Back to the future with damon gabbedy
The 2024 Magic Millions yearling crop has already proven itself to be one of the most successful in MyRacehorse history. Purchased with the same bloodstock process and expertise Damon Gabbedy brings every year, this group has produced trial winners, metro winners, and even stakes race success. Horses like King Kirk, Apocalyptic, and Ninja have shown what can happen when the right yearlings are placed with the right trainers, and their value has skyrocketed as a result.
As we turn the page to the 2025 crop, it’s worth remembering that it is the exact same bloodstock team and the exact same process that delivered the stars of 2024. With three Magic Millions yearlings still available, hear from MyRacehorse Managing Director Ben Willis as he runs you through each of the Too Darn Hot × Awake The Stars colt, Pacifico, and The Hound, and what makes this crop of Magic Millions yearlings so similar to the group that has achieved three stakes wins to date.
The Colts: King Kirk & the Too Darn Hot × Awake The Stars Colt
When King Kirk (Ole Kirk × Oxford Angel) was purchased, he looked every inch a colt with stallion potential. Since then, he has won at the early 2-year-old barrier trials before claiming the Breeders Plate on debut, which increased his value fivefold to $1.5 million.
Our Too Darn Hot × Awake The Stars colt presents a strikingly similar profile to King Kirk. Athletic, balanced, and fluent in his movement, he was one of the most talked-about colts of the 2025 Magic Millions sale. Just as King Kirk found his way to the eight-time Golden Slipper-winning stable with Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott, this colt will join the Anthony & Sam Freedman team, who have won three of the last six editions of the Blue Diamond, giving him every chance to follow a stallion-making pathway.
The Fillies: Apocalyptic & Pacifico
Few fillies have made the kind of impact that Apocalyptic (Extreme Choice × Shadow) has. Purchased for $400,000, she has already won two stakes races, comprising of the Group 2 Furious Stakes and Tea Rose Stakes. As a result of her success on the racetrack, her value now sits at around $2.5 million. Her balance, composure, and depth of pedigree all pointed to stakes success, and she has delivered exactly that.
In 2025, Pacifico (The Autumn Sun × Islands) offers a similar promise. A filly of strength and scope, she carries the hallmark temperament and physique of a top-class The Autumn Sun progeny, with the added depth of a dam who continues to upgrade her page. Apocalyptic’s rise shows the pathway for fillies of this profile… stakes racing, residual value, and the potential to become cornerstone mares of the future. Pacifico, under the care of Bjorn Baker, has every chance to follow that script.
Freedman’s Magic Millions Stars: Ninja & The Hound
Ninja has quickly become a rising star. The son of Farnan already has two wins already under his belt, and is being aimed at the $3 million Magic Millions Guineas. Under the care of Michael Freedman, who also trains Apocalyptic, Ninja has highlighted Freedman’s ability to place our Magic Millions horses perfectly and bring them to peak on the big stage.
That same trainer will prepare The Hound, a colt by the late and highly sought-after Wootton Bassett. Like Ninja before him, The Hound was a yearling who stood out for his fluent walk, athletic physique, and composed temperament. With Wootton Bassett’s passing, The Hound has become an even rarer commodity, and with Freedman’s proven Magic Millions touch, he looks a colt with the profile to match Ninja’s trajectory.