Agents and prospective buyers from all over the country will begin poring over the sales catalogue in the coming weeks trying to pick out the next Winx, Sunlight or Redzel ahead of January's Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Thursday saw the release of the catalogue for the 2020 Gold Coast sale, featuring 1065 yearlings, 888 of them as part of Book 1 with the action in the sales ring to start on Wednesday January 8.
James Harron has been busier than most on the Gold Coast over the past five years, spending nearly $30 million on 63 yearlings since 2014 under his James Harron Bloodstock banner. The Sydney-based bloodstock agent anticipates the catalogue release almost as a child would a present on Christmas Day.
"When the catalogue comes out, it’s like your favourite book of the year. You can't wait to open it up and have a look. I really enjoy reading through," Harron said.
"It’s like your favourite book of the year. You can't wait to open it up and have a look." - James Harron
"I would generally have two or three catalogues spread around where I am and every chance I get, whether it be first thing in the morning, in the night or during the day, I just keep reading through.
"That's the initial process, just to start familiarising yourself with it and getting a feel for the pedigrees. A lot of them you have some familiarity with already and you get to know them a bit better."
James Harron inspecting yearlings
Blue Sky Bloodstock's Julian Blaxland is another anticipating the arrival of the 2020 catalogue in the mail, as he looks to get to work ahead of the sale.
"The first thing I do is I go through and identify the first season sires that interest me and any relations to past horses we have bought," Blaxland said.
It is little wonder both men are excited about getting to the Gold Coast. Among Harron's success stories at the sale is buying G1 Golden Slipper S. winner Capitalist (Written Tycoon) in 2015, while two years later, Blaxland was part of a team which purchased future triple Group 1 winner Sunlight (Zoustar).
Hitting the road
Next on the agenda for both men is getting around to start inspecting the 2020 offering. Blaxland has tweaked his approach in recent years to ensure he doesn't get to the farms too soon and can leave a consistent time period between when he sees them on the farm and when he gets to the sales complex.
Julian has changed his tack when it comes to inspecting yearlings prior to the sale
"They can change a lot in that time, if you give yourself four to five weeks in that period to show improvement," he said. "I used to go and see them a lot earlier, but I found the horse could improve a lot between there and the two to three months to the sale," Blaxland said.
"I used to go and see them a lot earlier, but I found the horse could improve a lot between there and the two to three months to the sale." - Julian Blaxland
Harron too believes there is a danger you can be too quick to judge yearlings through farm inspections and you shouldn't be in a rush to rule any horse out.
"We try to keep the list as long as possible," he said. "We are quite forgiving in that period. It’s a good way to get your eye in and get a feel for the first season sires, the sizing of the horses, the different farms and familiarise yourself with them all.
"We are pretty forgiving on the farm and I think it’s just giving you a feel and adjusting yourself to this year's crop."
Giving them time to grow
Blaxland and Harron will get around to inspect up to 700 horses during December, giving them something to compare to when they get to the sales grounds on the Gold Coast in early January.
"I think the most important thing is to get out on the road in December and have a look at as many of them as I can," Blaxland said.
It is a long road for the yearlings to reach the sale
"I've planned a week with Sam Freedman in the first week of December. We will go through the Hunter Valley for two or three days, then down to Victoria and south of Sydney and the week after that I’ll get around some of the Queensland studs. I should be able to see 600-700 of the catalogue in December prior to the sale.
"That gives me a good head start prior to getting there in the first week in January."
Harron said the improvement a horse makes in that time between the on-farm inspection and the sales ring can be the thing that gets you over the line in terms of making a bid.
Yearlings can improve out of sight from farm inspections to sale day
"It's a nice thing when you really like the horse and he's gone on again. It gives you a lot of confidence," he said.
"On the flip side, there might be a horse that has been borderline at the farm, but he might have come on in those last few weeks. That's a really good sign.
"We try and keep an open mind and try and get as good a look at them as possible and make it a systemic process to get through to your final wish list."
