The colt, catalogued as Lot 58, was presented at the auction by Kenmore Lodge and attracted an opening bid of $100,000. A flurry of bids around the ring continued before auctioneer Grant Burns dropped the gavel at $320,000.
The bid at the time was held by Thailand based Vichit Pongsri-am and the quality youngster will head to Singapore and the Kranji stables of Cliff Brown.
“The owners from Thailand really liked him from the word go,” Brown said. “They loved his breeze up and he’s a lovely individual – he moved really well and has a lovely attitude.”
The day’s top seller is a half brother to three winners and he hails from a strong international family. His dam, who raced twice, is a beautifully bred daughter of Gone West’s son Grand Slam.
After missing out on Lot 58, Toby Koenig struck two lots later when the Brisbane Meadows Written Tycoon colt sold to Ultra Thoroughbreds and TK Racing for $300,000.
“That’s the advantage of coming to a breeze up style auction – you get to see a horse’s action and take a really close look at them,” Koenig said.
“We don’t focus too much on time – we really mark them on their action and we loved the way this guy moved.”
“He’ll go down to Victoria to Sean Buckley’s farm – we’ll give him to our pre-trainer down there and then we’ll figure out where he’s going. He’s VOBIS and we just found out he’s also got the SA scheme (SABOIS) as well and that’s great for us as we race a lot in South Australia,” Koenig added.
The Written Tycoon colt, a graduate of both the National Weanling Sale and Adelaide Yearling Sale, is a half brother to the classy eight time winner Alabama Missile. He is from the family of former Canadian Horse of the Year and successful sire, Afleet.
During the day over $5.38 million was traded on 82 lots sold at an average price of $65,665 – up some 32 per cent on last year’s opening session. The clearance rate climbed as the afternoon progressed and rounded out at over 68 per cent.
“It’s been a pretty good start for us,” Magic Millions Managing Director Vin Cox reported.
“We’re looking at some numbers that are significantly higher (than 2016) – in particular the average and median which we are very happy about.”
“Our clearance rate is 68 per cent, by Magic Millions standards that is low and it’s something we are going to work on overnight. But it’s been a good start and one thing that I am most pleased about is the people are here and wanting to do business.”
“There are a lot of people on the grounds and they’re starting to get active in the market and our vendors are starting to sell well – setting us up nicely for tomorrow.”
“The leading buyer by jurisdiction is Hong Kong, which is fantastic from our point of view, obviously Singapore has been very good – as well as Macau, the Philippines, Korea and we’ve even had a buyer from the United States,” Cox added.
To view the results or to make an offer on a passed in lot click here. To see a video review of the day click here.
Day Two of the Gold Coast 2YOs in Training Sale will commence at 12 noon (Qld time) on Wednesday.
DAY ONE STATISTICS
(2016 in brackets)
Lots Catalogued: 147 (190)
Lots Sold: 82 (116)
Lots Passed In: 38 (48)
Lots Withdrawn: 27 (23)
Sale Gross: $5,384,500 ($5,757,000)
Top Price: $320,000 ($315,000)
Average Price: $65,665 ($49,629)
Median Price: $50,000 ($35,000)
Sold %: 68 (71)
DAY ONE TOP SELLERS
$320,000 – Smart Missile-County Mayo colt (Lot 58)
Vendor: Kenmore Lodge (As Agent) / Buyer: Vichit Pongsri-am (Thailand)
$300,000 – Written Tycoon-Crimson Tide colt (Lot 60)
Brisbane Meadows (As Agent) / Ultra T’breds/TK Racing (Vic)
$280,000 – Smart Missile-Class Apart colt (Lot 52)
Rosemont Stud (As Agent) / Sweetbriar Equine (HK)
$240,000 – Stratum-Brightlands Star colt (Lot 33)
Wood Park Stud / Jason Tam/Gary Moore (HK)
$175,000 – Zoustar-Faster Pussycat colt (Lot 91)
Widden Stud (As Agent) / Lee Freedman (Singapore)
