Karaka Day 2: ANZ Bloodstock News’ top lots
After yearlings have made it this far, through inspection, selection and sale preparation, they must also pass the veterinary checks and scope scrutiny. Once on-site, there are more parades and plenty of purchaser critiques. For those reasons, every single lot deserves a look as pedigree is often what separates the top lots from the rest.
Here are ANZ Bloodstock News’ top lots for day two of Book 1 of the 2021 Karaka Premier Yearling Sale.
Buyers will not want to be tardy or distracted starting Day 2 as the first two lots into the ring are by Savabeel (Zabeel).
Lot 201 from Waikato Stud is the Savabeel brother to three winners. They are the only foals of their dam, Group 2 winner Villifye (O’Reilly) to race, and whose three-quarter sister Salto Angel (Sacred Falls) ran second in the VRC Oaks (Gr 1, 2500m) subsequent to the catalogue’s publication. Villifye is also a half-sister to Queensland Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Miss Keepsake (Keeper).
Cambridge Stud’s Lot 202 is also a colt out of a Commands (Danehill) sister to four-time stakes winner Vilanova (who raced as Catalonia in New Zealand) and half-sister to triple Group winner Vavasour (Redoute’s Choice), as well as Perth Group 3 and five-time Listed winner Celebrity Dream (Thorn Park). A top family here.
From Pencarrow Stud is their colt, Lot 212, by first season sire Caravaggio (Scat Daddy). Out of Pencarrow’s Wildflower (Keeper), a Listed winner, the colt is a direct descendant of European champion filly and three-time Group 1-winning sprinter Habibti (Habitat), herself a half-sister to the revered Eight Carat (Pieces Of Eight).
Lot 214, from Cambridge Stud, is their colt by Lonhro (Octagonal) from a Sydney-winning Fastnet Rock (Danehill) half-sister to Fiveandahalfstar (Hotel Grand), winner of the Victoria Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) and the Tancred Stakes (Gr 1, 2400m). This is the famous and prolific Soliloquy (Sobig) family.
Cambridge Stud’s Lot 231 is a colt by their new sire Almanzor (Wootton Bassett) out of the very good racemare Abidewithme (Redoute’s Choice). She won nine times, four stakes including twice at Group 2 level. Abidewithme’s dam, Crimson (Zabeel), had similar talent and was a dual Group winner.
Fastnet Rock is the sire of Lot 233, from Trelawney Stud. The colt is from a stakes-placed half-sister to Australian Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) and Makybe Diva Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) victor Grunt (O’Reilly), now standing at Yulong Stud. His granddam is a half-sister to five-time Group 1 winner and prominent sire Ocean Park (Thorn Park).
Lot 312 is a Tavistock (Montjeu) colt from Hallmark Stud and is out of the Auckland Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) winner Chenille (Pentire), herself a half-sister to dual Group winner Chintz (Savabeel), in turn the dam of Group 2 juvenile stakes winner Not An Option (Not A Single Doubt). A Cup winner’s pedigree here.
Fairdale Stud will offer Lot 321, by Iffraaj (Zafonic), who is the half-brother to last season’s top two-year-old Cool Aza Beel (Savabeel). Unfortunately Cool Aza Beel has been retired but his victories in the Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) and the rich Karaka Million 2YO (RL, 1200m), two of his four wins in just six starts, will be fresh in the minds of potential buyers.
Lot 325 is from Pencarrow Stud, a Tavistock filly out of Listed winner Cote D’Or (Makfi) who won eight times. She is a half-sister to the Redoute’s Choice (Danehill) Group-winning sisters Dolmabache and Pure Elegance and closely related to champions Darci Brahma (Danehill) and Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) winner Ethereal (Rhythm).
Like Lot 201, Waikato Stud’s Lot 343 is also a Savabeel brother to three winners, the only foals to race from O’Reilly’s (Last Tycoon) dual Group 3 winner Dating. His granddam is a Listed two-year-old stakes winner, and his third dam is a half-sister to Group 1 winner Lumley Lass (Lumley Road).
Cambridge Stud has a striking colt, Lot 347, by first season sire Churchill (Galileo), a dual Group 1 winner at two and a dual Classic winner at three. This colt is out of the speedy Diamond Earth (Choisir), whose five wins (three at two) included Randwick’s Nivison Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m).
Lot 352, from Pencarrow Stud, is a Pierro (Lonhro) colt from the Group 2 winner and Group 1-placed Dolmabache, herself a sister to Group 3 winner Pure Elegance, and half-sister to Listed winner Cote D’Or. The colt is closely related to champions Darci Brahma and Ethereal (see Lot 325).
From Pencarrow Stud is Lot 367, a Tavistock colt from a stakes-placed half-sister to champion two-year-old and three-year-old, five-time Group 1 winner and top-line sire Darci Brahma. His Group 1-winning granddam Grand Echezeaux (Zabeel) is a three-quarter sister to Romanee Conti (Sir Tristram), the dam of champion Ethereal.
Outstanding sire I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) is the sire of Cambridge Stud’s colt Lot 386, the half-brother to Scott Base (Dalghar), winner of two Group 2 races including the Wellington Guineas (Gr 2, 1400m) as well as the rich Karaka Million 3YO Classic (RL, 1600m). His granddam is a half-sister to two Group 1 winners.