Gai Waterhouse likened Sunlight’s first foal to her maiden Sydney 2YO Triple Crown winner, which explains why she was so keen to secure the colt on Day 3 of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
The Hall of Fame trainer paid $1.4 million for the son of Justify, who was produced for sale by Coolmore.
Waterhouse was taken by the powerful chestnut’s balance, which she said was a key attribute of Dance Hero, whom she prepared to win the Golden Slipper, ATC Sires’ and Champagne Stakes after claiming the Magic Millions 2YO Classic in 2004.
“He reminds me very much of Dance Hero,” Waterhouse, who now trains in partnership with Adrian Bott, said.
“Dance Hero was a beautifully-balanced horse and he’s very much like him.
“He’s a very special colt. He’s beautifully balanced, he’s a lovely, neat sort of horse and I think he’s a real two-year-old type.”
The Justify colt capped a stellar 24 hours for the family who the previous afternoon saw a sister to Sunlight, who is by Zoustar out of Solar Charged, sell for a Magic Millions yearling record $2.6 million.
Sunlight was the standout filly of her generation, winning a Magic Millions 2YO Classic before going on to win the Coolmore Stud Stakes, Newmarket Handicap and William Reid Stakes at Group 1 level.
She set her own Magic Millions broodmare record when sold for $4.2 million at the 2020 National Sale, with Coolmore Stud the buyer, and Coolmore Australia farm manager John Kennedy was happy to see her colt headed for Tulloch Lodge.
“We’re extremely delighted that he’s gone to a good home so we can get a good start for the mare and we’ll be looking forward to seeing how he gets on,” Kennedy said.
“He was on the market from the minute he went into the ring and we were expecting that he would have sold well because he was very popular here from the minute he landed into the sale.
“He’s always had a great temperament and he handled the whole thing extremely well.”
Sunlight’s colt, which was Lot 445, kick-started an unprecedented patch on Day 3 when four other yearlings made at least $1 million in a 25-minute period.
The following lot was a colt by Snitzel out of Super Cash who sold for $1.1m, Lots 448 and 449 were an I Am Invincible filly and Extreme Choice colt who sold for $1.2m and $1.1m respectively, while an Exceed And Excel filly sold for $1.1m as Lot 452.
The Justify colt was later surpassed as the top lot of Day 3 by a colt by I Am Invincible out of Tumooh, a daughter of Golden Slipper winner Mossfun, who sold to James Harron for $1.6 million.
