The biggest ever Magic Millions Yearling Sale in January features a whopping 1468 entries and the break up of stallions is always interesting as it reflects the thinking of the sales company back at the start of spring when inspections were undertaken and entries being judged and finalized.
It also offers an insight into the popularity of individual sires in 2021 when these yearlings were conceived… and for some stallions their stocks have risen in the intervening two years and for others they have not.
Most represented sire is Newgate Farm’s Capitalist with 55 entries and all bar three are in Book 1. The Golden Slipper winning son of Written Tycoon had his fee raised in 2021 to $99,000 up from $44,000 and he covered his biggest ever book of 243 mares that year.
Capitalist got a Group I winner in his first crop of foals in Captivant and is still waiting for his second although has settled into a good niche as a prolific sire of winners with 51 this season highlighted by his Group winning three year-olds Encap and Kaizad.
Champion sires Snitzel, I Am Invincible and Zoustar are next on the list with 51, 50 and 45 yearlings and all of their entries are not surprisingly Book 1 horses!
First season sires are always interesting and five of the top 10 most represented sires are in fact first season sires with the Coolmore based King’s Legacy on top with 43 entries followed by Wootton Bassett (GB), Ole Kirk and Farnan on 39 with Bivouac one behind on 38.
A dual Group I winning juvenile by Redoute’s Choice from the family of Not a Single Doubt, King’s Legacy was the most popular first season sire in 2021 at a fee of $33,000.
Second season sires are a gamble for the auction house with ‘a winner before Christmas ‘ seen as a pre-requisite for commercial success for these guys at the Gold Coast in January and while the most represented Zousain is still looking for his first winner (he hasn't had a runner yet) , Pierata has done the job with a stakes-winner in Coleman, while Tassort has three winners including the stakes-winner Manaal.
Interesting that Alabama Express appears to have gotten under the guard of both breeders and the auction house with just four in the sale (three offered by Yulong) that come from a second crop of 68 foals down from 114 in his first crop. He covered 141 mares first season, 99 second season and 78 in season three.
It’s very early days, but Alabama Express has already put himself in the Golden Slipper picture with Golden Gift winner Shangri La Express and has a stakes-winner in Karavas, who has had had two starts for two wins including what looked a very competitive Group III VRC Ottawa Stakes.
Hindsight is a great judge and it’s easy to say now Alabama Express is a G1 winning son of champion sire Redoute’s Choice from the family of Giga Kick, why wouldn’t he be a good sire?... But numbers would suggest the majority of people were not convinced…. until now.
