The Darwin Cup Carnival continues to grow in stature every year, and so too does the Magic Millions Darwin Select Tried Horse Sale.
The carnival, which accommodates eight race meetings and a plethora of events at the Fannie Bay racecourse and throughout Darwin, kicks off at the start of July and ends with Cup Day on the first Monday in August.
The sale, which emanated some 20 years ago, takes place on the final Thursday of the carnival at the TAB Pavilion at Fannie Bay following the Let’s Talk Racing Luncheon.
And for many years now the sale has proven a success as horses purchased have gone on to win their fair share of races in Darwin and Alice Springs, with the Kerry Petrick-trained New Roman even saluting across the border at Kununurra in WA.
The class of 2021, which comprised 10 horses, have had 97 starts to date for 15 wins, 14 seconds, 10 thirds and 12 fourths, accumulating over $280,000 in prizemoney.
There were 11 horses that went under the hammer at the 2022 sale, and so far their record stands at nine wins, three seconds, four thirds and seven fourths from 33 starts for the 2022/23 season.
“It’s been a success for many years,” Thoroughbred Racing Northern Territory chief executive officer Andrew O’Toole said.
“We obviously didn’t have a sale in 2020 because of COVID – the last two years have been the comeback sales I suppose and both have proven to be really successful.
“There’s been six individual winners from those 11 horses this year and they’ve won over $152,000 in stakes.
“A lot more to come hopefully, we’re looking forward to some more wins from some pretty promising horses.
“The likes of Beachhaven, Freddy The Eagle and Rupert’s Delight – very impressive when he won in Alice Springs the other week.
“Kikuyu has already won three races in Alice Springs, All Stardom – he hasn’t yet won a race, but he’s knocking on the door – Kirakat’s going well, only had the two starts for a first and a close second, and Archie James, similarly, two starts for a win and a fourth the other day.
“The sale horses are really doing themselves proud and the Darwin Turf Club’s Magic Millions Select Tried Horse Sale no end of good.”
Horses from the 2021 Sale who have tasted success in the NT include Bench Press, New Roman, Noble War, Cometh The Hour, Morphling and Narrative Star.
Apart from Rupert’s Delight, Kikuyu and Kirakat, the likes of Beachhaven, Freddy The Eagle and Archie James have also saluted since being purchased at the 2022 Sale.
“The sale horses are purchased by Neil Brockington, a bloodstock agent, and Greg Aldam on behalf of the Darwin Turf Club,” O’Toole added.
“They have full vet checks – in recent years they’ve taken to X-raying all their limbs, so when people buy the horses when they get to Darwin they’ve had all the checks done and obviously the transport has been paid for.
“Horses come to the Territory all the time, but of course you’ve got plenty of costs with that.
“The sale horses arrive here, they’re offered for sale, they’re agisted prior to coming here – so they’re all in really good order – and as I say the records in recent years are proving really good.
“You look at 2021 and Bench Press is so far the headliner out of that sale – he’s won five times and had five seconds from only 11 starts and has won over $84,000.
“Noble War has had four wins from 12 starts and has won $55,000 and Cometh The Hour won a race and was placed on multiple occasions.
“They’re just three out of the 2021 sale – New Roman is another one that is going well with three wins, four seconds and three thirds.
“The writing is on the wall, the figures don’t lie as it were, so Neil and Greg are doing a great job and the Territory owners and trainers are getting a good run for their money.”
Clearly, Darwin isn’t just around the corner compared to other major centres throughout Australia, so it’s a monstrous exercise to find and acquire horses before sending them to the Top End for the Magic Millions sale.
“What the boys do is that they don’t buy any from the on-line auctions or anything like that,” O’Toole said.
“These horses are all bought privately and that being the case the purchase price is not disclosed, so these horses go for sale here and nobody knows what was paid for them.
“They all have a reserve on them and if the reserve is not reached those horses will get re-offered at the end of the Sale.
“They’re bought from far and wide – basically it’s all to do with contacts.
