LOCAL stables including Blue Gum Farm (Euroa) and Longwood Thoroughbred Farm (Longwood) have achieved strong sales at Magic Millions, held in the Gold Coast this month. The highlight for Blue Gum Farm was the sale of a Snitzel colt for $1.3 million to a New Zealand buyer, David Ellis. “At the end of the day, the horse was a lovely animal and he presented really well and made fantastic money,” Blue Gum Farm owner Sean Dingwall told the Gazette. “He's got a tremendous pedigree, and most of the people that looked at him felt that he was the closest colt that they've seen to the stallion for a very long time – he presented very much in the mould of the stallion.” Mr Dingwall said it had been the first time Blue Gum stepped outside of Victoria to sell horses and they finished in the top ten vendors on average – a strong achievement. “It was a tough two weeks because in the midst of it we had the storms in Euroa, and Blue Gum dug in and got through it – it was fantastic,” he said. Longwood Thoroughbred Farm general manager and former AFL player Michael Christian said his stable also had a good run at Magic Millions. The highlight was the sale of a Wootton Bassett colt for $750,000 to Michael Freedman Racing and Gandharvi Racing. “It was just a really nice colt that had power and strength, but also very athletic,” Mr Christian said. “It was a buoyant sale. “The early part of the sale was probably the strongest part of the sale, but overall I think given the economic environment, it was a strong sale.” Nagambie’s Yulong Stud, owned by billionaire Yuesheng Zhang, also participated as a vendor in the sale, selling over 30 yearlings including one to Lindsay Park for $400,000. Euroa’s Lindsay Park participated in the sales as a buyer. Bloodstock manager Josh Rix said it took Lindsay Park “a little while to get warmed up” because the first two days of the sale were “extremely competitive” – but after that, the stable found their mark and had a great buying campaign. “We ended up sending home 14 outstanding yearlings consisting of nine colts and five fillies ranging in price from $100,000 to $520,000, by some of Australia's most successful sires such as Written Tycoon, Fastnet Rock and Deep Field,” he said. “We can’t wait to see our purchases stepping off the trucks and onto the tracks in 2024.”
