YOUR BITE-SIZED BULLETIN FROM OZ Champion mare Winx. Winx return gathers momentum in countdown to racing farewell Australian racing is on Winx watch as one of the world s premier racehorses eases into a campaign of racing that is almost certain to be her last. In an uneventful return to the public eye, Winx (Street Cry) stretched her legs on her home track in a barrier trial at Rosehill this week. Barrier trials are part and parcel of the Australian thoroughbred scene and PREVIEW Sydney has more than most other major racing jurisdictions. They are primarily used for qualifying, educational and fitness purposes but in Winx s case it provides one of the few opportunities for a glimpse of her work away from the raceday spotlight. She rarely wins under these conditions because she isn t asked to and in keeping with that theme Winx strolled home behind a string of autumn hopefuls. Her trainer and jockey wanted no more as the countdown to a return in the Group Two Apollo Stakes at Randwick on February 16 gathers momentum. RACING PHOTOS The Apollo Stakes will be one of four farewell appearances for Winx and they will all be in Sydney. It is an autumn template that trainer Chris Waller has followed for the past three seasons and it all but rules Winx out of the All-Star Mile at Flemington on March 16. The All-Star Mile is a $5 million race that is new to Australian racing in 2019 with 10 of the 14 runners decided by a public vote. Entries closed this week and Winx wasn t among the nominations. There is a provision for wildcard inclusions but it would take a significant autumn detour for Winx to return to Melbourne. 1 aushorse.com.au
Rich autumn sprints loom large for Kensington Stakes runner Champagne Cuddles. A Sydney-trained mare resuming in Melbourne will provide the first sure sign that Australia s best horses are up and running with the autumn carnival on our doorstep. Champagne Cuddles (Not A Single Doubt) returns in the Listed Kensington Stakes - the only black-type race along Australia s eastern seaboard on Saturday. Trained out of Sydney by Bjorn Baker, Champagne Cuddles hasn t been seen since finishing down the course behind Hartnell (Authorized) in the Group One Epsom Handicap at Randwick in September. It was her worst of three spring starts and most likely ensured her autumn program will be tailored to races shorter than a testing mile. Baker collected two $1 million races during the Magic Millions raceday last week and the trainer wants to give Champagne Cuddles some experience over Flemington s straight course in a bid to plunder more interstate riches. Two races appeal as obvious targets for Champagne Cuddles, a three-time winner with stakes closing in on $1 million. The Group One Black Caviar Lightning over the Flemington course will be run on February 16. It offers a $750,000 purse as the first of a Group One sprint triple crown during the Melbourne autumn carnival. The third pin of that treble is the LISA GRIMM famous Newmarket Handicap, a 1200m race for $1.25 million in stakes that is also decided at Flemington. Champagne Cuddles has four Group One placings alongside her name. She finished runner-up in the Golden Rose and Flight Stakes during the 2017 Sydney spring carnival. They were a forerunner to minor placings against older sprinters in the Kingsford Smith Cup and the Stradbroke Handicap in Brisbane. On an international rating of 104, Champagne Cuddles will be the best horse racing in Australia on Saturday and is weighted accordingly in the Kensington with 59.5kg. Her opposition will include a collection of mostly off-season sprinting stock although Thermal Current (Exceed and Excel), a winner over the course during the Melbourne Cup carnival, adds some spice to the contest. 2 aushorse.com.au
