Madam Rouge heading back to Widden Stud.
What do you do when you've got a Group 2-winning mare by your own star stallion in one of the most competitive broodmare sales in the world but can't bring yourself to say goodbye?
You assemble a posse and buy her back for $2.4 million.
That's exactly what Widden Stud's Antony Thompson did with Madam Rouge, who was the star performer on Day 3 at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale.
Widden bred the daughter of Zoustar, remained involved during a racing career that generated six wins and a Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap second placing from 35 starts and got her in-foal to I Am Invincible.
"I had tried to buy her privately, but to be fair to the owners they wanted to put her through the ring – quite a number of them are racing people, not breeding people – so they had the opportunity to come here today and enjoy that chapter closing," Thompson said.
"She's been wonderful for everyone involved and myself, some of our farm clients and a couple of the guys who raced her have stayed in.
"To be able to buy her back and bring her back to Widden is wonderful and we're very excited about that."
Widden proved strongest in a battle that came down to it and Michael Christian's Longwood Thoroughbred Farm and Madam Rogue's sale price made her the most expensive lot of the broodmares section.
The only more expensive lots in the entire sale were Away Game ($4m) and Tofane ($3.1m), who sold during Tuesday's race fillies and mares category.
Thompson was particularly pleased to land Madam Rouge, who is out of the Al Maher mare Cabernet, after missing out on Sunlight ($4.2m) in 2020 and Mizzy ($2.2m) last year.
"We bred and raced Sunlight and we tried to buy her and we were unable to and last year we underbid on Mizzy at $2 million," he said.
"These Zoustar mares are just the most gorgeous mares. They're going to be fabulous broodmares.
"I had so many people remark that Madam Rouge is the best-looking mare in the sale and she was, for mine, the number one in-foal mare in the sale."
Thompson was a significant voice in selecting I Am Invincible as Madam Rouge's first cover and he said there was a strong possibility she would revisit the Yarraman Park stallion later this year.
