In today's Straight Shorts, entries are open for Magic Millions' Horses in Training Sale, All Too Hard filly Horseshoe Hill breaks maiden ranks, Bunbury's fibre-sand track approved for racing, Lofty Thoughts adds to Snitzel 2YO tally.
Entries open for Magic Millions Horses in Training Sale
Magic Millions boss Barry Bowditch says the auction house will leave no stone unturned in its bid to attract buyers to this year’s Gold Coast Horses in Training Sale.
To be held on October 9, crucially a week prior to the Inglis Ready2Race Sale in Sydney, Bowditch says domestic and international owners and trainers, including from Hong Kong, will be strongly represented at this year's sale.
The company is now calling for entries for this year's Horses in Training Sale, with nominations closing on August 1.
"This is a sale that produces for vendors each year," Bowditch said. "A sign of a healthy market is a strong clearance rate and that is where this sale is clearly the market leader in Australia.
"Our team, led by the herculean David Chester, each year is able to present vendors with a strong buying bench that is active at all levels of the market."
Breeze-up sessions will be held in September at the Gold Coast, Seymour and Newcastle with a secondary session on the Gold Coast on October 7, two days before the sale.
The Straight revealed in January that Magic Millions owner Gerry Harvey had held talks with Inglis managing director Mark Webster about holding a combined Australian breeze-up sale.
No deal was forthcoming, leading to both auction houses conducting their own sales again in 2025.
Horseshoe Hill breaks through at Hawkesbury
Comparisons were inevitable as lightly raced filly Horseshoe Hill left maiden ranks with a first-up win at Hawkesbury.
As a daughter of Vinery Stud’s All Too Hard, Horseshoe Hill is by the same sire as her Group 1-winning stablemate Stefi Magnetica and is owned by similar interests.
Horseshoe Hill also hails from the Bjorn Baker stable after the trainer paid $200,000 for the filly in conjunction with bloodstock agent Jim Clarke and the Cunningham family from the Widden Stud Gold Coast Magic Millions draft in 2024.
HORSESHOE HILL, already listed placed, chose a provincial maiden to make a statement
— Bjorn Baker Racing (@BBakerRacing) June 17, 2025
Green yet gifted; guided by @RachelK11 she held 2nd off & buried the rest at @hawkesburyrc 👏
The All Too Hard 2YO filly was a $200k @mmsnippets buy for @ClarkeBStock, @RidgmontFarm & me pic.twitter.com/jd0BesYDXe
She is a promising youngster in her own right, having been placed in the Magic Millions Wyong 2YO Classic in December
Horseshoe Hill was the highest-priced filly by All Too Hard sold in 2024. She is the second winner from Group 2-winning Encosta de Lago mare Miss Rose de Lago.
“She's done a good job and she's only going to improve I think as she gets out over further,” stable representative Luke Hilton said.
Fibre-sand track steps in as Belmont shutdown continues
Bunbury’s fibre-sand track will come online as a racing venue to help the other three major regional tracks pick up the workload as Belmont continues to be sidelined.
Since racing at Belmont ceased last month due to a track issue, Pinjarra stepped in to host two Saturday metro meetings and Bunbury one. Pinjarra will host the next three Saturdays before Bunbury’s main track takes July 12, 19 and 26.
Northam has also filled gaps, and will host metro meetings on Wednesday June 25, July 2 and July 16, with Pinjarra to host on July 9.
But Vinny Meens, Racing WA‘s thoroughbred operations manager, has confirmed that the fibre-sand track at Bunbury would be utilised for meetings previously scheduled for Pinjarra on July 3 and the Bunbury main track on July 17.
“Bunbury’s new fibre-sand track has received conditional approval to host race meetings, with stewards still to determine field limits. All scheduled meetings on the fibre-sand track will proceed subject to sufficient nominations and acceptances,” Meens said.
“Amendments to the race program will be communicated in the coming days.”
Racing WA said last week it anticipated racing to return to Belmont in late July.
21 two-year-old winners for Snitzel
The late Snitzel notched up the 21st winner from his current two-year-old crop with the victory of Lofty Thoughts at Ballarat on Tuesday.
Snitzel, who died last week at the age of 22, is well clear in the race to be Australia’s champion two-year-old sire on prize money, and is now three clear of his nearest rivals, Ole Kirk and I Am Invincible, when it comes to Australian winners, with 15, while he has another six in New Zealand.
Lofty Thoughts picks up speed late to claim his maiden victory in his first run for @LSmithRacing 🙌 pic.twitter.com/VUwXdCpC0H
— Racing.com (@Racing) June 17, 2025
Lofty Thoughts, trained by Lindsey Smith and owned by a group headed by Paul Lofitis, was having his third racetrack start and his first for his new trainer over 1200m on the synthetic track, with Linda Meech in the saddle.
Out of stakes-placed Northern Meteor filly Mount Zero, he was a $200,000 buy from the Arrowfield Stud draft at last year’s Inglis Classic Sale.
Antipodeans active at Goffs London Sale
Australian buyers bought more than a quarter of the horses at the Goffs London Sale, the now traditional Royal Ascot-eve auction of tried horses.
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, who along with their Irish agent Johnny McKeever, are regular attendees at the Kensington Palace Gardens sale and they purchased a trio of horses, Fantazy Man (£250,000), Solar Army (£200,000) and Mo Chroi (£160,000).
Fantazy Man, a winner of his past two starts, could run in the King George V Stakes or The Golden Gate Stakes at the Royal Meeting.
Tony Gollan and syndicator First Light Racing combined with David Skelly to buy the Golden Gate Stakes and John Smith's Cup Handicap-entered Brindavan for £250,000 while Victorian owner Tim Porter and Blandford Bloodstock paid £160,000 for Snellen, an Expert Eye filly who is entered for the Kensington Palace Fillies Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Porter, who part-owned Bella Nipotina for the majority of her racing career, previously raced European mares Kitty Rose and Honey Girl, the latter who was sold at this year's Inglis Chairman's Sale for $400,000 to Ridgmont Farm.
The top-priced lot of the 19 horses to sell at the London Sale was the Hardwicke Stakes-entered Ghostwriter, who was bought for £2 million by Amo Racing.
The underbidder on the top lot, Resolute Racing's John Stewart, didn't leave empty-handed, paying £625,000 for stakes-winning Wooded colt Woodshauna, a possible Golden Eagle contender later this year.
Bipartisan report on new tax paints grim picture for UK racing
Ministers have been warned that a UK Treasury plan to replace the three-tax structure of online gambling duties with a single Remote Betting and Gaming Duty would have dire consequences for the British thoroughbred industry.
The move would put a tax on horse racing at the same rate as online casino and slot games.
A report by a cross-party group of politicians demands that action be taken to secure the future of the sport because of a “triple whammy” of financial threats.
The report, "Securing Racing's Future: The Threat to British Horseracing," has been produced by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Racing and Bloodstock.
It is feared the new tax will increase costs for online bookmakers.
The report quoted polling which found that 53 per cent of British people said horse racing is an important part of their culture.
More than 60 per cent believe the government has a responsibility to protect the UK’s international sporting standing with 56 per cent supporting a law requiring greater reinvestment into British horse racing.
