Cover image courtesy of New Zealand Bloodstock
At A Glance
Nine horses (compared to five last year) sold for six figures.
The sale topper was a NZ$170,000 Satono Aladdin (Jpn) filly sold by Brighthill Farm to Gary Harding (the top price last year was a NZ$150,000 Per Incanto {USA} colt).
Last year’s average of NZ$23,089 improved to NZ$32,273 whilst the median rose from NZ$12,000 to NZ$18,000.
The clearance rate fell from 70 per cent to 58 per cent.
The aggregate was NZ$2,485,000 down from 2023’s NZ$2,609,100 but 113 sold last year, 77 this year.
A sale with a successful history of producing quality performers - such as the Group 1 winners Pignan (NZ) (Staphanos), Callsign Mav (NZ) (Atlante) and Jennifer Eccles (NZ) (Rip Van Winkle) - Karaka’s annual weanling sale also launched the career of the Karaka Millions hero Tokyo Tycoon (NZ) (Satono Aladdin).
The sale’s graduates are eligible not only for that race, but also for the $1.5 million TAB Karaka Millions 3YO as well as the new $1 million Mega Maiden Series which comprises of 40 non-Saturday maiden races located throughout New Zealand.
Topping the sale was an eye-catching Satono Aladdin (Jpn) filly from the draft of Brighthill Farm - secured by Gary Harding for $170,000.
Harding strikes again
An active buyer at this year’s weanling sales - purchasing daughters of Proisir and Street Boss (USA) for $100,000 and $140,000 at the Inglis Australian Weanling Sale in Sydney and the sale-topping $525,000 Frankel (GB) filly in Melbourne - Harding is happy to be taking home a fourth filly, noting that “I like to run them in pairs.”
A successful owner who counts himself as “very lucky - we always seem to have a good horse around”- Harding has taken a liking to Satono Aladdin who he described as “an up-and-coming stallion who has been serving better quality mares - so he should continue to pick up.”
Lot 25 - Satono Aladdin (Jpn) x Henley Road (NZ) (filly) | Image courtesy of New Zealand Bloodstock
A member of the fourth crop of her Rich Hill-based sire - a Group 1 winning son of Deep Impact (Jpn) standing in New Zealand - this filly “looks the ideal type for our 2 and 3-year-old races” said Harding.
She is the second foal produced by the placed Henley Road (NZ) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}), a half-sister to the four-time Group 1 winner Callsign Mav from the family of this season’s G2 Eclipse S.-winning 2-year-old Bellatrix Star (Star Witness) and the Group 1 mare The Party Stand (NZ) (Thorn Park).
The filly boasts an interesting pedigree including a 5 X 5 cross of the proven line-breeding subject Crimson Saint (USA) (Crimson Satan {USA}) via her grandson Storm Cat (USA) and son Royal Academy (USA).
Good day for Curraghmore
The next two best sellers were both consigned by Curraghmore whose Gordon Cunningham was pleased at the end of the day with eight of his 10 weanlings finding new homes.
Gordon Cunningham | Image courtesy of Trish Dunell
“We took a genuine draft of horses to the sale and we are really happy with how they were received and how they sold - there was good competition on them.”
It was a good start to the sale for Curraghmore with early success - Lot 3 sold to GTS Bloodstock for $140,000. A son of Waikato Stud’s G1 Caulfield Guineas winner Super Seth who has been well-represented by two stakes winners amongst his first seven winners, he was described by Cunningham as “a good, well conformed colt whose sire has made a very, very exciting start to his stud career.”
Bred on a 3 X 3 cross of Redoute’s Choice, a 4 X 5 cross of Zabeel (NZ) and a 4 X 5 X 5 cross of Sadler’s Wells (USA), he is a half-brother to the promising 3-year-old Raptylight (Written By) out of the placed Drama Series (Pierro), a half-sister to the dual Group 3 winning sprinter Teleplay (Written Tycoon).
Lot 3 - Super Seth x Drama Series (colt) | Image courtesy of New Zealand Bloodstock
Teleplay is a granddaughter of the dual Group 1 winner Episode (Scenic {Ire}) whose daughter First Seal (Fastnet Rock) is best remembered for defeating Winx (Street Cry {Ire}) in the G1 Flight S.
Purchased by Riversley Park, Lot 36 also made $140,000 for Curraghmore - a Proisir colt out of the unraced La Donna E Mobile (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}).
Lot 36 - Proisir x La Donna E Mobile (Ire) (colt) | Image courtesy of New Zealand Bloodstock
A granddaughter of the G1 Yorkshire Oaks winner Hellenic (Ire) (Darshaan {GB}), La Donna E Mobile hails from a high-class family which has enjoyed elite-level success around the world - including the G1 Melbourne Cup with Fiorente (Ire).
