To use baseball vernacular from her homeland, the United States, Anna Seitz was at the bottom of the ninth with two men out during the evening session of the 2015 Gold Coast Magic Millions Yearling Sale.
A strong market led to the team of herself and respected bloodstock agent James Bester being outbid on yearling after yearling as Seitz strove to find the perfect purchase for her foray into Australian racing with an international syndicate of racing women.
A day in the heat at the Magic Millions Raceday at the Gold Coast racecourse, across the road from the sales complex, left Seitz on the verge of shelving her plan for another year.
Missing out on a yearling would mean the It’s All About The Girls ownership band would have to wait another 12 months for a shot at the A$500,000 on offer to entice women into ownership of Magic Millions yearlings.
Bonus scheme
Magic Millions director Katie Page-Harvey devised a scheme in 2013 to provide a $A500,000 bonus to any runner owned or leased by an all-female ownership band that could finish in the first four in the $A2 million Magic Millions 2YO Classic (1200m).
Seitz and her band of ladies, which spans seven countries, and multiple bloodstock sales companies, including Fasig-Tipton, where Seitz is the Client Development and Public Relations Manager, wanted an Australian runner - and time was running out.
“I was going to the sale and I was chatting to Elaine Lawlor (of Goffs) and we decided to find a horse to race in for the $500,000,” Seitz said.
“What a wonderful idea from Katie Page-Harvey. It hadn’t been done anywhere before in the world.”
But Bester had one more swing in his locker, suggesting to Seitz she inspect a filly by Star Witness from the Lauriston Thoroughbred Farm (Victoria) draft. Seitz admitted she wasn’t over familiar with Star Witness, a G1 winner at both two and three in Melbourne in his racing days, but was happy to follow Bester’s lead.
Such a relief
“I didn’t know too much about Star Witness and what he had done, but I looked at the filly with James and I trusted James’s opinion about her and she was a really nice walker so we decided to go for it,” Seitz reminisced.
The hammer fell in Seitz and Bester’s favour for $A65,000 and the It’s All About The Girls group had its first Australian purchase.
“It was such a relief to be able to get her because we had been outbid quite a few times and it had been a long day at the race meeting,” Seitz said.
For Seitz and the rest of Global Glamour’s new owners, there was only one possible trainer for the filly, the woman widely known as Australian racing’s First Lady – Gai Waterhouse.
However, not even the amazing powers of Waterhouse could get Global Glamour back to the Gold Coast to chase the $500,000 bonus in the 2016 Magic Millions 2YO Classic as minor issues prevented her from making her debut until January 30 last year, three weeks after the rich Queensland event.
Value skyrocketed
But Global Glamour’s belated first appearance didn’t disappoint as she strode to a six-length maiden success at Kembla Grange, a NSW provincial track, at her only outing as a 2-year-old.
Global Glamour missed the Magic Millions 2YO Classic and the Golden Slipper, showpieces of the Australian 2-year-old season. However, her value soon skyrocketed in the spring portion of her 3-year-old season with an on-pace win in the G1 Flight Stakes (1600m) on October 1 in Sydney before backing up seven days later, and making an 887-km (550-mile) road trip to Melbourne, to win the G1 Thousand Guineas, providing Seitz and her international band with the thrill of a lifetime.
“It was so exciting for her to win one Group 1 race, but for her to win two in a week, it was unbelievable,” Seitz said.
“We have won good races in the U.S. with horses like I’m Already Sexy (a triple G3 winner) and some of our other horses, but this was our first Group 1 winner.”
While Seitz was up in the early hours of the morning at home watching Global Glamour on television, she will be on track at the Gold Coast tomorrow for her star filly’s attempt at the A$1 million Magic Millions 3YO Guineas (1400m), for which she is second favourite behind odds-on Winning Rupert.
Royal Ascot possibility
While the race carries seven-figure stake money, Waterhouse (currently world-ranked 32 with training partner Adrian Bott) will have Global Glamour back in G1 company in Sydney during the famous Australian Turf Club autumn carnival in March and April before a probable overseas campaign during the Northern Hemisphere summer.
“I’m looking forward to getting back down there to see her race at the Gold Coast,” said Seitz, who will combine her work with Fasig-Tipton with the opportunity to see her filly in action in person.
“Gai has three races picked out for her during the Sydney carnival but for her to be thinking about taking Global Glamour to Royal Ascot for a race over there is great.
“But I’ll also be looking out for another horse at the sales to get more women involved in owning a racehorse and we dream of finding another Global Glamour.”
Footnote: a good run by Global Glamour tomorrow should improve the It’s All About The Girls syndicate’s ranking in the TRC Global Rankings owners' standings (currently 427).