The richest race in Australia this week will be a sales-related contest when 10 horses take their place in the Inglis Dash over 1100m at Flemington. Inglis provides a Dash for cash in Flemington sprint Backed by William Inglis & Son Ltd, the bloodstock auctioneering firm that has been part of the Australian racing landscape for more than a century, the Inglis Dash offers $250,000 in stakes. The Dash is restricted to threeyear-olds who were sold through Inglis yearling sales in 2017 and was first run in 2016. In spite of its short history and its obvious restricted conditions, the race has already been a platform for Group One success. The inaugural winner Hellbent (I Am Invincible) trained on to claim last year s William Reid Stakes for Darren Weir. Hellbent after winning the inaugural Inglis Dash. That path to Group One glory can easily be replicated by another sprinter who ended up in the Weir stable, Nature Strip. Nature Strip (Nicconi) ran a fast time to win last year s race when prepared by Robert Hickmott and is rated among Australia s top sprinters RACING PHOTOS despite failing at his only Group One appearance. Thorondor (Fastnet Rock) is the highest-rated entry in this year s edition, courtesy of a runner-up placing in the Group Two Danehill Stakes during the Melbourne spring carnival. Jamie Kah. Kah joins Victorian riding ranks RACING PHOTOS One of South Australia s best jockeys is moving to Victoria. Jamie Kah, a leading strike-rate rider in Australia, will front up for work at Flemington on Saturday after dominating Adelaide in recent seasons. The 23-year-old believes the time is right for her to chase additional opportunities across the border in the hope of securing consistent rides at Group One level. Kah had a stint as an apprentice in Melbourne before making Adelaide her home. She sits third in the national jockeys premiership and leads the Adelaide title after winning it for the past two seasons. The 23-year-old is the latest highprofile racing identity to depart South Australia. Trainers Lloyd Kennewell and Phillip Stokes have opened Victorian stables this season. Kennewell had planned to leave his Adelaide stable as a satellite but the yard has been shut down. His decision to close the stable from where he trained Viddora (I Am Invincible) to win a Group One race last season comes during a turbulent time in South Australian racing. Funding cuts have recently been announced while expected additional income from a point of consumption tax will not be forthcoming. 3 aushorse.com.au
The Golden Slipper is a stallion-making race and he will make a stallion Champion trainer, Gai Waterhouse Sex Dam Buyer Price C Harlem River Edmonds Racing/Blue Sky Bloodstock $400,000 F Angel Bee Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott Racing $400,000 C Irish Dream Asian Bloodstock Services Ltd $350,000 C Ygritte Jadeskye Racing/Brad Widdup Racing NSW $350,000 F Graceful Anna Paul Perry Racing $320,000 F Sevruga Mystery Downs $320,000 C Emmalene Bjorn Baker Racing/Clarke Bloodstock $275,000 F Blueberry Hill Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott Racing $240,000 C Never Forget Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott Racing $240,000 C Candela Gai Waterhouse/Adrian Bott/Kerri Radcliffe $210,000 Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott bought Vancouver yearlings at Magic Millions for $400,000, $240,000, $240,000, $210,000, $170,000 and $150,000 Golden Slipper winning Champion 2YO by Medaglia d Oro A U S T R A L I A Michael Kirwan, Colm Santry, Paddy Oman, Tom Moore or Rob Archibald Tel: 02 6576 4200. NZ: Gordon Calder Tel:+64 218 41612. www.coolmore.com 4 aushorse.com.au
FEATURE I am Magic Millions It started with a bang and finished with a bang and nary a whimper in between. Record crowds at the 2019 Magic Millions Gold Coast January Yearling Sale. MAGIC MILLIONS The 2019 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale certainly didn t take long to get into stride when Lot 10 a Medaglia d Oro colt sold for $1,000,000 in a record breaking first session last Wednesday, while Book 1 actually peaked late on Saturday night (less than 20 lots short of stumps) when the I Am Invincible colt from Group winning Oakleigh Girl was knocked down to Lloyd Kennewell, Matt Becker s Group 1 Bloodstock, Ozzie Kheir and Aquis Farm for $1,700,000. In between there were nine other million dollar buys four in total for I Am Invincible while overall the sale grossed $169,545,000 (up 8.7%) and averaged $239,809 (up 5.1%). Yarraman Park Stud, which stands I Am Invincible, was leading vendor both by aggregate ($11,595,000) and average ($429,444), while Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott were again the most active buyers, spending nearly $7 million on 25 purchases. However, while big buys and a We compared notes and both agreed the colt from Oakleigh Girl was the best yearling in the entire sale and knew