After a 12-month sabbatical, bloodstock agent Julian Blaxland and trainers Anthony and Sam Freedman reunited on day one of the Magic Millions Yearling Sale on the Gold Coast.
The early sales ring results revealed the Blaxland-Freedman Racing professional relationship was back on while newly formed partnerships also wasted little time in confirming their alliances, including James Harron’s colts syndicate and Tony Fung Investments.
Blaxland bought eight yearlings on behalf of clients at the corresponding Gold Coast sale last year. The Freedman name appeared alongside his own on the buyers’ sheet, it just wasn’t Anthony and Sam.
Lee and Michael featured but Anthony, the second eldest of the famous four Freedman training brothers, was not among them.
Blaxland and Anthony, who now trains in partnership with his son Sam at Pinecliff near Mornington as well as Cranbourne and now Randwick, were side by side once more on Tuesday.
Freedman Racing and Blaxland went to $160,000 for a Lonhro filly from Rosemont Stud and upped the budget by lunchtime, with the addition of a Tassort filly for $260,000 and a Home Affairs filly for $300,000.
Blaxland was delighted to be back in the fold as Freedman Racing embarked on its latest chapter.
“They're a great stable and Sam's certainly been putting his own stamp on the partnership in the last few years, and it's great to be back with them,” said Blaxland who operates Gold Coast hinterland spelling and pre-training property Newington Farm with his wife Kacy..
“They've had a lot of success over the years, obviously with the original FBI and then Anthony, and it's nice to be back working with them again.
“We have a lot to do with wintering their horses at Newington Farm when they bring them up.”
It was on the Gold Coast five years ago that Blaxland, Anthony and Sam combined to buy the subsequent Group 1 Blue Diamond and Canterbury Stakes winner Artorius for $120,000, less than half that year’s sale average of $247,000.
Newgate Farm later bought into him as a stallion prospect and the son of Flying Artie has just completed his second season at stud.
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Blaxland indicated that the Freedmans wouldn’t change their successful formula of finding value away from the high six and seven-figure yearlings.
“We're not generally looking at the top end, just trying to find athletes and trying to find some value,” he said.
Fellow bloodstock agent Harron, with the extra capital injected to his colts syndicate by Hong Kong billionaire Tony Fung, entered the market inside the first 20 minutes of the sale when he bought a Home Affairs colt for $550,000.
Out of US-bred mare Tell Your Mama, who was offered by Lime Country Thoroughbreds, the appeal of the North American bloodlines mixed with colonial Australian speed continues the trend.
Tim Rowe
Group 1 winners Switzerland, Little Brose, Forbidden Love, Wild Ruler and Russian Revolution are also out of American mares.
Meanwhile, Resolute Racing’s John Stewart, whose first trip to the Magic Millions was curtailed by a family emergency back in America, has kept up his word by bidding online.
In the first three hours of the sale, Stewart had bought four yearlings - the most expensive being a Home Affairs filly out of Witherspoon, a stakes-placed Exceed And Excel mare who was trained by Brad Widdup and later Kris Lees.
Melbourne-based agent Suman Hedge has also joined forces with Trilogy Racing’s Jason and Mel Stenning and Sean and Cathy Dingwall, but they had not yet bought a horse and the group is expected to maintain a low profile on the buying front at the Gold Coast.
The Stennings and Dingwalls operate renowned Victorian stud Blue Gum Farm, which sold a Too Darn Hot colt for $130,000 to trainer Andrew Forsman on day one.
Staff Writer
The first 100 Lots through the Magic Millions ring on Tuesday averaged $230,928 compared to last year’s figure of $281,017.
The clearance rate was about 81 per cent after the first three and a half hours of selling.
