Few farms have an honour roll to match that of John Kelly’s Newhaven Park, Boorowa. The recent Gr1 and Magic Millions winners bred and raised at Newhaven are continuing this tradition, they are among the best horses to come off the historic property. The Magic Millions 3YO Guineas win of Aim in 2021, the MM 2YO Classic and MM Wyong 2YO Classic wins of Unenencumbered, the Gr1 Golden Rose win of In The Congo, following on from Gr1 wins by the crack fillies Odeum and Shout The Bar and that pair’s memorable Gr1 quinella in the Gr1 Empire Rose S, the feature fillies and mares race at the 2020 Victorian Spring Carnival is all the evidence buyers need to put Newhaven Park’s superb 2022 Magic Millions draft on their “must see” inspection lists.
John Kelly was in a positive mood when I spoke to him, “ I’m proud of Newhaven’s wonderful traditions, Wilkes, Wenona Girl, Burst, Marauding, English, too many to name, but you can’t rest on your laurels, we are always looking to breed the next champion, the next Gr1 winner, the next Magic Millions winner, the next moneyspinner for our clients and potential buyers.”
“We’re taking 30 well chosen youngsters to the Gold Coast in January, including seven by current Australian Champion Sire Written Tycoon and two from the first crop of his Gr1 Blue Diamond winning son Written By. There are yearlings by Champion sire Savabeel, hot young stallions Toronado and Pierro, and a couple by Champion sprinter and much awaited first season sire Trapeze Artist, to name but a few.”
“We will be offering a number of yearlings from the wonderful proven families of our Champion filly and mare English, Gr1 winner Ofcourseican, Might And Power, Zeditave, Supara, Yao Dash, Noire, Hasna and Jamaican Rain.
There will be something there to suit every budget, our priority is to sell, Newhaven sold seven yearlings in the 40k to 100k range in 2021, so don’t be afraid to come and inspect our yearlings. You might find your own Magic Millions winner, we sold Unencumbered for $70k and Aim was dearer at $200k but still within the range of many buyers looking for value. We take the early foals out of precocious families to this sale, they usually select themselves.”
“I find the Magic Millions January Sale one of the year’s highlights, we finally get to see the progeny of the new crop of stallions, the strength of the market is established, it’s time to catch up with clients and fellow breeders, which will be particularly pleasing this year after the various lockdowns. And of course the Gold Coast is an exciting place to visit, a fantastic setting.
I asked John to offer some comments on his draft and he made the following observations.
“Lot 583 by Written Tycoon out of multiple G2 placed Supara is a very fast-looking filly. She’s a stylish individual as well and I think she’ll go very early,” Kelly said. “We think she is an outstanding filly, beautifully athletic and very strong, she’s top class.”
Written Tycoon is the sire of another of Kelly’s favourite fillies, lot 28, who is the first foal of the unraced Violence mare Fairway Lady, a half-sister to the North American stakes winners Cage Fighter and As Seen On TV. “Fairway Lady is an imported mare and this is a very nice filly, as is the Trapeze Artist out of With Purpose,” he said.
The daughter of Trapeze Artist is lot 696 and her dam is by Pierro and won four times. With Purpose is out of Paprika, who was a two-time listed winner and the McKay Stakes-G3 winner Streetcar Magic also features.”
“We’ve also got some lovely colts, including the Written By out of Heriz, a Redoute’s Choice mare, who has left a stakes winner already, he’s a magnificent colt,” Kelly said. Lot 108 is a half-brother to the dual Group 3 winner Jamaican Rain and the stakes placegetter Diasonic and a host of international Group performers on the page.
“We’ve got a lovely Written Tycoon colt out of Hittite who is a Redoute’s Choice daughter of Hades,” Kelly said. He will be presented as lot 115 and his half-sister by Spirit Of Boom sold at the Gold Coast this year. Named Hattusa, she recently finished third on debut at Eagle Farm from Helen Page’s stable and their third dam Hasna was a multiple Group 1 winner.
Kelly also has high hopes for lot 273, a son of Toronado and Miss Softhands, a five-time winner by Bel Esprit, who is out of a sister to the Cranbourne Cup-listed winner Kattavia. “He’s a beautiful colt and the sire couldn’t be going any better.” Other proven stallions represented in the consignment are Spirit Of Boom, Better Than Ready, Rubick, Smart Missile and Mikki Isle while youngsters by younger stallions include Merchant Navy, Spieth, Saxon Warrior and Performer.
The consignment also features a daughter, lot 568, and a son, lot 1098, of resident stallion Xtravagant, whose yearlings have sold for up to $270,000. The former is out of Stregheria, a half-sister to Hong Kong black-type winner Captain Sweet while the colt is the first foal of the winning Snitzel mare Crusher.
“We’re very pleased with Xtravagant, who has already had a stakes winner in He’s Xceptional. They are starting to come good as spring three-year-olds, which is what you would expect for a stallion by Pentire out of a Zabeel mare,” Kelly said. “We think they are very promising and he was a terrific horse.” Xtravagant was a dynamic performer who streeted his opposition in the New Zealand 2000 Guineas-G1 and underlined his class when he crushed his older opposition in the NRM Sprint-G1.
I Am Invincible’s son Super One and Cool Aza Beel, a son of champion stallion Savabeel joined Xtravagant at Newhaven Park in 2021. Super One was successful in five of his eight starts and won twice at stakes level in Singapore and has a winners to runners ratio of better than 41 per cent while Cool Aza Beel earned champion two-year-old honours in New Zealand courtesy of his victories in the Sistema Stakes-G1 and the Karaka Million-RL.
The Newhaven Park yearlings will be in their regular spot in stable G and John Kelly and his team look forward to parading them for inspection.
