‘Undoubtedly the best catalogue we have put together’: Bowditch bullish as Magic Millions release Gold Coast Yearling Sale catalogue

Cover image courtesy of Magic Millions

An increase of 189 offerings year on year has ensured that the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale will be the biggest in the auction house’s history, and with the catalogue featuring half or full relations to the likes of Griff (Trapeze Artist), Attrition (Churchill {Ire}) and Imperatriz (I Am Invincible), all of whom have won Group 1 races in the past month, there is plenty for buyers to get excited about this year.

No less than 20 yearlings fetched seven-figure sums in 2023, spearheaded by the auction-record $2.7 million spent by Coolmore’s Tom Magnier to secure the first foal out of the multiple Group 2-winning juvenile Anaheed (Fastnet Rock). With a record 1020 lots in Book 1 for 2024, Bowditch is hopeful that there will be plenty more fireworks at this year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, especially in light of the recent slew of major race wins from past graduates.

“We have been overwhelmed with support, which I guess is off the back of some outstanding results out of the sale for vendors in recent years,” Bowditch told TTR AusNZ.

“We have an extraordinary line of graduates at the moment, you’ve only got to look at Imperatriz, Militarize, Ozzmosis, In Secret. These are some of Australia’s most elite racehorses, and the sale that is consistently providing stars on the racetrack more than any other in our part of the world is the January sale.

Gallery: A selection of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale graduates who have achieved recent elite-level success, images courtesy of The Image Is Everything

“This year, to be able to have a bigger Book 1 than ever and a huge increase in Book 2 numbers as well, is a reflection of where the vendors think they have been getting rewarded in the sales ring.

“It’ll be our job now that they have promised us more horses to ensure we have a buying bench that credits the horses they have given us to sell.”

It may be the largest catalogue in the sale’s history, but that has certainly not diminished the quality according to Bowditch, who after seeing some of the stock on offer earlier this year, is confident that the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale compares favourably with recent editions of the company’s flagship auction.

Table: Top 10 most represented vendors in the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale catalogue

“I think the sale continues to go from strength to strength,” he said. “There’s a lot of star yearlings in there, and when doing the rounds back in August and September we were very excited by what the vendors were looking to show us.

“They’ve stuck with us and entered some of these outstanding yearlings in what we believe will be not only the biggest catalogue, but undoubtedly the best catalogue that we have put together.

“You’ve only got the look at the progeny of Group 1-winning mares or the numbers by the elite sires to show that there is any one of a huge number of horses who could potentially be the sale-topping horse in this catalogue. I think it has a lot of depth at the high end of town.”

Jewels in the crown

Bowditch was at pains to single out any particular yearling from the vast array of regally bred offerings, which is understandable given the depth of quality set to go under the hammer during the seven days of selling on the Gold Coast.

Table: Top 10 most represented stallions in the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale catalogue

Just some of the many standouts from a pedigree perspective include the first foal out of $3.2 million broodmare purchase Arcadia Queen (Pierro), a colt by reigning Champion Sire I Am Invincible, who will be offered by Arrowfield Stud as Lot 442. Another multiple Group 1-winning mare set to have her first foal pass through the ring is Avantage (Fastnet Rock), whose filly by Wootton Bassett (GB) will be offered shortly after by Coolmore as Lot 454.

The full siblings to Group 1 winners will be spearheaded by the sister to this year’s G1 Lightning S. heroine Coolangatta (Written Tycoon), who will be offered as Lot 47 by Milburn Creek, and the sister to fellow multiple Group 1-winning mare In Secret (I Am Invincible), who will be offered by Segenhoe Stud as Lot 623. Other highlights among Segenhoe’s star-studded draft, which produced last year’s $2.7 million sale-topper, include the three-quarter brother to dual Group 1-winning 2-year-old and now Coolmore stallion King’s Legacy, who has 43 of his first-crop yearlings catalogued for sale, the most of any freshman sire.

For those looking to secure some of the more precocious offerings on the Gold Coast, the half-sister to Espionage (Zoustar) and the half-brother to Bodyguard (I Am Invincible), both of whom were purchased for seven figures by James Harron at last year’s sale and have already won 2-year-old stakes races this season, are sure to prove popular. The half-sister to Espionage is by Snitzel and will be offered for sale as Lot 786 by Baramul Stud, while the half-brother to Bodyguard is by Capitalist and will be offered by Emirates Park as Lot 316.

There will also be half-relations to some of the stars of this year’s spring in the shape of Saturday’s G1 Darley Champions Sprint heroine Imperatriz (I Am Invincible), The Everest winner Think About It (So You Think {NZ}) and G1 Caulfield Guineas hero Griff (Trapeze Artist), while those with arguably the most global appeal include the half-sister to Hong Kong Champion Golden Sixty (Medaglia D’Oro {USA}) and the half-brother to this year’s dual-Group 1 winner in Europe Warm Heart (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), the latter of which will be the first foal out of three-time Group 1 heroine Sea Siren (Fastnet Rock) to be offered for sale in Australia.

