for Everything) Russ Hinze wasn't slow to get in front of the cameras.
“I am justifiably proud of this magnificent concept held in my state,” he announced portentously (doubtless while wearing a big hat).
“We have seen the tenacity of a small group of Queenslanders as they spared no expense to make the Magic Millions a success. We can now see, with confidence, that this idea is here to stay.”
By 1987, ‘The Magic Million’ had become the ‘Magic Millions.’
The sale catalogue contained 400 horses, with a million-dollar race for colts and geldings in 1988, and another of equal value for the fillies.
The big Queensland idea was on its way to ballooning into something truly monumental with the 2026 Magic Million set to feature 1221 yearlings offered by the best farms in the country.
The story will continue on Christmas Eve.
