International buyers call on locals to help negate Karaka travel ban
Overseas buying bench tipped to hold up as key players use expert eyes of domestic contacts for yearling inspections ahead of NZB auction
The international buying bench, the backbone of the New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale, may be locked out of the country’s biggest thoroughbred auction, but major overseas investors are still largely expected to make their presence felt when the hammer begins to fall on Sunday.
Last year, renowned Queensland-based agent John Foote bought 18 yearlings from Book 1 on behalf of various clients, including leading Brisbane trainer Tony Gollan, Swettenham Stud and for Hong Kong owners, spending up to $220,000 to be third leading purchaser by aggregate behind Te Akau’s David Ellis and Peter Moody.
Kiwi agent Guy Mulcaster, who arrived in Australia before Christmas to ensure he could attend the Magic Millions and upcoming Inglis sales, bought 12 Book 1 lots last year, either in conjunction with premier Sydney trainer Chris Waller or for other clients.
Mulcaster, who inspected Karaka-bound yearlings prior to jetting across the Tasman, and Foote are both expected to be active at the national sale this year but to what degree remains the question.
A number of lower-profile agents who were active at the Magic Millions sale also indicated they planned to participate in the Karaka auction despite not being able to attend in person.
Phill Cataldo, who bought 16 yearlings last year to be third behind only Ellis (30) and Foote (18) in terms of numbers, is one agent who chose to remain in New Zealand, and he has aspirations of once again being a major player on the buying bench.
“We’ve had more enquiries than normal years from Australia, that’s for sure,” said Cataldo, who often acts for OTI Racing’s Terry Henderson and prominent Melbourne trainers Mick Price and Mick Kent jr.
“The quality is really good, I am very happy with it and the Australians will be shopping here for the middle-distance horses and there’s a really good selection of those here.”
However, Cataldo warned against vendors becoming too confident about buyers’ appetite for stock despite a record-breaking week at Magic Millions.
“It is hard to forecast whether there will be a flow-on effect. You’d like to think there will be but they are different horses, a different buying bench, so I wouldn’t read too much into the results on the Gold Coast in relation to our sale,” the experienced agent said.
“In the current state the world is in, I think the vendors will be setting their reserves a little bit lower and I am sure NZB will be encouraging that to get them on the market. I think that is the wise thing to do.”
Earlier this week, NZB managing director Andrew Seabrook flagged a potential upswing in domestic buyers due to local economic confidence as the country emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic, but there is no shying away from the fact that the Kiwi sale relies heavily on the export market.
Of the Kiwis who made an impact in 2020, syndicator Go Racing bought 14 lots for a spend of nearly $1.8 million while trainers Tony Pike and Graeme Rogerson bought ten yearlings each. Paul Moroney, in conjunction with his brother Mike’s Ballymore Stables, bought a combined 15 yearlings for his Matamata and Flemington operations.
Australian trainer Ciaron Maher, whose large-scale outfit was a sales ring Goliath at the Magic Millions season-opening auction, bought nine yearlings at Karaka last year, ranging from $6,000 to a high of $500,000 for a Showcasing (Oasis Dream) colt who is now named Golden Vitrine.
Will Bourne, Maher and co-trainer David Eustace’s bloodstock manager, yesterday suggested the training powerhouse had already compiled a shortlist of yearlings that would come under consideration at Karaka.
“We are very lucky as buying horses (without being able to inspect them) is a trust thing because there’s only so much you can see on a video. But Sarah Worker, who was with us for two years and Darren Weir before that, moved home about four months ago, so she has been doing our shortlist for us,” Bourne said.
“We would have been a bit lost and not sure what we were going to do, but the fact that she is there and knows what we like in a horse, we can trust her immensely.”
Despite investing so much money in yearlings at the Gold Coast, Bourne said there was demand from Maher and Eustace’s existing clients to buy horses from New Zealand, describing the various levels of interest as “horses for courses”.
“Ciaron has had a lot of luck out of Karaka. He paid $130,000 for Global Exchange and he sold for about $1.6 million as a Group 2 winner by Dundeel,” he said.
“He has also had good luck with Fascino, who is a Group 2-winning filly who he actually owns a quarter of – she is a $40,000 Charm Spirit – so Ciaron’s always found a nice horse out of there.”
Bourne indicated that last year’s Kiwi crop of Maher and Eustace-trained yearlings has also given the team confidence to go back for more.
“We haven’t had a runner yet from last year’s (group) where we bought about ten horses, but they are all going the right way,” he said.
“They are all obviously not near the track yet but we are happy with what we brought back. There’s no buyers’ regret with the stock we have got from last year’s Karaka sale.”
While it is almost certain some regular international buyers will not be active at Karaka this year, New Zealand Thoroughbred Marketing chief executive Andrew Birch says graduate success will still fuel demand from overseas parties.
“Many are as keen as ever and will utilise the services of local agents or New Zealand industry contacts. At the other end of the spectrum there are some regular buyers who believe they can’t purchase without being on site and physically viewing a horse,” Birch said.
“I know of a number of stables in Australia who will be streaming the Karaka sales and hosting some owners in a bid to emulate being on site, with the likes of Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young and Mitch Beer to name a few.
“The vendors have done a great job in arming potential buyers with as much information as possible for this year, and I believe it will carry on into the post-Covid era.”
Birch added: “We also have a proud record of supplying top-flight winners in Australia for more than a century to fall back on and Kiwi horses are having another great season, supplying around 23 per cent of the Group 1 winners and regular metro winners.
“In Hong Kong, New Zealand-bred horses have won 31 per cent of races this season, easily outperforming supply, and we continue to have full confidence in the product.
“I think there will be good opportunities for international buyers this year and encouragingly there have been some positive signs with our own racing industry, so you would like to think the locals would sense an opportunity, too.”
The NZB Karaka Yearling Sale starts on Sunday from 1pm local time.