“Neil and Greg watch many videos and come up with horses to have vetted – a number of horses don’t pass the vet, so they’re obviously not purchased.
“The ones that do, as long as everything is A1 with the boys, they’re agisted for a short space of time with trainer Emma Hubbard at Strathalbyn in South Australia and then they’re all floated up here with Darwin Horse Floats and sold on the Thursday prior to Cup weekend.
“That’s how they get here and it’s certainly proving a real feather in the cap for the Darwin Turf Club.”
2021 Magic Millions Darwin Select Tried Horse Sale (age and sex when purchased)
Cometh The Hour (3G) – Trainers: Garry Lefoe (Darwin), Tayarn Halter (Darwin); Purchase Price: $18,000; Record: 11-1-3-1-1 ($33,925)
Kean As A Bean (3F) – Trainer: Jason Manning (Darwin); Purchase Price: $18,000; Record: 9-0-0-1-3 ($3,675)
Morphling (3F) – Trainer: Greg Connor (Alice Springs); Purchase Price: $20,000; Record: 16-1-1-0-3 ($19,600)
New Roman (4G) – Trainers: Jason Manning (Darwin), Kerry Petrick (Alice Springs); Purchase Price: $30,000; Record: 21-3-4-3-3 ($57,367)
Bench Press (3G) – Trainers: Terry Gillett (Alice Springs), Leanne Gillett (Alice Springs); Purchase Price: $23,000; Record: 11-5-5-0-0 ($84,581)
Narrative Star (4M) – Trainer: Tayarn Halter (Darwin); Purchase Price: $25,000; Record: 5-1-1-1-1 ($20,300)
Gladiolo (3G) – Trainer: Gary Clarke (Darwin); Purchase Price: $20,000; Record: 3-0-0-1-0 ($3,075)
Toguchi (4M) – Trainer: Kevin Lamprecht (Alice Springs); Purchase Price: $24,000; Record: 6-0-0-0-1
Naughton (4G) – Trainer: Chris Pollard (Darwin); Purchase Price: $23,000; Record: 3-0-0-1-0 ($2,625)
Noble War (3F) – Trainer: Tayarn Halter (Darwin); Purchase Price: $28,000; Record: 12-4-0-2-0 ($55,475)
2022 Magic Millions Darwin Select Tried Horse Sale (age and sex when purchased)
Beachhaven (4G) – Trainer: Tayarn Halter (Darwin); Purchase Price: $16,000; Record: 1-1-0-0-0 ($13,000)
Freddy The Eagle (4G) – Trainer: Tom Logan (Darwin); Purchase Price: $8,500; Record: 4-2-0-0-1 ($24,570)
Bolt Action (3G) – Trainer: Gary Clarke (Darwin); Purchase Price: $32,500; Record: 1-0-0-0-0
Golden Ridge (3F) – Trainer: Jason Manning (Darwin); Purchase Price: $15,000; Record: 2-0-0-0-1
Great Boulder (4G) – Trainer: Phil Cole (Darwin); Purchase Price: $11,500; Record: 6-0-1-1-1 ($6,825)
Rupert’s Delight (3G) – Trainer: Kevin Lamprecht (Alice Springs); Purchase Price: $22,000; Record: 3-1-1-1-0 ($26,375)
Ice Ice Baby (4G) – Trainer: Gary Clarke (Darwin); Purchase Price: $34,000; Record: 2-0-0-1-0 ($2,914)
Kikuyu (3G) – Trainer: Kerry Petrick (Alice Springs); Purchase Price: $41,000; Record: 5-3-0-0-0 ($45,196)
All Stardom (4G) – Trainer: Chris Pollard (Darwin); Purchase Price: $37,000; Record: 5-0-0-1-3 ($2,914)
Kirakat (3F) – Trainer: Jason Manning (Darwin); Purchase Price: $20,000; Record: 2-1-1-0-0 ($16,675)
Archie James (3G) – Trainer: Chris Nash (Darwin); Purchase Price: $25,000; Record: 2-1-0-0-1 ($13,650)
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