STAR filly Coolangatta consolidated her favouritism for the Golden Slipper Stakes-G1 in March recording a brilliant win in the $2 million Magic Millions Two-Year-Old Classic at Gold Coast last Saturday.
Restricted to graduates of Magic Millions Bloodstock auctions, the Ciaron Maher/David Eustace trained filly had to dig deep to defend her unbeaten crown (now three wins) to defeat another talented filly Russian Conquest which belongs to the first crop of Snitzel stallion Russian Revolution.
By champion sire Written Tycoon, Coolangatta cost Ciaron Maher $280,000 when selling via John Muir's Milburn Creek Thoroughbreds, Wildes Meadow, in the Southern Highlands.
Fillies also filled third and fourth, the Garry Portelli trained Snitzel daughter Snitcat, then the Michael Costa prepared Perfect Mission, respectively. As Perfect Mission - a first crop a daughter of Choisir horse The Mission, also sired Mishani Warfare, the first male to finish in fifth.
Super stallion, I Am Invincible displayed his versatility as a sire being responsible for sprinter King Of Sparta winning the 1400 metres $2m Gold Coast Magic Millions Guineas, while the Gai Waterhouse/Adrian Bott trained Navy Cross took the $1m Gold Coast Magic Millions Subzero 2400 metres.
Bred by Yarraman Park and prominent breeder Hilton Cope, King Of Sparta fetched $700,000 when sold via Yarraman at the 2020 sale edition.
Meanwhile, from next year the Gold Coast Turf Club's Magic Millions extravaganza race-day will include two new races boosting its prize-pool to $11.75m across the program.
Expanding to a 10 race-card, the Magic Millions The Syndicate, and the Magic Millions The Debut will be its additions.
Worth $1m, the 1200 metres The Syndicate will be open to three-year-olds and upwards and will create the world's largest ownership experience in the process. Entrants must be owned by a minimum of 20 individual registered owners and/or syndicate members from its first race through to the running of The Syndicate.
The $500,000 The Debut will be run over 900 metres restricted to first starting juveniles and will become the richest two-year-old maiden event in the world.
Record millions
WALLETS opened for the right horses at the Gold Coast's extravaganza Magic Millions Yearling Sale last week, so much so that 19 horses sold for one-million-dollars or more, seven more than at last year's auction.
Across the five-day sessions of Book 1, buyers spent a record $228.8 million for the 777 lots sold, the same number of yearlings sold as last year's auction, but $31.6m higher. The average rose to $294,476 (up from $253,848) as well as its clearance rate of over 92%.
Coolmore Stud's Tom Magnier splashed out $1.9m for its top priced lot (same top price reached as last year), for Newgate Farm's I Am Invincible colt, from Suspicieuse, a French bred mare and also producer of $1.2m earner and Queensland young stallion Dubious.
Sire of Dubious - the retired Arrowfield Stud horse Not A Single Doubt, also had a massive seller when his colt from Sebring Group winner Miss Admiration sold from Segenhoe Stud, Scone, for $1.7m to a partnership including leading trainer Ciaron Maher.
The Magic Millions Two-Year-Old Classic winning conditioner also paid $1.5m for a Pierro colt, from Ravi.
Victorian agent Sheamus Mills outlaid $1.55m for a I Am Invincible filly, a sister to Melbourne stakes winner Najmaty, sold from Emirates Park, Murrurundi.
Hawkes Racing paid the highest ever price for a yearling by Deep Field, the Northern Meteor's stud home - Newgate Farm, selling the colt which was produced from Capital Commander.
Arrowfield Stud's champion sire Snitzel and Widden's ace stallion Zoustar also had $1m plus yearlings.
While the now gelded seven-year-old Kementari finished 16th in the $1m Magic Millions Cup (to Eleven Eleven), two of his only known offspring, were among the interesting lots at the sale.
The sale filly - from Mithila and sold via Canny Downs Queensland, fetched $325,000, while a Kementari colt (from With Care) sold from the Harris' Scone property Toolooganvale for $200,000.
First season sire honours went to Arrowfield Stud's five-time Group 1 winner The Autumn Sun with a top of $950,000 for a Savabeel filly out of Duchess Kate.
Love agricultural news? Sign up for The Land's free daily newsletter.
