So the dust has settled on one of the more extraordinary National Yearling Sale Series in years. Not even the most optimistic could have predicted the results however at the end of the day we breed great racehorses - no need to be modest! Combined with other sound fundamentals, such as a pretty resilient racing industry, meant there were many happy vendors at Karaka last week. Even with a great product you still need buyers and New Zealand Bloodstock and New Zealand Thoroughbred Marketing deserve a lot of credit for attracting the strongest buying bench yet to an entire Karaka Sale.
Amongst the Karaka excitement LA bred another group winner with Special Days (Keeper-Eva's Belle) winning a group three race in Hong Kong last Sunday.
Karaka Sales
Our Premier Sale average of eleven sold for $177, 270 was up from our 2009 Premier average of $143,636 for the same number sold.
The top price achieved in our Premier draft was shared at $250,000 by the Darci Brahma-Rivertaine (pictured right) and Elusive City-Shahiid (pictured below) colts. Both colts are to be trained by Bart Cummings.
LA's Select Sale average of $59, 194 for 18 sold compared nicely with our 2009 Select average of $48,454 for 11 sold.
Top price honours in our Select draft went to Justice Lowell Goddard's O'Reilly-Romantic Liaisons colt (pictured left) who sold for $155,000 to Mr C Beh of Malaysia.
Overall our gross of just over $3 million has to be a good week's work in anyone's language.
Giving us as much satisfaction as the financial returns is the repeat business we get from so many respected yearling judges. The likes of Bart Cummings, DGR Thoroughbreds, Peter Moody, Paul Moroney, Bruce Perry, Phil Cataldo and Alan Sharrock all returned again including also Mark Pilkington Bloodstock, Rob McAnulty, Roger James, IDL Racing and Peter Jolly.
The sale of the Fast N Famous-Oh Blue Angel colt for $120,000 in the Select Sale gives Little Avondale the honours of having sold the most expensive yearlings to date by Centaine, Savabeel and Fast N Famous.
Stallions
The 14 Towkay yearlings sold at Karaka...
realised an average of $68,035; a healthy return for the breeders who used him at his 2007 service fee of $10,000. Purchasers of his yearlings at Karaka included Melbourne Cup winning trainer Mark Kavanagh who paid $165,000 for a Towkay-Ulmer colt in the Premier session.
Winners for Towkay over the last month have included
Parole (Towkay-Out on Bail) two more wins taking her career record to 8 victories
Sparky Winner (Towkay-Mission Star) a winner in Macau
Beautiful Glory (Towkay-D'Pix) another Macau winner
ZED
Zed's full brother Zabene has found a rich vein of form this season as a six year-old culminating in his success in last weekends Listed Dunedin Casino Gold Cup. This gives food for thought on what heights Zed may have reached on the racetrack but for injury.
There were light years in ability between the brothers as three-year-old; contrast Zabene struggling to break out of maidens with Zed winning first time to the races and holding early favouritism for the New Zealand Derby before his career ending injury.
Those of you who saw Zed in the flesh when he first arrived on the farm as a late four-year-old and then over again more recently will appreciate how much he has grown and furnished, uncanningly similar to how trainer Mark Walker described the physical strengthening of his charge Zabene in the media earlier this week.
Hong Kong
The LA bred Special Days (NZ) (Keeper- Eva's Belle) claimed the most important win of his career at Sha Tin on Sunday, when he beat a star studded line-up in the HK-3 Jebsen Centenary Vase (1800m).
Trained by John Size and ridden by champion jockey Douglas Whyte, Special Days (NZ) was having his third run in as many weekends, but was too tough on the line for Mr Medici and Jamesina, with the Hong Kong Horse Of The Year Viva Pataca finishing in fourth position.
Special Days (NZ) was notching his first black-type success, but had looked every bit a stakes quality horse when running fourth at his previous outing in the Group One Stewards' Cup behind Walsburg Pride, Thumbs Up and Good Ba Ba.
Bred by the Little Avondale Trust in conjunction with the late Neil Petrie, Special Days (NZ) was originally offered for sale at the 2005 Premier Yearling Sale where he was sold to Cherry Taylor for $110,000. Nine months later he graduated from New Zealand Bloodstock's 2005 Ready to Run Sale where he sold for $160,000 to the bid of Magus Equine in Hong Kong.
Other News
LA were associated with two winners on the Newcastle card on Saturday 9 January. Our $300,000 2008 Sydney Easter yearling Suyuma (Savabeel-Steluta) broke his maiden impressively for Bart Cummings and Cat's Diamond (Zabeel-The World Is Mine), who we have leased out to a syndicate including Australian Rugby stars Matt Giteau and George Smith (pictured left) organised by Sports Syndications and is trained by Kris Lees, won her second race, over 1850m. Cat's Diamond won again at Newcastle on 21 January.
Talking of the Sydney Easter Sale there has been little time for a breather after Karaka as we get our four yearlings ready for this year's Sale. LA's three entries are:
O'Reilly-Laebeel colt - half brother to Larry's Never Late
Darci Brahma-Southern Cry colt - sold in conjunction with Jamie Gordon
Zabeel-Chatto Creek - from a grand daughter of Rivertaine dam of our top priced Karaka yearling
To all our clients and friends we thank you for your support throughout the Karaka Sale and trust that if you were considering entering the breeding game that last weeks results showed you that the future, in this country at least, has rarely looked so bright. There are a number of opportunities to invest coming up such as the weanling and broodmare sales here and in Australia so do not hesitate to have a chat to Sam.
