Fireworks at Magic Millions as Yulong secure Frankel mare for A$2.1 million

There were late fireworks on the second and final day of the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale when Yulong added further Group 1 depth to a broodmare band already dripping with quality with the dual acquisition of Call Di and Aristia for a combined A$3.55 million.

Following steady rather than spectacular trading, the ring finally came alight shortly before the curtain was drawn on the two-day sale as an international bidding battle for Call Di - whose appeal was embellished by the Extreme Choice foal she is carrying - eventually ended with a closing bid of A$2.1 million. 

Call Di’s sole racetrack victory came in a Maiden at Kensington in February 2023, but she was stakes placed on two occasions and her dam Samantha Miss was a triple Group 1 winner for Newcastle trainer Kris Lees. The daughter of Redoute’s Choice is also the dam of Call Di’s sister Miss Fabulass, whose three wins were headed by a victory in the Tea Rose Stakes.  

The pedigree page on the distaff side - combined with Frankel’s reputation as arguably the greatest racehorse the world has seen this century, and the presence of a precious foal produced by one of Australia’s most in-demand sires - made Call Di the perfect package, according to Yulong’s chief operating officer Sam Fairgray.   

“She’s by a champion sire, out of a mare by a champion sire, and she’s in foal to a champion sire,” said Fairgray. 

“She’s just a lovely mare and I’m sure she’ll leave a very, very nice Extreme Choice foal. I followed her racing career and we probably didn’t see the best of her on the track, but she still had very, very good ability.”

By securing the second day’s sale-topper Yulong took their acquisition of mares in foal to Extreme Choice to three, following their previous purchases of stakes-placed mare Finepoint, who cost A$1.3 million and will be served by Growing Empire later this year, and their A$900,000 buy of Ravisher - both from Newgate Stud’s extensive consignment.  

Having won the Blue Diamond Stakes with their Extreme Choice colt Devil Night, Mr Zhang is an avid admirer of Newgate’s resident stallion and given how popular his progeny have again proved throughout the course of this sales season, there is every chance that Yulong won’t have to wait too long to recoup their considerable outlay.

“Extreme Choice is a phenomenal stallion for what he can do with small numbers, so hopefully she can throw some nice foals that we can bring to the yearling sales,” said Fairgray.  

“He’s an amazing stallion. If he didn’t have his fertility issues, he’d be an absolute sensation. It’d be lovely if we could get a couple of colts out of the three mares in foal to Extreme Choice. The boss [Mr Zhang] is very fond of him and we’ve got his dam [Extremely] at home as well, so we’ve already got a few sisters to Extreme Choice on the farm.”

The Call Di sale set the seal on a particularly profitable day at the office for Henry Field’s Newgate operation, whose offerings fetched seven figures on no fewer than eight occasions across the 48-hour trading period. 

A field day for the farm was warmly welcomed by their head honcho, who is confident Lady Di will continue her family’s legacy by producing a champion racehorse. 

Henry Field: 'She was the jewel in the crown of our draft of pregnant mares, and I’m delighted that Yulong bought her'Credit: Getty Images

“She was the jewel in the crown of our draft of pregnant mares, and I’m delighted that Yulong bought her,” said Field. 

“She’s a very, very special mare and I’m delighted that they got her, because they’ve been big supporters of our consignment. There were a lot of people in play, and I think there were bidders from four different continents on her, which shows the global appeal of this sale and of mares in foal to Extreme Choice. 

“We’ve enjoyed the trade, Magic Millions have put on a great show and we’ve had some amazing results, which is credit to the hard work of everyone here this week and back home at the farm.”

Newgate’s near neighbours Vinery Stud, who recently announced the departure of general manager Peter Orton, were also celebrating a significant result with the A$1.45 million sale of Aristia. 

The 2018 VRC Oaks winner predictably attracted interest from bidders both in the sales ring and online, not just due to her feats on the racetrack but also as a result of her successful mating with Yarraman Park’s champion stallion I Am Invincible. 

Aristia’s first two foals - a Zoustar colt and a filly by Arrowfield Stud’s Maurice - fetched in excess of A$1 million between them, and there is a fair chance number three could command a seven-figure sum at a future sale given I Am Invincible’s enduring appeal. 

The nine-year-old is out of Group 2 winner Nakaaya, making her foal she is carrying a three-quarter-sibling to her half-sister, Oakleigh Plate winner Marabi. 

Aristia, pictured with the Vinery Stud team, will be covered by Alabama ExpressCredit: KATRINA PARTRIDGE

Aristia, an A$80,000 purchase at the 2017 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale by First Light Racing, will visit emerging stallion Alabama Express later this year with Yulong pinning their hopes on the son of Redoute’s Choice to fill the void left by Written Tycoon once the farm’s flagbearer has been retired from active service.     

“As soon as we saw her, we knew we loved her,” said Mr Zhang’s son-in-law Jun, who stepped into the role of Yulong’s general manager following the departure of Vin Cox earlier this year.    

“She is in-foal to Vinnie and has got a good first foal by Zoustar. Lonhro is a very good broodmare sire, and we think she is the perfect suit for Alabama Express.

“We are always searching for good mares, and she was on our first list. We are happy now [to get her], but it is a very strong market. That is a good thing for the breeders and for the whole industry.”

