Last year’s Karaka sale was a very successful one for Rich Hill Stud with well-related, beautifully presented yearlings selling for up to NZ$900,000 and ending up in such leading stables as Ciaron Maher, Chris Waller, Michael Moroney, Te Akau, Bjorn Baker, Joe Pride and Henry Dwyer.
2025 sees another exciting draft of horses for the respected farm and John Thompson took us through a few of the highlights.
Lot 149 - Satono Aladdin (Jpn) x No More Doubt (Redoute’s Choice) (bay colt)
There are two outstanding crosses at work in this fellow’s pedigree. Firstly all seven Satono Aladdin runners out of Redoute’s Choice line mares are winners, two of those at Group level; Lantern Way (NZ) and Tokyo Tycoon (NZ).
And this is also the Satono Aladdin/Pentire (GB) cross that has been represented by nine runners, seven of whom are winners including the dual Group 1 winner Pennyweka (NZ) and the Group winners Lantern Way and Lupo Solitario (NZ).
John Thompson remembers, in conversation with Shadai Farm when Satono Aladdin was first heading to Rich Hill, that he noted “he is really going to suit Pentire mares on type.”
While at first Thompson was concerned that not having 3-year-olds on the ground could prove detrimental for this crop of Satono Aladdin, he was very happy to see his name in lights courtesy of an impressive G2 Eclipse S. win recorded by his exciting 2-year-old daughter Too Sweet (NZ) at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day.
The G2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas winner Lantern Way is this exciting colt’s full brother and he is one of several quality performers from this family with No More Doubt (NZ) being a daughter of the dual Group 1 winner Say No More (NZ) (Pentire) whose five foals to race have all been winners.
“He is a big, strong colt with lovely movement,” Thompson said, adding that he has the usual temperament of the breed, all of Satono Aladdin’s progeny have the same lovely disposition,” he said, “something they have inherited from Deep Impact.”
Lot 191 - Shocking x Paschendaele (NZ) (Montjeu {Ire})(bay colt)
By another of Rich Hill’s high achieving stallions, he is out of a G2 Waikato Gold Cup winner who boasts an excellent record as a broodmare with all six of her foals to race being winners including the Group 1-placed five-time winner Masetto (NZ) (Cape Blanco {Ire}).
Paschendaele is one of the six winners produced by the Group 3 mare Classic Babe (NZ) (Classic Fame {USA}) from the immediate family of the G1 Sistema S. winner Licketysplit (NZ) (Turn Me Loose {NZ}).
This family has also produced one of the stars of the turf, the champion Strawberry Road. There have been just six Shocking runners out of mares by Montjeu (Ire) and five of those are winners including the Group 2 winner Nerve Not Verve (NZ).
“We bought the mare a few years ago, excited by the prospect of sending her to Shocking,” Thompson said and he could not be more pleased with the result.
“He is a quality individual with nice length, we are very happy with him.”
Lot 287 - Proisir x She’s Aloof (NZ) (Pentire {GB})(bay filly)
There have been many great Rich Hill success stories and Proisir is one of them. And another is Pentire (GB) and it is lovely to see a filly bred on this cross up for grabs.
Bred on a double cross of Centaine, as is Proisir’s promising Group 3 son Arby {NZ}, this attractive bay is a half-sister to the G3 Bonecrusher S. winner Lupo Solitario (NZ) (Satono Aladdin {Jpn}) who looks close to showing his best in Hong Kong having been unlucky at his first three starts for the Frankie Lor stable.
She’s Aloof is a half-sister to the triple stakes winner Include (NZ) (Gallant Guru) and to the dam of the Listed winner Sharp Princess (NZ) (Pins) from the family of the successful stallion Dane Shadow and the multiple Group 1 winner Slight Chance (NZ) (Centaine).
“She is a November seventh foal who has done really well for her age. She has a lot of strength about her and a good bit of length to go with it.”
Lot 299 - Satono Aladdin (Jpn) x Sima (Commands)(bay colt)
A full brother to the G3 Gloaming S. winner Raf Attack (NZ) (who is now a member of the Ciaron Maher stable), he had another full brother sell at this sale last year, fetching NZ$250,000; that 2-year-old named Yamato Satona (NZ) has trialled well for the O’Sullivan and Scott stable last spring.
His dam is out of the metropolitan winner Mead (Galileo {Ire}) who did such a good job with her eight winners including the G3 Manfred S. winner Brave Mead (Brave Smash {Jpn}) and the Listed Geelong Classic winner Solemn (Bernardini {USA}).
Also dam of a couple of stakes-placed winners, Mead is a half-sister to the G1 Australasian Oaks heroine La Volta (Laranto) and the dual stakes winner Terevega (Laranto).
La Volta furthered the fortunes of this consistent and classy family as grandam of the G1 Caulfield Guineas winner Mighty Boss (Not A Single Doubt), the G2 Autumn S. winner Coastwatch (Fastnet Rock), the G2 Angus Armanasco S. winner Catch A Fire (Sebring) and the G2 VRC Sires Produce S. winner Seaburge (Sebring). Other relations include the Group 1 gallopers Superstorm (Sebring) and Rodin (NZ) (Masterpiece).
