Powerhouses Coolmore and Te Akau combine to land $800,000 top lot
Zoustar filly takes central billing on satisfactory opening day of unique New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale
One of the world’s most influential thoroughbred industry figures has linked with Te Akau Racing, the seemingly unstoppable force of New Zealand racing, to purchase the most expensive yearling sold on day one of an historic New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale.
Not since 1928, the year champion Phar Lap (Night Raid) was sold, have international buyers been unable to attend the Kiwis’ premier yearling sale but yesterday David Ellis, himself a local industry giant, made sure there was an overseas flavour with the buying of an $800,000 filly by Zoustar (Northern Meteor).
She was the most expensive of Ellis’ acquisitions yesterday, which also included a $625,000 Written Tycoon (Iglesia) colt, the second highest-priced lot sold at Karaka on the first of three Book 1 sessions in which 24 yearlings made $200,000 or more.
“John Magnier, who owns Coolmore Stud, said that he wanted to support Karaka this year and he wanted to take a share in my best filly,” said Ellis after signing for the filly who has a distinct dual-hemisphere pedigree.
“He has got a good-sized share in the Zoustar filly with Te Akau as we thought that she was the best horse in the sale.”
At last week’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Ellis spent $2.74 million on six yearlings in conjunction with agent Andrew Williams, including two fillies and a colt by Coolmore’s champion sire Fastnet Rock (Danehill), two of which were consigned by Coolmore.
“I think the Magnier family have been very impressed with the job we have done with Avantage, who has won more Group 1s than any other Fastnet Rock,” said Ellis, who revealed another major international investor had committed to buying into the Zoustar filly.
“We are pretty proud to have one of Te Akau’s best clients, from Hong Kong, taking a 50 per cent share in the filly.
“There is only a quarter left and that will sell very quickly.”
Bred by Pencarrow Stud’s Sir Peter Vela, the filly is the third foal out of Scintillula (Galileo), a Group 3 winner and Group 1-placed filly in Europe. She is also a half-sister to the talented Mike Moroney-trained four-time winner Birdsong (Snitzel) and last week’s Pakenham winner Butter Chicken (Savabeel), a three-year-old filly trained by Grahame Begg for Jonathan Munz. The Zoustar filly was catalogued as Lot 94.
An American buyer, bidding online, was the under bidder on the filly.
Pencarrow Stud manager Leon Casey indicated the daughter of Widden Stud’s Zoustar had reached her price tag through strong bidding competition.
“She is a top-class filly in every way,” he said.
“We had lots of interest from many good judges, including many New Zealanders as under bidders. She is a lovely type. You can see the Zoustar quality as well as the Galileo strength. Plenty of quality and depth.
“Sir Peter is prepared to offer the best we have. He doesn’t hold anything back because he has confidence in the market. What he does is for the good of the industry and not just for Pencarrow.”
‘Written Tycoon colt has capacity to make Karaka Million’
The ever confident Ellis, whose Te Akau operation will be shooting for a remarkable sixth straight Karaka Million (RL, 1200m) next year says he and trainer Jamie Richards have plenty more financial ammunition to fire at this week’s sale and that was, of course, evident with their Zoustar purchase.
Te Akau has every right to be optimistic after On The Bubbles (Brazen Beau) led home a stable first four at Ellerslie on Saturday night to continue the team’s winning streak in the $1 million two-year-old race.
On the $625,000 Written Tycoon colt, Ellis said: “He was bred by Sir Patrick Hogan and we fell in love with him when we first saw him in early December. I thought he was a colt we needed to have.
“We are looking for horses that can win a Karaka Million and go on and be a Golden Slipper colt, and then come back and stand at stud.
“This colt met all of that criteria. He is very athletic and had Karaka Million written all over him.
“I think he has got a lot of class and I thought we could keep him as a colt. He is a beautiful colt from a really good family, and we are thrilled to have him.”
When the Te Akau principal is convinced about the credentials of a yearling, he rarely misses out and that was again the case yesterday.
He said: “I went a bit more than I thought I would have to, but for these really top colts you have got to pay a little bit more. He is one of the top three in the sale.”
Agent Stuart Hale was the under bidder.
“The colt just oozed quality and looked like an absolute runner,” Hale said.
“Written Tycoon is flying in Hong Kong and my Hong Kong client had $500,000 for him. I told him that might not be enough and so we went to $600,000.”
