Magnificent filly by The Autumn Sun makes $600,000 on the Gold Coast

Well-related The Autumn Sun shines at Magic Millions

On paper Newhaven Park’s filly by The Autumn Sun looked one of the standout lots at the Magic Millions National Weanling Sale and she did not disappoint on Thursday when selling to Silverdale Farm and Brian McGuire's Shrone Bloodstock for $600,000.

The filly is from the second crop of Arrowfield’s exciting young stallion The Autumn Sun and she is out of multiple Grade 1-winning South African Champion Via Africa (SAf) (Var {USA}), making her a three-quarter sister to G1 Golden Rose S. winner In The Congo (Snitzel), who will retire Newgate at the end of his racing career.

Silverdale Farm's General Manager Rob Petith said the filly was a standout at the Sale and they were very keen to secure her and at this stage, plan to sell her on at next year’s yearling sales.

“We’re thrilled. She was the quality filly of the Sale for us,” said Petith. “We did a lot of groundwork over the last few days and she was just a standout physically and obviously she’s out of a very good mare and a three-quarter to In The Congo. Combine all of that, while it was probably a little bit more than what we wanted to pay, we had to be strong to the end.

“I was a little bit nervous I suppose, spending that kind of money, but you can be confident when you’re buying the right product and we feel that was there. She was presented beautifully and we think she’s going to do very well on the hills at Silverdale and we look forward to presenting her next year.

“We always aim to bring them back to the Sale. Hopefully we can put the polish on her, bring her back and she is in even higher demand.”

The Autumn Sun was represented by his first yearlings at the sales earlier this year and they proved popular with buyers, with 76 of his progeny selling for an aggregate of $22,906,261 at an average of $301,398 and they included a filly who sold for $925,000 and a colt who realised $950,000.

“That’s at the higher end but she’s a quality filly and the strength of the mare market now, there’s such competition on those good physicals,” Petith continued.

“She’s by an exciting sire in The Autumn Sun, the mare’s done the job and she is a superior physical. Let’s hope she can perform on the track after she’s been sold as a yearling and who knows what she’ll be worth then.”

On the connection with Maguire, who is better known as bloodstock manager to Annabel Neasham, Petith said: “I have known Brian for quite a few years, from the first time he came out here and we’ve pinhooked a few foals last year with him and I am moving a bit slower at this Sale than I normally am, so he’s done all the hard work really and I’ve been fortunate enough to have a look at the shortlist.”

Newhaven’s John Kelly said the filly had all the ingredients to deliver a brilliant result and he was pleased to see her continue her life at Silverdale.

“Her mother was a triple Group 1 winner and she’s a half to a Group 1 winner and she is the third foal out of the mare,” said Kelly. “She is by a super young sire in The Autumn Sun. She was a pretty special offering and she made a very special price and we couldn’t be more pleased that she is going to Silverdale, it’s fantastic.

“She is a magnificent filly, she is a great mover and has an amazing temperament and didn’t play up once throughout the inspection process and she was busy. She has a lovely head and great fluency of movement. She was just a queen."

This is the second good result Via Africa has handed Newhaven with the New South Wales-based farm having sold the aforementioned In The Congo for $350,000 at the 2020 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.

Fletcher celebrating Magic result

Dan Fletcher’s Telemon Thoroughbreds was celebrating a brilliant result at the Magic Millions National Weanling Sale on Thursday when Justin Bahen - who was working on behalf of a client - forked out $525,000 for a colt the farm offered by Coolmore’s in-form stallion So You Think (NZ).

The colt is out of placed Redoute’s Choice mare Salina and she was purchased by Fletcher for $300,000 at the Broodmare section of the Magic Millions Sale 12 months ago when carrying this colt in utero.

“She was a trade mare and that certainly helped the trade, but you don’t get that sort of result unless you have a really special individual,” said Fletcher. “He is a really flashy colt and he has a freakish, jaw-dropping action.