The purchase contributed towards another bountiful session for the Nagambie operation but they suffered a rare defeat earlier in the day when Cressfield owner Bruce Neill gazumped them to purchase American stakes-winning mare Liliesformillie.    

The tragic loss of three Group 1-winning mares persuaded Neill to replenish his boutique broodmare band with the A$1.3 million purchase of the 2022 Gowell Stakes winner, who went under the hammer in foal to Darley’s sire sensation Too Darn Hot. 

Over the past 12 months Cressfield sadly bade farewell to the farm’s headline trio Pippie, Secret Agenda and Mid Summer Music, who between them won 11 stakes contests and had proven themselves in the breeding barn since retiring from the racetrack.   

Mid Summer Music’s progeny include two-time Group 1 heroine Stefi Magnetica, who memorably replicated her dam’s victory in the Stradbroke Handicap, while Pippie - a A$1.8 million purchase at the 2021 Inglis Chairman’s Sale - had made a stunning start to her breeding career with her first two foals selling for more than A$2 million between them. 

Her first foal Samudra recently won on debut at Sandown for trainer Mark Walker, while her second foal by I Am Invincible will race in Japan after the filly was acquired by Champions Farm and Satomi Bloodstock for A$1.4 million at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale.

Her brother is therefore a very valuable commodity, being Pippie’s final foal, and Neill was perhaps banking on the colt being a highly sought-after prospect at next year’s sales when he went toe-to-toe with Yulong for Lot 718 from the Newgate consignment. 

Not many boutique breeders have the resources to outbid the mining magnate but, having put his trust in bloodstock agent Louis Le Metayer to source the most suitable in-foal mare to take back to his Hunter Valley farm, Neill was determined to outlast his high-profile rival. 

US-bred Liliesformillie was offered by Newgate Farm and was bought by Astute Bloodstock and CressfieldCredit: KATRINA PARTRIDGE

“I came here specifically to buy an in-foal mare,” said Neill. 

“I’ve only got a broodmare band of 25 and we lost the cream with Pippie, Secret Agenda and Mid Summer Music, two through colic and one through a bleeding attack which we couldn’t stop.

“That is three serious losses for any farm so I had to replace them, and this is a step towards that. Timing-wise it made more commercial value to buy an in-foal mare, and we identified Liliesformillie as the one we wanted.”

Despite being bred and raced in America, Liliesformillie’s page is not totally unfamiliar. Her second dam, stakes winner Feisty Princess, produced dual Grade 2 scorer Gypsy Robin, the dam of Group 1 winner and now Newgate Farm-based stallion Wild Ruler and Kembla Grange Group 3 scorer Pavitra. 

“She’s a gorgeous mare, and she rated very highly. It is a good page and well known in Australia with the second dam [Feisty Princess], plus Tale Of The Cat is a successful broodmare sire so it worked well.

“There also aren’t going to be too many Too Darn Hots available in Australia this year, whereas there will be next season. They’ve spent a lot of money on him, and then I spent a lot of money on this mare.”

Superpowers clash as Coolmore win battle to buy Zougotcha for A$5.25 million

Liliesformillie was one of ten million dollar lots sold at the Bundall complex on day two, with stakes-winning mare Lazzago (Capitalist) commanding the third-highest price when she was knocked down for A$1.4 million to RMA Bloodstock and Paul Frampton. 

The winner of the Sweet Embrace Stakes for Chris Waller was sold by Widden Stud in foal to Zoustar, who will likely be crowned champion sire for the first time this year and will stand the 2025 season for a fee of A$275,000.

Widden bred and sold Lazzago for A$460,000 to the Kepitis Family’s Woppitt Bloodstock at the 2022 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, and the farm’s nominations, sales and client relations manager Matt Comerford believes their buyers may have bagged a bargain.   

“There was a lot of interest in her and I think she was great buying, in fairness,” Comerford said.

“I know it [A$1.4 million] is a lot of money, but mares like her were making that yesterday and she’s already in foal. She was a straight-forward filly when we bred her, and she’s let down into a beautiful mare.”

Lazzago shares a page with the likes of Group 3 winner Khulaasa and Listed scorer Bulbula, the dam of Group winner Doull and Aryaaf. 

Widden Stud offered Group 2 winner Lazzago who fetched A$1.4 millionCredit: KATRINA PARTRIDGE

Magic Millions managing director, Barry Bowditch, was delighted with the “incredible” trade at the top level, which was headed by 24 lots that fetched seven figures, including Zougotcha, who finished the two-day sale as the top seller at A$5.25 million.     

“The mares in-foal market across the board has been a little bit discretionary so far this year, in my opinion, but I thought it was a very, very confident day’s trade,” he said. 

“At most levels it was solid bidding, but at the top level I thought it was incredible. Ten mares in-foal sold for a million dollars or more, that’s a big, big number for this sale – it’s the second most million-dollar mares we’ve sold at this auction in many a year.

“It was 25 the Shadwell year and this year, without a dispersal, to sell 24 million dollar lots, and ten of them to be today, was a super effort.

 “The average is also up a huge amount – I think it’s up by A$40,000 or A$50,000, which is massive. I think the people that have trusted the system and trusted what Magic Millions have provided in the past have been very well-rewarded.”

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