Some of the best yearlings in the southern hemisphere will start going under the hammer from 10am today at the 2021 Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling sale.
The Morphettville Sales Complex is hosting the next class of future stars, with over 400 lots on offer today and tomorrow.
Magic Millions manager director Barry Bowditch described this year’s catalogue as “very diverse” and tipped plenty of success to flow.
“We’ve got great representation by the vendors this year,” Mr Bowditch told Racing.com.
“Breeders support this catalogue from all over Australia and what that does is bring a great diverse market to the sale… from a buyer’s perspective as well.
“The graduate success out of it is quite phenomenal over the years.”
A highlight of this morning’s session is expected to be Lot 22 – a colt out of Group 1-winning mare Small Minds by superstar sire Fastnet Rock.
In addition, Cornerstone Stud’s Sam Hayes says the South Australian thoroughbred industry’s currently buoyant mood should be reflected in the sales.
“I think the mood in South Australia at the moment is as good as it’s been for quite a while,” Hayes told Racing.com.
“So Racing SA have… relaunched our breeders’ bonus scheme here, Racing Rewards (SA), and it’s got the local trainers all fired up to buy some locally bred horses.
“The broodmare band in South Australia is sort of starting to climb again. Horse numbers are on the rise, and it’s just good for our local racing and breeding economy.”
The sale has progeny from 117 different stallions, including four by outstanding first-year sire, Capitalist – one of 20 “freshman” stallions represented.
Mr Bowditch said trends point towards a successful two days.
“The buoyancy in the market is quite incredible at the moment,” he said.
“There’s a great thirst for racing horses here in Australia and rightly so. Our prizemoney’s great, the product we’re breeding is quite phenomenal.
“It’s hard to work out where the sale will be at. We’ve got less horses this year, so you’d expect and hope for an increase in clearance, and average.
“But all in all we’re just hoping that the buyers come here and they’re in a positive frame of mind, they can find the horses they like, and vendors can go away being well rewarded.”
To view the online catalogue for the 2021 Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale, click here.
To watch the 2021 Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sales live, click here.