If at first you don’t succeed, try again, and for Arrowfield Stud it was third time lucky in securing Oakleigh Plate (G1) winner Marabi (I Am Invincible ) for AU$2.4 million (US$1,628,856, AU$1=US$1=0.68) Aug. 27 at the first edition of the August Magic Millions Virtual Sale.
Having come up short at least twice this year in an attempt to land a high-profile mare, the leading Hunter Valley nursery purchased the 8-year-old, who is close to delivering her first mating, a foal by Zoustar (Northern Meteor , to strengthen its broodmare band.
Marabi, the flagship lot of Magic Millions’ maiden breeding season-eve virtual sale, won her first seven starts for Ciaron Maher and his former training partner David Eustace, including Caulfield’s premier group 1 sprint, was the sole seven-figure offering to be sold Aug. 27. Nine more lots sold for AU$100,000 or more during a short and sharp sale where buyers were selective and reserved in their budgets.
Arrowfield, however, was able to win the nine-bid battle for Marabi, who was cataloged as Lot 34.
“She is a beautiful mare, she was very fast, who is by a great sire, a champion sire and she’s from a great family that goes back to one that Percy Sykes developed and then John Muir and then Greg,” Arrowfield bloodstock manager Jon Freyer said.
“Look, we were delighted to be able to get her and we rated her very highly.”
Marabi wins the 2022 Oakleigh Plate at Caulfield Racecourse
Marabi is a daughter of Sunline Stakes (G2) winner Nakaaya (Tiger Hill ) and a half sister to VRC Oaks (G1) winner Aristia (Lonhro ), who was also placed in the Empire Rose Stakes (G1) and Vinery Stud Stakes (G1).
Marabi’s breeder Greg Perry, who recently dissolved his interest in Vinery Stud where his mares remain, retains ownership of Aristia but made the decision to part with her three-time stakes-winning half sister.
“I have sold out of Vinery and I have cut back my commitment to breeding to some degree, but I still have a number of mares at home that I am mating this season including her half sister,” Perry told ANZ Bloodstock News.
Arrowfield will await the birth of Marabi’s Zoustar foal before deciding on her second mating.
Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch said buyer interest had been strong leading into the sale but admitted to his disappointment about the fact that 18 of the 45 horses offered did not find new homes.
The clearance rate was at 60%, with the prospect of a few deals being reached in the coming days.
“Looking at the amount of people who were engaged to bid online and on the phone, there were plenty of people who had intentions of participating, but the reality was we expected to sell a few more and that’s probably the most disappointing thing,” Bowditch told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“We would have hoped that the clearance rate would have been slightly higher. But if you had asked me a month ago whether we would have had a sale that grossed $5 million, I would have taken that, but obviously half the gross right now is made up by an outstanding mare in Marabi.”
Bowditch believes that the virtual sale concept staged in the lead-up to the breeding season has legs, and Arrowfield’s Freyer agrees, saying Magic Millions “did a good job with the sale”.
“There’s nothing wrong with the purely online version, but the virtual sale feels more interactive and I think it’s a good concept,” Freyer said.
