A first date with Devil Night awaits Legarto after the champion New Zealand mare was purchased by Yulong Stud for AU$2.8 million (US$ 2,007,250, AU$1=US$0.72) in an emotion-charged sale for her ownership group on the opening day of the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale May 26.
Bidding under his Devil Night Syndicate banner, Yulong principal Yuesheng Zhang eventually emerged victorious from a spirited battle in the ring and online to secure the services of the five-time group 1 victor, who will soon make the journey south from the Gold Coast to the operation's new base in the Hunter Valley.
For Legarto's ownership group, which held its collective breath in the auditorium as the theater played out, the momentous occasion was undoubtedly tinged with a degree of sadness given the unbreakable bond the group had forged with the daughter of Rich Hill Stud's flagbearer Proisir.
Majority owner Philip Brown, who sourced Legarto for the princely sum of NZ$90,000 at the 2021 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale, expressed relief shortly after Yulong's successful bid was lodged at AU$300,000 over the AU$2.5 million reserve price.
"It's been such a big buildup so there's a sense of relief that it's over now, but there's also a little bit of sadness," he told ANZ News.
"I always knew we would have mixed emotions about selling her, and that's certainly the case. But (wife) Catherine and I have other partners in the ownership group and we came to a decision to sell, so I knew we had to put her through the ring. I'm very happy with the price and I'm thrilled that she's going to a great farm in Yulong, so I look forward to catching up with their team soon.
"We had a conversation amongst the owners over dinner last night about how much money she might make, but when we got here this morning, I decided not to worry about it and tried to relax. We had no control over it, so what will be will be, and we're delighted with the result.
"I was hoping that was the sort of figure she might make, but you just never know. With the economic uncertainty across the whole world at the moment, the market is a little bit unpredictable. But $2.8 million is a lot of money to anyone, so we're happy with that price.
"We had set the reserve price at $2.5 million, so anything above that was a bonus. We knew there was enough interest in her to justify that sort of reserve, so we were pretty confident she would realize her true worth."
Yulong general manager Jun Zhang revealed it was a case of love at first sight with Legarto; and having been outbid by Coolmore at the Inglis Chairman's Sale for top lot Chayan, the team was perhaps doubly determined to leave the Bundall complex with a mare whose elite-level success came on both sides of the Tasman Sea.
"She was the mare of the whole sale and we loved her, we fell in love when we first saw her," said Zhang, the son-in-law of Yulong's founding father.
"Every mare is very special to us, so we can't put a price tag on any of them. I think she was the one, and so we had to get her. We're going to send her to Segenhoe. We purchased Segenhoe and we need some very elite mares to support our stallions there."
Perhaps predictably, Yulong's spending spree didn't stop there as the ambitious operation added further depth to an already bulging broodmare band with the $1.8 million acquisition of Snitzanova.
Above and Beyond
Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch hailed an "above expectations" opening to the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale, which yielded a clearance rate of 85%.
After defying general expectations that the sale might be impacted by a degree of hesitancy from the buying bench, Bowditch praised the "special atmosphere" generated by several headline lots—and none more so than Legarto.
"That was definitely a highlight for a special group of owners," Bowditch said.
"Phil and Catherine Brown and the whole Legarto team have had an extraordinary ride with the mare. It was a real privilege for us to sell Legarto on their behalf, and it got the day off to a really fiery start. Then we saw the sale of Snitzanova deliver a huge result for her big syndicate from Bennett Racing, and it's stories like her that make these sales really memorable."
Across the day, nearly AU$34 million was traded on 134 lots sold at an average price of AU$253,504 with Legarto's top price of $2.8 million and a median price of AU$110,000.