Other lots sure to command plenty of interest include the Extreme Choice half-sister to King’s Gambit (I Am Invincible), who remains one of the most exciting young sprinters in Australia, and the three-quarter brother to star sprinter Sunlight (Zoustar), whose family has lit up the Magic Millions auditorium on several occasions in the past few years. They will be offered as Lots 256 and 181 by Newgate and Emirates Park respectively.

Gallery: Half-relations to these stars are sure to command interest on the Gold Coast in January 2024

Aside from the obvious standouts in the catalogue, one of the aspects of this year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling sale that has Bowditch most excited is the number of first-season sires who will be represented, with buyers able to get their first look at the progeny of no less than 26 freshman stallions come the second week of January.

Bowditch feels that the position of the Gold Coast Yearling Sale in the calendar means that Magic Millions is always the best place to shop for yearlings by first-season sires, and 2024 is set to be no different, with large representation from the likes of Bivouac, Farnan, Ole Kirk and Wootton Bassett (GB), the latter of which has already proven himself as an elite stallion in the Northern Hemisphere, some of the headline acts in that sphere.

Gallery: The 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale includes a large representation from first-season sires

“I think it’s a huge year for first-season sires and I think it’s a very well-credentialled mob this year,” he said.

“Each and every year we have what I believe is the best by these sires that go to market. The vendors and the studs want to get these horses off to a great start, so they support Magic Millions to set the tone for the rest of the year.

“The first-season horses are a great talking point every year going into the sale and I think it adds to it that we have a lot of horses by the very proven sires, and then through the middle there’s a lot of horses by the emerging sire talent too.

Table: Top 10 most represented first-season sires in the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale catalogue

“I’d like to think the catalogue has a horse for everyone and there are plenty of horses at each margin of the budget. We’re just very excited in the coming weeks to get out on the road and not only market the sale domestically, but internationally as well.”

Global appeal

Having been sourced from the Gold Coast Yearling Sale for $120,000 back in 2017, two-time Hong Kong Horse of the Year Golden Sixty, who in April became the most prolific Group 1 winner in the jurisdiction’s history, has flown the flag beautifully for Magic Millions on the international stage.

In becoming the first horse ever to win the G1 Champions Mile on three occasions earlier this year, Golden Sixty also surpassed the record of the great Winx (Street Cry {Ire}), another Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale graduate, as the world’s leading prizemoney earner, meaning that the two highest earners in the history of thoroughbred racing were sold as yearlings on the Gold Coast.

A record like that, coupled with the relentless prizemoney increases Down Under and the current state of play with the Australian dollar, gives the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale huge international appeal in the eyes of Bowditch, who is optimistic that overseas buyers will once again realise the incredible return on investment potential available at this auction.

“We’re hopeful and we’re working hard to make sure that our international market is very aware of the catalogue and very aware of what this sale can provide you with,” Bowditch said.

“Given the currency and exchange rate in Australia at the moment, I think there’s a lot of good reason to be very supportive of the Australian product, particularly when you look at what they can race for in Australia with the incredible prizemoney that’s on offer week in, week out.

“The Magic Millions race series is also going from strength to strength with the 2-year-old increasing from $2 million to $3 million for this year and the 3-year-old race going to $3 million as well. In 2025, it goes to a bigger level again, with $20 million up for grabs in 24 hours.

“Then on top of that, the fact that some of the best horses in the world will be sold in Australia, in January, gives us confidence to go to the international market and invite them to the Gold Coast in January.”

The fun and theatre associated with this sale, whether it be through the barrier draw on the famous Surfers Paradise beach or the Pacific Fair polo and showjumping event - which this year features the inaugural Queensland Off-The-Track Cup - undoubtedly adds another dimension to the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

Gallery: The Magic Millions carnival adds another dimension to the horse sale, images courtesy of Magic Millions

Now that the lid has been lifted on the quality laden catalogue for 2024, Bowditch is counting down the days until the hoards of industry participants descend on Queensland’s Gold Coast, and in his mind, there is no better place to host the eight-day extravaganza.

“This is our grand final for Magic Millions,” he said. “We’re excited to get our vendors and buyers to the Gold Coast and provide them with a great market to sell and buy upon, and to do it in such a beautiful place as the Gold coast, where we’re going to have a lot of fun along the way, is very exciting.

“The quality of the horse we get here sets the tone, the race series is a huge component and then there is the depth and diversity - there is no sale that has that depth like the January catalogue. To be able to provide all of that, in one of the most beautiful places in the world, the Gold Coast, is what I’m most excited about.

“There is just so much incentive around this sale, and I feel anyone that’s in this game, whether you have got a big budget or a small budget, you just have to be there.”

Selling at the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale will commence at 11am AEST on Tuesday, January 9 and will continue through to the final Book 1 session on Saturday January, 13 which will remain in its traditional evening slot after the running of the lucrative $14.25 million Magic Millions Raceday at the Gold Coast Turf Club.

Book 2 will then be held on Monday January, 15 and Tuesday January, 16 following a designated day of inspections on Sunday 14.