Cover image courtesy of Magic Millions
At A Glance
The Book 1 average rose significantly on 2020, to $54,070, up from $38,070.
The Sale median was also boosted, lifting to $37,750 from $30,000.
The overall sale aggregate lifted to $15.132 million from $12.65 million in 2020.
The clearance rate remained extremely strong, with 86.3 per cent of Book 1 sold, up from 80.7 per cent last year.
Lot 286, a Capitalist colt offered by Cornerstone Stud, sold for the day's top price to Aramco Racing for $425,000.
That was the second highest price in the history of the Sale, behind only Tuesday's $525,000 for Lot 22, the colt by Fastnet Rock.
Lot 224, an Impending filly, who is a half-sister to recent G3 Hobart Cup winner Double You Tee (Written Tycoon) sold for $250,000 to Tony Ottobre in an excellent result for Armidale Stud.
A colt by Super One topped Book 2, selling for $100,000.
Capitalist colt powers Cornerstone to new heights
Demand for colts from the second crop of Newgate's freshman sensation Capitalist have powered many significant results this yearling season and so it proved again in Adelaide, where Singapore-based Aramco Racing came calling to secure Lot 286 from Cornerstone Stud for $425,000.
The colt was out of stakes-performed mare Okaylah (Flying Spur), who has already produced five winners, and is a half-sister to the stakes placed Kick 'N' Chase (Red Ransom {USA}) from the family of the stakes winner and multiple Group 1 placegetter The Big Chill (NZ) (O'Reilly {NZ}).
The battle to secure one of only four Capitalists in the Sale was fierce and in the end was won by an online bid, with Aramco Racing, run by Singaporean businessman Chua Song Ru, prevailing over Spendthrift Farm.
Lot 286 - Capitalist x Okaylah (colt) | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
It was a brilliant result for Cornerstone Stud, which purchased Okaylah for $140,000 back in 2017, and achieved its best-ever price for a yearling.
"We’re delighted, that's a new record apart from yesterday. We’ve been tickled pink. Sam Hayes has always wanted to get a good horse like that into this Sale," Cornerstone Stud's Bloodstock Manager, Sam Pritchard-Gordon, said.
"He was really well supported and there were a number of people involved to have Will Clarken bidding strongly on him, as well as Lloyd Kennewell, was a real endorsement for the horse."
Capitalist's first crop has made a terrific start on the track, with seven winners across Australia and New Zealand, including three stakes winners. In the sales ring in 2021, his second crop had averaged $192,089 heading into Adelaide. At this Sale, they averaged more than any other stallion, at $201,250, leading him to be the top stallion on aggregate as well.
The Cornerstone Stud team with Lot 286 | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Lot 286 is bred on the same cross as recent G3 Black Opal S. winner Kalashnikov, who is also out of a Flying Spur mare, and the significance of that was not lost of Pritchard-Gordon.
"Life is a sense of timing isn't it? Kalashnikov's win in the Black Opal over the weekend certainly helped and with Profiteer going well, he's a stallion that is going places," he said.
"Life is a sense of timing isn't it? Kalashnikov's win in the Black Opal over the weekend certainly helped and with Profiteer going well, he's a stallion (Capitalist) that is going places." - Sam Pritchard-Gordon
"Newgate Farm do a wonderful job to support and promote that horse. He's doing well on the track, he's well supported by the stud farms, and he's produced some nice horses as well."
Okaylah has since delivered a colt by Shamus Award and is in foal to Zousain.
Vibrant market creates record results
It was the highlight of the second day of a remarkable Sale which saw averages, median, and gross soar year-on-year.
"It was just a very vibrant and healthy market. There's obviously a huge demand for quality bloodstock, and that has been seen all over Australia and again here in Adelaide it comes to the forefront," Magic Millions Managing Director, Barry Bowditch, said.
The gross investment of $15.132 million across 317 lots was the number which stood out to Bowditch.
"We had a huge trepidation going in about the gross, because we had fewer horses. We were confident we could maintain a stronger average and a stronger clearance rate and that has been achieved, but to have a gross figure for the two books of over $15 million is a huge result and a reflection on the work and the commitment that our team puts in," he said.
