QUEENSLAND-based bloodstock company Magic Millions continued its golden run of Group 1 winning juveniles when 2YO colt King's Legacy won the Group 1 Champagne Stakes at Randwick on Saturday.
Earlier in the year Tagaloa won the Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield, Melbourne, before Farnan led home a first six result in the Golden Slipper at Rosehill, Sydney. Now King's Legacy has won the final two legs of the Sydney Triple Crown.
A colt who hit the headlines when selling for $1.4 million as a yearling to James Harron Bloodstock, King's Legacy proved too strong for fellow Magic Millions sold juvenile Glenfiddich in a stirring edition of the 2YO feature.
The win also meant champion Sydney jockey Hugh Bowman completed the juvenile Triple Crown to become 'King of the Kids'. He won the first leg, his first Golden Slipper, aboard Farnan before winning the Sires' Produce Stakes a fortnight ago aboard King's Legacy.
A son of former Arrowfield Stud based champion sire Redoute's Choice from the triple stakes performed Hussonet mare Breakfast In Bed, King's Legacy was bred and sold as a yearling at Magic Millions by Segenhoe Stud. This makes him a three-quarter brother-in-blood to champion sire Not A Single Doubt and both descend from the Grand Chaudiere (Can) mare Easy Date whose progeny included the outstanding sprinter and sire Snippets.
The colt's stud future was confirmed in recent days when Coolmore Stud - under-bidder at the yearling sale - secured an interest to race him along with Harron's colts syndicate.
The Harrovian builds picket fence
NORTHERN Crowns stayers series winner The Harrovian has built a 'picket fence' of five successive wins from July 16 last year to April 16 this year.
Among those wins were the Townsville Cup, the Cairns Cup and Cairns Amateurs Cup which made him the first horse to secure a TAB Queensland Northern Crowns Series bonus of $200,000. Across the three meetings, the 6YO gelding - ridden by veteran Australian Racing Hall of Fame jockey Robert Thompson - secured more than $460,000 for his connections while re-writing history in the process.
When he started in the Cairns Amateurs Cup in September, he was odds-on favourite. But after a seven months spell, punters 'poo-pooed' the idea he could win first-up at 1250m on a heavy-8 track carrying 65.5kg. How wrong they were! Starting at 10-1, The Harrovian, ridden by Aidan Holt, led home a Hedley-owned trifecta - carrying 10kg more than the placegetters -winning by 2.8 lengths. The win now boosts his race record to 11 wins and four placings plus prize money earnings of more than $565,000.
Cairns trainer Steve Massingham, who shares in the ownership with several other family members, believes crippling weights will trigger a move south for The Harrovian - the same issue that saw the transfer of other successful Hedley syndicate horses Tyzone and Smart Missile.
Champion Might And Power dies
ONE of Australia's favourite racehorses, Might And Power died at Living Legends on the outskirts of Melbourne on Sunday, April 13, after suffering from ill health.
The situation caused CEO and property vet Dr Andrew Clarke to send him to Werribee Veterinary Clinic where he was euthanised. The 26-year-old, who has been sharing facilities with some of the best retired gallopers from Australia and New Zealand, scorched to victory by 7.5 lengths in the 1997 Group 1 Caulfield Cup before backing up to hold off Doriemus in a famous finish to the following month's Melbourne Cup.
In her book A Horse called Mighty author Helen Thomas wrote: "Might And Power had 49 days of dominance in autumn 1998 winning four consecutive races in NSW and Queensland - three at Group 1 level - by a collective margin of more than 20 lengths." The Queensland wins were the Group 1 Doomben Cup and the Group 2 Hollindale Cup at the Gold Coast.
Then in spring 1998 he won the Cox Plate to be just the second horse to win the coveted trio of Melbourne's top races - the other being Rising Fast who won all three in the same year of 1954. All up Might And Power's race record reads 33 starts for 15 wins - seven Group 1s - and eight placings and total prize money of more $5.2 million.
Foaled in New Zealand, Might And Power was by Sir Tristram's Group 1winning son Zabeel from Irish-bred mare Benediction and was passed in at the 1995 Inglis Easter Yearling sale for $35,000 before being bought privately by Sydney trainer Anthony Cummings for Townsville-born fresh produce supplier Nick Moraitis. Cummings trained Might And Power for a 2YO win at Randwick before a stable switch to Jack Denham. Two jockeys shared the riding honours with Jim Cassidy and Brian York each recording seven wins.
Historic Inglis Easter Sale ends on a high
THE hammer came down on Wednesday, April 8, on a memorable Inglis Easter Yearling Sale - arguably its most remarkable in the firm's 153-year history.
In what was a most extraordinary two days of trade on April 7 and 8 - the first ever Easter Yearling Sale was held in a virtual format restricted solely to online and telephone bidding. Highlights included:
- Seven horses sold for $1 million or more, headed by a Snitzel/ First Seal colt which realised $1.8 million for Sledmere Stud, Scone, NSW selling to Coolmore's Tom Magnier.
- There were almost 300,000 engagements on the Inglis website from more than 100 countries as, in a world first, the sale took on a virtual format.
- Coolmore flexed its industry muscle, claiming both leading buyer ($6.985 million) and leading vendor ($7.53 million) honours.
- The sale average of $318,040 was only mildly down on last year, despite the global health and financial crisis with a median of $250,000 and gross of $68,060,500.
- Buyers bought yearlings from all around the world including Ireland, Japan, Macau, Hong Kong, United Kingdom and of course Australia and New Zealand.
- Leading sire was I Am invincible grossing $14,215,000 from 27 lots sold at an average of $526,481, while Deep Impact's average of $536,667 saw him finish the sale as best average for three or more sold.
CQ breeder shares in broodmare bonanza
THERE are three million reasons why Central Highlands horse breeder Dan Fletcher joined forces with Widden Stud and Qatar Racing to buy dual Group 3 winner Solar Charged for $625,000 at the 2014 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale.
Since then her five foals have grossed $3 million at Inglis Easter and Magic Millions yearling sales. This includes her latest yearling offspring - a colt by resident Widden sire Zoustar - who sold for $1.1 million at the recent historic Inglis Easter yearling sale.
The colt was bought by the Hawkes family training partnership and yet again the Fletcher family have bought back into the colt. With good reason as the Fletchers also took a share in his two sisters Sunlight and Sisstar when they sold for $300,000 and $600,000 at the 2017 and 2018 Magic Millions yearling sale respectively. Sunlight is now a triple Group 1 winner with earnings of more $6.5 million while Sisstar is a Group 3 winner with $277,000 earnings.
Easter sale was remarkable
"This has been the most remarkable sale on so many levels," according to Inglis managing director Mark Webster.
"Not only has it been the first premium yearling sale anywhere in the world conducted in this format, it has been done during a global health and financial crisis with restrictive movements internationally and between states in Australia, making it hard - and in many cases impossible - for buyers to inspect stock in the lead-up to the sale," Webster said.
"But with fantastic teamwork and solidarity between our vendors and Inglis, we have been able to make this work. We are extremely appreciative of our vendors for sticking with us and I feel confident they have been rewarded beyond their expectations in many instances and while the clearance rate does not properly reflect how the sale has run or the quality of the stock, restrictions made it very hard for some farms. They will now have the chance to sell through Easter Round 2 at Riverside on July 5," he said.
Easter Round 2 will be held as a physical sale at Riverside on Sunday July 5 - pending restrictions surrounding the coronavirus - for yearlings that were passed in over the two-day sale, as well as those who chose to bypass the virtual action sale and head straight to the physical sale.
