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Half-brother to Millions favourite sells for $1.8 million.
A half-brother to Magic Millions 2YO Classic favourite Empire Of Japan put an exclamation mark on a brilliant Gold Coast Yearling Sale when the 2023 offering concluded on Saturday night.
The colt by Exceed And Excel from the General Nediym mare Ichihara sold for $1.8 million when knocked down to Kia Ora Stud.
That made the Corumbene Stud-raised colt the fifth highest-priced lot of a sale that saw a record 20 youngsters sell for seven figures, four of them at better than $2 million.
They played a major role in the 2023 sale producing gross turnover of $228,411,000, which was down fractionally on last year's $228,807,500, but the 2023 average of $294,344, which was almost identical to last year.
Kia Ora's biggest buy of the sale continued the magical results for Corumbene with Ichihara, who is the dam of $2.8 million yearling Mount Fuji and Empire Of Japan, who sold for $680,000 at last year's Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Shane Wright, general manager at Kia Ora, said Empire Of Japan's early performances – which include a brilliant Group 3 Breeders Plate win in October – contributed to their interest in the colt, but was the sole reason they bought him.
"We definitely had that in calculations but you always just look at a horse on what you value them and we were a little bit over what we were hoping to be but with the good ones you have to spend it," Wright said.
"There were two or three colts at this sale that really stood out to us and he was definitely one and we were super happy to be bringing him home."
The half-brother to Empire Of Japan was one of two yearlings who sold for at least $1 million on the fifth and final session of Book 1, with a colt by Zoustar out of a daughter of Magic Millions winner Military Rose selling to James Harron for exactly that amount.
I Am Invincible was the sale's dominant sire, producing three of the four yearlings to sell for at least $2 million including the $2.7 million colt out of Anaheed who topped the sale.
His 43 youngsters sold grossed $32,390,000 at an average of $736,136 to make him the leading sire on gross and average.
Newgate's draft generated more turnover than any other farm at $17,225,000, while Segenhoe – which sold the Anaheed colt – was leading vendor on average at $564,000.
Newgate also topped the leading buyer table on gross, teaming up with the China Horse Club, Trilogy Racing and Go Bloodstock to spend $10,100,000 across 18 horses, while Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott and Kestrel Bloodstock bought more horses than any other buyer with 21.
2023 Gold Coast Yearling Sale top lots
$2.7m: I Am Invincible x Anaheed colt (bought by Tom Magnier)
$2.6m: Zoustar x Solar Charged filly (bought by Yulong)
$2.5m: I Am Invincible x Booker (Ciaron Maher Bloodstock)
$2m: I Am Invincible x Flippant (Tammy Rigney)
$1.8m: Exceed And Excel x Ichihara (Kia Ora Stud)
$1.65m: I Am Invincible x Mossfun (Hawkes Racing)
$1.6m: I Am Invincible x Spright (Tom Magnier)
$1.6m: I Am Invincible x Tumooh (James Harron)
$1.45m: Zoustar x Fuddle Dee Duddle (Sheamus Mills)
$1.4m: Justify x Sunlight (Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott, Kestrel Thoroughbreds)
