Ahead of the yearling sales season, owners and trainers are continuing to reap the benefits of the VOBIS Platinum program with a 93 per cent average redemption rate on vouchers allocated over the past three months.
Since its inception, a grand total of $4.35 million in VOBIS Platinum vouchers has now been won by the connections of eligible winners of the more than 250 VOBIS Gold races programmed across Victoria each season.
Of that figure, just over $2 million has been redeemed so far with more than $1.2 million re-invested at the sales on eligible weanlings, yearlings and even two-year-olds via the Ready to Run sales.
With more than 100 eligible lots by VOBIS Sires stallions set to go through the ring at the upcoming Magic Millions Yearling Sale, and in excess of $2 million in vouchers yet to be redeemed, there are options aplenty for potential buyers looking to spend their VOBIS Platinum windfall on the Gold Coast in early January.
Recent recipients include prominent owner and Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductee Gerry Ryan, whose highly-promising promising three-year-old Somewhere made a dynamic debut in the Emerging Stars Maiden Plate (1400m) at Ballarat in mid-November.
The homebred son of Puissance De Lune subsequently carried his collective earnings – including prizemoney, VOBIS bonuses and vouchers – over $100,000 from just two career starts after his slashing third in the Sandown Guineas (1600m), emphasising why it pays to breed, own and race horses in Victoria.
Puissance De Lune stands at Swettenham Stud alongside the farm’s banner stallion Toronado, whose six-year-old son Chartres recently plundered yet more VOBIS Platinum vouchers courtesy of his emphatic win in the Donald Cup (1620m).
The four-length victory took Chartres’ haul of VOBIS Platinum vouchers to $90,000, giving Paul Dugan and his fellow owners ample opportunity to shop for the progeny of VOBIS Sires stallions during the 2025 sales season.
Swettenham Stud’s General Manager – Operations and Nominations, Sam Matthews, is a firm advocate of the benefits of the VOBIS program, particularly with the cost-of-living crisis squeezing discretionary spending.
“VOBIS Platinum is such a great program, it obviously gives buyers the opportunity to set their sights a little higher at the sales because they’re able to use the vouchers to stretch their budget and go an extra bid or two,” said Matthews.
“We’re very proud of our stallions’ record in VOBIS Platinum races, we co-bred Chartres through a foal share arrangement with Kristen Manning, and he’s been an amazing horse for his connections. Matt Laurie really targets these races with him, and I’m sure some of his owners will be using the vouchers to go shopping at the upcoming yearling sales.
“The state of the economy is obviously pretty tough at the minute and the yearling market won’t be immune from that, so every little helps. People obviously can’t use these vouchers to buy a new car or upgrade their house, the beauty of them is that they have be invested back into the industry in Victoria so it’s a win-win for buyers and sellers.
“It’s also great that they can be used to reduce the cost of a service fee, which makes top end stallions such as Toronado much more affordable. We’ve had almost $200,000 redeemed on our stallions so far, and given the continued success of Toronado and Rubick, I’m sure that trend will continue.”
Toronado has 23 lots up for auction at the Magic Millions, two fewer than Yulong’s flagbearer Written Tycoon who leads the way with 25 of his prized yearlings bearing the VOBIS Sires stamp of approval across the four days.
His wares include some potential sale-toppers produced by a plethora of high-class race mares purchased by Yulong, such Lot 185, a bay filly out of Away Game, Australia’s champion two-year-old filly in 2019-20; and Lot 505, a chestnut colt out of multiple Group 1-winning sprinter In Her Time.
There are additional opportunities for owners and trainers of VOBIS Platinum eligible horses to earn vouchers in the lead-up to the Magic Millions and Inglis Classic Yearling sales, with a VOBIS Platinum Bonanza programmed from January 1-8, when every TAB meeting in Victoria will feature at least one VOBIS Gold race carrying a $20,000 VOBIS Gold Bonus and $30,000 in VOBIS Platinum vouchers.
