A colt by Duke of Marmalade topped the third session of the Magic Millions national weanling sale, bringing Aust$75,000 ($79,394 in U.S. funds) May 27 in Australia. The price was a record for the general session of the auction.
A Queensland client of Magic Millions purchased the colt from Superior Thoroughbreds. The chestnut weanling is out of the Royal Academy mare Celestia.
The results for the general session included a gross of Aust$442,200 ($468,104) for the 91 weanlings that were sold. The average price was Aust$4,859 ($5,144). Compared to last year, the gross rose 38.8% while the average increased 17.5%.
The clearance rate in both 2011 and 2010 was 82%.
"It turned out to be a very good session's selling," said Magic Millions managing director Vin Cox. "The top price achieved for a supplementary lot was a record price and the average is up about 20% on last year.
"After a couple of tough sessions on Wednesday (May 25) and Thursday (May 26) it was nice to see some good competition around the ring today. To have the clearance rate well over 80 percent is most pleasing as well."