The progeny of Coolmore’s dual Group 1-winning sprinter Home Affairs will be hard-launched at the Magic Millions on the Gold Coast in January, with the first season sire the most represented stallion in the eye-watering catalogue.
Auction house Magic Millions on Tuesday released a stunning 1021-lot Book 1 offering, from January 7 to 10, with a further 380 yearlings to go under the hammer in Book 2 on January 12 and 13.
Confirmation of the Gold Coast catalogue reveals that 63 yearlings by Home Affairs - the Coolmore Stud Stakes and Black Caviar Lightning Stakes winner who retired to stud in 2022 at a then record first-season fee for an Australian-bred sire of $110,000 (inc GST) - have been allotted for the season-opening auction.
His three-time champion sire I Am Invincible has 52 horses catalogued, the second most of any stallion, while Golden Slipper winner Stay Inside has 43 first crop yearlings set for Magic Millions sale. Champion sire Snitzel and Queensland favourite Spirit Of Boom each have 42 yearlings catalogued while Zoustar (39) and Capitalist (38) are also well represented.
The four-day Book 1 sale, which starts on a Tuesday, will culminate with what promises to be a frenetic final hour of selling where yearlings by Home Affairs and I Am Invincible could keep high-end buyers strapped to their seats at the Bundall complex until the end.
A filly by Home Affairs out of champion mare Sunlight and an I Am Invincible brother to Group 2-winning Newgate Farm-based stallion King’s Gambit are among the horses set to go under the hammer late in Friday’s super session.
A three-time Group 1 winner, Sunlight’s first foal, by Justify called Dawn Service, won the Listed Exford Plate at Flemington in September while her second foal, a colt by Wootton Bassett, was sold for $1.4 million at this year’s Inglis Easter sale in Sydney.
Segenhoe Stud sold seven yearlings on the Gold Coast last January that fetched $1 million or more and the Peter O’Brien-managed operation appears to have another strong hand for the 2025 edition of the season-opening Magic Millions sale.
On day one, the brother to Group 1-winning mare Amelia’s Jewel, by France’s super sire Siyouni, will be offered by Segenhoe Stud on behalf of his breeder Peter Walsh while the esteemed Hunter Valley nursery will also offer the sister to Godolphin’s Group 1-winning sprinter In Secret on day two for breeders Kevin Maloney and Michael Christian.
A Snitzel half-brother to Hartnell will also go through on day two for Arrowfield Stud as will an Extreme Choice filly out of Matthew Sandblom’s Empire Rose winner I Am A Star that is in the Newgate Farm draft.
“We had a lot of fun picking this catalogue up. We really enjoyed working with the vendors and it's a super lot of yearlings,” Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch told The Straight.
“It's chock full of quality, but as you know, there's horses at all levels. Whether you've got a small budget, a medium budget or a big budget, I think there's so much quality throughout the catalogue and year-on-year that continues to grow.
“We're just genuinely excited with what's been put together for 2025.”
Magic Millions has altered the format of its premier sale by axing the Saturday night session and holding a bumper Friday session to close out the main Book, giving its $20 million race day on Saturday, January 11, clear air.
The company has also delayed the start of its Book 2 sale to 3.30pm on the Sunday to provide buyers with as much time as possible to inspect yearlings.
“Firstly, we're really excited by the Book 1 format. I think what has happened by creating the super session on the Friday, the catalogue has quality all the way through it,” the managing director said.
“I thought, in recent years, that we may have lost a yearling or two later in the catalogue (because of the Saturday evening fatigue factor), but vendors have responded to the change very positively.”
Magic Millions has celebrated a string of sale graduate Group 1 success in recent weeks, headed by Melbourne Cup fairytale story Knight’s Choice, Caulfield Guineas-winning colt Private Life, Spring Champion Stakes winner El Castello and valuable Manikato Stakes-winning stallion prospect Southport Tycoon.
“I think it's just showing that this sale isn't one-dimensional anymore, whether you want to buy a Slipper winner, an older sprinter, a sharp three-year-old or a staying three-year-old that goes to the Classics, or even a Melbourne Cup winner, our catalogue seems to tick those boxes,” Bowditch said.
“When you look at the graduates, we're well over three times what the most comparable sale is for Group 1 winners since 2019, which is a huge statistic.”
Bowditch, who returned on Tuesday from almost a fortnight in the United States where he attended the Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton breeding stock sales, has been canvassing local and international buyer interest less than two months out from Magic Millions’ flagship event.
“There's genuine interest from owners and agents, both in North America and Europe (in the Australian industry), so that was fantastic,” Bowditch said of his overseas mission.
“It's our job over the next six weeks to get as many people booked in as we possibly can to make the trip and have owners to buy for.”
Staff Writer
Magic Millions schedule
Saturday, January 4: Magic Millions twilight race meeting featuring the $3m Magic Millions Sunlight and $1m Magic Millions The Syndicate
Sunday, January 5: Magic Millions Polo & Showjumping
Tuesday, January 7: Magic Millions Barrier Draw, Surfers Paradise Foreshore
Tuesday, January 7: day 1, 10am - Lots 1-240
Wednesday, January 8: day 2, 10am - Lots 241-480
Thursday, January 9: day 3, 10am - Lots 481-720
Friday, January 10: day 4, 10am - Lots 721-1021
Saturday, January 11: Magic Millions raceday featuring the $3m Magic Millions 2YO Classic & $3m Gold Coast Magic Millions 3YO Guineas
Sunday, January 12: day 5, 3.30pm - Lots 1022-1141
Monday, January 13: day 6, 10am - Lots 1141-1401