The colt is bred along proven lines, the same Proisir/Nureyev (USA) cross as the big race winners Levante (NZ), Prowess (NZ) and Pier (NZ) and the same Proisir/Sadler’s Wells cross as the G1 Railway S. winner Waitak (NZ) - noting that Proisir’s dam sire Encosta De Lago is by Fairy King (USA), full brother to Sadler’s Wells and three-quarter brother to Nureyev.
Proisir popular
The Rich Hill-based Proisir had another three horses in the top seven sellers - a filly sold by Seaton Park to Raptors Thoroughbreds for $130,000, a $110,000 colt sold by Haunui Farm to Kilgravin Holdings and Bevan Smith Bloodstock and a $105,000 colt bought by Lyndhurst Farm from Highline Thoroughbreds.
The former - Lot 146 - is bred on another proven cross, that of Proisir and Zabeel noting that Proisir’s sire Choisir also worked very well with Zabeel-line mares. Her winning dam Christmas Day (NZ) is doing a good job with her first two to race both winning eight races including the Listed John Letts Cup winner Pudding (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}).
Gallery: Progeny of Proisir was popular with buyers, the stallion had four of the top seven sellers, images courtesy of New Zealand Bloodstock
Lot 79 is bred along similar lines, being a son of the unraced Respect (Savabeel) whose dam is a half-sister to two stakes placegetters out of a half-sister to the dual stakes winner Rockatella (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}).
The third of the six figure Proisirs was Lot 49, a daughter of the placed mare Mail Order (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}). Another bred on a Proisir/Sadler’s Wells cross, she is a granddaughter of the G1 Moyglare Stud S. winner Mail The Desert (Ire) (Desert Prince {Ire}) - also grandam of the four-time Group winner Miss Rose De Lago (Encosta De Lago).
Six figure weanlings
Another proven stallion represented amongst the top sellers was a Maurice (Jpn) colt, Lot 140 a flashy chestnut sold by Haunui Farm to Landsdowne Park for $115,000. He is another one with an interesting pedigree with his dam sire Carnegie (Ire) being closely related to Zabeel whose Group 2-placed granddaughter Butter Chicken (NZ) (Savabeel) is his dam.
Lot 140 - Maurice (Jpn) x Butter Chicken (NZ) (colt) | Image courtesy of New Zealand Bloodstock
Bred on a 5 X 6 cross of the high class broodmare Derna (Fr) (Sunny Boy {Fr}), he is a grandson of the imported Group 3 winner Scintillula (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) - dam of the Listed winner Waikato Girl (NZ) (Savabeel) from the family of last year’s G1 Meydan Al Quoz Sprint winner Danyah (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}).
Maurice has had 24 runners out of mares with Zabeel, 17 (70.8 per cent) of those being winners including the stakes winners Azula and Noah ‘N’ A Deel.
Another two yearlings sold for six figure sums - Lot 125 by Noverre (NZ) out of the G2 Eight Carat Classic winner Alagant Satin (NZ) (Al Akbar) purchased by Raptors Thoroughbreds for $100,000 from the draft of Curraghmore and Lot 126, an Almanzor (Fr) half-brother to the stakes placed Alchemia (NZ) (Per Incanto {USA}) purchased by Merrick Staunton for $100,000 from Haunui Farm.
Gallery: Other six-figure Lots, images courtesy of New Zealand Bloodstock
Raptors Thoroughbreds; Jessica Yang declared herself “very happy with the five horses we bought today - they were the ones we came here wanting to buy, we got everything we had on our list.”
In summary - Kane Jones and Andrew Seabrook
New Zealand Bloodstock’s Bloodstock Sales Manager Kane Jones noted that, as has been the case at this year’s weanling sales across Australasia, the demand is very strong at the top end with the market not as strong in the middle and below areas.
“There is no denying that it was hard work for those horses,” he said, “but we did see really good interest in - and spirited bidding for - the quality horses.”
“When one of those nice horses walked into the ring everyone followed and there were fireworks for those horses.”
“When one of those nice horses walked into the ring everyone followed and there were fireworks for those horses.” - Kane Jones
“We are buoyed by the fact that there was plenty of interest in New Zealand’s proven stallions like Proisir, Satono Aladdin and Almanzor and it was also exciting to see the progeny of first season sires like Noverre and Sword Of State be well received.”
Kane Jones | Image courtesy of New Zealand Bloodstock
NZB’s Managing Director Andrew Seabrook agreed with Jones’ sentiments - calling it “a sale of two halves.”
“The good horses sold extremely well with but the clearance rate falling to 58 per cent suggests that the lower end of the market is tough.”
“The good horses sold extremely well with but the clearance rate falling to 58 per cent suggests that the lower end of the market is tough.” - Andrew Seabrook
“The fact that nine horses made more than $100,000, opposed to five last year, on a smaller catalogue confirms that the top end of the market is alive and well.”
Andrew Seabrook | Image courtesy of New Zealand Bloodstock
“We were hoping that more end users would participate in the middle to lower end of the market but that didn’t eventuate.”
