A colt and a filly by Stratum (Aus) and Not A Single Doubt (Aus) shared top honours at Monday's opening session of the Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale at Morphettville. Both yearlings were knocked down for A$170,000 during a session that failed to match the early pace of the 2016 sale. Last year 20 lots made A$100,000 or more while the corresponding figure on Monday was seven. 74 yearlings changed hands during the session for a total of A$3,324,500. This equated to an average of A$44,926, a median of A$35,000 and a clearance rate of 76%, down from 82% last year. “It was a tough start there's no denying that,” Magic Millions Managing Director Vin Cox said. “But it did settle very well toward the end of the night. Our average is slightly up on the total Book One average from last year so that is a real positive.”
Cox continued, “The two obvious highlights were the yearlings selling for A$170,000 – the Stratum colt for Willow Grove Stud which was a great result for local breeding identity Ralph Satchell and also the Not a Single Doubt filly for Attunga Stud,”
For Willow Grove Stud the sale of lot 77 represented the highest price they have received for a horse at auction when the Macdonald/Gluyas stable signed for their colt for A$170,000. The Oct. 9 born bay is a half-brother to stakes winner Inner Warrior (Aus) (God's Own {Aus}), out of the three-time winner El Milagro (Aus) (Encosta De Lago {Aus}). “He was a great colt with lots of interest,” Willow Grove's Ralph Satchell said. “He's as good a quality of animal as we've ever taken to a sale.”
Buyer Leon Macdonald concurred with this and was determined to bring him home. “I thought he was probably a $150,000 colt,” he said. “He's a very nice horse – his x-rays were good and he looks a runner. I think Adelaide is a real type sale and I thought he was as good as any colt here,” Macdonald added.
Young bloodstock agent James Ferguson has recently struck up an alliance with the British based agents Johnny and Susie McKeever and he went to A$170,000 to secure the joint top lot of the evening, lot 94, from Attunga Stud. “I've been here for the last couple of days and went around and looked at everything on site,” Ferguson said. “I identified her as a cracking filly but I didn't have a client for myself so I put her up to Robbie Griffiths and Peter Ford and they were very happy with her so she was bought on their behalf and she's going to Robbie's stable in Victoria.”
Like the other co-topper this filly is out of an Encosta De Lago mare in Fidele who has a 100% record with her four runners who have all won and Ferguson continued, “Peter rated her highly on pedigree and we thought she was the closest yearling we'd seen all year to Not a Single Doubt. She will be up and running and hopefully she'll be running at two and aiming for the Blue Diamond next year.”
It took a bid of A$155,000 from Lyndhurst Farm to secure lot 73, a colt by Hinchinbrook (Aus) offered by Ambergate Farm. He is the second produce of Downstream (Aus) (Rakti {GB}) who is a half-sister to Group 1 winner Above Deck (Aus) (Bianconi). Day Two of the sale commences on Tuesday at 10 a.m. (SA time) with lot 108 through to lot 333.
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