HIGHGROVE Stud Ron Gilbert’s Highgrove, located on the rich chocolate soil of the Darling Downs is renowned for breeding and raising yearlings that live up to their promise with elite racetrack performance.
are a horse addict, going to the sales is the only way to satisfy the craving. And the Gold Coast, popular as it is, remains one of the world’s most underappreciated assets. What a setting.”
It is a mark of the confidence that buyers have in the quality Highgrove offerings that repeat buyers of yearlings from the farm include such good judges as Gai Waterhouse, George Moore, Star Thoroughbreds, Darby Racing, Triple Crown, Yulong, Mick Price and McEvoy Mitchell Racing. These people all know their onions and make carefully considered purchasing decisions.
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Bluebloods spoke to Ron Gilbert about the 2024 Magic Millions sale. How would you sum up your 2024 draft? “This is our biggest ever January offering for Magic Millions, because it’s the most forward, precocious types we have had in one crop and I feel that’s what buyers are looking for at this sale. They just about pick themselves as they develop on our farm.” What makes the Magic Millions sales and races special? “It’s the excitement of being the first yearling sale and social event for the whole industry in such a beautiful part of the world. When you
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\ HIGHGROVE STUD \ ANDREW REICHARD
“StockLight and Oz Weather. StockLight is a great way to keep track of stocks and shares which are one of my other passions in life. As breeders, we are farmers, so the vagaries of the weather are of prime concern. We can’t control it, but we can be prepared for the various short term trends.” What has been your most satisfying result at the Magic Millions? “You might be surprised to learn it was the sale of Dusty Tycoon for 160k. She was a Written Tycoon filly out of the Redoute’s Choice mare Sponsored, who was well grown, but not perfect in the hocks. Mick Malone is a talented horseman, a great judge, who saw her good points and knew he could largely forgive her faults, so he bought her for a MiRunners syndicate. We’re talking microshares for 500 plus owners. Dusty Tycoon proved forward enough to win her first 2yo start before Xmas in front of 500 rapturous owners, many of them new to the sport. What a result, what a celebration.
