There are only two broodmares in Australia by South African sire Var - one of them is Via Africa (SAf), dam of G1 winners Autumn Glow and In The Congo, the other is Delta Queen (Saf), whose Snitzel yearling filly was first into the ring at Magic Millions on Wednesday and sold for $800,000.
Bred and offered for sale by Arrowfield, the second foal of Group III winner Delta Queen was bought by Moody Racing/Mick Malone Bloodstock.
“It was a great way to start the day and probably just being a little bit early I thought – I don’t know if you could ever say you get a bit of value at that money, $800,000 – but we loved her from the day we got here,” said Mick Malone.
“Me and Moods (Peter Moody) have had a bit of luck buying a few horses, like Ole Dancer (G1 MRC Thousand Guineas) , of late.
“It’s good to team with Moods. He’s a champion, a great trainer, and we’re going to put a good group of clients together and myself and Pauline will stay in and just enjoy her. She’s a beauty.”
The filly comes from a deep South African female family as Delta Queen is a full sister to Group I winning sprinter Rivarine from Group I winner River Jetez, a full sister to South African Horse of the Year Pocket Power.
“It (the pedigree) holds up here that form, better than you think,” Malone added.
“It nicks with our Australian pedigrees a bit and I think Snitzel upgrades those mares so well.
“The rest of it is in the hand of the gods, but she’s got enough pedigree that when it’s all said and done, we’ll be able to breed out of her if she doesn’t live up to what we hope on the track and that’s what you try and do when you pay that sort of money.”
Delta Queen produced a colt last spring for Arrowfield and was then covered by The Autumn Sun with the resulting foal to bred on the exact same cross as undefeated Group I winner Autumn Glow.
