No Nay Never Colt Tops Magic Millions 2-Year-Old Sale

Tal Nolen is not one to make outlandish statements, so it is worth taking notice when he says the No Nay Never colt who topped the Magic Millions Gold Coast 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale at AU$525,0000 (US$355,493) is a group 1 horse in the making.

The experienced Victoria-based ready-to-run vendor, who operates under the Nolen Racing banner, made the bold prediction after his star colt set the auction ring alight late in the Oct. 15 second session of the two-day sale. 

Gold Coast trainer Michael Costa, acting on behalf United Kingdom-based Jamie Piggott's Ardross Bloodstock, came out on top of a bidding war for the colt. The colt was the duo's second purchase of the week, having gone to AU$180,000 for a colt by El Roca Oct. 14. 

Hong Kong agent George Moore was the underbidder on the No Nay Never colt.

An 'over the moon' Nolen bought the horse for AU$90,000 ($62,919) at the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Yearling Sale in June and fast forward four months that same colt provided him with his best-ever pinhooking result yesterday.

"He was a lovely horse and he is the best breeze-up horse we have ever had," Nolen said. 

"He has heaps of improvement and he will grow into a lovely horse, a group 1 horse. He also has a brilliant temperament. I bought him here in June.

"(Doing this) is a massive gamble and you have got to have something like this to keep going."

Costa said Ardross Bloodstock employed a select approach to their 2-year-old sale buys, preferring to focus on quality instead of quantity.

"We thought he was one of the standouts of the sale and he was our number one pick. We had to get a little bit extra for him but they were determined to get him," Costa said.

"He has got a really good attitude which will stand up if he does head over to Hong Kong as well. His breeze-up was one of the talks of the sale and he ticked a lot of boxes. 

"Rather than going home with five horses we go home with two that we really wanted."

Costa said the colt, who is a November-born foal and cataloged as Lot 242, would enjoy a short break before being brought back into work, while the trainer also took heed of Nolen's belief in the horse's talent. 

"Definitely being a November foal for these breeze-ups makes it a little bit harder when competing against horses who are more furnished," he said.

"A lot of vendors think they have the best one but you could see Tal was genuine when he said it was the best breeze-up horse he had ever touched. You have got to respect a good judge and hopefully he will be proven right."

Coolmore Stud-based No Nay Never has made a great start to his career at stud in the Northern Hemisphere, headlined by dual group 1 winner Ten Sovereigns, who will take his chance in The Everest Oct. 19.

The stallion, who is represented by 19 stakes winners overall, is standing at Coolmore Australia for a fee of AU$44,000.

Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch was understandably delighted with the way the sale panned out, with last night's clearance sitting at 80% at an average of AU$62,808.

"What we are most excited about was having a clearance rate of 80%. It is a fantastic result for a horses in training sale," Bowditch said.

"From a vendors' perspective, the horses were very well presented and they have been realistic with reserves on a whole. The ones who have pinhooked hard during the yearling market have been extremely well rewarded.

"We had some huge results from our (yearling) sales, whether it be our January or June sale and everywhere in between."

In total, there were 13 horses who made AU$200,000 or more which underlined the depth of the buying bench and the quality of horses the market deemed was on offer.

"It just shows you, for the right horses, there was plenty of money here and that there is a craving for good horses," Bowditch said.  "There are buyers who have come here without being able to buy a horse."

Bowditch also reserved plaudits for Nolen after his pinhook successes at the sale.

"I couldn't be happier for Tal Nolen, he is a great supporter of the sale and he has been selling here for a very long time—a long time before I was here—and turning AU$90,000 into AU$525,000 is a record for many a year now, it is a fantastic result," he said.