he d make big money. MATT BECKER, GROUP 1 BLOODSTOCK healthy clearance proved to be the standard for the first three sessions, it was the I Am Invincible colt who ultimately stole the show. Sure, there is a certain amount of urban myth attached to the Saturday night session, suggesting that buyers get lubricated at the races before opening their shoulders in the sale ring, but Lloyd Kennewell (trainer of dual Group One winner Viddora) was clear eyed and determined by the time the colt entered the ring. Indeed, Lloyd had been on a mission since checking out the colt on the first day of inspections, some seven days earlier, according to Matt Becker. I ve known Lloyd since we were kids and we re doing quite a bit together bloodstock wise, Becker reveals. We ve ended up with five lovely yearlings from the sale, but it was the I Am Invincible that we d been targeting since day one. I got up to the Gold Coast on Boxing Day and had already inspected every yearling in the sale, while Lloyd made a beeline to the Yarraman draft as soon as he arrived, because he loves the I Am Invincibles and has had quite a bit of success with them not just with Viddora. We compared notes and both agreed the colt from Oakleigh Girl was the best yearling in the entire sale and knew he d make big money. I approached (Melbourne businessman) Ozzie Kheir, who had been a part- 5 aushorse.com.au
Top Lot of the sale by I Am Invincible out of Oakleigh Girl sells for $1.7 million. MAGIC MILLIONS owner of Melbourne Cup winner Protectionist, and asked him if he d be interested in coming into the syndicate. Ozzie has around half a dozen mares in Australia which I look after on his behalf and I arranged the importation of Japanese galloper, Tosen Basil, for him and Yulong Farm last year. Ozzie is really starting to build up his yearling portfolio in Australia and was keen to take a share, while I also spoke to Shane McGrath at Aquis Farm as they, naturally enough, are always on the look out for well bred colts. He had inspected the colt too and was keen to be involved, while the rest of the colt will be taken up by a few of mine and Lloyd s long-time clients. Anyway, by the time he entered the ring we had enough firepower to get the colt, but it s bloody nerve wracking all the same! With its January dates, the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale has long been regarded the litmus test for Australia s sales season and it was particularly encouraging to see so many international buyers on the front line. The return of Shadwell Stud and Stonestreet Farm had a clear impact, but so too did the financial heft of Phoenix Thoroughbreds, Jon Kelly, Barbara Banke and Asian Bloodstock We ve worked hard on getting the message out to the northern hemisphere on the benefits of buying Australian-bred horses and it s literally paid off in droves over the past week. TOM REILLY, AUSHORSE CEO Services, along with dual hemisphere operations such as Aquis Farm, Yulong Investments and, of course, Godolphin. The combination of China Horse Club, Newgate Farm and Kentucky s WinStar Farm also chimed in with a dozen purchases for $5.3 million. It was an immensely encouraging sale, Aushorse CEO Tom Reilly enthused. The official list shows purchases from Hong Kong (the busiest with 33 yearlings), USA, United Kingdom, New Zealand, China, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia, but that doesn t necessarily reflect those purchases by local trainers on behalf of international clients. We ve worked hard on getting the message out to the northern hemisphere on the benefits of buying Australian-bred horses and it s literally paid off in droves over the past week. Overseas buyers are definitely seeing the advantages prizemoney in Australia has increased by a whopping 92% over the last 10 years the greatest lift for any racing region in the world while there is now $55 million available annually through sales or breeding scheme related bonuses. Aside from races like the $13 million Everest, the Melbourne Cup and Golden Slipper, there are 55 races worth a million or greater, while eight of those are restricted to 2YOs. And perhaps the most interesting statistic for those million dollar youngsters throughout the sale, is that in the past five years nearly 70 locallybred colts have gone to stud in Australia and NZ at a fee of $10,000 or more. Take Merchant Navy for instance. Purchased for $350,000 (2016 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale) he won the sire-making Group One Coolmore Stud Stakes here, went over to Royal Ascot and beat the best sprinters in the Group One Diamond Jubilee and now he s a multi million dollar shuttler. 6 aushorse.com.au
