The expectations were there months ago that the filly by Home Affairs out of Sunlight would be the sale topper at Magic Millions. Defying the unproven status of her sire, the Coolmore-raised filly was destined to grab headlines, and that she did, as she reached $3.2 million.
In a more risk-averse market, the residual value of a well-bred filly has never been more appealing.
Three of the top four lots on the Gold Coast were fillies, all purchased in some part by international interests, and all out of champion mares or Group 1-producing mares. The value of the pedigree page is still as strong as ever, especially when it comes to international investment.
Across the entire sale, including Book 2, the average price of a filly was $219,341, a 7.1 per cent jump from last year. In contrast, the average value of a colt dropped 2.9 per cent to $212,973.
It’s a historically significant inversion of the market. We have gone back as far as 2005 and we believe it is the first time that fillies have averaged more than colts at this sale.
Average price at Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale
There are a couple of things at play here.
As mentioned, the market, in its current state, has become more enamoured with the long-term value of fillies. The last three editions of the Easter Yearling Sale, an auction with pedigree very much to the fore, have seen fillies average more than colts.
Magic Millions, to its credit, has also been much more active in convincing breeders and vendors to bring fillies with richer pedigrees to the year’s first yearling sale. The last two editions have now been topped by fillies out of superstar mares in eight-time Group 1 winner Avantage, whose filly by Wootton Bassett fetched $2.1 million last year, and three-time Group 1 winner Sunlight.
The former cost Coolmore NZ$4.1 million, the latter $4.2 million. Away Game, the dam of the $1.8 million Written Tycoon filly purchased last week, sold for $4 million in 2022.
But it wasn’t just the elite fillies that were more appealing to the market. The median price for a filly was $150,000, $10,000 more than for a colt. The clearance rates for fillies, at 87 per cent was also substantially higher than the colts, at 79.6 per cent.
A recent look at the performances of star mares in Australia, both on the racetrack and then subsequently in the sales ring, will tell you why there is so much faith in the fillies market.
Bren O’Brien
Over the past 10 years, the average price of a filly on the Gold Coast has increased from $117,877 to $219,341, or 86 per cent, while the average increase for a colt since 2015 has been 48 per cent.
The market preference has fluctuated significantly in that time. Just five years ago, at the 2020 sale, colts were, on average, nearly $40,000 more than fillies. With colt funds to the fore at that point, eight of the 10 million-dollar lots were purchased as stallion prospects.
Of those eight colts, just one, sale-topper Profondo, would end up at stud.
That colt-led approach was still very strong as soon as two years ago, when the average price for a Gold Coast colt hit a historic high of $243,069.
The 2025 colt average of $212,973, a 12.4 per cent correction off the peak, is the lowest on the Gold Coast since 2018.
So why has the heat come out of the colt market so much?
Again, the risk profile of the market has changed. Stallion-led approaches are speculative by nature and in the current environment, fewer are willing to take that risk.
The colt boom from 2018 to 2023 was driven by greater competition. Aquis came and went, Rosemont rose, Coolmore stepped up as did James Harron, Kia Ora, China Horse Club/Newgate, Ciaron Maher, Waterhouse-Bott and others.
This year James Harron and TFI, the Aquis offshoot, joined forces, Kia Ora stepped back investment, as did CHC/Newgate and Rosemont’s colts syndicate opted out. The number of million-dollar colts halved from 14 to seven.
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Coolmore purchased three of those, while the other seven-figure colts went to CHC/Newgate, Harron/TFI, Dean Hawthorne/GSA and Maher.
Maher’s $2.8 million purchase of the Snitzel colt out of Humma Humma was backed by British investor Phil Cunningham, who was visiting Australia for the first time.
Cunningham owns a stable of around 50 horses in the United Kingdom and pointed to the relative affordability of the Australian colt market as a reason for his willingness to get involved.
“If you were to buy the top lot of Book One at Tattersall's in England, there's not a single race in the UK that you'd get your money back from just in one hit. I mean, there's numerous opportunities here, which I find amazing,” Cunningham told The Straight.
“It does sound crazy with you looking at what we paid for the fella, but, you know, it looks quite cheap compared to top lots in the UK sales.”
Overseas investment has also been encouraged by the fact the Australian dollar is currently at its lowest rate compared to the US dollar in many years.
Getting specifically back to colt prices on the Gold Coast, what was notable is that buyers were nowhere near as bullish on the progeny of a couple of leading Australian stallions.
Tim Rowe
Last year, the average price of an I Am Invincible colt on the Gold Coast was $627,000, this year it was $557,000. Similarly, the average for Zoustar colt fell from $595,000 to $450,000.
The colt market swung back to Snitzel, whose colts averaged $783,000 compared to $612,000 last year.
The cold reality is very few colts make it as a stallion prospect and investors must weigh up risk versus reward. Across the five Magic Millions Yearling Sales from 2019 until 2023, there were 2366 colts offered on the Gold Coast, and 19 of them went on to be Group 1-winning colts, and set up their stallion careers.
When you consider that the Gold Coast sale has one of the stronger recent records when producing colts to this level, you can understand why in the current environment, investors might prefer backing in a filly, whose value is nowhere near as dependent on her fortunes on the racetrack.