Consigned by Woburn Farm as Lot 52, he is the third living foal out of talented New Zealand mare Pussy O’Reilly (O’Reilly), a Listed scorer and Group 1 placegetter who is a sister to Group 2-winning two-year-old Pussy Willow and a half-sister to another stakes winner in Inside Agent (Stravinsky).
Woburn Farm’s Adrian Stanley said the colt had the right temperament and the “wow” factor to not only be a sales ring star, but also make it on the racecourse.
“I thought the money was about right. We try to be realistic with our reserves. You have to get them going so he was on the market at $180,000,” Stanley said.
“He has gone to a great stable. I couldn’t be happier that Jamie has him. He will be given all the right opportunities.”
At the close of day one, Ellis had purchased 12 lots and once again reinforced Te Akau’s importance to the New Zealand industry.
Rogerson makes early move
Cambridge Stud’s impressive first season shuttler Almanzor (Wootton Bassett), who was the leading first season sire by average at the recent Magic Millions sale after selling to a top of $800,000, also found favour early on day one at Karaka with two of New Zealand’s biggest names in Graeme Rogerson and Te Akau’s David Ellis going head-to-head for a colt by the European champion.
Eventually, it was Rogerson who won the early session bidding battle at $300,000, the trainer’s second purchase in three lots after buying a Savabeel colt for the same price from Waikato Stud.
Offered as Lot 7 by Cambridge Stud, the Almanzor colt is the third foal out of the Listed-placed multiple winner Onlyarose (One Cool Cat), making him a half-brother to the Group 3-placed juvenile Snapper (Power), who is now in training with Mike Moroney in Australia.
“I think he could be the next real thing (stallion). He is a beautiful colt. I thought he might make a bit more, but you’ve got to be in to win and if you want to compete with the tangerine team (Te Akau), you’ve got to be in there,” Rogerson said.
Waikato Stud, which has made the bold move to publish its reserves online to assist buyers, sold Lot 5 to Rogerson who has an affinity with the family. The colt is the sixth foal out of the unraced On Broadway (Pins), who is a sister to the stakes-placed Pins On Parade and Dower, herself the dam of Dowager Queen (Savabeel).
It was Rogerson who trained Dowager Queen, who was placed in the VRC Oaks (Gr 1, 2500m) and the ATC Flight Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) as a three-year-old, as well as her own dam Dower.
“I think racing is going in the right direction and this might be the year to buy a nice horse and Savabeel, what else has he got to do?” Rogerson said.
“I owned Dower and Dowager Queen and I did well with them and he was a nice Savabeel.”
By the end of the day Rogerson had bought seven yearlings and was under bidder on the last lot to go through the ring, a Westbury Stud-consigned Reliable Man (Dalakhani) colt, who made $340,000 to the bid of Bruce Harvey, acting for the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
Perry busy on day one
Later, a filly by Almanzor offered by Pencarrow Stud as Lot 24 made $320,000 to the bid of agent Bruce Perry. The filly is a half-sister to two winners and a daughter of the Listed winner Papilio (Redoute’s Choice), herself a half-sister to Group 3 winner Amaryllis (Red Ransom).
The respected Perry, who was acting for clients such as Lib Petagna and Victorian trainer Danny O’Brien, made his mark with eight yearlings bought on day one for a total spend of $1.575 million.
“There are many outstanding yearlings here, a large bunch of really nice types,” Perry said.
“The reason I have been so active is that Australian racing is really strong and there are many New Zealanders who are bullish about the future. Add to that you can get high quality at a great value.”
Domestically, Roger James and his junior training partner Robert Wellwood were also active, buying a Nicconi (Bianconi) colt from Highview for $120,000 before pushing the budget to land a Sebring (More Than Ready) filly for $295,000 from Trelawney Stud.
By the late Widden Stud sire, the filly is the first foal out of the New Zealand juvenile winner and stakes-placed mare Smashing (Pins), herself a half-sister to the stakes-placed three-time winner Savvan (Savabeel), and Ocean’s Fourteen (Ocean Park). Offered as Lot 126, she is also a granddaughter of the Group 2 winner and Group 1-placed mare Ruud Van Slaats (Van Nistelrooy), the champion two-year-old of 2013-14.
“I am indebted to my owner (Jim Hannan) who was with me all the way on this filly,” James said.
“He showed a lot of heart as I thought we were out $100,000 earlier, to be honest. He has been a long-time client of the stable and has raced a Group 1 winner with me, so I’m hoping we might have picked up another exciting type for him.”