REVIEW Exhilarating win for Godolphin in Magic Millions 2YO Classic Exhilarates wins the Magic Millions 2yo Classic. It s hard to imagine a more dramatic transformation than the one that has accompanied Exhilarates to a memorable win in the Magic Millions 2YO Classic. In the space of two months, the Godolphin filly has gone from an also-ran after finishing last at her debut to a benchmark two-year-old of Australian racing. But the first signs that Exhilarates (Snitzel) could yet live up to her envied pedigree as the second foal from Group One winner Samaready (More Than Ready) emerged in a Magic Millions lead-up race in NSW. Beaten but by no means disgraced against established Millions favourite Unite And Conquer (Hinchinbrook), Exhilarates gave James Cummings enough confidence to press on to the Gold Coast. It took a win in a minor race, a QTIS two-year-old handicap, which is becoming a major influence on the Magic Millions to seal her place in the field for the $2 million race. Seven days later, Exhilarates elevated her form to another level with a breathtaking win. In leaving her rivals without excuses, Exhilarates came from next to last and navigated the widest course on the turn to overwhelm the Group Three winner Dubious (Not A Single Doubt). Hightail (Written Tycoon) finished third at his fourth start in 29 days. The result continued a remarkable season for Godolphin in Australia as well as jockey Kerrin McEvoy. McEvoy also teamed up with Sheikh Mohammed s racing empire to win the Melbourne Cup on Cross Counter (Teofilo). The former Godolphin-retained rider also won The Everest, the world s richest race on turf, for the second time. For Cummings, the victory meant he emulated his famous grandfather Bart TRACKSIDE PHOTOGRAPHY Cummings as a Magic Millions-winning trainer. It gave him an extra reason to celebrate his 31st birthday while confirming a place in the upper echelons of Australia s training ranks. Exhilarates was one of the first yearlings Godolphin bought in 2018 as it returned to the buying market in Australia for the first time in almost a decade. She was the operation s most expensive purchase at $600,000. But her win in a race that is a restricted Listed event, because only sales graduates from the Magic Millions Sales company can compete, has sent her earnings past $1.3 million. Cummings is almost certain to give Exhilarates her chance to become the first filly to complete the Magic Millions-Golden Slipper double. Ante-post markets suggest the feat is achievable with only unbeaten stablemate Tassort (Brazen Beau) higher in betting for the Slipper, a $3.5 million race at Rosehill on March 23 that is the world s richest for two-year-olds. 7 aushorse.com.au
Guineas win confirms Munce s arrival in Aussie training ranks Boomsara. If it wasn t already, Chris Munce s transition from elite jockey to a trainer with a viable stable is complete. Munce is one of the few Australian jockeys to claim what we like to call our grand slam of racing - riding the winners of the Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup, WS Cox Plate and the Golden Slipper. But he reckons training the winner of the Magic Millions 3YO Guineas tops them all. Boomsara (Spirit Of Boom) landed Munce s most important winner since he retired from riding after the 2015 Magic Millions race day and opened a Brisbane stable a few months later. Overcoming a wide gate under Sydney jockey Tim Clark, Boomsara looked beaten more than once in the straight. First it was Bondi (Snitzel) who laid down a challenge before the favourite Outback Barbie (Spirit Of Boom) looked likely when making a run down the outside. Somehow Boomsara kept finding something extra with Bondi finishing second and Outback Barbie in the minor placing of the best finish on a card of racing offering $10 million in stakes. Boomsara s win confirmed why his sire Spirit Of Boom (Sequalo) is regarded as a stallion who has breathed new life into the Queensland breeding industry. The gold and black