“Whoever liked him that much I can tell you he is even better than what they think, because the other aspect about him is his temperament. It had crossed my mind that he might be too sensible, too calm and too unflustered to be a racehorse, but he did fire up the back and I thought: This bloke is it.”

It is certainly the right time to sell the progeny of So You Think in Australia, with the son of High Chaparral (Ire) currently sitting in pole position in the race to be crowned Australia’s Champion Sire and as a result of a brilliant 12 months the stallion will stand the upcoming breeding season for a fee of $93,500 (inc GST), having covered Salina when his fee was $38,500 (inc GST).

Fletcher was always confident the youngster would be well received by the competitive buying bench, but the eventual price tag did exceed his expectations.

“Three weeks ago we thought he was a quarter-of-a-million colt, but then after Sydney we thought he was a touch better than that,” Fletcher continued. “He has done nothing but improve and we had $300,000 reserve on him and we felt reasonably comfortable to defend him and take him home. He would have been a good trade at $300,000, he might be a good trade at $525,000, who knows?”

Given the strength of the yearling market, Fletcher said they had considered keeping him to sell next year, but he ultimately decided to sell him and that decision was well-rewarded on Wednesday.

“There was a temptation to retain the colt for next year, it was a real dilemma, but at the end of the day we felt he would make yearling money so we took our chance, but from a purely commercial point of view it took some of the risk out of it,” he said. "Sentimentally I am very sad to see him go, we have bred a lot of horses and we won’t get another like him.”

Salina herself in foal to fellow Coolmore Stud sire Pierro and she is entered as Lot 831 in the Broodmare section of the Sale next week and Fletcher said he would sit down and think about whether to let her go.

“She’s back to Pierro and she’s in the mare catalogue so we will think about that over the next few days,” said Fletcher. “If she’s a trade mare it makes it a really good trade already and I think off the back of this trade it makes her a really strong trade next week.”

Bahen was equally taken by the colt and he said he had earmarked him as one of the best foals in the Sale.

“He is probably one of the best colts in the Sale and was the colt of the Sale in my opinion,” he said. “The stallion’s doing a good job, he’s the first foal out of a Redoute’s Choice mare, so there’s a lot to like.

“I think the client may send him back through (as a yearling) if there’s a profit in him. If there’s not, he’ll just race him, either is an option.

“The good thing I was bidding, I had just knocked him down to me.

“I reckon he is pretty well-found now across the board at all levels, whether it’s foals, mares off the track and then at the yearling level. We had to pay $525,000 for what I thought was the best colt of the Sale. It’s a small catalogue here and a lot of people are looking at the same horses.

“He wasn’t hard to like, there was good competition on him right to the end. He is a very obvious type.”

Coolmore’s So You Think enjoyed a red letter day at the Sale, selling four weanlings for an aggregate of $1,335,000 and a sale-leading average of $333,750. The stallion was al included the third most expensive lot of the day after Tasman Bloodstock purchased a filly from Yarraman Park for $350,000.

Trilogy add another to their portfolio

The emergence of Jason and Mel Stenning’s Trilogy Racing has been one of the stories of the year and on Thursday the powerhouse operation made their presence felt again when they bought a colt by Newgate Farm’s Champion First Season Sire elect Russian Revolution for $325,000. .

Russian Revolution has made a splash with his first runners on the track, siring 10 winners spearheaded by Group-winning pair Revolutionary Miss and Rise Of The Masses and Sean Dingwall said he was happy to stretch further than he expected to secure the colt.

“Russian Revolution couldn’t have done much more with his 2-year-old crop. We’re quite happy to back him, we’ve got a number of mares in foal to him and, at the end of the day, trying to find a nice colt is hard enough and at this Sale they’re very strong,” said Dingwall.

“To get a nice colt by a young horse who is potentially going to have a bit of upside when his 3-year-olds come back and his second crop heading to the track, we were prepared to take the risk.”

