Magic Millions Hopes To Top A$150M Mark As Asian Enthusiasm Swells

A "growing number of Asian horse racing enthusiasts" drawn to the annual Magic Millions yearling auction on the Gold Coast is "fuelling hopes that turnover will top" the A$150M ($117.3M) mark for the first time, according to Andrew White of THE AUSTRALIAN. David Chester, who heads the Asian operations for Magic Millions, said that "more buyers had also become sellers at the event." As well as runners who can handle sand and dirt tracks used in the region, Chinese mainland buyers are "looking for stayers that contrast with Australia's record of producing sprinters." Chinese billionaire Zhang ­Yuesheng, who paid the top A$1.75M price at last year's auction, Hong Kong property mogul Tony Fung and Sun Bloodstock, also from Hong Kong, are "among the cashed-up players who are ­expected to be buying and selling." This year's auction has attracted interest "from as far away as Mongolia, Vietnam and China's northern provinces, as well as the more established centres of Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 1/10).