Australia’s Magic Millions yearling sales are seen as a nursery for thoroughbred racing’s emerging superstars.

Buyers from Australia and abroad converged at the March sale on Queensland’s Gold Coast, looking to find their next champion. Magic Millions co-owner, Australian businessman Gerry Harvey, reckons choosing the right horse is a better investment than shares - as long as luck’s on your side.

“I sold a horse called Savabeel for $400,000 here and then he went on and became a great racehorse and won the Cox Plate and then they sold him for $9 million,” Mr Harvey said.

“Is that a good investment? Can’t get better. And you know over the years I’ve sold other good horses like Literia, $180,000 or $200,000, around that and she went on and became a great horse.

“I kept half of her but she had a $2 million valuation on her.

“Every year people buy horses in here and make a lot of money. Saying that, every year people buy horses in here and lose a lot of money, but at the moment, you know if you bought a share three months ago you would’ve lost 33 1/3 per cent on it.

“You don’t lose money that quick with a racehorse. Takes you about a year to find out whether they’re any good. So you can make good money on horses, but it’s difficult, you need luck. Lady Luck’s the most important of the lot.”

Now in their 22nd year, Magic Millions attracts international buyers looking for world-class bloodstock.

However event co-owner John Singleton has said an upgrade of facilities is essential if the event is to continue to operate from its Gold Coast headquarters and attract international buyers. Gerry Harvey agrees.

“If we could get a great big new location that was world class, that had stabling facilities, convention centres, maybe even gambling and the latest big, best racetrack, lights, everything, I mean world-class facility, the best in Australia – that would put the Gold Coast on the map, really and truly on the world map,” Mr Harvey said.

“Queensland has two big events – it has Indy and it has the Magic Millions. The beauty of the Magic Millions is that it’s at the Gold Coast in January, that’s the big sale, then we’ve got another sale in March then we’ve got another big sale in June, then we have monthly sales, then we have our ready to run sales.

“So when you put it all together, Magic Millions brings a lot more tourists and a lot more dollars to Queensland and the Gold Coast than Indy does, but Queensland can’t afford to lose either. They’ve got two great events, they’re the two best events and we’ve got to keep them here in Queensland.”