Catalogued as Lot 184 and offered by Elswick Park, the colt is out of Calzini Bianchi (Show A Heart) - the dam of three-time winner Calzini (Shamus Award). Calzini Bianchi herself was a half-sister to Singapore Listed winner Top Knight (Zoustar).

“We went much more than we thought we’d have to go, but we love the horse, so you’ve got to pay what you’ve got to pay,” said Dingwall.

“Everyone is finding the same horses. The horses that are faultless, potentially good types and can come back in January are making significant money. A lot of the other horses are falling through the cracks.

“We have bought him dual purpose, we’re happy to race him, but at the end of the day he will probably come back through.

Meanwhile, Dingwall enjoyed a good result as a vendor when Caithness Breeding sold a colt by Swettenham Stud shuttler Toronado (Ire) to Treen and Roy Murphy of Sledmere Stud for $300,000.

Dingwall revealed that his parents have sold their New South Wales property and as a result Caithness Breeding were selling all the foals off the farm at the National Weanling Sale and he was pleased to see the Toronado realise $300,000.

“My parents have decided to downsize. They’ve sold their property, so we’ve put our yearling draft through this Sale,” Dingwall explained. “My parents normally do all the work with what we sell ourselves and they’ve got to the point where, at 80 years old, they’re ready to downsize a bit. We had to put all these through as they’ve sold the property and it sold quickly.”

Catalogued as Lot 147, the colt is out of winning Redoute’s Choice mare Asheerah - who Caithness purchased for $80,000 at the Inglis Sydney Broodmare and Weanling Sale in 2018. Asheerah has produced three winners and she is in foal to Coolmore Stud-based sire So You Think.

“The Toronado was the star of our draft and he sold fantastically well, so we’re thrilled and we’re thrilled he’s gone to Sledmere,” said Dingwall.

“They’re a great operation and he’ll be well looked after and he’ll go back through a major sale and do very well out of him.”

The Swettenham Stud shuttler Toronado has enjoyed a fruitful year on the racetrack and so it was no surprise to see that momentum carried through to the sales ring on Wednesday.

So far during the 2021/22 season, Toronado has sired 80 winners from 170 starters which fires at an impressive winners to runners strike-rate of 63.1 per cent, while his progeny have landed six stakes races headed by Shelby Sixtysix’s victory in the G1 The Galaxy H.

The son of High Chaparral’s success on the racetrack has meant the stallion was subject to significant fee hike and he will stand the upcoming breeding season at Adam Sangster’s Swettenham Stud for a fee of $88,000 (inc GST), having stood the 2021 season for a fee of $49,500 (inc GST).

Bowditch satisfied with the day's trade

At the close of trade Magic Millions reported that 120 weanlings sold for an aggregate of $9,970,000 at an average of $83,083. Comparisons with last year which included the Shadwell Dispersal are difficult, but this year’s Sale is massively up on the numbers recorded in 2020 when the auction closed with a gross of $8,041,000 and an average of $41,236.

Magic Millions Manager Director Barry Bowditch was satisfied with the trade and said that vendors with quality weanlings were well rewarded.

“The day obviously picked up momentum as we went along. At times the market’s quite selective and they know what they’re looking for but anyone with a quality weanling that was here on the grounds has been extremely well-rewarded so far,” said Bowditch.

“It’s an incredibly strong average. Outside of last year, it’s well above any average we’ve had for a weanling sale before. Our clearance rate ending at 77 per cent I think is sound and it gives us a great day one to build on into the second half of the Sale tomorrow (Friday).

“There’s a very similar number of horses to sell. It’s a very even spread and I’d expect we’ll see a lot more of the same tomorrow but hopefully the momentum that picked up during the day continues on to tomorrow because there’s a lot of quality horses tomorrow.”

The second and final day of the 2022 National Weanling Sale will commence on Friday, May 20 at 10am AEST.

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