The Slipper Fits For Coolmore

A good-looking half-brother to a Golden Slipper winner, who happens to also be by a Golden Slipper winner, is bound to be on the shopping list of any serious Australian stallion master, and so that proved Friday during the third session of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale when Coolmore saw off all comers to secure lot 612 for A$1.5 million.

The strong figures posted over the first two days of the sale were built upon Friday, with the clearance rate holding steady at 88.5%–it was 89% at the close of trade Thursday. The average continued its climb and now sits at A$200,312 (up 20% on this stage last year). The gross of A$102,760,000 for 513 sold is up 37% from this point last year, when 450 were sold.

“It's gone from strength to strength,” said Magic Millions Managing Director Vin Cox. “We have five million dollar-plus horses, and the fact that they're all by Magic Millions graduates is something we're quite proud of.”

The session-topping colt, bred by John Camilleri's Fairway Thoroughbreds and consigned by Segenhoe Stud, is from the first crop of Coolmore stallion Pierro (Aus), Australia's champion 2-year-old of 2012 who won the Slipper and the 2-year-old Triple Crown. The colt's stock increased even further last April when his half-brother, 'TDN Rising Star' Vancouver (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro), also swept the world's richest juvenile race. Their dam, the Danehill mare Skates (Aus), was already the dam of Group 1 winner Juste Moment (Aus) (Giant's Causeway) and listed winner Captain Coltish (Aus) (Fusaichi Pegasus). This colt is the last foal out of Skates, who died last year at 19.

Coolmore's Tom Magnier explained his team is familiar with the family, with Skates having previously been a resident of Coolmore Australia. Vancouver was born at Coolmore, sold by Coolmore for A$185,000 at this sale and will return to his birthplace for stud duty after racing after Coolmore bought into him after his Slipper win.

“We know the family very well and we're excited about Pierro, so we're delighted to have the horse,” Magnier said, suggesting the colt would be raced with a partnership. “One of the great things about racing here is that we've had some great partners we've raced horses with so we're looking forward to that, and we just need a bit of luck now going forward. We'll take the horse home and have a think about it and go from there.”

Magnier also expressed optimism about the Pierro yearlings as a group. He has thus far had 36 of 39 sell for an average of A$263,750.

“Pierro is very exciting,” he said. “There's been some lovely types by him here and I know there are some lovely types going to [Inglis] Easter, so I think he's going to have a big season on the sales circuit this year.”

It was the second straight year for a first-season sire–and Golden Slipper winner–to notch a seven-figure lot at the Gold Coast sale. Last year's sale was topped by a A$1.2 million son of Sepoy (Aus), also from Segenhoe.

Segenhoe General Manager Peter O'Brien is another who is well familiar with the family, having worked with Camilleri for around 20 years first at Coolmore and now in his current role. O'Brien said this colt was the best physical out of the mare.

“From day one he's always been a beautiful horse,” O'Brien said. “I've seen every foal out of the mare and to me he's the best she's thrown. He's by a Golden Slipper winner and a half-

brother to a Golden Slipper winner, so it's the match. We didn't expect him to make that figure, but the main thing is he's gone to a great home.”

O'Brien paid high praise to Magic Millions.

“The first thing for us was actually sending him up here,” he said. “That was a big vote of confidence in Magic Millions. Normally colts so good-looking and so well-bred we would have sent to Easter, but because of the job Vin Cox and the crew at Magic Millions have done it's a sale now that you can get big prices at.”

Vancouver's brother was the second big sale of the day for Segenhoe, which also sent through a A$775,000 Exceed and Excel (Aus) filly (lot 592) a short time earlier. That one was bought by Shadwell Australasia–which has thus far bought seven at the sale–and racing manager Angus Gold said she would go into training with David Hayes.