“He is a big, strong, well-muscled colt out of a mare who we have sent to Satono Aladdin a few times and this colt is right up there with the best of them.”
Lot 305 - Proisir x Snow Petal (Bernardini {USA}) (bay colt)
His metropolitan-winning dam is really doing the job at stud, all five of her foals to race being winners including the Group 3-placed multiple metropolitan winner Freeze Frame (NZ) (Vadamos {Fr}) and the promising lightly raced Grahame Begg-trained She’s A Hustler (NZ) (Ace High).
Snow Petal is one of the seven winners produced by Singapore Horse Of The Year Zirna (NZ) (Deputy Governor {USA}) who won in Group 1 company in New Zealand and twice at that level in Singapore.
One of the three stakes winners for her dam, Zirna also fared well at stud with seven winners including the Group 3 mare Crafty Irna (Starcraft {NZ}), in turn dam of the Listed winner Snickerdoodledandy (Snitzel).
“Snow Petal has been a really good mare for us and we really like Bernardini (USA) as a broodmare sire (18 Group 1 winners so far),” Thompson said.
“He is a November 17 foal but you would never pick that looking at him, he is a lovely, well grown colt who moves really well.”
Lot 351 - Proisir x Temolie (Star Witness)(bay filly)
This exciting prospect is a half-sister to the very promising 3-year-old Aeliana (NZ) (Castelvecchio) who last spring recorded consecutive victories in Listed and Group 3 events at Randwick and Flemington before an absolutely luckless second in the G1 1000 Guineas at Caulfield.
That Chris Waller-trained bay is one of Australia’s most talented fillies, giving her half-sister plenty of upside. This is no one-horse page with Temolie being a half-sister to the G1 Tattersalls Tiara winner Invincibella (I Am Invincible) who sold as a broodmare for $1.3 million.
And whose first two foals have sold for $750,000 and $625,000; the first of those being Mergeila (Justify {USA}) who is showing nice potential for the Chris Waller stable.
Temolie has another two stakes-winning half siblings; the G3 JRA Cup winner Secret Blaze (Sizzling) and the Listed winner Extreme Flight (Extreme Choice) and this is also the family of the G1 Adelaide Cup winner The Hind (NZ) (McGinty {NZ}).
The Choisir sire line boasts an excellent record with strains of Galileo (Ire), this filly’s second dam sire; 18 stakes winners including four Group 1 winners boasting a combination of those two outstanding stallions.
“It is very exciting to be taking this filly to the sale,” said Thompson, describing Aeliana as “one of the most promising fillies in Australia, she is a quality filly from a great fillies family and she is going to be very well-received.”
Lot 439 - Satono Aladdin (Jpn) x All About the Coin (Starcraft {NZ}) (bay filly)
Another eye-catcher bred on the Satono Aladdin/Redoute’s Choice that boasts a 100 per cent record, she is a full sister to the New Zealand Champion 2-Year-Old Tokyo Tycoon (NZ).
Her three-time Victorian-winning dam has produced another two nice winners including the Caulfield winner Syd’s Coin (Denman) and her 3-year-old Who Rox The House (NZ) (Vadamos {Fr}) looks close to a win having shown promise at her first couple of starts for Rich Hill.
All About The Coin is one of the five winners for the regally-bred Belle Giselle (Redoute’s Choice), also dam of the stakes winners Messene (Lonhro) and Cordero (Gio Ponti {USA}).
This is the internationally prolific family that produced the great Zabeel (NZ) and one which was represented by a big seller at the recent Magic Millions; a $2.8 million Snitzel colt.
“This is pedigree that has worked for us and the mare produced another nice Satono Aladdin filly for us last spring. This filly has quite a bit of size about her and stands over good ground. She is strong with a love, quality head and she moves nicely.”
Lot 636 - St Mark's Basilica (Fr) x Gisabelle (Dundeel {NZ}) (bay filly)
This particularly flashy filly boasts interesting pedigree patterns; her sire bred on a Danehill (USA)/Sadler’s Wells (USA) cross and her dam the opposite.
Plus the very exciting St Mark’s Basilica, whose first yearlings sold so well at the Gold Coast, hails from the same wonderful All Moonshine (GB) (Bobsleigh {GB}) family as Sir Tristram (Ire), making him a lovely prospect for mares carrying a strain of that legendary stallion; as does this filly.
She is the first foal for a placed half-sister to the stakes winners Messene and Cordero from the same family as Lot 439; one which has fared so well in this part of the world with this filly’s close relations including Tokyo Tycoon.
“She is a very nice filly from the first crop of an outstanding racehorse. She has really nice crosses in her pedigree and she is from a good family. She is a lovely mover with the length you’d expect from a Dundeel mare. She is a good advertisement for her sire.”
