Veteran owner Ron Croghan and trainer Kris Lees enjoyed a superlative spring
with dual Group 1-winning sophomore Samantha Miss (Redoute’s Choice), and the
pair wasted no time seeking another potential superstar when they secured Lot
No. 262, a son of Redoute’s Choice, for a session-topping A$620,000 Thursday at
the Conrad Jupiters Magic Millions Yearling Sale. Out of the Warning (GB) mare
Bal des Sirenes, the bay colt was offered by Craig Anderson’s Amarina Farm. Lees
saddled the youngster’s three-quarter brother Britt’s Best (Danehill) to several
stakes victories and more than A$500,000 in earnings.
“He was a very under-rated horse, and he was a good, honest Group 3 horse,”
Lees said of Britt’s Best. “This horse is a better type as a yearling than what
he was. He is a nice strong colt, athletic, well-balanced, and I thought he was
one of the colts of the sale.”
His third dam is Mill Princess (Mill Reef), whose offspring include the likes
of Last Tycoon (Ire) (Try My Best).
“It was a good result; with the marked interest in the horse, we put a fair
reserve on him and were hoping around that mark, maybe a little more,” Amarina
Farm’s Craig Anderson said.
Later in the session, Lees signed for Lot 304, a filly by Encosta de Lago out
of the Zabeel mare Calm Smytzer from the draft of Tony Santic’s Victorian stud
Makybe, for A$320,000. She will also race in Croghan’s orange colors.
The second-highest price of the day was the A$600,000 given by Darley for Lot
310, another Redoute’s Choice colt. Baramul Stud offered the bay out of
Cannyanna (Canny Lad). Darley’s Trevor Lobb said his operation was delighted to
be able to snare the youngster for what he considered to be a very reasonable
price.
“We thought he was one of the colts of the sale,” Lobb said. “On the sale,
he’s great value. He’s athletic, he’s by a top stallion and is out of a great
mare.”
Baramul owner Gerry Harvey was pleased enough with the result, but thought
the market was fickle.
“You’re really selling them on pedigree a bit, but at the end of the day, if
they are not the right type you can’t get any money for them,” Harvey explained.
“I’ve got Redoute’s Choices that I can’t sell, but if you get the right type —
last year I got A$2.2 million for one. This one, to my way of thinking was every
bit as good as those selling for one or two (million).
“Given what we are seeing in markets around the world, I came in probably
fearing things would be down anywhere from 25 to 45 percent,” he continued.
“Obviously, the opening day sales were unbelievable. Things slowed down today; I
know just from the horses I sold the prices are well down on where they have
been. I had horses going for what I would have thought was 50 percent less than
they may have sold for last year. But you have to look at the big picture, and
when you take that into account, being down 15 to 20 percent is a much better
result than what we first thought we might see.”
Sydney-based bloodstock agent James Bester snared the top-priced filly of the
day, a daughter of Danehill Dancer, for A$550,000. Lot 238 is out of Ambers Halo
(Don’t Say Halo), whose first foal, an Elvstroem colt, was also purchased by
Bester.
“She’s my filly of the sale,” Bester said. “She’s got good size, scope and
strength. She’s very athletic. She’s got a good forearm and gaskin, a very good
walk and length of hip.”
As expected, the sale average steadied during a day of brisk trade. The
averaged declined to A$137,650 compared to the A$150,420 at the opening two
sessions in 2008, but the clearance rate improved slightly from day one.
Complete results and catalogs are available on www.magicmillions.com.au.