Spirit Of Boom colt tops opening session of revamped Adelaide sale

Bosses at Magic Millions were on Tuesday hailing the revamped Adelaide Yearling Sale after a colt by first-season sire sensation Spirit Of Boom was knocked down for A$300,000 (£170,000/€191,000), the highest price achieved at the sale in 12 years.

The traditional evening session following Monday's Adelaide Cup meeting at Morphettville was this year abandoned in favour of a two-day auction and the opening session saw a total of 173 yearlings sell for an aggregate of almost A$7.5 million at an average of A$43,246 and a median price of A$35,000. The clearance rate was 80 per cent.

"On the whole we were very happy with how day one went," said Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch. "There are a lot of people here and the vendors have supported the sale with quality horses.

"The average is stronger than it was last year, the clearance rate is acceptable and to sell a sale-topper for A$300,000, we haven’t sold one for that much in Adelaide since 2006, and we have another one sell for over A$200,000."

Catalogue and results

It was Yulong Investments who struck the winning bid for the session-topping son of Eureka Stud's Spirit Of Boom, a result that was cause for celebration for Crown Park, who picked up the colt for only A$10,000 at last year's Magic Millions Gold Coast National Weanling Sale.

Consigned by Rosemont Stud on their behalf, the colt is out of the Listed-winning Reset mare Moulin Lady, herself a half-sister to the Rockingham Stakes winner Bannock.

"We presented the horse on behalf of Crown Park, who trade a lot of bloodstock, so it was a great result for them. It is a dream, isn’t it, to turn A$10,000 into A$300,000 in the space of ten months," said Rosemont Stud's Anthony Mithen.

"He looked absolutely amazing in the ring, so he is a credit to all the staff who have worked so hard. All that hard work pays off when you get a result like this. It is terrific for the farm and terrific for the pinhooking team who have got the cash."

Spirit Of Boom, a Group 1-winning sprinter, has made a strong start to his stallion career, having sired ten first-crop winners, including four stakes scorers.