Magic Millions 2024 off to a flying start!

Well, the 2024 yearling sales season is off to a flying start!

This year saw a record number of yearlings being catalogued with Magic Millions putting on an extra day of selling.

Hopefully everyone was well rested over the festive season and ready for the marathon ahead. I sensed vendors entered the sale filled with nerves and anxiety; all we read about in the news was doom and gloom with the credit crunch and how tough things are. The big question was – would this infiltrate into the walls of the Bundall complex of the Magic Millions?

My own personal opinion was that the top end of the market would hold up, but the clearance rate would be the biggest problem. If it held to 80% – that would be a great result!

It never ceases to amaze me and we say it time and time again, but the resilience and strength of the thoroughbred industry is unbelievable. For Book 1 to finish with 86% clearance and averaging $280,000 (down only 5% given 40 more were offered), proved the sale was extraordinary and the results were outstanding.

The combined results of Book 1 and 2 proved impressive considering the extra 200 odd yearlings. There was 83% clearance across the board with a $214,000 average (down from $240,000 in 2023). The top end of the market is remarkable, the continued buying power of all the stallion funds never ceases to amaze me!

A big congratulations to the Magic Millions team on a truly astonishing sale. From an industry point of view, it is vital that this first sale of the year gets off to a strong and positive start. Let’s hope it rolls on throughout the rest of the yearling sales.

On a personal note, we had a busy time; team McEvoy purchased 12 yearlings ranging from $70,000 to $475,000 being the Wootton Bassett half-sister to our brave, gutsy filly Arabian Summer who ran 5^th in the Magic Millions 2yo.

Our association with MyRacehorse involved buying 6 yearlings for trainers; Tony and Calvin McEvoy, Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, Anthony and Sam, Lee, and Michael Freedman as well as Bjorn Baker.

Belmont Bloodstock were also stoked to secure a rare offering of a true residual value filly in the full-sister to star racehorse In Secret. Our combined spend for the sale was $5.865 million. The full list of our purchases can be found below: