Gold Coast, January 15 – The 2007 Magic Millions Yearling Sale provided another chapter in the emergence of Yarraman Park as a major player, the Mitchell family owned farm providing the top priced filly of the sale and finishing second only to Coolmore by vendor aggregate with 100% clearance of all 24 yearlings offered during the first four sessions generating $6,750,000.
The star performer for Yarraman was the full sister to Group One MRC Oakleigh Plate winner Snitzel that fetched $1.4 million during the second session setting a new Magic Millions record price for a yearling filly.
Not overly tall, but a powerful and racy individual just like her brother, the glamour filly attracted keen competition before Darley boss Ollie Tait silenced the opposition with his final record breaking bid.
Tipped widely as a pre-sale star, the Redoute’s Choice filly provided another great result for her breeder Francis Naude, who has just the one broodmare in Snippets’ Lass, a permanent resident at Yarraman Park after racing with great success when trained by Bill Mitchell.
Winning seven races including two Listed events and $287,746 in prizemoney, Snippets’ Lass was retired to stud in 2000 and her four yearlings sold at public auction (all at Magic Millions) have fetched a combined total of $2,785,000.
Next best for Yarraman was the Redoute’s Choice colt from Aphrodite that made $625,000 to be the top seller during the Saturday evening session.
Knocked down to leading Japanese breeder Katsumi Yoshida, the handsome bay colt features a Japanese connection in his female family as his dam is a sister to the Japanese owned Aussie stakes-winner Seto Flowerian, who went to stud in Japan where she has left a stakes-winner and another stakes placed horse, both by Sunday Silence.
Encosta de Lago also figured for Yarraman as the sire of a slashing colt from former brilliant juvenile French Braids, the eye-catching chestnut going to Tim Martin for $520,000.
First season sire Exceed and Excel chimed in with a colt from the young stakes-winner Flashed fetching $500,000, secured by Blue Sky Thoroughbreds.
Yarraman’s own sire Catbird had an outstanding sale posting an average of $125,444 with all 18 of his yearlings offered finding new homes.
His highlight was the full sister to Group Three winner Catechuchu that made $410,000 to the bid of renowned agent Adrian Nicoll providing a new sales benchmark for the Golden Slipper winner, while Yarraman Park supplied his next best, a filly from Lady Lexus that fetched $240,000.
Yarraman Park will head to the 2007 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale in April with another outstanding selection that will feature the full sister to champion filly Alinghi and current two year-old Perfect Persuasion, who set an Australasian record price for a filly at Easter last year when she made $2.6 million.
“The original plan was to keep her as we sold her full sister last year, but her mother Oceanfast is still young, she’s only 11, and you have to look at the way the market is at present, we are running a business after all,” said Arthur Mitchell.
Oceanfast produced a colt to Encosta de Lago last spring and is now in foal to Redoute’s Choice.
