Since Snippets kicked off the embryonic Magic Millions race series with a bang, Magic Millions has continued to build a reputation for producing stallions, writes Renée Geelen.
The surprise early success of Spirit of Boom, who already has two stakes-winners from his debut crop before we get to Xmas, is yet another Magic Millions success story that will entice buyers to comb through the next crop of freshman sires' yearlings. Spirit of Boom, a 2009 MM Gold Coast graduate who was a Listed winner as a 2YO, then raced every season through to age six where he was a dual Gr1 winner, has had the perfect start to stud. His early stakes winners Ef Troop (sold MM Gold Coast 2017 for $70,000) and Outback Barbie (sold MM Gold Coast 2017 for $210,000) are both being aimed at the Magic Millions 2YO Classic.
The Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale will highlight the progeny of 22 freshman sires, with group winner and Gr1-placed excitement machine Deep Field having the most yearlings for buyers to inspect (56), while his Caulfield Guineas Gr1-winning brother Shooting to Win will be represented by 31 of his first crop yearlings. Will their progeny rivalry match the current All Too Hard/Pierro rivalry that is making the 3YO race enthralling?
Horse of the Year Dissident, who won a stakes race as a 2YO, and Gr1s at three and four, including the Randwick Guineas, and four Gr1s as a 4YO, will have 44 yearlings at the Gold Coast Sale; and the continued success of his sire Golden Slipper winner Sebring should bring buyers keen to check out the Dissident yearlings.
Other freshman stallions with plenty of yearlings entered at the 2018 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale are Gr1 sprinter Brazen Beau (27), Gr1 winner and million dollar yearling himself Wandijina (27), European Gr1 winner and son of our famed globetrotter Choisir, Olympic Glory (19), while 3YO stakes winner and Victorian based Fastnet Rock son, Rock Hero, will have a massive 38 yearlings at the Gold Coast.
Spirit of Boom won a stakes race as a 2YO, and his early success with his own 2YOs might point people in the direction of other precocious racehorses, such as Hallowed Crown (10 yearlings) who won a Gr3 as a 2YO, before winning the Golden Rose and Randwick Guineas at three. Or Toronado (8 yearlings) who was a Gr2-winning 2YO, before winning Gr1 miles at 3 and 4.
A tough campaigner, Adelaide won in five nations, including our Cox Plate, and USA’s Gr1 Secretariat Stakes, and he will have 8 yearlings on offer at Magic Millions 2018. Hampton Court, winner of the Gr1 Spring Champion Stakes has four of his first crop entered at the Gold Coast, while Gr1 winner The Wow Signal also has four yearlings in this catalogue. Verrazano, a Gr1-winning son of More than Ready will likely produce precocious types given his sire’s record, and he has six yearlings in this catalogue for purchase.
New Zealand-based dual Doncaster winner Sacred Falls and triple Gr1 winner Charm Spirit have a small selection of yearlings at this sale, as does stakes winner El Roca. Other first season sires with yearlings in the 2018 Magic Millions Gold Coast yearling sale are Time for War, Zebedee, Sidestep, Better than Ready, The Brothers War, and Whittington.
This exciting collection of stallions might just include the next one to go Boom!
