Rowe On Monday – Showdown looms in 2YO auctions, Kelly’s fears for wagering growth amid QRIC exit and a homebred reward at Flemington

Auction calendars collide for 2YO buyers

There may have been a few raised eyebrows when Magic Millions last week announced its Horses in Training Sale on the Gold Coast would be held just three days before the Inglis Ready to Race Sale.

But Magic Millions’ reasoning would be as much about the convenience of the buyer and far less about the vendors, who will make it work regardless.

Inglis had an inkling of the likely October 12 date for its rival’s sale – with the Sydney sale to be conducted on October 15, two days prior to The Everest meeting at Randwick.

To complicate matters, and not for the first time, the two-day breeze-up session for New Zealand Bloodstock’s November Ready to Run Sale is scheduled for October 12 and 13 at Te Rapa.

It could be described as a game of brinkmanship between the three auction houses all clamouring for the same buyers – and, just as importantly, quality horses.

The move by Magic Millions will mean some international buyers – particularly from Hong Kong and Malaysia – can fly into the Gold Coast after their weekend race meetings for their sale, then make their way to Sydney for the Inglis offering.

Inglis Bloodstock chief executive Sebastian Hutch admitted he had heard “murmurings” that Magic Millions intended to hold its breeze-up sale in the same week as his company’s but he is yet to speak to counterpart Barry Bowditch about possible back-office synergies given the closeness of the two auctions.

“We haven’t had any conversations at this point about any practical operational matters in terms of buyers or anything like that,” Hutch said.

“At the end of the day, how they run their sale is their prerogative and we’re very much focused on how we run ours. 

“In some respects, this is no different to New Zealand Bloodstock. Amazingly, the only days that they can run their breeze-ups are the Monday and Tuesday before our sale.”

For vendors who support both Australian two-year-old sales, even when they were a week apart, the turnaround is another obstacle that most will overcome.

Long-time seller Tal Nolen is again expected to support both companies’ sales with two-year-olds while the select New Zealand vendors supporting Inglis will have to manage the logistics of breeze-ups at Te Rapa while inspections are underway in Sydney.

“I would expect there to be a few other people who’ll be selling a horse at both (Australian) sales,” Hutch said.

“It’s a different set-up over where you breeze, and there might be people who have horses to sell in both places, but consign them through different people just because of where they prepare the horses, et cetera.”

The quality of the respective catalogues will, in many ways, dictate to whom and how many buyers attend what sale and those who make the trip for both.

Hong Kong owners and trainers, as a rule, have agents to assist them in their selection process, thereby reducing the time required for pre-sale inspections of the short-listed horses identified through analysis of the breeze-up videos.

If Magic Millions can convince the Hong Kong Jockey Club, which has regularly hosted a travelling contingent of its owners at one of the two-year-old sales each year, it would only help its cause.

Considering the competitiveness of the two-year-old sale market, this column believes that Magic Millions has made the right call in a bid to enhance the fortunes of its breeze-up auction.

Integrity contributes to higher turnover 

The shock resignation of highly respected racing official and long-time steward Kim Kelly as Queensland Racing Integrity Commission’s deputy commissioner can only weaken the organisation.

Kelly quit because he believes the transferring of some QRIC roles suggested in the Queensland Racing Review, undertaken by now Racing Queensland chair Matt McGrath, and subsequently endorsed by the state government, will harm the body’s independence.

His departure comes after Queensland’s 10-meeting winter carnival, held from May to July 4 across Doomben, Eagle Farm, Ipswich, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast, generated a record $411.8 million in domestic wagering turnover.

The figure was up 11 per cent on 2024 and surpassed the previous record set in 2023. The Doomben 10,000, Kingsford-Smith Cup and Hollindale Stakes each recorded record turnover, while three races exceeded $10 million in wagering for the first time during the carnival.

A former steward in Hong Kong, Kelly pointed to the turnover figures for the Queensland winter carnival as an example of QRIC’s turnaround in stakeholder and participant confidence.

“Those types of things tend to be multifaceted, and there’s a lot of cogs in that wheel for those turnover figures to show an increase in this day and age,” Kelly said.

“But I am absolutely convinced that without confidence in the integrity of the sport, then turnover will not increase.

“People will vote with their feet and their wallets if they don’t believe that everything is fair and above board on the track. 

“So, it can’t be denied that integrity is a large part of any increase in turnover, so that’s a positive thing. 

“While QRIC continues to be a standalone independent regulator into the near future, at least, I think punters can continue to have confidence that they’re betting on a product that is fair and above board and that there’s a level playing field.”

Riverina Lulu justifies Mandie’s belief in lightly raced dam

Much of the media attention on Saturday was on the “failures” of Hard Kick and Panchenko in the two-year-old sprint at Flemington rather than Ian Mandie’s homebred Riverina Lulu.

The two-year-old filly is out of Night Of Thunder mare RIverina Storm who raced just four times for Victorian Mandie’s Quat Quata Thoroughbreds.

Trained by Lindsay Park’s then trainers, David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig, Riverina Storm won her first start in January of her two-year-old season before finishing fourth in the Blue Diamond Prelude (F) at Caulfield to Letzbeglam.

She ran 10th in the Blue Diamond, won by Tagaloa, before injury cut short her career after just one start at three.

Mandie added Riverina Storm to his broodmare band, sending her to Brazen Beau and selling her first foal for $100,000 at the Magic Millions in 2024, prior to going to another Darley stallion in Blue Point in her second season.

“A lot of them (Blue Points) have been showing good ability which hasn’t always translated into race day,” Begg’s assistant Rohan Hughes said after Riverina Lulu’s win on Saturday.

“But she went to the jump-outs on very heavy ground and just motored through it, so that meant today was the right time of the year to come to the races.

“To do that on debut against race-experienced horses and cope with the day, it’s suggestive of a really nice horse going forward.”

Riverina Storm has a yearling filly, also by Blue Point, and a weanling colt by Maurice. She is also in foal to Home Affairs, which now looks an inspired and highly commercial mating.