Outstanding racemare Forbidden Love sold for $4.1 million and was the star act across the 2023 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale at the Gold Coast. She was one of four lots to sell for $3 million or more as buyers from around the world fought for an incredible line up of race fillies and broodmares.
It was a full circle moment for Forbidden Love’s yearling purchaser and former co-trainer Richard Freedman who was all smiles at the Gold Coast.
“Brilliant,” he said moments after the hammer fell. “I remember standing over in the corner and buying her for $150,000. These guys (other co-owners) all came in and… $4.1 million.”
Freedman expected the mare to prove popular but was delighted with the final price.
“We were thinking maybe mid-three million was possible but this is fantastic.”
“She owes us nothing. We owe a lot to her. She raced until she was five-years-old and she was sound enough for a long time.”
The Yulong Investments team had strong competition to secure the mare with a flurry of online bids forcing them to aim high to get her.
“We always knew she was going to make a lot of money,” Yulong’s Sam Fairgray said. “It’s always going to be tough, but she’s a lovely mare to end up with.”
“We haven’t decided definitely who she’ll go to as yet, but after the sale we assess it all and see what we end up with and make a call then,” Fairgray added.
Exceptional three-year-old filly Sunshine in Paris attracted intense interest later the same day when she was offered through the supplementary catalogue and sold for $3.9 million.
“It’s been something we’ve put together, we’ve got some clients and we’ve been working on it for a while,” buyer James Harron said.
“We feel like she’s such a wonderful racing prospect. Very rarely do these sort of fillies come onto the market, we see the prices of yearlings these days and the prices of some of these yearling fillies.”
Yulong also snapped up the sale’s third top seller – the multiple Group One winner Snapdancer for $3.2 million from the draft of Sullivan Bloodstock.
Day One of the Broodmare Sale commenced with a Fundraiser for the Holland Family and National Jockeys Trust – comprising 15 stallion nominations kindly donated from farms around Australia.
The fundraiser grossed $323,500 with the nominations being purchased by buyers from New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania.
“It’s an extraordinary outcome,” AJA representative Des O’Keeffe said. “Absolutely unbelievable outcome of generosity and support from Magic Millions and from all the farms involved and, of course, from the bidders as well.”
Across the National Broodmare Sale the Yulong team were the clear leading buyer – securing 60 lots for over $33.4 million.
Former Tony Gollan trained mare Isotope led the way for locally raced gallopers when she sold for $2.3 million – again to Yulong.
At the preceding National Weanling Sale it was again Yulong Investments who were the leading buyers with a spend of $3.475 million on 12 lots.
The headline act was a Frankel colt offered by South Australia’s Cornerstone Stud who sold for $925,000 after a bidding duel with Newgate Farm.
“Obviously Frankel is a fantastic stallion and Mr Zhang has a passion for his progeny and has for a long time,” Sam Fairgray said.
“He was a lovely, great moving colt and Mr Zhang is very happy that he’ll be running in the Yulong colours.”
Only minutes after signing for the $925,000 sale topper, Fairgray and Yulong were back in the action, going to $725,000 to secure the other Frankel colt offered.
Presented by Coolmore Stud the colt from the Zoffany mare Walk This Way was a member of the supplementary catalogue as Lot 453.
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