When one wanders down the rows of barns filled with some of the most sought-after mares in Australia, there is one block of stables which has an added air of excitement encompassing it.
Henry Field’s Newgate Consignment is always an attraction on the Gold Coast in May and is often action packed full of brilliant race mares and fillies, but this year the farm seems to have soared past even their own incredibly lofty standards and have managed to assemble a deep collection of broodmares with not only domestic appeal, but also global ones to boot.
The Shadwell Dispersal aside, Newgate finished the leading vendor by average (with three or more sold) and aggregate in 2021, selling 37 mares for an incredible $13.205 million at an average of $471,607, while the previous year the farm sold 14 mares for an average of $342,500, the second-highest that year.
Field told TDN AusNZ he believes this to be the best draft Newgate has ever offered at a broodmare Sale.
“We are really proud of the group of mares we have got to offer this year and I think it is without question the best group of mares we have ever brought to a Sale. I am really hopeful for the people who have entrusted us with their mares that they sell incredibly well,” he said.
"We are really proud of the group of mares we have got to offer this year and I think it is without question the best group of mares we have ever brought to a Sale." - Henry Field
“We work so hard on the draft. Our team spends from February through to Easter trying to recruit mares from all over Australia and the world to get the best mares we can. We then work really hard during the winter and at the sales to get the clients, who have entrusted us with the mares, the best possible results.”
Star attractions
One of the headline acts within the Newgate Farm draft and the Sale as a whole this year is four-time Group 1-winning mare Tofane (NZ) (Ocean Park {NZ}) (Lot 542), who is due to sell early on Tuesday.
The daughter of Ocean Park (NZ) hails from one of the most exciting families being out of winning Galileo (Ire) mare Baggy Green, making her a half-sister to Group 3 scorer No Compromise (NZ) (Pins).
Baggy Green is herself a half-sister to Group 1-winning duo Funstar (Adelaide {Ire}) and Youngstar (High Chaparral {Ire}).
Four-time Group 1 winner Tofane (NZ) will be offered as Lot 542 at this week's Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Tofane’s impeccable pedigree and enviable race record makes her undoubtedly one of the most intriguing mares to be offered in Australia in the last decade, and Field said, this coupled with her appearance, makes her an exciting prospect.
“She is one of the best racemares that has been offered in Australia in recent years. She won four Group 1s, has a huge pedigree and is a very good-looking mare - she’s just all class. She has an international pedigree and I think she has global appeal.
“It is very rare a mare of her calibre comes to market. Only two mares have won more Group 1s than her in the last decade, Winx and Verry Elleegant, so that just shows how good she is."
“It is very rare a mare of her (Tofane's) calibre comes to market. Only two mares have won more Group 1s than her in the last decade, Winx and Verry Elleegant, so that just shows how good she is." - Henry Field
Among the exciting mares Newgate will offer on Tuesday is superfast consistent mare Away Game (Snitzel) (Lot 584), who the New South Wales-based farm will offer in conjunction with her owner Hannah Jennings’ (nee Mathiesen) Kentucky-based farm Killora Stud.
It will be Away Game’s second visit to the Magic Millions Sales ring, with the mare having been purchased by Kerri Radcliffe Bloodstock for $425,000 at the Gold Coast Yearling Sale in 2019 from the Mill Park Stud draft.
The daughter of Snitzel has been nothing short of a revelation for Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, handing the powerhouse training partnership their first win in the $2 million R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic in 2020.
Away Game parading at the Magic Millions Gold Coast sale complex, to be offered as Lot 584 at this week's Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale
As well as the lucrative sales race, the filly also won the G3 Widden S. and G2 Percy Sykes S. that season and came agonisingly close to taking out the G1 Golden Slipper S., finishing second to Farnan, leading the talented filly to being crowned Australia’s Champion 2-Year-Old Filly.
A winner of $3,727,425 in career prizemoney, Away Game’s race record does not paint the full picture in terms of her ability, with the mare having finished in the frame at Group 1 level on four occasions, including most recently in the G1 Robert Sangster S. and she could add some value to her sale price after her going under the hammer should the new owners chose to run her in Saturday’s G1 Kingsford-Smith Cup at Eagle Farm.
Field said the filly would be sure to garner attention from all corners of the globe and he believes the daughter of Snitzel wouldn’t be out of place in any major broodmare band around the world.
Away Game, winner of the $2 million R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
“She was a Champion 2-Year-Old Filly, which is rare because she is the first Champion 2-Year-Old Filly to go through the ring in a long-time,” said Field. “She has a huge pedigree.
