Snitzel & Maurice shine at Magic Millions National
The Champion & The Up-and-Comer - Arrowfield's Snitzel & Maurice were both among the leading sires at Australian yearling sales in 2021. (PHOTOS: Bronwen Healy)
Arrowfield stallions concluded a tremendous yearling sales season with five of the 10 top-priced lots at the year’s last major live auction, the Magic Millions National Yearling Sale held this week.
Champion Sire Snitzel added his third sale-topper for 2021 when Milburn Creek’s colt out of Walk With Attitude (by Hussonet) was bought for $500,000 by Melbourne agent Suman Hedge.
Snitzel also topped the Inglis Easter Sale and the entire sales season with Arrowfield’s colt out of Rising Romance, purchased for $2.5 million by Hawkes Racing. The $1.9 million Magic Millions Gold Coast sale-topping colt by Snitzel from Bonny O’Reilly was bought by Tom Magnier from Widden Stud in January.
Remarkably, this is the 7th straight year that Arrowfield and/or Snitzel have supplied Australia’s top-priced sale yearling.
In all, Snitzel has had 90 yearlings sold in 2021 for a staggering $41.4 million – an average price of $460,000, the highest figure of his stud career.
Maurice’s son out of Arleigh (by Smart Missile) made the top 10 list at the National Sale when he was bought from Arrowfield’s draft by Bon Ho’s Legend Racing for $235,000.
It’s been a very encouraging sales season for Japan’s great Champion whose first crop 2YOs include five stakes performers, most recently Port Louis, 3rd in last Saturday’s BRC Sires’ Produce S. G2.
Maurice’s 45 second-crop yearlings have averaged $124,000 – slightly better than his first crop – with 14 lots sold for $150,000 or more, and a top price of $540,000 paid by Suman Hedge for the Only Roses colt at Inglis Easter.
Arrowfield’s staunch backing of its young stallions beyond their first season is very evident in Maurice’s 2021 sale results, with the Stud responsible for 12 of his 20 top-priced yearlings.
Other pleasing results from the three-day Sale include Kenmore Lodge’s $220,000 Dundeel-Quizzed colt and the final Redoute’s Choice yearling, Arrowfield’s $210,000 colt out of La Fouine Tail. Both were bought by leading bloodstock agent Guy Mulcaster whose past Arrowfield-sired purchases include The Autumn Sun, Sacred Star, Shaquero and recent dual stakeswinner Reloaded.
