Records have been broken for the second time in 24 hours at the Magic Millions Yearling Sale on the Gold Coast, with a colt selling for $2.7 million.
The sale's fifteen-year record of $2.2 million first fell on Wednesday afternoon and was surpassed again on Thursday evening and Friday morning.
But why, and how, can bidders justify spending millions of dollars on young horses when they have never hit the racetrack?
It's a combination of breeding pedigree, the horses' conformation and a little faith, says general manager of Hunter Valley's Segenhoe Stud Peter O'Brien, which sold the multi-million-dollar colt to Coolmore Australia.
He said it could be hard for people to wrap their heads around the big numbers.
"I know it seems a lot, $2.7-million for a horse, but the risk-reward can be huge," Mr O'Brien said.
"From the breeding side of things, it's like if Usain Bolt and Cathy Freeman had a child."
In this case, it's stallion I Am Invincible and mare Anaheed.
Their colt, lot 606, was the first foal out of group winner Anaheed.
And while I Am Invincible only won a modest $270,050 on the track, his offspring have raked in winnings of more than $144 million.
The sire stands at Scone's Yarraman Park with a service fee for impregnating mares of just shy of $250,000.
"He's sort of a rags to riches stallion," Mr O'Brien said.
"He started off covering lesser mares at a smaller fee and from his first crop, his sons and daughters have conquered everything.
"He's the stallion everyone wants to buy horses by."
Prize money proves powerful
Australia's richest race, the Everest, is worth $14 million and the Melbourne Cup, $8 million, but this Saturday alone, horses and jockeys will vie for a share in $11 million across 10 races at the Gold Coast Magic Millions Raceday.
"With the prize money that's in Australia now, a good horse can win [their sale] amount back very easily," Mr O'Brien said.
"But the main thing Coolmore would have bought [the $2.7 million colt] for was to be a stallion.
"If he won a big race in Australia, he would automatically be worth $30-$40-million."
Magic Millions Director Barry Bowditch has watched more than a dozen horses sell for seven figures at the annual yearling sales so far this week.
"It's a decent bet, but in saying that, it's what they do," he said.
"Coolmore stands Home Affairs who is also by I Am Invincible and he was a colt they bought for $850,000 which is now worth some $25 million."
Same stable as champion Winx
Many legends of Australian and international racing have passed through the annual Magic Millions sales as yearlings, including the phenomenal mare Winx.
And as fate would have it, the $2.7 million colt was in the same stable as Winx this week, ahead of his time in the sale ring.
Winx welcomed a filly foal last year and was trained by Chris Waller throughout her unmatched career, where she won more than $26 million.
Mr Waller has now been called up to train Coolmore's newest addition.
"Delighted to be given the opportunity to train this spectacular colt for Coolmore and their partners," Mr Waller said on social media.
"[He] sold for $2.7m at Magic Millions from the draft of Segenhoe Stud Group, out of the same box (C5) as Winx, 10 years ago."
"We were hoping some of [Winx's] hoodoo wears off on him from the walls of the stable," vendor Peter O'Brien laughed.
"He was a stand-out, literally from the day he was born."