It was the filly’s athleticism which took James’ eye and helped him and his client’s conviction to dig deeper to buy her.
“She has a great pedigree but more importantly, she is a true-blue athlete,” he said.
“She’s a much earlier type than I’ve bought for him before.
“I saw her at Trelawney about three weeks ago and then had another look as she was one of those on my list.
“When it got to the third cut, she was definitely there as one of the ones we wanted to buy.
“I haven’t had much time to analyse the market today as I have been busy with owners and the like, but I’m just thrilled I could buy this filly for some lovely people.”
Almanzor, meanwhile, was averaging $141,142 with 21 yearlings traded on day one to clearly be the most sought after first season sire, while Rich Hill Stud’s fellow first season shuttler Satono Aladdin (Deep Impact) sold up to $100,000 yesterday.
Haunui Farm’s Ribchester (Iffaaj), who shuttled to Darley Australia for his first two years at stud, sold up to $230,000 with his first-crop yearlings yesterday, while Inglewood Stud’s freshman sire War Decree (War Front) had two offspring change hands and Little Avondale’s Time Test (Dubawi) had one lot sell in a small offering,
International buyers get involved
Well-known Hong Kong traders Andy Lau and Ross Lao of Upper Bloodstock did not let their inability to get to New Zealand stop them from making their presence felt yesterday, landing a $200,000 blow early for a Savabeel colt from Trelawney Stud with the assistance of agent Phill Cataldo.
Offered as Lot 4, he is the third foal out of South Australia Fillies Classic (Gr 3, 2500m) winner Okahu Bay (Flying Spur).
Australian buyers, of course, have not been able to get to Karaka but that did not stop them from being active, with Ballarat trainer Henry Dwyer striking early, going to $100,000 for a Savabeel filly who is out of an unraced sister to the former Chris Waller-trained Group 2 winner Mackintosh (Pins). She was offered by Waikato Stud as Lot 35.
Syndicator James Moss of Tricolours Racing also bought a Reliable Man colt for $105,000, while Waller and agent Guy Mulcaster, who is currently in Australia, bought a son of Churchill (Galileo) for $70,000 after Lot 1 was initially passed in, before adding another two lots for the day. He also had a hand in others.
Another New Zealand agent who is also currently in Australia, Dean Hawthorne, bought three lots yesterday headed by a $280,000 colt by Preferment (Zabeel). Victorian trainers Danny O’Brien, and Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young, as well as syndicator Flying Start in partnership with Ciaron Maher Bloodstock and Pinhook Bloodstock also got on the board on day one, as did Western Australian agent John Chalmers.
Fellow Australian trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, with the assistance of New Zealand agent Chris Rutten, bought two yearlings by Savabeel and Turn Me Loose (Iffraaj), while Daniel Bowman, Luke Oliver and Lindsay Park, which used the services of Hawthorne, were also active, as was Queensland’s Double R Thoroughbreds’ Ken Reed and Soctt Rossow, who bought fillies by Dundeel (High Chaparral) and Sweynesse (Lonhro).
Seabrook satisfied with day one market
NZB managing director Andrew Seabrook was last night satisfied with how the opening session panned out given the uncertainty over what is predominantly an export market for New Zealand.
With the expectation that the clearance rate of 71 per cent would increase overnight, 118 yearlings had been sold at an average of $132,564 and a median of $100,000.
Both measures were down on the corresponding session year-on-year, but that was not unexpected, and the next two days’ of selling is predicted to be stronger, with a number of higher profile horses to go through the ring.
“It was uncharted territory with no international buyers here due to Covid, of course, but it is a sense of relief (after day one),” Seabrook said last night.
“Earlier in the week, I said I’d be happy with anything up to ten per cent down on average and I think we’re down five per cent at the moment.”.
Importantly for the depth of trade at the NZB sale, 70 of the 180 yearlings offered yesterday were bid on over NZB’s online platform, while 26 were purchased via online bidding.
“Forty per cent of horses were bid on (online) and 21 per cent were sold online, so that’s been vital to the success,” he said.
“The internationals are not just bidding online, they have also been able to contact their agents and the people representing them here to bid on the phone.
“I had trainers like Peter Moody ringing me today and various Australians, so it was very pleasing to see them being active.”
What transpired yesterday has Seabrook optimistic about what is to come at Karaka.
He said: “Quite a few of the major buyers have told me that the quality is better on Monday and Tuesday, so let’s hope that’s the case and we can get that clearance rate up.”