Rocket Man, Mornington Glory, and Tarzino are just some of the success stories buyers will be seeking to emulate at the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Yearling Sale June 2-3.
A bumper selection of 374 yearlings will go under the hammer, up from 333 last year, with 119 sires represented and horses on offer by some of the finest stallions in the country, including Zoustar (5), I Am Invincible (3), Too Darn Hot (1), and Australia-bred Ole Kirk (7).
There are also five yearlings by sire sensation Extreme Choice with, intriguingly, three of them bred to northern hemisphere time.
Yearlings from black type mares, including Ellicazoom, Night Raid, and Ticket To Ride are among the catalog.
Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch said the quality of the catalogue had spurred hopes of a buoyant National Sale, where the average last year was AU$42,551, up from AU$39,582 in 2023.
"Off the back of some really solid sales both through weanlings and mares, and the yearling sales holding together pretty well this year, I'm optimistic without being completely buoyant," Bowditch told ANZ Bloodstock News.
"Overall, the quality of the catalogue has increased on what we've had over the past couple of years. At the top end, and in the middle to the top end—I suspect the horses in that level are better than they have been in previous years.
While the last yearling sale of the season always brings doubts over how much money would-be buyers still have to spend, Bowditch believes a diverse buying bench can help produce a robust auction, while there should still be value to be had.
"It's always a tricky sale in that it's at the end of the year, and there's more opportunity than there is demand," he said.
"Buyers and syndicators have gone through five or six thousand yearlings. They've either bought enough or they're still selling what they've got. So there's always that little bit of cautiousness around this sale, because you don't know how much money's left.
"But I feel we've got a good representation from international markets, whether that be South Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia, Hong Kong or New Zealand."
Of the catalogue's six yearlings by Newgate Farm's sub-fertile super sire Extreme Choice, four are from the draft of Magic Millions boss Gerry Harvey's Baramul Stud.
One is a potential sale topper in Lot 1282, a half-brother to group 2 winner Prost. The December throw has been turning heads at the complex over the past few days and could pressure the sale's record price—the AU$850,000 paid in 2019 for a Dundeel colt bought by Team Hawkes.
Baramul offers another Extreme Choice expected to command attention in Lot 1334, a filly out of ATC Cup (winner Telepathic. Foaled Feb. 11, she is one of the three Extreme Choices at the sale born to northern hemisphere time, which stems from extra bookings having to be taken to accommodate Extreme Choice's low fertility, and explains why the three were given as long as possible to develop before the final yearling sale of the season.
Three yearlings by triple champion sire I Am Invincible will go under the hammer—all from Victoria's Longwood Thoroughbred Farm, and all from group-winning mares including Lot 1468, a filly out of Cockram Stakes (G3) heroine Ellicazoom.
Current general sires' table leader, Widden Stud's Zoustar, has five offspring at the sale, including Lot 1229—KBL Thoroughbreds' colt first foal of dual-listed winner Night Raid.
Widden offers one of the best credentialed yearlings by their flagbearer in Lot 1311, a son of listed winner So Far Sokool, while Fernrigg Farm has Lot 1123, a filly out of United States stakes-placed winner, Gone Glimmering.
First season sires' table leader Ole Kirk has seven yearlings in the catalog, including Baramul's Lot 1181, a colt out of eight-time stakes winner Lady Lynette, who took the Blazer Stakes (G2) and also ran second in the Myer Classic (G1).
Nineteen first-season sires are represented including Coolmore's sensational Home Affairs, who's sure to be in high demand after his yearlings topped Magic Millions Gold Coast and Inglis Easter this year.
The young Coolmore stallion has four lots on offer including Lot 1276, a colt out of Roulettes, who's already thrown two stakes winners in Sun City and Parlophone.
Newgate's Golden Slipper (G1) winner Stay Inside has three of his first crop on offer, including Lot 1174, a first foal of an unraced mare from the same family as ten stakes winners including group 1 victors Casino Prince, Prince Fawaz, and Singapore Green Birdie.
Day one of the two-day sale gets underway on Monday at 11 a.m. local time.
