Nagambie’s Yulong Stud, one of Victoria’s biggest racehorse breeding operations, is ready to finally put last year’s devastating floods behind them when they send 30 yearlings up to the Gold Coast for this month’s Magic Millions sales.

Only one filly won’t make the trip north after cutting herself in the floods, in what Yulong’s relieved chief operations manager Sam Fairgray described as “an extraordinary result”.

Magic Millions’ Gold Coast sale is one of the country’s largest yearling sales, and kicks off a season which includes Inglis’ Premier Sale at Oaklands Junction in March and Easter Sale in Sydney.

And prospective buyers may need to fork out a record $300,000 on average - more than half the cost of a Surfers Paradise apartment - if they’re keen to own the next champion racehorse.

“I think Magic Millions, for the whole industry, is an important sale because it sort of sets the benchmark for the season,” Fairgray said.

“I think the market will be very strong, especially [at] the top end [it] is very, very strong. It’s important the middle and lower market is supported as well, and interestingly, there are a lot of good horses that come out of that part of the sale. But with prize money and so forth, I think it’ll be a strong sale.”

Since 2019, the average yearling sold in book one of the annual Magic Millions sale on the Gold Coast has risen from $239,809 to $294,476, and next month’s sales may see the average yearling sale surpass $300,000 for the first time.

Prospective buyers may need to fork out a record $300,000 on average - more than half the cost of a Surfers Paradise apartment - if they’re keen to own the next champion racehorse

That’s more than half the median price of a unit in Surfers Paradise, according to CoreLogic’s Best of the Best 2022 report, which listed the median unit price at $588,552.