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Michael Donohoe of BBA Ireland, accompanied by Yuesheng Zhang of Yulong Investments, bid US$6,781,077 in front of an awestruck Park Paddocks auditorium for the daughter of No Nay Never, Alcohol Free. The underbidder was M.V. Magnier of Coolmore, who was standing among the crowd in the crowded gangway.
At the 2017 December Sales, Coolmore's Magnier paid 6,000,000 gns for Marsha, making her the most expensive thoroughbred ever sold in Europe.
Donohoe said that the horse had been sold to a partnership and would continue her racing career Down Under. For a filly with a lot of experience under her belt, she vetted out beautifully. She will become an excellent broodmare after her racing career is over, and her partners already have horses in training and breeding interests in Australia.
She's the kind of filly that can win one of Australia's 87 races with a million dollars or more in prize money. She has already shown herself over six furlongs by winning the July Cup, and she also stays a mile. "Kudos to Andrew Balding (her trainer) and the gents; they really nailed it with her."
Balding and Alcohol Free's owner, Jeff Smith, entered him in 15 races; he won six of those races and four Gr.1s. The Juddmonte Cheveley Park Stakes was the first of her many victories at the highest level (G1). After taking a year off, she came back at age 3 to win the Qatar Sussex Stakes (G1) by beating Poetic Flare by a length and three-quarters and the Coronation Stakes (G1) by beating Snow Lantern.
She won the Gr.1 Darley July Cup Stakes by a length and a half over Naval Crown after being pushed back to sprint distances for her 4YO campaign. After being passed over at her first public auction, Bowe paid €40,000 ($45,820) for Alcohol Free at Goffs when she was just 10 months old.