It's been a quite a last month for Towkay with 13 individual winners of 14 races across Australasia and Asia plus a fortnight ago we saw the eye catching return to racing of his champion miler Armada who showed he's right on track for next weekends Group One International Mile when rattling home for fifth over 1200m behind some of Hong Kong's best sprinters.
Sam popped over the ditch for five days to support NZB canvas Melbourne and Sydney trainers and agents ahead of next months Karaka Yearling Sale Series. Come January 26, New Zealand's reputation for quality yearlings at value for money could mean the sale holds up a lot better than most.
Around the farm, both stallions have nearly finished serving mares for the season with one of Zeds last consorts being the mare Abundance, a half sister to Melbourne Cup winner Viewed's dam Lovers Knot.
All the mares on the farm have now foaled and the focus turns 24/7 to the drafts for Karaka 2009. Read on for a sneak preview of some of the Premier draft including some who have had pedigree upgrades based on race results over the last month.
Towkay
Winners sired by Towkay over the last month have been;
Noble One (Cinzano by Lord Ballina) in Singapore
Shakey Bridge (Miss Georgie by Hadaad)
Kay's Dream (Forest Dream by Forest Glow) pictured right - impressive breaking her maiden easily at Riccarton
Tsonga (Cantante by Centaine) twice a winner
Go Kay (Pesky by Paris Opera)
Spring Tide (Perfect Sunrise by Wiganthorpe) - bred by Sue Harty
Tycoon (Clermont Lass by Centaine)
Madam Butterfly (Golden Butterfly by Paris Opera) - another Sue Harty bred
Cash Money (Also by Epidauraus) - Hong Kong win number 3
Dash (I'm Tess by Oregon) - Hong Kong win number 3
Lotzatow (Maretto by Marceau) - his 6th Hong Kong win
Towkay Flyer (Classic Realm by Kingdom Bay) pictured right - 2nd Hong Kong win from his last 3 starts.
Xpectation(Wooden Doll) owned by The Majestic Horse Transport Syndicate
Master Nagol(Miss Nagol) Both Xpectation and Master Nagol are trained by Karen Zimmerman
Bred by our long time client Lorraine Jameson and raced by LA, Tsonga (Towkay-Cantante) has been most impressive winning his first two three-year-old starts. The near black gelding's next likely target is the Wellington Stakes in January.
Karaka 2009 Premier Draft
Here's a snapshot of our draft;
Pins - Bering Island colt - dam a half sister to this seasons Group One winning British two-year-old Crowded House.
Savabeel - Vedodara colt - half sister to three group winners including Group One winner Sharvastri.
Stravinsky - Rose Adagio filly - from a young Sadlers Wells mare and bred on the same cross as Champion three year old filly Serenade Rose.
Pentire - Taitanium colt - mares only other foal is the promising Zabeel mare Tenacity, twice a winner from just five starts.
Fastnet Rock - Oh Blue Angel filly - most impressive type from a stakeswinning Semipalatinsk mare.
Savabeel - Oenotria colt - great type from a young O'Reilly mare
Elusive City - Racing Waters filly - half sister to Group One placed Rapid Kay by this seasons 2nd ranked British Two-Year-Old Sire according to earnings.
Pins - Foxtrot colt - striking half brother to last seasons stakesplaced Melbourne two-year-old Pachanga.
Pins - Loose Lill colt - first foal of a Towkay daughter of stakeswinning mare Flight Queen, herself the dam of a group one winner.
Pins - Nikki's Bride colt - half brother to promising Adelaide three-year staying prospect Jervois from a young O'Reilly mare.
Pins - Rapid Kay filly - strongly made type and second foal of stakeswinner and Group One placed Rapid Kay.
Pins - Sound Lover colt - dam a group winning mare and the dam of two stakeswinners.
Stratum - Eloa filly - lovely first foal from Group Three winning filly who in turn is from a full sister to the dam of Alamosa.
One Cool Cat - Millie Munro colt - second foal from a Grosvenor half sister to the dam of Tycoon Lil.
Towkay - Classic Realm colt - strongly made individual whose full brother has won two of his last three starts in Hong Kong.
Pins - Steluta colt - half brother to dual Group One placegetter Gorky Park.
Pins - Rivertaine filly - a three quarter sister to Legs and Guyno makes this girl's residual value enormous
Karaka Select Draft
As well as some smashing types in this draft, a number have been receiving pedigree upgrades of late courtesy of promising half brothers and sisters.
The O'Reilly colt from Jabeske is a half brother to Friday's impressive Singaporean winner Dream Key.
Young Jude's Towkay colt is a half brother to the exciting NZ galloper Bohika.
City Newton, impressive winner of two of his last three starts is a half brother to the No Excuse Needed - Double Okay colt.
It doesn't stop there as we save probably the most significant upgrades for last; Lot 1040 is the Pins half sister to Tsonga and the O'Reilly colt from Ashley Downs Lot 986 is a half sister to the Oaks bound filly Cantkeeperdown, which also makes him a member of the very "hot" Sellou/Sneetch clan.
Other News
One of the more promising horses in Hong Kong, More Bountiful (Van Nistelrooy-Centaine Gu Li), who racked up his third successive win in the former British colony last week was sold from our 2006 South Island Sale on behalf of client Helen Phinney to John Foote Bloodstock for $36,000.
Victorian Bloodstock agent Shane Moore was obviously privilege to some insider information when making his sole purchase at the Karaka Yearling Sales earlier this year.
Shane had purchased a Pentire-Nikki's Bride colt from LA's 2006 Karaka Premier draft for $220,000 and when he returned to the South Auckland salesground earlier this year to purchase LA's Savabeel-Nikki's Bride filly for $130,000, it's probably a fair assumption that the Pentire colt had already been showing something for his Adelaide trainer Richard Jolley.
The colt now named Jervois ran fourth first time to the races over 1100m in Adelaide on 18th October and since then he's recorded a win and a close second, both also in the city. Watch out for him come South Australian Derby time one would think.
LA's one lot at the Ready to Run Sale, the Pins-Trigon Lass colt prepared by Dean Hawthorn's Anzac Lodge sold for $180,000 to John Foote Bloodstock and is destined for John Size's yard in Hong Kong.
Anyone wanting to come out and view any of the Karaka draft are welcome to give Sam a call on 0274 853400 to arrange a viewing. An official parade will be held on January 11th 10.30am. It's a longtime since we can remember a draft of ours receiving so many pedigree updates this close to sale time which makes it tremendously exciting.
Merry Xmas from all the team here at LA.
