Claudia Schiffer and Elle Macpherson had catwalks all around the world, and a model horse is walking down a strip of grass so dry it resembles a day-five Test track in Mumbai.
“We actually have our covers over there,” laughs horse breeder Antony Thompson. “When it was stormy the other night we rolled them out. We also water it, and we’re very protective of our pitch.”
Is it any wonder why?
On this browning patch of turf, no wider than a metre or two, Thompson’s horse, one everyone wants to see, is racking up runs like Bradman. She’s been up and down more than 220 times over five days already. The runways of New York, Milan and Paris are the showroom for fashion labels around the world, but this wearing grass is where Lot 399 needs to strut her stuff.
Of the more than 1000 horses that will be sold at Gerry Harvey’s Magic Millions horse sale on the Gold Coast this week, the street corner tip is this filly is the one. She will likely be sold for more than $2 million, maybe $3 million.
A sound investment? Who knows. But in this needle-in-a-haystack lottery of buying yearling horses, Thompson’s Widden Stud barns and weathered patch of grass look akin to a Boxing Day sales rush.
Lot 399 with Widden Stud owner Antony Thompson at the Gold Coast Magic Millions Sales.Credit:Simon Merritt/Magic Millions
Deep-pocketed horse players criss-cross each other, most asking to peruse the “hot” yearling of the 2023 auction.
It’s the final day of inspections before the hammer goes down on the first lot on Tuesday. Thompson has a device which lists who has requested to look at his star horse, and how many times. It’s a who’s who of horseracing.
“One more time,” yells another prospective buyer, narrowing the eyes, looking for a clue, any clue, on whether she is really worth all that money she’s going to fetch.
Up and back the horse walks.
“Just stop her there.”
She pulls up outside a little enclave where Widden showers clients with two other essentials: sunscreen and ice creams.
The buyer keeps scanning up and down. “Thank you.”
And away the horse goes back into her barn.
“Usually if they’re coming out of their box that many times you would expect them to jack up and get sick of it,” says Widden Stud’s yearling manager Liam Attwood, who has to stop this interview for another parade.
“Not a word of a lie, she hasn’t put a single foot wrong. She has a great temperament and just gets out and walks. Out of all my years working at Widden, she’d be the most popular horse we’ve worked with, but the one that’s handled it the best. She knows she’s special.”
Attwood will have the honour of walking her into the sales ring come late Wednesday afternoon. By Thursday morning, she’ll likely be on a truck headed to her new home.
Attwood found his home in Hunter Valley’s horse heaven, the son of two accountant parents who had an interest in racing. He tried to study for a bachelor of business at university, but found it wasn’t for him. He “begged” for a job with Widden six years ago despite never handling a horse in his life.
“I drove down from Brisbane one morning, left there at 5am and as you get into Widden you lose reception on your phone, and I was about 45 minutes out,” he says. “I thought, ‘where am I going?’ It was terrifying [handling a horse for the first time]. But I was determined to make it work.”
Now he gets to handle one of the most expensive pieces of horseflesh in Australia.
“It’s a pretty special feeling, I’m not going to lie,” he says. “Everyone knows who she is and she’s got such a reputation. It’s a real privilege and an honour, and it’s not just me who has touched her. It’s a team effort and hopefully everyone can watch her in all her glory.”
Lot 399 might be the simple way of identifying who she is.
But the reason there’s been so much demand for Widden’s filly is her pedigree. Her father was sprinting sensation Zoustar and mother Solar Charged, making her a full sister to Sunlight, who went on to win the Magic Millions Classic herself, and then three group 1 races. Her full brother sold for $3 million last Easter. In breeding terms, it all adds up to a licence to print money.
But it doesn’t always turn out that way.
Black Caviar’s half-brother was sold for $5 million almost a decade ago, still an Australian yearling record, but died from a spider bite before he raced. Every year other million-dollar horses are duds on the track, if they even make it there.
Yet you would struggle to find a person who doesn’t think Lot 399 won’t make it.
“I said to a few people, ‘this might seem crazy, but this could be the best foal [Solar Charged] has had. If she’s not the best foal she’s every bit as good’,” Thompson says.
Says Attwood: “There’s a bit of pressure involved and every time you see a little kick here or there, your heart just sinks. You just want to wrap them in cotton wool.”
Which is more than can be said for her little weathered strip of grass, a runway to riches.
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