Lonhro filly tops first session of Magic Millions Perth sale

A filly by Darley shuttle stallion Lonhro sold for $260,000 in Australian currency, or approximately $269,122, to lead Monday’s opening session of the Magic Millions Perth yearling sale at Belmont Park in Perth, Western Australia.

Magic Millions reported 131 yearlings sold for $7,809,200 on Monday, a 9 percent increase compared with the first session in 2012, when 98 hips sold for $7,173,140. The average price fell 19 percent to $59,627, and the median declined 20 percent to $46,590. The buy-back rate also increased to 24 percent from 20 percent.

The Perth yearling sale ran for four sessions in 2012, but is shortened to a two-day sale this year.

John Chalmers Bloodstock purchased the session-topping Lonhro filly from the consignment of Dawson Stud. The filly is out of the stakes-winning Bletchley Park mare Most Secret and is a half-sister to Group 1 winner Covertly, Group 3 winner So Secret, stakes winner Secret Link, and stakes-placed winner Siesta Park.

“[The filly] is the most correct Lonhro I’ve seen and she is a really lovely-bodied individual,” Chalmers said. “I’ve researched a lot of the pedigree to see where the mares in the family are headed at stud and there is a lot of upside.”

Lonhro, a 15-year-old son of Octagonal, was voted Australia’s Horse of the Year in 2004 and was leading sire in Australia during 2011-2012 while based at Darley’s Kelvinside operation in Aberdeen, New South Wales. He stands the Northern Hemisphere breeding season at Darley's Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Ky., where he stood for the first time in 2012.

The Perth yearling sale was to conclude on Tuesday at 11 a.m. local time.

For hip-by-hip results, click here.