Quality Yearlings Shine Amid Challenging Market at Magic Millions March Sale

The general decline in the Australian yearling market continued this week at the Magic Millions March Yearling Sale held at the auction house’s Bundall headquarters. Horses with physique, presence and at least a little evidence the family could run sold well, but those without that equine trinity struggled.

Although the current average of $34,508 is up 2.8% year on year, the important number with this sale is the gross of $8.32 million which is a sharp drop of 9.1% from 2024, roughly another $900,000 not flowing through the system. A four-point decline in the clearance rate to 73% and a $3,000 fall in the median to $25,000 wouldn’t have been a surprise to vendors given market trends so far in 2025.

The March sale is of strategic importance to the Queensland industry as it gives local breeders and buyers alike the opportunity to maximise returns under the Queensland Thoroughbred Incentive Scheme, QTIS. The top lot over the two days was both QTIS, and as he was conceived in New South Wales by Godolphin’s star shuttle stallion Pinatubo, BOBS eligible.

A strong chestnut carrying a slightly later 9th November foaling date, he could easily have made it into the Sydney Classic or even the Melbourne Premier sales, but breeder Linda Huddy saw a gap in the market, expecting him to be the only youngster by his sire this week.

Prepared and offered by Kandice Pritchard and Brad Lowe’s KBL Thoroughbreds at nearby Beaudesert, Huddy was rewarded handsomely when battle broke out, First Light Racing, Brisbane trainer Tony Gollan and agent John Foote eventually winning out, giving $290,000 for the colt.

We are watching the first Australian conceived crop of Pinatubo go through the ring this season and while he hasn’t blasted out of the blocks, his results have been solid selling up to $700,000 on the Gold Coast.

This colt is out of the I Am Invincible mare Of The Day, a six time winner in Queensland when trained by Gollan. She was good enough to manage a fourth placing in a Listed race and her first foal Esprit Du Jour (Spirit Of Boom) has won a maiden, again out of the Gollan stable.

From the Stravinsky mare Orange Marmalade, Of The Day is a full sister to Most Important, another that carried the Gollan polish and who won ten races including the Gr.3 George Moore Stakes. Their grandam was Majestic Angel (Imperial Seal) winner of the Gr.3 Manawatu Breeders’ Stakes and fourth in a Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks.

Andrew Dunemann, General Manager of Gollan Racing, said of the youngster, “We thought he was the colt of the sale. Tony has had a fair bit to do with the mare and he’s from a really good Queensland family. Linda Huddy has bred him. She's one of our great clients and we have great respect for what she does in terms of breeding them."

Huddy was delighted with the result saying, "Ever since he was foaled we've always liked him. He's always been a beautiful colt and been easy to do anything with. I'm really, really happy with the result and the great job that Brad and Kandice have done - they always present the yearlings and any horses for us and are always beautifully presented.”

Pinatubo was named Champion Two-Year-Old in Europe after winning six races that season highlighted by the Gr.1 Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket. As an outstanding juvenile and a son of Shamardal the expectation is his Australian breds will make an impact early.

At $210,000 a colt from the draft of Cameron and Kellie Bond’s Kenmore Lodge fetched the second top price over the two days, the youngster by Eureka Stud’s perennial sale star Spirit Of Boom.

Out of Lonhro’s daughter Lonhro’s Spirit, the colt will be another to stay in Queensland with Rockhampton trainer Clinton Taylor purchasing him in partnership with Bacon Racing. The colt is a half-brother to the good sprinter End Assembly who has been Gr.3 placed. A four-time winner up to 1400 metres herself, Lonhro’s Spirit is out of Rejoice, a Belong To Me half-sister to the Gr.1 Victoria Derby winner Hit The Roof (Maroof).

Speaking afterwards Taylor said of Spirit Of Boom “We love the stallion; we’ve had terrific success with him. There's a little trick to training them (his progeny) and hopefully we can keep going." And of his new acquisition the trainer said "He was one we identified. He's probably more of a three-year-old (type) and we will give him a bit of time. We really like him and we thought he was good buying."

With yearlings carrying truly commercial pedigrees gobbled up by higher level sales, the March catalogue very much relies on the dam having had ability for the horse to sell well. That was the case for the sale’s third top lot, a $150,000 Capitalist colt out of Sold For Song.

By Danehill’s sparsely used grandson Collate, Sold For Song was a four time winner, amongst them two very good Brisbane sprints in the Daybreak Lover Stakes and the Gold Edition Plate, both Listed races at the time. She was also good enough to be beaten just a nose in the Gr.2 Gilgai Stakes down the Flemington straight course. Her son was bought by agent Suman Hedge for Jason and Mel Stenning and Sean and Cathy Dingwall of Trilogy Racing.

Spirit Of Boom is a QTIS buyers dream, year in year out delivering an outstanding percentage of winners to runners, predominately for Queensland based trainers. Such is his reputation and popularity this week he provided four of the top six lots including the two dearest fillies which both brought $140,000 on Monday.

First through was Lot 56 from the Daandine Stud draft, the filly the first foal out of the Real Saga mare Sweet Dolly which will be another to join the Tony Gollan stables.

The filly is Sweet Dolly’s first foal, the mare having only faced the starter five times, although she was unbeaten as a two-year-old in four of them including the Listed Calaway Gal Stakes.

The other Spirit Of Boom filly had been prepared by Warrandale Stud and was bought by South African Craig Ramsay. She is the first foal out of the young Capitalist mare Williams Bay, a half-sister to the American Grade 3 stakes winner Azul Coast (Super Saver) and a full sister to Kiko who ran third in the Gr.3 Chairman’s Stakes at Flemington at two. Their dam is the well performed Sky Treasure (Sky Mesa) winner of the Grade 2 Nassau Stakes at Woodbine in Toronto.

The continued market slide wouldn’t have come as a surprise to Magic Millions Managing Director Barry Bowditch who was still looking at the positives when the sale finished. “The clearance rate is a bit lower than we would have liked but it was a strong average and there were plenty of six figure horses. For the right product there were plenty of bidders here on the ground. It was expected going in that it would be a bit tough at the bottom end. On the whole we are very happy with the cross section of buyers. The local market has been solid enough and I'm really happy with buyers from interstate and internationally that complemented what the locals were participating on." 

The next sale on the calendar is the industry pinnacle, Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale starting Sunday week at the Riverside complex in Sydney. If there is to be a sale impervious to the general economic forces then it is likely to be Easter given the top of the market through 2025 has continued to grow. That said, using bare statistics there has to be declines in turnover and average given last year the company sold the $10 million Pierro – Winx filly, an outlier sure to have distorted the numbers.