The Morphettville sales complex | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
What pleased Bowditch most was the diversity of investors across the buying bench, and the new-found confidence of local buyers such as Will Clarken, who spent $571,000 across seven lots as well as the likes of Leon Macdonald and Andrew Gluyas, Ryan Balfour and Michael Hickmott.
"I'm pleased that South Australia, for the first time in a long time, spent over $5 million at the Sale, which is great. Having the local market as strong as it has been is a great reflection of where the state is going," he said.
"The trainers clearly have confidence here in racing in the state, and that will give the breeders confidence that they need to continue to reinvest and that this is a Sale which is viable at all levels."
In total South Australian buyers purchased 129 horses for a total spend of $5.154 million, while Victorian buyers purchased 105 horses for a combined $5.979 million. New South Wales buyers spent just short of $2.2 million across 41 yearlings.
Impending decision the right one as Ottobre strikes
Earlier, it was Armidale Stud celebrating pulling the right rein, by opting to take its Impending filly to Adelaide and not be lured by a pre-Sale offer.
Lot 224, a half-sister to G3 Hobart Cup winner Double You Tee, and recent Group 3 placegetter Lunakorn (Puissance De Lune {Ire}), was sold to Tony Ottobre for $250,000.
Ottobre, who has enjoyed success with the likes of Group 1 winner Princess Jenni (NZ) (High Chapparal {Ire}), targeted the filly due to the success her dam, Kandy Korn (Flying Spur) has already produced.
Lot 224 - Impending x Kandy Korn (filly) | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
"She's a real blue hen mare, I reckon. And with that match to Impending, she has got the double cross to Rolls and double cross to Fairy Bridge, I love those female doubles," he said.
"I was always going to buy her. There are a few horses that take my fancy and I just have to get them. I really liked this one. $250,000-$260,000 was going to pull me up, but I managed to get her just in time."
"I was always going to buy her (Lot 224). There are a few horses that take my fancy and I just have to get them." - Tony Ottobre
Ottobre said it was a rare case where he hadn't seen the filly himself before buying her, but he relied on the judgement of a couple of key advisors.
"I was attracted by the pedigree, and from the video I could see how good she was walking. I just couldn't get over to Adelaide but I would usually never buy a horse unless I had seen her first. This is the first time I've done that," he said.
"I had one guy looking at them for me and he had six written down and just had 'ripper' written next to her and nothing else and I had to buy her."
Ottobre said the filly would come back to his farm at Cape Schanck in Victoria before he would decide whose stable she would go into.
Rhiannon Wishaw leaving the ring with Lot 224 | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
For Armidale Stud it was further reward for the investment Managing Director David Whishaw made when he purchased Kandy Korn for $20,000 back in 2011. Subsequently, Double You Tee sold for $115,000 and Lunakorn for $67,500, before Wednesday's big result.
"I'm over the moon, absolutely thrilled that we could bring a product here like her and her to be so well received," Whishaw said.
"We were offered $120,000 before coming to the Sale, but felt it was the wrong thing to do, to sell her with her being catalogued. We were very keen to bring her here and showcase her.
"She is a lovely filly with a great walk. We were confident she would bring $120,000 but for her to bring beyond that has really blown us away."
Kandy Korn, the half-sister to Listed winner Baby Corn (Exceed And Excel), out of Group 3 winner Sweet Corn (Scenic {Ire}), has an unraced 2-year-old gelding, Alpine Aviator (Alpine Eagle), with Matt Laurie, and a foal filly also by Alpine Eagle and wasn't covered in 2020.
Bowditch: Quality stands out
The top two results on Wednesday served to re-enforce the message from Tuesday, that quality yearlings can often prosper by being out in sales where they can standout.
"That's been the plans from our perspective for years now and having the top four lots all bred and sold by South Australian farms, they are all horses that have broken previous records and that creates a strong argument going forward and why this is the Sale they should be supporting more heavily going forward," Bowditch said.
"Having the top four lots all bred and sold by South Australian farms, they are all horses that have broken previous records and that creates a strong argument going forward." - Barry Bowditch
Cornerstone Stud ended the Sale as the top vendors on gross, selling 25 yearlings for an aggregate of $1.533 million, while Goldin Farms, which sold the Sale-topper on Tuesday, secured the top honour on averages at $171,286.