“She was a very athletic individual,” he said. “From the first time I saw her I loved everything about her. She seemed to have a very good mind and a lot of size and scope for an Exceed and Excel. She conducted herself well and was a very athletic filly. She was in the top four fillies to me and I kept getting beaten on the colts so I thought I should go for something I really do like.”

Darley resident Exceed and Excel enjoyed another good sale late in the session when agent James Harron signed for lot 631, a colt out of stakes winner Strawberry Field (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}), for A$700,000.

Gold added another to his haul late in the session when picking up lot 639, a Street Cry (Ire) colt, for A$400,000. The Baramul Stud-consigned colt is a half-brother South African champion and first-season yearling sire Delago Deluxe (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}), who has turned plenty of heads at the sale this week himself. Their dam, Succeeding (Aus) (Flying Spur {Aus}), is a half-sister to sires Duporth (Aus) (Red Ransom), Excites (Aus) (Danewin {Aus}) and Tickets (Aus) (Redoute's Choice {Aus}).

Monsoon Hits The Gold Coast…

Coolmore stud's Pierro (Aus) filly out of Monsoon Wedding (Aus) (Danehill) (lot 448) was one of the most anticipated offerings of the sale–and certainly among the best-bred–and the athletic bay filly lived up to her sale-ring promise Friday when selling for A$1.4 million to become thus far the sale's most expensive filly. Agent James Harron signed the ticket alongside agent Hubie de Burgh, who was acting on behalf of Hill 'N' Dale's John Sikura. It was the first purchase for Sikura in Australia.

“The owner is pretty new to Australia; it is Hubie's client and he is very keen on this family,” said Harron. “It is just one of the best families and it is so hard to get your hands on them. She is a beautiful type.”

Coolmore bought Monsoon Wedding for A$2.3 million from the Teeley dispersal at the Magic Millions National Sale in 2014 carrying this filly. The 14-year-old mare is out of Shantha's Choice (Aus) (Canny Lad {Aus}) and therefore a full-sister to three-time champion sire Redoute's Choice (Aus) and Group 1 winner Platinum Scissors (Aus). She is a half-sister to Group 1 winner and sire Manhattan Rain (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}) as well as the dam of Group 2 winner and young Coolmore sire Rubick (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}). Monsoon Wedding, who is already the dam of Group 3 winner Precious Lorraine (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}), listed winner Lucky Raquie (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}) and two other listed-placed winners, moved to Coolmore's Irish base after producing this filly and is currently in foal to Galileo (Ire). De Burgh recognized the family if going global.

“The family is now getting out of Australia with two half-sisters out of Australia with one in foal to War Front and the other in foal to Medaglia d'Oro, so they are in the best hands,” said de Burgh, who added that Sikura has been monitoring the Australian industry for some time.

“[Sikura] has been looking at Australia very closely as it is such a strong market now with strong prize money and he wants to be part of it,” the agent noted. “James [Harron] will manage everything down here.”

De Burgh said currency rates aided in the decision to buy the filly.

“Converted to U.S. dollars, and while I know it was expensive, on a global basis it probably was not,” he said. “[Sikura] converted it and suddenly it became doable,” said de Burgh.

Monsoon Wedding's 2016 Galileo foal will be bred on the same cross as this year's GI Secretariat S. and G1 Hong Kong Vase winner Highland Reel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), whose dam, Hveger (Aus) (Danehill), also hails from a prominent Australian family and was expatriated to Ireland.

“Highland Reel's dam went up there and we had a lot of luck with that,” explained Coolmore's Tom Magnier. “When you've got one of the best families in Australia it's nice to give them a go with Galileo.”

Magnier noted Monsoon Wedding had boarded at Coolmore for years before they bought her from the Teeley dispersal.

“We've had the mare on the farm for a long time and have seen a lot of her progeny and we always thought she'd suit Galileo,” he said. “We're looking forward to seeing the foal this year and to have a filly like that here–all the right people were on her.”