“She was very fast and was an outstanding 2-year-old and a proper Group 1 performer, she’s very special and I think she has a global appeal; I wouldn’t be surprised if she finished up in America, Europe or Japan. She is the type of mare who would inject a huge amount of class and a huge amount of speed into anybody’s broodmare band. It will be interesting to see how she sells, she is clearly a very rare commodity.
“Tofane and Away Game aren’t your run of the mill top-class racemares these are mares with outstanding pedigrees, beautiful physicals, these are better than your average Sale-topping mares. They are as good as they get and I am sure they are well sought-after.”
"I wouldn’t be surprised if she (Away Game) finished up in America, Europe or Japan. She is the type of mare who would inject a huge amount of class and a huge amount of speed into anybody’s broodmare band." - Henry Field
Turning a profit
Everywhere you look the Newgate draft is brimming with talent and the 54 lots set to be offered included Group 3 winners Still A Star (Toronado {Ire}) (Lot 526), Zou Dancer (Zoustar) (Lot 572), Matchmaker (NZ) (Makfi {GB}) (Lot 682), Dance Music (War Chant {USA}) (Lot 614), as well as Group 2 winner Glistening (Zoustar) (Lot 643) to name a small few.
But another lot certain to attract attention is dual Group 1 winner Nettoyer (Sebring) (Lot 1231), who Newgate picked up for $900,000 at last year’s Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale. The daughter of Sebring will be offered in-foal to the farm’s Group 1-producing stallion Capitalist.
Field said when they bought Nettoyer at last year’s Sale they were offered a quick profit on her after she left the ring, but decided to keep her and re-offer her this year. This strategy of buying race fillies out of the ring and turning them around for a profit in the space of six months has been a very lucrative business model for Newgate in the past.
Dual Group 1 winner Nettoyer will be offered as Lot 1231 at this week's Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale | Image courtesy of Sportpix
At the Inglis Chairman’s Sale in 2020, Newgate purchased New Zealand Group 1 winner Volpe Veloce (Foxwedge) for $675,000 and Group 2-placed Diddles (Snitzel) for $300,000 and subsequently sold the daughter of Foxwedge for $1.9 million in-foal to I Am Invincible the following year at the National Broodmare Sale, while Diddles, who was offered in foal to Deep Field, was snapped-up for $1 million at the same Sale.
Field is unsure what Nettoyer will realise when she is offered on Thursday, but has reason to believe she will be well received by the buying bench.
“Nettoyer has let down into a beautiful mare,” explained Field. “After we bought her last year we got her back to the farm and she was quite a tired mare and it took us a while to get her cycling, but when she did she let down into a queen of a mare physically and I think people’s jaws are dropping because she is just beautiful.
“She was obviously an elite mare on the track winning some of the best races in the country and she is by a top sire with a huge pedigree and I think the mating with Capitalist is sensational and really suits her.”
“She (Nettoyer) was obviously an elite mare on the track, winning some of the best races in the country and she is by a top sire with a huge pedigree and I think the mating with Capitalist is sensational and really suits her.” - Henry Field
Field said the farm seize the chance to jump on any mare he believe are perhaps undervalued by the market.
“We sit there at every Sale and when there is an elite mare who is undervalued we are always there to step in. Like last year with Nettoyer, she was a late entry in the Sale and she had run a couple of times, it probably wasn’t the optimal time to sell her last year.
“She was a mare who I thought was a bullseye mating to Capitalist, so we resisted the temptation to take the money for her after we bought her.
“What she makes here she makes, whether she makes a big profit or not I don’t know that’s up to the market, but she is a mare who is entitled to make a lot of money, she is one of the stars of the show. Our philosophy on trade is; always trade quality stock and never be greedy, so she will be on the market at a very reasonable price.”
“Our philosophy on trade is; always trade quality stock and never be greedy, so she (Nettoyer) will be on the market at a very reasonable price.” - Henry Field
Lofty reputation
Newgate’s reputation as atop-seller of broodmares is one Field has put a lot of effort into over the years which has kept buyers returning to do business with the farm.
“We have a strong rapport with most of the big mare buyers and a lot of them are our friends and they do a lot of business with us. Our policy is that if we want to be the biggest and best consignor of elite stock in Australia, we have to have a good relationship with them and be straight-shooters.
Henry Field
“If we are selling a mare who has had a foal previously, if it’s a good foal we tell them that, if it’s a bad foal we also tell them that, or if the mare has a vice or an issue we make that known to them.
"I think at the end of the day your credibility is so important and to be a farm with integrity people think they can buy off you and have a really fair chance of doing well.
“I think that has allowed us to build up an incredible portfolios of mares in the consignment and you get such good repeat business back from people who buy stock off you," he said.
