Under 10 seconds of blinding speed was enough to set off a bidding war in Miami between old rivals, Ireland's Coolmore Stud and the Maktoum family of Dubai. It resulted in a world record price of $16 million (€13.4 million) for a horse sold at public auction.
John Magnier's Coolmore syndicate, which includes Michael Tabor and Derek Smith, won out in a remarkable buying battle ignited by an unraced two-year-old colt by the US stallion Forestry.
In their duel late on Tuesday night with Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin operation, Magnier & Co were taken to $16 million, which smashed the previous record of $13.1 million set by Seattle Dancer in 1985.
The duel took place at the Fasig-Tipton Calder Select, a "Breeze-up" sale, where, unlike yearling sales, the horses are galloped for a short period so that prospective buyers can watch them.
It was the Forestry colt out of Magical Masquerade that grabbed attention when he burned up the track with a furlong run in 9.8 seconds. His owners, Dean De Renzo and Randy Hartley, had paid $425,000 for the colt nicknamed "Frosty" as a yearling but that furlong was enough to set off a war between the two most powerful operations in world racing.
The background of Sheikh Mohammed's much-publicised boycott of stock by Coolmore stallions added spice to the bidding which started at $500,000 but raced past previous landmark figures such as Snaafi Dancer's 1983 sale of $10.2 million.
Agents Demi O'Byrne and John Ferguson bid for Coolmore and Godolphin respectively and the latter tried to seal the deal by making a single $1 million leap in the bidding, to $15 million. O'Byrne countered, however, and eventually won out at $16 million.
"He'd better be good!" joked O'Byrne, who said the colt would be trained in America. "Time will tell if he is. He breezed awfully well and he's a good-looking horse with a good pedigree." The colt's immediate reaction was to spook at the spontaneous cheering and applause that broke out once the Irish stud's bid had won out.
The reaction back in Dubai was no doubt less exuberant.
