If you don’t get it the first time, try again. Arrowfield Stud got lucky on the third try, securing the Oakleigh Plate (G1) winner. Marabi (AUS ) (I am invincible ) for $2.4 million on August 27 during the first edition of the Magic Millions Virtual Sale in August.

After the leading breeding farm in the Hunter Valley failed at least twice this year in its attempt to get a top-class mare, it bought the 8-year-old, who is about to have her first mating, a foal by Zoustar (Northern Meteor (AUS) to strengthen his broodmare herd.

Marabi, the showpiece horse of the virtual auction on the eve of Magic Millions’ inaugural breeding season, won her first seven starts for Ciaron Maher and his former training partner David Eustace, including Caulfield’s first-rate Group 1 Sprint, and was the only seven-figure offering to be auctioned on August 27. Nine other horses sold for $100,000 or more during a short and tight auction where buyers were selective and cautious about their budgets.

However, Arrowfield was able to win the battle of the nine commandments for Marabi, which was catalogued as lot 34.

“She’s a beautiful mare, she was very fast, she’s got a great sire, a champion sire, and she comes from a great family going back to one that Percy Sykes and then John Muir and then Greg developed,” said Jon Freyer, Arrowfield’s bloodstock manager.

“You see, we were very happy to sign her and we had very high praise for her.”

Marabi is a daughter of Sunline Stakes (G2) winner Nakayama (Tiger Hill ) and half-sister to VRC Oaks (G1) winner Aristia (Lonhro ), who was also placed in the Empire Rose Stakes (G1) and Vinery Stud Stakes (G1).

Marabi’s breeder Greg Perry, who recently gave up his interest in Vinery Stud where his mares remain, retains ownership of Aristia but has decided to part ways with her three-time stakes winner.

“I have sold Vinery and scaled back my breeding involvement a little, but I still have a few mares at home that I am breeding this season, including her half-sister,” Perry told ANZ Bloodstock News.

Arrowfield will wait for the birth of Marabi’s Zoustar foal before deciding on her second mating.

The second most expensive mare sold was the third-place finisher in the 2022 VRC Oaks (G1) Queen Air (Toronado ), who was bought by leading Brisbane trainer Tony Gollan for $350,000.

Previously trained in Victoria by Lindsey Smith, Melbourne Metropolitan winner Queen Air struggled to find her best form this year and finished unplaced in five starts before being entered for the August 27 sale.

Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch said there had been strong buyer interest in the run-up to the sale, but admitted his disappointment that 18 of the 45 horses on offer did not find new homes.

The settlement rate is 60 percent and there is a prospect of achieving a few more deals in the next few days.

“When you look at the amount of people bidding online and on the phone, there were many who had every intention of taking part, but in reality we were expecting to sell a few more and that is probably the biggest disappointment,” Bowditch told ANZ Bloodstock News.

“We would have hoped that the sell-through rate would have been a little higher. But if you had asked me a month ago if we would have had a sale with gross sales of $5 million, I would have assumed so, but obviously half of the gross sales are currently being generated by an outstanding mare, Marabi.”

Bowditch believes the concept of virtual sales ahead of the breeding season is promising. Arrowfield’s Freyer agrees, saying Magic Millions “did a good job with the sales.”

“There is nothing wrong with the purely online version, but virtual sales feel more interactive and are, in my opinion, a good concept,” says Freyer.

Of course, the small catalogue with only 48 lots, of which 32 are mares, increases the volatility of the broodmare market, which can often be offset by the volume of a larger live sale, especially over several days.

“Whether it’s the digital or virtual market, it’s kind of one and the same, even though they’re different formats. The fact that the horses are at home (on farms rather than in a sales complex) means that sellers are scared of the sales post and have a plan B in case they can’t sell the horses. That’s all part of it,” Bowditch said.

“From a buyer’s perspective, there is a certain degree of uncertainty, which was reflected in parts of today’s sale.

“There is obviously a great demand for Black Type and the horses with the right sires seem to hit the mark and sell particularly well across the board.”