Away Game’s former trainer to prepare her $1.8m first foal

Away Game’s first foal will be prepared by the man who orchestrated her career with big-spending American owner John Stewart teaming up with Ciaron Maher to buy the filly by Written Tycoon.

Stewart and Maher paid $1.8 million for the youngster from the Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner and Golden Slipper runner-up, which made her the top lot of Day 1 of this year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

SOLD!
$1.8 million for the first foal of Away Game – a stunning Written Tycoon filly.
Offered by @YulongInvest she goes to the bid of @resracingky, @jstewartrr & @cmaherracing.
Congratulations on an exciting acquisition. #MMGC2025 #MoreMagic pic.twitter.com/mBg14u3hxF

— Magic Millions (@mmsnippets) January 7, 2025

Maher already has horses in his huge stable owned by Stewart’s Resolute Bloodstock and he was thrilled to be given the chance to train the filly from one of his favourite mares.

“He had her marked down as the best filly in the sale, so he was taking her home I think, no matter what,” Maher said.

“Fortunately, I’ve got a relationship with him and hopefully she can take these owners on a similar journey to what Away Game took hers.”

Maher said the filly displayed some similarities to Away Game, a daughter of Snitzel who also placed in an Oakleigh Plate and Sangster Stakes at Group 1 level and banked $3.75 million in a fine career.

“(There’s) similar movement, she’s probably got a little bit more substance than Away Game, who was relatively neat,” Maher said.

“She was an over-achiever on the track and it looks like she’s going to be an over-achiever in the breeding barn as well.”

Away Game was sold for $4 million at the Magic Millions’ National Broodmare Sale in 2022, bought by Yuesheng Zhang’s Yulong Investments, which celebrated its best result at a yearling sale.

“We are absolutely stoked, it’s the best result we’ve had at Yulong ever,” Yulong’s general manager Vin Cox said.

“It’s a great result for Mr Zhang and his family to realise a price in that order, it’s just wonderful.

“You never expect that sort of money, you always hope, and it was well beyond where we’d hoped.

“It’s justification for all the investment and the time and faith that Mr Zhang has, obviously in the industry generally, but here in Australia as well.”

The Away Game filly was a key pillar in a stellar patch on Day 1 of the sale, going through three lots after a filly by I Am Invincible out of nine-time Group 1 winner Avantage sold for $1.6 million.

A half-sister to the $2.1 million top lot from last year’s sale, who is by Wootton Bassett, she was also bought by Resolute Racing.

Not long after, the first seven-figure colt of the day went through when Dean Hawthorne paid $1.7m for a youngster by Wootton Bassett out of Battleofwinterfell.

Stay Inside became the sale’s first freshman stallion to produce a $1m lot when the Golden Slipper’s colt out of I Am Invincible mare Bleu Zebra sold for exactly that amount.

The first day of the sale saw almost $45m change hands with yearlings selling at an average of just $278,000 which is up slightly on last year’s overall sale average of $275,675.

MAGIC MILLIONS GOLD COAST SALE DAY 1 TOP LOTS

$1,800,000: Written Tycoon x Away Game filly (Resolute Bloodstock/Ciaron Maher)$1,700,000: Wootton Bassett x Battleofwinterfell (Dean Hawthorne)$1,600,000: I Am Invincible x Avantage (Resolute Bloodstock)$1,000,000: Stay Inside x Bleu Zebra (James Harron/Tony Fung)$950,000: Snitzel x Baaqyah (Sheamus Mills)$850,000: Snitzel x Villami (Go Bloodstock)