stripes, red sleeves silks associated with Spirit Of TRACKSIDE PHOTOGRAPHY Boom s two Group One wins were also worn on Boomsara. They are the racing colours of the McAlpine family, long-time influential breeders who stand Spirit Of Boom at Eureka Stud on the Queensland Darling Downs west of Brisbane. Eureka Stud is run by Scott McAlpine and his family, continuing a legacy of excellence in thoroughbred breeding that was started by his grandfather Andrew and his father Colin. The Magic Millions extravaganza aside, winter is the best time for Queensland racing and that s where Munce hopes to direct Boomsara. There are now richer races run in Queensland than the Group One Stradbroke Handicap, a 1400m test, but none are as famous and it s the winter target for Boomsara. 8 aushorse.com.au
Fourth-time lucky for Egyptian Symbol The best race for established sprinters at the Magic Millions celebrates the legacy left by Snippets, the inaugural 2YO Classic winner in 1987. It was won this year by the Bjorn Baker-trained Egyptian Symbol (Stratum), a six-year-old mare who lost form towards the end of the Sydney spring carnival. Baker is among a young breed of trainers emerging in Sydney despite the presence of all-conquering stables belonging to Godolphin and Chris Waller. He is the son of Murray Baker, a legendary New Zealand trainer who has made a habit of picking off Australia s Classic races for the best part of three decades. Egyptian Symbol has become a permanent fixture on Magic Millions raceday, making her fourth appearance Egyptian Symbol in the Magic Millions Snippets. at the Gold Coast meeting. She was a minor placegetter in the 2016 3YO Guineas and finished third in last year s Snippets. Confirming Baker s assessment that she races at her optimum at the start of a campaign, Egyptian Symbol came MAGIC MILLIONS from last of the 13 runners under jockey Jason Collett. The win was the first leg of a Gold Coast double for Baker as Redouble (Redoute s Choice) claimed the Magic Millions Cup over 1400m. Both races carried a $1 million purse. Waller enhances Magic Millions record Winx will forever be the poster girl for the Magic Millions concept but Chris Waller has had to rely on stable lesser lights to edge closer to another training record. Waller trained Tumultuous (Fastnet Rock) and Invincibella (I Am Invincible) to win the Magic Millions Trophy and Magic Millions Fillies and Mares respectively. Both horses made it back-to-back wins in their races, confirming once again Waller is a target trainer of the highest calibre as he chases down Gai Waterhouse for the most Magic Millions wins. Waller is famed for his meticulous planning and horse management - a skill that has contributed to Winx s long winning sequence. Sold for $230,000 at the 2013 Magic Millions January Yearling sale, Winx (Street Cry) has never competed at the $10 million raceday. The wonder mare wasn t forward enough to contest the 2YO Classic and she was being trained for the 2016 Sydney autumn carnival when the 3YO Guineas was run. But with four WS Cox Plate wins and a string of international accolades, Winx s standing as the most famous of all Magic Millions graduates is unlikely to be challenged. Chris Waller. Bargain-buy writes a new Millions Chapter Chapter And Verse took the honour as the most inexpensive yearling to win on Magic Millions day. A $28,000 purchase, Chapter And Verse (Rothesay) won the Magic Millions QTIS Open over 1300m. Chapter And Verse is trained by Desleigh Forster and she has a knack for buying successful racehorses from the bottom of the market. Brisbane-based Forster honed her craft working for leading trainers such as Bart Cummings and Peter Moody. She opened her own stable a decade ago with the support of the Nolan family s Raheen Stud, the breeders of Chapter And Verse. 9 aushorse.com.au
The past 12 Group One Derby and Oaks winners have all been Australian-bred. It pays to buy Australian. Aushorse.com.au EGG TART 17 Queensland Oaks Gr.1 ACE HIGH 17 Victoria Derby Gr.1 PINOT 17 VRC Oaks Gr.1 RUTHVEN 17 Queensland Derby Gr.1 LEVENDI 18 Australian Derby Gr.1 UNFORGOTTEN 18 ATC Oaks Gr.1 SOPRESSA 18 Australasian Oaks Gr.1 LEICESTER 18 South Australia Derby Gr.1 YOUNGSTAR 18 Queensland Oaks Gr.1 DARK DREAM 18 Queensland Derby Gr.1 EXTRA BRUT 18 Victoria Derby Gr.1 ARISTIA 18 VRC Oaks Gr.1 10 aushorse.com.au