Hard work pays off for Longwood

Longwood Thoroughbred Farm enjoyed a very productive second day at the Magic Millions, with their two Super VOBIS lots through the ring fetching in excess of $800,000.

Led by General Manager Michael Christian, the boutique operation near Euroa brought a seven-strong draft to the opening sale of 2023 and hit the jackpot early on day two when renowned bloodstock agents Suman Hedge and David Redvers went to $600,000 for Lot 295, a colt by Dundeel.

Whilst that figure exceeded the sale price of Lot 377, there was no shortage of excitement and emotion when the bay colt sired by Rangal Park’s first season stallion Cliff’s Edge was knocked down for $210,000 to Warrnambool trainer Maddie Raymond, who bought him in partnership with John Foote and the Mailbag Bloodstock team.

Remarkably, breeder Andrew Wilson purchased the colt’s mare Shine On Anna (formerly trained by David Hayes) for a mere $6,000 through the Inglis online broodmare sale. That shrewd decision reaped some spectacular rewards when her mating with Caulfield Guineas winner Divine Prophet produced See You In Heaven.

The filly has won four of her nine career starts, culminating in her dominant last-start victory in the Group 2 Sandown Guineas – a performance which persuaded Wilson to enlist Longwood’s help in bringing See You In Heaven’s half-brother to the sales, instead of keeping him to race.

“Michael Christian and his team have done an amazing job with the colt, he’s presented in beautiful order so I can’t thank them enough,” said Wilson, who also has a share in Melbourne Cup placegetter High Emocean.

“We had a share in Cliff’s Edge so I was always keen to support him when he went to stud, then when I picked up Shine On Anna for a bargain price, I thought she’d be a great match.

“As a breeder timing is everything, so when See You In Heaven won a couple of Stakes races in Adelaide then came to Melbourne and won the Sandown Guineas, I knew we had to bring this boy to the sales if we could.

“I’m really pleased he’s staying in Victoria and can potentially chase some decent prizemoney and VOBIS bonuses. There were mixed feelings when he went through the ring because we had considered racing him ourselves, but I’ll have to keep a share and overall I’m delighted because we got a great result and he’s going to a good home.”

Raymond was relieved to outlast her rival bidders, saying: “I probably went a bit over my budget but couldn’t go home without him.

“I had a bit to do with Cliff’s Edge during his racing career, he was such a tough honest horse and I’m hoping this colt has similar traits. John knows a good colt when he sees one, so once he’d given him the tick of approval it really made up my mind that I had to have him. He’s obviously Super VOBIS nominated so hopefully we can have some fun with him and his owners can get a quick return on their investment.”

The best could be yet to come for Longwood, with Lot 887 – a Written Tycoon colt out of Group 1-winning mare Fuhryk – likely to be in high demand when he goes through the sale ring on Friday.