Pure Magic at Arrowfield
Spring Champion S. G1 winner Profondo is one of three Group 1-winning colts sold by Arrowfield at Magic Millions since 2019 - the others are Hitotsu & Tagaloa. (PHOTO: Lisa Grimm)
One after another this Spring, Arrowfield’s Magic Millions graduates came out to play, and by the end of Cup Week at Flemington, one thing was guaranteed for this year’s Sale.
The Stud’s 73-lot Class of 2022 will be very busy indeed as soon as they start parading at the Gold Coast on 4 January.
First out was Ottavio & Wendy Galletta’s $1.9 million sale-topper Profondo (Deep Impact-Honesty Prevails), who placed in the Gloaming S. G3 before racing away with the 2000-metre Spring Champion S. G1 at only his third start – a feat unmatched by any other Australian 3YO in recent history.
Next up was the brilliant Ciaron Maher & David Eustace-trained Victoria Derby G1 winner Hitotsu (Maurice-Love Is Fickle) whose $100,000 price-tag proves that a huge budget isn’t essential to secure a top performer from Arrowfield.
Profondo and Hitotsu join Anders, Invader, Showtime & Tagaloa as valuable stallion prospects bought from Arrowfield’s recent Magic Millions consignments.
Cup Day produced an encouraging debut performance by 2YO colt Le Gagneur (Shalaa-Rationality), bought for $200,000 and third in the Maribyrnong Plate G3 for Robbie Griffiths & Mathew de Kock.
On Oaks Day, $500,000 buy Flying Evelyn (Not A Single Doubt-Champagne Run) powered home in the Red Roses S. G3, and $800,000 filly Satin Love (Snitzel-Madame Andree) was second at her 2YO debut in the Ottawa S. G3.
They’re in excellent company among the likes of Group-winning fillies Secret Agenda, Sweet Idea, Perignon, Scarlet Rain, Honesty Prevails & Missile Mantra – all sold by Arrowfield at Magic Millions.
Stakes Day at Flemington produced the Stud’s fourth Magic Millions graduate stakeswinner this season when Bend The Knee (Snitzel-Kneeling), a $300,000 purchase by trainer John O’Shea, defeated his fellow Arrowfield graduate Port Louis in The Amanda Elliott LR.
Two weeks later $145,000 Magic Millions 2019 graduate Count de Rupee (Real Impact-Timeless Choice) capped a lucrative campaign with success in the $1 million The Gong at Kembla Grange for trainers Robert & Luke Price.
Graduate success wasn’t the only measure of Arrowfield’s contribution to Spring racing in Australia. By the end of Melbourne Cup Week, the Stud’s stallions headed no fewer than five sire premierships:
That wasn’t all. Snitzel, already a four-time Champion Sire, is this season’s leading sire of stakeswinners with ten, among them Group 1 winners In The Congo (Golden Rose), Wild Ruler (A.J. Moir Stakes) and Yearning (Thousand Guineas).
These current highlights and the Stud’s eight Champion Sire titles in the past 16 years make the launch of first-crop yearlings by three new Arrowfield sires a notable event.
Sensational Champion 3YO Colt and five-time Group 1 winner The Autumn Sun has received the kind of support reserved for the best racing colt by the great Redoute’s Choice. Magic Millions has secured a mouth-watering 30-lot selection of his first progeny including eight colts & three fillies offered by Arrowfield.
Bloodstock Manager Jon Freyer highlights five yearlings by The Autumn Sun:
Lot 126 colt ex I Am Queen – “excellent first foal from a smart racemare, a well-balanced, athletic colt with plenty of quality.”
Lot 290 colt ex Mount Zero – “cast in the same mould as his sire, with lovely balance and short cannons, he could be early.”
Lot 601 colt ex Tap This – “built like a good horse, with a really good shoulder, lovely forearm, girth and hip.”
Lot 842 colt ex Cavaloce – “loads of quality, with good bone, length and scope.”
Lot 849 filly ex Champagne Run – “a real Magic Millions filly, very sharp and precocious and she’s a three-quarter sister to Flying Evelyn.”
Dual Group-winning sprinter-miler Showtime is the only son of Snitzel that Arrowfield has so far chosen to stand, and his first Magic Millions draft of 12 yearlings includes five fillies & five colts bearing the diamonds & jockey cap brand.
Jon’s pick is Lot 511 colt ex She Loves You – “he’s well-grown and athletic, with short cannons & plenty of substance.”
Arrowfield will also offer three colts and three fillies by Deep Impact’s Group 1-winning son Real Steel. Descended from the great European racemare and broodmare Miesque, he represents a new chapter in the spectacular story of Japan’s global racing & breeding success.
It’s a story Arrowfield has been telling for 20 years with horses like Magic Millions graduates Sunday Joy, Tagaloa, Hitotsu & Profondo, stallions like Maurice & Real Impact and a highly successful breeding partnership with Katsumi Yoshida’s Northern Farm.
Jon selects Lot 38 colt ex Fast Eva – “a Derby-style colt with a lot of scope, he’s typical of many of the Japanese-sired horses we’ve sold in recent years.”
The Arrowfield consignment is completed by three sons and four daughters of Dundeel, the sire of five Group 1 winners among his 16 stakeswinners; ten yearlings from the second crop of brilliant sprinting 2YO & 3YO Pariah; a three-quarter sister by Mikki Isle to Group-placed Providenceprovides; plus two colts and two fillies from the final crop of industry favourite Not A Single Doubt.
