Were you there? Did you follow the sales results through the internet? We went… that is both Evan and I took a leave of absence and went to the Magic Millions sale on Monday and caught up with some old friends and made some new ones. It was a veritable smorgasbord of “who’s who” of the industry.
We met up with our very good friends, Miss Katrina Partridge (Athlone & Associates - pictured above taking pictures standing next to Evan) and John Baxter and had a very nice evening drinking Strawberry Daiquiri's and Pina Colada's and then partaking in a very scrumptuous Italian meal. Yum.
The prices being paid at the sale were extraordinary.... although I have been told that the day we were there, people were not reaching as far down into their pockets as in the previous days!
Iam still agog at the price tags of these babies. Iam also over awed at the size of these youngsters who were looking more like 3yos than yearlings who had just left their mums a few months beforehand.
Just what the hell are we doing to these babies? Is the demand on the ROI so great that these babies have to be grown so quickly (with "preservatives and additives") so that they can get out there and make money back for their owners? Just how many of them will still be standing this time next year?
I stood at the parade ring for a long time during Monday and watched as the poor frightened youngsters were walked around prior to going inside. I saw many of the babies eye's rolling around in their head in fright. There was plenty of rearing and kicking and dragging of the poor handlers around the parade ring as well.
Of course, the House was laughing. How much commission was made during this sale... $4m? $5m? $6M? Of course I have no idea but the amount would be staggering.
It will be very interesting to see what platform the American Shuttlers will take at the sale once the racing results start to bear their proof.
One thing that I did notice from the January catalogue is that the Colonial boys are very, very slowly taking a back seat and will very soon bow out of the major sale ring. When that day arrives, and I hope its later rather than sooner, it will be a very, very sad day for the Australian Thoroughbred Industry.
We met up with our very good friends, Miss Katrina Partridge (Athlone & Associates - pictured above taking pictures standing next to Evan) and John Baxter and had a very nice evening drinking Strawberry Daiquiri's and Pina Colada's and then partaking in a very scrumptuous Italian meal. Yum.
The prices being paid at the sale were extraordinary.... although I have been told that the day we were there, people were not reaching as far down into their pockets as in the previous days!
Iam still agog at the price tags of these babies. Iam also over awed at the size of these youngsters who were looking more like 3yos than yearlings who had just left their mums a few months beforehand.
Just what the hell are we doing to these babies? Is the demand on the ROI so great that these babies have to be grown so quickly (with "preservatives and additives") so that they can get out there and make money back for their owners? Just how many of them will still be standing this time next year?
I stood at the parade ring for a long time during Monday and watched as the poor frightened youngsters were walked around prior to going inside. I saw many of the babies eye's rolling around in their head in fright. There was plenty of rearing and kicking and dragging of the poor handlers around the parade ring as well.
Of course, the House was laughing. How much commission was made during this sale... $4m? $5m? $6M? Of course I have no idea but the amount would be staggering.
It will be very interesting to see what platform the American Shuttlers will take at the sale once the racing results start to bear their proof.
One thing that I did notice from the January catalogue is that the Colonial boys are very, very slowly taking a back seat and will very soon bow out of the major sale ring. When that day arrives, and I hope its later rather than sooner, it will be a very, very sad day for the Australian Thoroughbred Industry.
Helen.
1 comment:
How come the subjects don't look all hot and sweaty because I know it was damned hot!!! Don't you just hate how some people always look cool!
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