A total of 2,274 horses will go under the hammer as the three-day 2011 Magic Millions Sale begins at the Gold Coast today.

The sale will begin today with the weanling sale, followed by the national broodmare and tried horses sale taking place on both Thursday and Friday.

The 2011 Magic Millions National Yearling Sales will take place from June 5 to 7.

Despite the rising Australian dollar, which is sure to put off a large number of international buyers, the sale is expected to generate a large amount of interest.

Magic Millions director of sales David Chester believes that while the sales will be popular, they are not likely to break any sales records.

“I think the sales will gross between $30 million and $40 million, although in the best times we managed over $50 million,” Mr Chester said.

“We have a few problems this year.

“Firstly the Australian dollar is soaring, and that impacts on European and Asian buyers, and there is also a general lack of economic confidence around.”

Mr Chester said that despite the reduced value, there had still been strong overseas interest in the sales.

“There are also buyers this year from Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and the Philippines,” he said.

Last year’s weanlings attracted an average sale price of $37,500, while broodmares received an average of $52,000 and yearlings averaged $36,000 per horse.