The beginning of the Vin Cox era at Godolphin in 2018 was marked by the global giant’s presence on the buyers’ list at an Australian yearling sale for the first time in a decade.
Cox, in his final days of his previous role as Managing Director of Magic Millions ahead of taking up the head role at Godolphin later that year, had convinced Godolphin supremo Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum that it was a worthwhile exercise to re-invest in some fresh bloodlines for the Australian racing and breeding operations.
In the six years since, Godolphin have purchased 51 horses across yearling sales in Australia and New Zealand, investing just over $21 million. It has proven a successful strategy, at least when it comes to the racetrack, with Saturday’s Randwick winner Parkour the 32nd of those horses to win a race.
Parkour was a $600,000 purchase from the 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. The first-ever yearling by Newgate sire sensation Extreme Choice purchased and raced by Godolphin, he is now destined for the $3 million Magic Millions 2YO Classic on Saturday week on the Gold Coast.
Parkour too good for them in the first at Randwick 👏
— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) December 30, 2023
Next up, the Magic Millions 2YO Classic.@jamieleekah07 @godolphin pic.twitter.com/SLeSWVoNzz
That’s a significant next appointment for the James Cummings-trained colt. It was in that race in 2019 that one of the first yearling fillies purchased by Godolphin upon their return to the sales ring, Exhilarates, delivered a milestone victory for Cummings and his new boss Cox.
It was a rapid return on a strategy spearheaded by Cox, who has an extensive background in bloodstock well before his long and successful tenure at Magic Millions. There was a particular focus on fillies to help refresh the future Godolphin broodmare band.
Of the 51 Australasian yearlings Godolphin have purchased since 2018, 32 of them have been fillies. Of that group of fillies, purchased at an average price of $533,353, 17 have delivered racetrack victories. Three of those fillies have gone on to stakes victories.
The most feted of those is the multiple Group 1 winner In Secret. Purchased for $900,000 at the 2021 Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale from the draft of Segenhoe Stud, she won both a Coolmore Stud Stakes and a Newmarket Handicap. She is now a winner of nearly $5 million in prizemoney.
Significantly in a jurisdiction focussed on speed, In Secret is the only Godolphin filly to win an Australian Group 1 race for Cummings and Godolphin over less than 1400 metres since Kiamichi won the 2019 Golden Slipper Stakes.
In that regard, and the fact she is by dual champion sire I Am Invincible, her importance to the future Godolphin broodmare band is enormous, especially in the context of the competition for elite mares off the racetrack in Australia, something driven by Cox’s new employer, Yulong.
The other two stakes-winning fillies purchased by Godolphin in Australia as yearlings since 2018 have been Exhilarates, who was successful at Group 3 level, and Hellfest, also a Group 3 winner.
Like In Secret, both are by champion sires, in their respective cases, Snitzel and Fastnet Rock, and both of those horses headed to Great Britain last breeding season to be served on Southern Hemisphere time by champion sire Dubawi.
Metropolitan winners purchased by Godolphin as yearlings in Australasia since 2018
| Horse | Winning level | Yearling Price |
|---|---|---|
| In Secret | Group 1 | $900,000 |
| Hellfest | Group 3 | $600,000 |
| Exhilarates | Group 3 | $600,000 |
| Fleetwood | Metro | $160,000 |
| Avon River | Metro | $500,000 |
| Widespread | Metro | $50,000 |
| Montserrat | Metro | $200,000 |
| Secretively | Metro | $450,000 |
| Badia | Metro | $600,000 |
| Night Witches | Metro | $240,000 |
| Parkour | Metro | $600,000 |
| Minouche | Metro | $200,000 |
| Marnix | Metro | $210,000 |
| Virgo | Metro | $600,000 |
| Tersane | Metro | $100,000 |
| Jadida | Metro | $1,000,000 |
| Inhibitions | Metro | $380,000 |
| Conceited | Metro | $625,000 |
Data courtesy of Arion.co.nz
Godolphin’s yearling colt purchases, which have averaged $307,652 since 2018, have been somewhat less successful. While 16 of the 19 have won races, none of have yet to win at stakes level.
Parkour certainly looks more than capable based on his dominant win under Jamie Kah at Randwick on Saturday. The Goodwood Farm graduate is the first of the latest two-year-old crop of Extreme Choice to win a race. Given the rarity factor associated with Extreme Choice, he could become a very important future stud prospect should he prove himself up to the best two-year-olds.
While Parkour may be the first by his sire to race in the Godolphin blue, Cummings did train Extreme Choice’s sister Ultra, who won one race before being retired to stud in 2022. She was also purchased at Magic Millions, signed away for $600,000 (coincidentally from Yulong), in 2020.
Ultra’s value as an ongoing broodmare for Godolphin is apparent in her first mating. She delivered a filly by Frankel in October having been sent to Great Britain in 2022.
While the shorter-term racing strategy of buying yearlings has delivered some success for Godolphin in Australia, the longer-term strategy around breeding is only just starting to bear fruit.
However, with Cox now departed for Yulong, the question remains as to what involvement we will see from Godolphin when the 2024 yearling sale season begins on the Gold Coast in January.
Parkour was one of only five Australian yearling purchases for the ‘blue army’ in 2023, while there were only three in 2022. With no formal announcement of who has succeeded Cox, the strategy remains unclear.
Bren O’Brien
Conversely, it will be fascinating to see if Cox brings a similar strategy around yearling buying to Yulong as he did when he took over the Godolphin role.
Yulong spent over $60 million on buying ready-made broodmares in Australia in 2023, but only a fraction of that on yearlings - hardly surprising considering the volume of young horses it has of its own.
However, the longer-term opportunity of securing well-bred yearling fillies as opposed to paying top dollar for already established race fillies or broodmares, is likely see Yulong play a much more active role moving forward under Cox’s guidance.
