Vinnie filly brings $800,000 on day of drama on Gold Coast

An $800,000 I Am Invincible filly topped a dramatic final day of the Magic Millions National Weanling Sale, which was delayed by nearly an hour due to a medical emergency.

The sale was brought to a halt just before 3pm when a horse handler was seriously injured in the pre-parade ring. The handler was taken to the Gold Coast University Hospital in a serious but stable condition.

“It was a very unfortunate accident and our thoughts and prayers are with the young lady and we hope she’s alright,” Magic Millions Managing Director, Barry Bowditch, said.  

“Obviously, she copped a significant kick to the head or to the face and we’re just hopeful. She got medical attention straight away and the ambulances were here quickly. So all in all, we’re just hopeful that she’s in the best care now and it’s not too serious.”

Once the ambulances departed, the sale resumed after 50 minutes, with the final 40 foals going through the ring.

Earlier, American investors Hill ‘N’ Dale Farm went to $800,000 through their local bloodstock agent Will Johnson to purchase Lot 297, the filly by I Am Invincible out of Not A Single Doubt mare Single Blonde.

It is the second-highest-ever price for a weanling by the dual champion Yarraman Park sire.

Offered as part of the Element Hill dispersal, the filly is from the family of Group 1 winner Forensics and Group 2-winning stallion Derryn.

Johnson purchased an I Am Invincible yearling filly for John and Jes Sikura’s Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm for $1.7 million last January and felt this filly was just a good a prospect.

“This filly presented as a lovely physical by the best stallion in the country. fast forward to January in 2025, you’re trying to buy those styles of fillies,” Johnson said.

“So to have secured her now is just a plus. And hopefully she can reap the rewards on the track down the line.”

Re-sale or retention – Foal market made for many purposes

The weanling market may be more speculative than buying yearlings or mares, but it is arguably the most commercially driven aspect of the bloodstock market.

The StraightBren O’Brien

The filly will remain to race in Australia, and Johnson said the Australian market was becoming increasingly appealing for American investors such as the Sikuras.  

“We’ve got excellent prize money. And it’s an endorsement for the Australian racing and breeding industry that someone like John Sikura and his family are investing in the game,” he said.

“Jes is at college in Kentucky. So he’d hoped to have made the trip, but I was just on the phone to him. I’m sure he’d be telling his college buddies tomorrow that he’s just bought a weanling in Australia.”

Element Hill, breeders of champions such as Typhoon Tracy and Golden Sixty, are winding up their Queensland-based breeding operation. They sold 11 weanlings for just over $1.8 million.

“Getting out of it is very tough, but we are also very proud to top the weanling sale,” Element Hill’s Josh Hutchins said.

They also sold the third highest-priced lot of the day, with Kestrel Thoroughbreds’ Bruce Slade spending $400,000 on Lot 224, a Stay Inside filly, together with Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.  

Fillies provided six of the top seven lots of the sale and substantially out-averaged the colts across the two days, $87,000 to $70,687.

The progeny of Coolmore’s Home Affairs were also in high demand, averaging close to $190,000. Included among them was Lot 361, a filly from Newgate who brought $430,000 to the bid of Silverdale Farm.

The overall sale average fell slightly year on year from $81.842 to $77,467, while media dropped from $50,000 to $42,000.

The clearance rate provided a positive trend year on year, lifting to 80 per cent from 73 per cent 12 months ago, but the overall investment fell some $3.4 million on 2023 with a smaller catalogue.

Bowditch was pleased overall with the trade over the two days.

“Obviously, to see the average hold, to see the clearance rate increase and a really healthy gross given a significant amount of less horses in the catalogue this year was a great result and it exceeded our expectations going into it,” he said.

He sees an opportunity for growth in the weanling market if breeders and vendors choose to support it better.

“I think it’s a huge melting pot, the weanling market. I think it’s underutilised by our breeders. I think you bring quality here, you do get well paid,” he said.

“I’d like to think off the back of these results this year, over the last two days, that more breeders could consider bringing quality stock to the weanling sale because clearly you’ve got both the traders here and the end-users participating, so it gives you good reason to get paid well and obviously you get your money early.”