Harron Secures Another Snitzel…

It didn't take long for Harron to jump back into the action at the top end, and he pushed lot 476 to become Snitzel (Aus)'s third seven-figure lot of the sale when he had the final say at A$1 million for the colt from Arrowfield. The late July foal is the first out of stakes winner Nocturnelle (Aus) (Elusive Quality).

“He was my number one pick of the sale,” revealed Harron, who said the colt would go into training with Peter and Paul Snowden. “He was a beautiful type and we've had a lot of luck with Snitzel. Nocturnelle was a very good mare, so we're really glad to get him.”

Harron noted it was the same price he paid for Edmund and Belinda Bateman's G1 Australian Guineas winner Wandjina (Aus) at Inglis Easter three years ago.

“We bought Wandjina a couple years ago for a million dollars and he rated up there physically with him,” Harron said of his purchase.

New Club Members…

The China Horse Club has been one of the more active buyers on the Gold Coast this week–second only to trainer Gai Waterhouse by total haul–with 20 bought for A$6.6 million with various partners through the end of the third session. One of those partners has been WinStar Farm, and the two operations collaborated once again to buy lot 538, a Redoute's Choice (Aus) colt from Baramul Stud, who is out of the stakes-placed Rendzina (Aus) (Testa Rossa {Aus}), for A$700,000.

“He'll go back to Newgate and he's probably going to go to Peter Snowden,” said WinStar's Elliott Walden, who said of his first visit to Magic Millions this week, “It's good, it's been hard to buy–I like the fact that horses are moving, an 88% clearance rate is incredible.”

A short time later, the China Horse Club and WinStar partnered again on lot 544, a A$300,000 colt by WinStar's More Than Ready from the family of Group 1 winners Fairy King Prawn (Aus) (Danehill) and Cosmic Endeavour (Aus) (Northern Meteor {Aus}).

Also included in the China Horse Club's purchases Friday was lot 567, a Snitzel colt out of a half-sister to G1 KrisFlyer Sprint winner Green Birdie (Aus) (Catbird {Aus}) who cost A$525,000. Also making that price and secured by Asian interests was lot 543, a son of I Am Invincible (Aus) bought by agent Justin Bahen and partners. That colt was one of two by his sire–and consigned by Yarraman Park, which stands I Am Invincible–to hit the half-million mark Friday. Lot 486 was bought by Magic Millions as agent for a Queensland-based client for A$500,000.

No Doubting This Filly…

Not A Single Doubt's best progeny to date has been the G1 Blue Diamond S.-winning filly Miracles of Life (Aus), and Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum will be hoping lot 441 can measure up to that flagbearer's standard after his agent Tim Stakemire went to A$650,000 to secure the bay early in the session Friday. That price was a yearling sale record for Not A Single Doubt, the son of Redoute's Choice who stands at Arrowfield Stud for A$33,000.

The mid-August foal is the first foal out of the stakes-placed Miss Sharapova (NZ) (Ustinov), herself a half-sister to G2 Challenge S. winner Villa Verde (Aus) (Not A Single Doubt {Aus}). The third dam, Group 3 winner Sushi Rocket (Aus) (Salmon Leap {Aus}), is a half-sister to Group 1 winner and sire Rory's Jester (Aus) (Crown Jester {Aus}).

“She's a very nice filly with a pedigree; she's a queen,” said Stakemire. “We thought she was a standout so we're very happy to have her. Hopefully she'll be in the race [the Magic Milions 2YO Classic] next year.”

Stakemire noted that Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa has about 35 horses in training in Australia and 35 broodmares in the Hunter Valley. Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa bred last year's G1 Blue Diamond S. and G1 Sires' Produce S. winner Pride Of Dubai (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) in partnership with Coolmore, the China Horse Club and Emmaroo Bloodstock.

Saturday's final session of Book 1 of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale kicks off at 6 p.m. local time, upon the conclusion of the A$10 million Magic Millions raceday across the street from the sales complex.