Fortuna acquires a Hellbent Yearling Filly at the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Yearling Sale

Published 6 June 2024

We have been active on the Gold Coast at the Magic Millions June Yearling Sale – this is a sale that we have had a lot of success at, with every purchase we have made over the years being a winner. I did not go to the sale, but Mark Walker and I had researched the catalogue thoroughly before hand – David Ellis and Marcus Corban were at the sale to do final inspections and do the buying – the very experienced Dr Doug Black was on hand as well to do the vetting

The Hellbent Filly was on Mark Walker’s pre sale list – and seemed to meet the Fortuna criteria which was “athletic type, early runner, good size” – Mark and I also thought she was a chance to fit in under our budget, which was A$70k. David and Marcus were very happy with what they saw when they inspected her and she vetted clean on the morning of the Sale – so we were all set to buy, all we needed now was for her to come in at or under budget – in the end she was knocked down to David’s bid of A$57,500, quite a bit under budget and, in quite a remarkable co-incidence, the price was exactly the same that we paid for the mighty Melody Belle at Karaka in 2016!!

Click HERE to her parading with voiceover from David Ellis

Our new Filly is very forward, she will travel to NZ in the next few days, have a week or so at Te Akau Stud and then get broken in and have her first Stable prep at Matamata – our expectation is that she will be ready to debut here in NZ early in the New Year

Hellbent – Beside You Yearling Filly

Mark Walker says “John, great buying with this Hellbent Filly, she is a really nice, athletic type of good size, is very forward and out of a strong International family that has produced a lot of 2yo runners. Her dam, Beside You, had three wins in succession, including two as a 2yo. Her Sire Hellbent is having a very good season on the racetrack with his runners headed up by the Group One winner in Melbourne, Magic Time and is a young Stallion on the upward move. I really liked this Filly’s physical attributes and she will come to hand very quickly I am picking. She represents great value at the price you paid for her.”

Points to Note re her pedigree – Sire Hellbent, a son of I am Invincible, won seven times including a Group One win (William Reid Stakes) – with just three crops racing, is a top 10 Stallion in Australia and with 81 winners from 178 runners in the current season, has a winners to starters strike rate very comparable with I Am Invincible, So You Think, Written Tycoon and Snitzel. And as Mark Walker points out, her dam, Beside You, was a very speedy type

Our Filly is also registered for the Magic Millions Race Series – this is a Series of 28 races in total with prizemoney worth over A$20m – here are the races she will be eligible to be nominated for at the Magic Million’s Race Days

January 2025 – the A$3m Magic Millions Classic for 2yo’s 1200m
May 2025 – the A$1m National 2yo Classic 1000m
January 2026 – the A$3m Magic Millions Guineas
January 2026 – the A$3m 1100m 3yo Sprint – note this is a new race
Subsequent years she will be eligible for any of the A$1m races for older horses on the Magic Millions Carnival Day

Note that only horses that have been acquired at a MM Sale and have been enrolled for the Race Series are eligible to be nominated for these races

Of course, given the prizemoney on offer, all of these races are well sought after and all runners that wish to accept are graded by ratings points

We have done the numbers and here is how they work out – Initial Capital includes Purchase Price, NZ GST on entry to NZ, Promoters Fees, Insurance to 31 Jan 2025, Magic Millions Race Series Fee, Airfreight to NZ and working capital of over $7k

10% share $12,000, 5% share $6,000, 2.5% share $3,000, 1% share $1,200 with ongoing costs from 1 August 2024 @$50 per month per each 1% share

Paperwork will be finalised over the next few days but we are taking expressions of interest and now is your chance to “express interest” in this filly and if you do, you will be guaranteed a share – simply register interest by responding to this update via the link HERE advising the percentage that you would like to put your hand up for – or simply email me direct or call/text 021 921 460

John