Mick Maxfield to wear new hat at APG Melbourne Sale

Devonport businessman and harness racing benefactor Mick Maxfield, one of the biggest spending buyers at Australian Pacing Gold yearling sales for many years, will become vendor at the APG sale at Oaklands Junction on Sunday, February 4. 

Maxfield, who shelled out a record $245,000 for the Victoria Cup and dual Derby winner Max Delight at the APG Sydney sale in 2017, will offer two superbly bred homegrown fillies at the Victorian auction. 

“Mick doesn’t have any horses in training on his farm at the moment in Tasmania, so he’s just concentrating on breeding,” preparer Jane Hearn, of Dunroamin Standardbreds, Congupna, said. 

“Mick’s been breeding horses for a long time but it’s only been in the last couple of years that he’s started to switch his focus to breeding specifically to sell.” 

The first of Maxfield’s duo to go through the ring at the William Inglis complex will be a bay/brown filly by the champion juvenile sire Art Major out of the Village Jasper mare Bonny Lena filly as Lot 121. 

Bonny Lena, who was bred and raced by Maxfield, won eight races, finished runner-up in the Tasmanian Oaks and took a mile record of 1:56.8 and was a smart racemare in her own right. At the stud she has left four foals of racing age headed up by the talented Mavis Merle, who numbered the Tasmanian 3YO Fillies Championship and Yearling Sale Classic among her 14 successes. 

“She’s a lovely big filly who is very forward and very strong,” Jane said. 

Maxfield’s other offering is a bay filly by the American pacing standout Bettor’s Wish 1:47.6 ($2.6million), and one of the first crop of the US Pacing Championship winner, and the Mach Three mare Lynniemach. She is listed as Lot 166 in the catalogue. 

It is worth noting that Bettor’s Wish sired the winners of $1.2million from only 39 foals last year and was the second leading first season sire. 

The winner of four races as a two-year-old including the Group 3 Breeders Crown Silver and The Belmont, Lynniemach is already the dam of a winner in Over The Line (1:58.7). 

She belongs to the same family as the NSW Breeders Challenge winner Its Only Rocknroll, Morgan Abby, Shockwave (WA Golden Nugget), Duel Prince and the top flight WA racemare Double Expresso. 

“She’s a neat, compact filly who is nicely put together,” Jane said.  

Need another excuse to head down to the upcoming Melbourne sale! Neal Wardle is turning up the heat with the “APG Auction Giveaway: $5k Cash Bonus Draw.” Here’s the deal: as soon as the first of Neal Wardle’s lots breaks the $100k sale price and is sold, the auction stops, and we kick off the bonus draw. One lucky bidder in the room will walk away with $5,000 in cash on the spot! Don’t miss out on this exclusive opportunity to win big at the heart of the APG sales action. 

For full details and catalogued yearlings in the 2024 Australian Pacing Gold Yearling Sales please visit our Online Sales Catalogue or Register as a Buyer now.

From APG Ltd