‘The quality is as good, if not higher than ever before’ – all in readiness for NZB National Weanling Sale
The New Zealand Bloodstock National Weanling Sale might be down on numbers, but Kane Jones insists the quality on offer at today’s auction is at least as good, if not better than has ever been seen at Karaka previously.
Foals by a growing list of commercial New Zealand stallions – the proven Savabeel (Zabeel) and Proisir (Choisir) and the emerging Almanzor (Wootton Bassett), Ace High (High Chaparral), Satono Aladdin (Deep Impact), Ardrossan (Redoute’s Choice) and Super Seth (Dundeel) – are set to provide local buyers and international investors with equine options to retrade on either side of the Tasman.
A catalogue of 150 weanlings has been compiled, down on the 183 catalogued in 2023.
“It’s just a one-day sale and numbers are slightly down on previous years, but the quality is as good, if not higher than ever before, so it’s a smaller catalogue and big on quality,” NZB bloodstock sales manager Jones told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“That’s what we’ve seen on farm and here at Karaka and that’s the feedback we’ve been getting from other people as well.
“There’s some pinhooking opportunities but not every horse fits that category and there’s going to be some lovely horses to put aside and let them grow out.”
Jones expects the Kiwis, both pinhookers and longer-term traders, to support their home country foal sale just as they have at the Australian weanling sales over the past six weeks.
For instance, Nick and Nicky White’s Kaha Nui Farm bought the two highest-priced weanlings at the Inglis Australian Weanling Sale in Sydney, paying $575,000 for a daughter of champion Australian stallion I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) and $370,000 for a colt by Capitalist (Written Tycoon).
At the Magic Millions National Weanling Sale on the Gold Coast a fortnight later, Kiwi pinhookers included Carlaw Park, Woburn Farm, Kaha Nui and Mark and Shelley Treweek’s Lyndhurst Farm.
Fellow Kiwi Gary Harding bought the second top lot at the recent Great Southern sale – a $525,000 daughter of Frankel (Galileo) – while Kaha Nui bought two colts, by I Am Invincible and Toronado (High Chaparral) respectively, for $300,000 each at the same Melbourne offering.
Among the Australian contingent at Karaka are Merrick Staunton and James Mitchell as well as expatriate New Zealanders Bevan Smith and Paul Moroney.
“I know they’ve been active at the weanling sales so far, but they will be active at this sale as well, for sure, and they’ll be identifying the ones that they think they can bring back to Karaka next year and there’s certainly some there,” Jones said.
“All those pinhookers who have been active will still continue to be [Thursday]. We’ve said all along that there’s good pinhooking opportunities, but by the same token, there’s some really good horses to put aside and trade or even be lovely racehorses.”
Curraghmore’s Gordon Cunningham will consign a select draft of ten weanlings which includes foals by first crop sires Sword Of State (Snitzel), Noverre (Savabeel) and St Mark’s Basilica (Siyouni).
“We’ve come up here with a good draft – a very good, genuine draft,” Cunningham said at Karaka.
“They’ve presented really, really well and I’m very encouraged by the inspection levels so far. There’s been strong interest, and I feel that a lot of people are honing in on a number of horses and would be up there to buy them if they were going through the ring now.
“Right across the board, from one to ten, this could be a yearling draft in its own right, and the fact that they’re all eligible for the Karaka Millions Series and the races that are being promoted so strongly has definitely impacted on the level of interest that we’re seeing here.”
Haunui Farm also has a large draft of 18 weanlings including foals by Proisir and Super Seth.
“We’ve sold Karaka Million and Oaks winners through our weanling drafts over the years, and pinhookers had some excellent results with the weanlings that we sold at last year’s sale,” Haunui’s managing director Mark Chitty said.
“We like to cap our numbers at around 55 for the yearling sales every year, so the weanling sale is a nice way to offer some of our other stock and provide some good opportunities for buyers at the same time.”
All horses sold at the weanling sale, which starts at 11am NZ time, are eligible for the lucrative Karaka Millions race series.