Racing
All set for Magic Millions sale
This year’s Gold Coast Yearling Sale begins on Tuesday.
The season impacted by Equine Influenza aside, never has the wait for Australia's first live yearling sale of the year been so long and Magic Millions is ready for its Gold Coast Yearling Sale to begin.
The famous offering, which brings buyers from all over the world to Queensland, starts on Tuesday and runs all the way through until Sunday.
Magic Millions' Bundall sale complex has been buzzing since potential buyers converged on the Gold Coast early last week and managing director Barry Bowditch said anticipation was building for the later-than-normal start to a January yearling sale.
"Inspections started here Tuesday and I think vendors and buyers were both eager to get here given the fact we're that little bit further away from New Year than normal," Bowditch said.
"Everyone's got in and got a lot of inspections done, it's been fairly solid on the complex, and there are a lot of nice horses.
"The inspectors, agents and buyers are predicting there's great depth to the catalogue. There's a fantastic middle (market), there are some very significant horses in the catalogue that are going to go very well and, all in all, from an inspections perspective Magic Millions is delighted."
The 1221-lot sale starts at 11am Tuesday, following the barrier draws for the $3 million 2YO Classic and $3 million 3YO Guineas, which will be held on the sands of Broadbeach.
A colt by Written Tycoon out of Away Game and an I Am Invincible filly out of Avantage are among the 210 lots to be offered on Day 1, while 240 on each Wednesday and Thursday before 290 on Friday's 'super session', which has been maintained after being implemented last year. A further 241 lots will be offered on Sunday as part of Book 2.
"The Super Session is logical, it was well received last year, and it worked extremely well," Bowditch said.
"Obviously, we had some massive fireworks late in the sale, and the sale topper came in the last hour of the sale."
That sale-topper was the filly by Home Affairs out of Sunlight who sold for $3.2 million, which is a Gold Coast Yearling Sale record.
A tick over $205 million changed hands during Book 1 at last year's sale, where yearlings sold at an average of $272,507.
There are 31 youngsters to be offered who are out of Group 1 winners across the week, including an I Am Invincible filly out of Qafila who has been turning heads at the inspections stage.
That Coolmore Stud-prepared filly will go through early in the Super Session, while a possible headline lot of the week is Arrowfield's colt by Snitzel out of Iffranesia, who is a brother to Beadman, who sells on Day 2.
The sale will again provide the first opportunity to purchase yearlings by a swag of first-season sires and this year's crop is headlined by nine-time Group 1 winner and former Horse of the Year, Anamoe, who has 31 lots to be offered.
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