Extreme Choice Colt Ties Record at Gold Coast Sale
Extreme Choice‘s booming popularity has shone through again after his half brother to the group 2-winning Prost equaled the record price for the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Yearling Sale June 2.
On a day when Extreme Choice had three of the top four lots—two bred to Northern Hemisphere time due to demand for the sub-fertile super sire—Lot 1282 was knocked down to Yulong for AU$850,000 (US$551,306, AUS1=US$0.65) during a robust first session.
Conceived in January but born in December, the colt is out of the city-winning Samarmeteors, not only the dam of dual group winner Prost but a half sister to the dam of both Golden Slipper (G1) hero Shinzo and Magic Millions 2-Year-Old Classic victress Exhilarates.
The colt’s price matched the sale’s previous high, paid in 2019 by Team Hawkes for the Dundeel colt from Arrowfield Stud’s draft who became Santadeal, who was sold to Hong Kong after a Ballarat maiden win.
Extreme Choice—who boasts this season’s Melbourne Cup (G1) winner Knight’s Choice and Yulong’s Blue Diamond (G1) hero Devil Knight—had the top two lots in Monday’s first session of the two-day sale. Both came from the draft of Magic Millions boss Gerry Harvey’s Baramul Stud.
Second was Lot 1263, a filly bred to Northern Hemisphere time, from the same family as another Blue Diamond winner in Danelagh, who was knocked down to Springwood of NSW for AU$240,000.
Extreme Choice also had the day’s fourth-top yearling. Infinity Thoroughbreds’ daughter of the unraced Sheza Shamardal sold for AU$160,000 to First Light Racing, Waterhouse-Bott and Kestrel Thoroughbreds. With this filly also bred to Northern Hemisphere time, her new connections announced plans to set her for 2-year-old honors at Royal Ascot next year.
The Extreme Choice-Samarmeteors colt helped bump up the average on the opening day of the two-day sale, to AU$44,961 (US$29,161), compared to last year’s overall figure of AU$42,551, which in turn was an increase from AU$39,582 in 2023.
Monday’s median was AU$28,000 (US$18,161), up from the closing mark of AU$27,000 in 2024, while 13 lots fetched six figures—the same as on day one last year, but only four short of the total for 2024. The gross was AU$5,785,000 (US$3,752,123) for the 129 horses sold.
The clearance rate stood at 70.11%, up slightly from last year’s day one figure of 67%, though down slightly on last year’s completed mark of 72.16%, while expected to catch up with late trading.
“It was a healthy day’s trade,” said Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch. “Most of the key numbers are up.
“To have a stronger clearance rate than day one last year—and above 70%—is pleasing enough.
“Obviously, it’s selective out there. When a nice horse walks in and it’s vetted out well, is well conformed and has a pedigree, that’s highly sought after. There’s a good trade market here that are there for those colts.
“To have 13 $100,000 (plus) lots, which is only four short of the end of last year, and to sell 54 horses internationally, while at the end of last year there was 63—those are great numbers to start today.”
Bowditch said the international interest in the sale had been extremely pleasing, with 12 lots going to buyers from Hong Kong, 11 to the Philippines, nine to New Zealand, seven each to China and Malaysia and four to Thailand.