Lot 323, a filly by Kitchwin Hills' Sooboog out stakes-winning filly Regrowth (Unbridled's Song {USA}), provided the day's third highest price of $180,000.
Offered by Edinburgh Park, the filly was purchased by Will Clarken/Suman Hedge Bloodstock and David Jolly.
The filly should have significant residual value being a half-sister to Group 3 winner Colour (More Than Ready {USA}), stakes-placed Single Blonde (Not A Single Doubt) as well as Munhro (Lonhro), the dam of Group 2 winner and stallion Derryn.
Lot 323 - Sooboog x Regrowth (filly)
The demand from the progeny of young stallions was also evident in Lot 311, a filly by Shalaa (Ire), offered by Baramul Stud, who secured a price of $160,000.
Mick Price Racing and Bevan Smith Bloodstock came together to buy the filly, who is out of Queen Magdalene (More Than Ready {USA}), the sister to the dam of stakes winner Ranting (Zoustar), out of the extended family of Group 1 winners Danelagh (Danehill {USA}), Vengeance Of Rain (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}), Dizelle (Zabeel {NZ}) and Pinot (Pierro).
The top lot of Book 2 was Lot 405, a filly by Super One which was purchased by Rui Severino for a record $100,000 from the draft of A List Stud. She is out of Previous (Commands), an unraced daughter of stakes winner Yesterday (Red Ransom {USA}).
That set up Book 2 to average a very healthy $18,955, with a median of $17,000 across 55 lots sold, at a clearance rate approaching 85 per cent.
Top lots
| 22 | Fastnet Rock | Small Minds | C | Goldin Farms, Angaston, SA | Tony Fung Investments/Annabel Neasham Racing | NSW | $525,000 |
| 286 | Capitalist | Okaylah | C | Cornerstone Stud, Angaston, SA (As Agent) | Aramco Racing | VIC | $425,000 |
| 79 | Palentino | Wings Of Alice | F | Willow Grove Stud, Woodside, SA | Ryan Balfour | SA | $370,000 |
| 110 | Merchant Navy | Bacchanal Woman | F | Goldin Farms, Angaston, SA | Boomer Bloodstock (FBAA)/Murray Thoroughbreds | VIC | $360,000 |
| 224 | Impending | Kandy Korn | F | Armidale Stud, Carrick, Tas (As Agent) | Anthony Ottobre | VIC | $250,000 |
| 118 | Capitalist | Bleue Pepite | C | Emirates Park Pty Ltd, Murrurundi, NSW | Will Clarken/Suman Hedge Bloodstock (FBAA)/David Jolly | SA | $200,000 |
| 154 | Toronado | Detox | F | Strangways Falls Stud, Hindmarsh Valley, SA | Bahen Bloodstock | VIC | $180,000 |
| 323 | Sooboog | Regrowth | F | Edinburgh Park, Wingham, NSW | Will Clarken/Suman Hedge Bloodstock (FBAA)/David Jolly | SA | $180,000 |
| 151 | Caravaggio | Dashing Lady | C | Grenville Stud, Whitemore, Tas (As Agent) | John Rowan | NEW ZEALAND | $160,000 |
| 311 | Shalaa | Queen Magdalene | F | Baramul Stud, Widden Valley, NSW | Mick Price Racing/Bevan Smith Bloodstock | VIC | $160,000 |
Top buyers
| Will Clarken/Suman Hedge Bloodstock (FBAA)/David Jolly | 8 | $751,000 | $93,875 | $200,000 |
| Tony Fung Investments/Annabel Neasham Racing | 1 | $525,000 | $525,000 | $525,000 |
| Kavanagh Racing | 11 | $513,500 | $46,682 | $90,000 |
| Macdonald Gluyas Racing | 6 | $486,000 | $81,000 | $130,000 |
| Aramco Racing | 1 | $425,000 | $425,000 | $425,000 |
| Mick Price Racing & Breeding Pty Ltd | 4 | $420,000 | $105,000 | $150,000 |
| Ryan Balfour | 2 | $395,000 | $197,500 | $370,000 |
| Michael Hickmott Bloodstock Pty Ltd | 7 | $373,000 | $53,286 | $80,000 |
| Boomer Bloodstock (FBAA)/Murray Thoroughbreds | 1 | $360,000 | $360,000 | $360,000 |
| Kennewell Racing/Group 1 Bloodstock (FBAA) | 4 | $272,000 | $68,000 | $110,000 |
Top vendors by aggregate
| Cornerstone Stud, Angaston, SA | 20 | $69,775 | $425,000 | $1,395,500 |
| Baramul Stud, Widden Valley, NSW | 20 | $64,050 | $160,000 | $1,281,000 |
| Goldin Farms, Angaston, SA | 7 | $171,286 | $525,000 | $1,199,000 |
| Mill Park Stud, Meningie, SA | 9 | $83,056 | $150,000 | $747,500 |
| Bowness Stud, Young, NSW | 21 | $35,119 | $130,000 | $737,500 |
| Kambula Stud, Kadina, SA | 21 | $34,667 | $100,000 | $728,000 |
| Willow Grove Stud, Woodside, SA | 8 | $90,938 | $370,000 | $727,500 |
| Grenville Stud, Whitemore, Tas | 5 | $92,000 | $160,000 | $460,000 |
| Armidale Stud, Carrick, Tas | 4 | $111,500 | $250,000 | $446,000 |
| Kitchwin Hills, Scone, NSW | 10 | $33,750 | $70,000 | $337,500 |
Top vendors by average (3 or more sold)
| Goldin Farms, Angaston, SA | 7 | $171,286 | $1,199,000 | $525,000 |
| Armidale Stud, Carrick, Tas | 4 | $111,500 | $446,000 | $250,000 |
| Edinburgh Park, Wingham, NSW | 3 | $96,667 | $290,000 | $180,000 |
| Grenville Stud, Whitemore, Tas | 5 | $92,000 | $460,000 | $160,000 |
| Willow Grove Stud, Woodside, SA | 8 | $90,938 | $727,500 | $370,000 |
| Strangways Falls Stud, Hindmarsh Valley, SA | 3 | $84,167 | $252,500 | $180,000 |
| Mill Park Stud, Meningie, SA | 9 | $83,056 | $747,500 | $150,000 |
| Newhaven Park, Boorowa, NSW | 3 | $71,000 | $213,000 | $125,000 |
| Cornerstone Stud, Angaston, SA | 20 | $69,775 | $1,395,500 | $425,000 |
| Baramul Stud, Widden Valley, NSW | 20 | $64,050 | $1,281,000 | $160,000 |
Top sires by aggregate
| Capitalist | 4 | $805,000 | $201,250 | $425,000 |
| Impending | 11 | $733,000 | $66,636 | $250,000 |
| Sir Prancealot | 12 | $574,500 | $47,875 | $100,000 |
| Merchant Navy | 5 | $530,000 | $106,000 | $360,000 |
| Fastnet Rock | 1 | $525,000 | $525,000 | $525,000 |
| Palentino | 4 | $457,000 | $114,250 | $370,000 |
| Pariah | 5 | $457,000 | $91,400 | $130,000 |
| Sooboog | 6 | $440,000 | $73,333 | $180,000 |
| All Too Hard | 7 | $365,000 | $52,143 | $110,000 |
| Spieth | 5 | $365,000 | $73,000 | $120,000 |
Top sires by average (3 or more sold)
| Capitalist | 4 | $201,250 | $805,000 | $425,000 |
| Palentino | 4 | $114,250 | $457,000 | $370,000 |
| Merchant Navy | 5 | $106,000 | $530,000 | $360,000 |
| Pariah | 5 | $91,400 | $457,000 | $130,000 |
| Sooboog | 6 | $73,333 | $440,000 | $180,000 |
| Spieth | 5 | $73,000 | $365,000 | $120,000 |
| Caravaggio | 3 | $68,333 | $205,000 | $160,000 |
| Impending | 11 | $66,636 | $733,000 | $250,000 |
| Alpine Eagle | 3 | $65,333 | $196,000 | $90,000 |
| Star Turn | 4 | $63,750 | $255,000 | $125,000 |
