‘The best filly I’ve ever seen at Karaka’
Ellis goes to $1 million to secure Fastnet Rock filly as Book 1 reaches seven-figure climax at NZB National Yearling Sale
A million dollar filly by Fastnet Rock (Danehill) brought the curtain down on Book 1 of the New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale, with the auction’s star attraction set to join the stable where another horse by Coolmore’s Australian champion sire was trained.
The Curraghmore-consigned $1 million filly, who came in for competition from New Zealand’s biggest buyer in Te Akau’s David Ellis and an array of international agents, was the high point in the closing session which peaked late on day three of NZB’s premier offering for 2023.
Six other horses sold for $400,000 or more yesterday in a market where Australian and Hong Kong buyers, the former traditionally controlling the biggest share of the spend at Karaka, all shared a piece of the top-end action.
Turnover hit $70.063 million at the close of the Book 1 sale – a figure that exceeded not only the past two pandemic-affected Karaka yearling sales, but also that of 2020 and was the most traded since 2018 – while the average and median increased to $151,980 and $130,000 respectively.
The clearance rate also rose to 79 per cent, up three per cent after day two, as more horses were sold in the ring and deals reached afterwards, with 461 horses sold over the past three days.
In yesterday’s session, Ellis put a million dollar full stop on his 2023 spending spree, and that of the Karaka sale, by adding the expensive daughter of Fastnet Rock to his extensive haul. This went a long way to ensuring the Te Akau principal retained his coveted leading buyer crown for an 18th consecutive year and gave the syndicator added arsenal for next year’s $1 million Karaka Million (RL, 1200m), a race the industry juggernaut has won for the past seven years.
The sale-topper, the most expensive filly Te Akau has ever purchased, caused Ellis to make the bold statement that the seven-figure lot had the potential to be one of the best credentialed horses he’s bought during his decades-long involvement in the thoroughbred industry.
“I had a good chat with Karyn (Fenton-Ellis, wife) this morning and I said this was the best filly since 1988 that I have seen on this ground,” Ellis said.
“I have purchased some very good fillies over the years. Avantage was by the same sire. I have had a lot of success with the fillies I have bought from this sale and I am predicting publicly that I have never bought a better filly.
“She was just perfect. She has a beautiful pedigree and the mare had a lot of speed. I saw the mare’s foal (by Pierro) at Coolmore Stud in December and that is a cracker.
“There is so much to like about this filly and I can’t wait to get her into training.”
US-based Kiwi agent Michael Wallace, who has been acting for Singapore-based global racing and breeding investor Gandharvi Racing’s Kuldeep Singh Rajput, was believed to be the under bidder.
She is the second foal out of the former Bjorn Baker-trained stakes-placed mare Test The World (Testa Rossa), who won four races in succession and six in total, before being retired to stud.
“I think she will make a two-year-old, she is a definite Sires’ Produce filly and is a filly we would like to take to Melbourne as a three-year-old and have a crack at those big races,” Ellis said.
“The good thing about this filly is that there are two one-million-dollar races for her that are restricted to horses that came from this sale [Karaka Million 2YO and Karaka 3YO Classic].”
Bred by Tom Magnier at Coolmore, the filly’s year older sister was bought for $425,000 by trainer Annabel Neasham and Brian McGuire at the 2022 Magic Millions Yearling Sale.
“This one is out of a Testa Rossa mare, which reflects, in my opinion, a lot of speed,” the Te Akau chief said.
“This filly’s mother was a very fast filly and I think she will be a really good broodmare.
“When you buy one from Coolmore Stud you know you have got a great chance because they are reared in such a great environment.”
Curraghmore’s Gordon Cunningham, who consigned the sale-topping filly on behalf of Coolmore, said: “It was a great price for a gorgeous filly. I’m thrilled for David Ellis and his owners and wish them the best of luck.
“Curraghmore and our clients have had a brilliant week. I’m thankful to all our staff for their work and commitment to presenting our horses to the highest standard.
“I’m very proud of what they achieved and to cap it off with a million–dollar filly has made it even more rewarding,”
Te Akau’s Mark Walker, who is on target to break the New Zealand record for the most domestic wins by a trainer (currently held by his predecessor Jamie Richards at 160), will prepare the squad of 27 yearlings bought this week for the ‘Tangerine Machine’.
“I think it has been a very successful sale. Given the fact a lot of overseas people couldn’t come because of the weather, I think New Zealand Bloodstock have done an incredible job promoting the sale,” Ellis said.
“I think the prices overall have been strong and it has been a successful week.”
Ellis spent $6.115 million on the 27 yearlings in Book 1.
Waikato Stud was the leading vendor by aggregate, selling 52 yearlings for a combined $7,742,500.
“The highlight of the sale for us was how successful Super Seth’s progeny sold. Obviously, you take on a big risk when you bring these colts to the farm. There is no doubt about it, he was a phenomenal racehorse with a massive price tag,” Waikato Stud’s Mark Chittick said.
“These stallions are key to our business and the breeding industry. It’s a big hill to climb, but I’m glad they were accepted by the buying bench.”
The heavy rain last Friday – the most Auckland has experienced in a single day, causing major flooding around the city – failed to dampen the atmosphere at Karaka, according to Chittick.
“I think all of the vendors left no stone unturned, there was a great vibe leading into the sale when the sun was out,” he said.
“We kept our chins up and tried to stay as dry as we possibly could. I think we can all be very proud by what we achieved.”
The leading vendor by average at the end of Book 1 was Brent and Cherry Taylor’s Trelawney Stud, which achieved a 100 per cent clearance, selling 12 yearlings for an average spend of $248,333. This was highlighted by Lot 294, a Too Darn Hot (Dubawi) colt who made $750,000 on Monday.
Cambridge Stud also sold 37 yearlings in Book 1 for an aggregate of $5.925 million.
“We’ve had a great sale. We’ve enjoyed it and it’s just so great to be back to normal, not only to see our fellow stud guys, but also our buyers from Australia,” Cambridge Stud owner Brendan Lindsay said.
“It’s a shame the weather’s done what it has, but it hasn’t dampened people’s enthusiasm. It’s really good and I’ve got to take my hat off to NZB and everyone who has supported this sale.”
NZB managing director Andrew Seabrook said the renaming of the complex’s selling centre as the Sir Patrick Hogan Auditorium had set the scene for a successful Book 1 sale.
However, the focus remained on negotiating on passed-in lots, as well as the three-day Book 2 sale.
“All the big guns were here. It was fantastic to see the Australian spend up by $11.5 million and it is tremendous to have them back,” Seabrook said.
“There is still work to be done and the nice horses in Book 2 will be very hard to buy. There are plenty of Kiwis who will be looking to buy and I believe Book 2 will provide some good opportunities for them,” he said.
Pet grooming entrepreneur ramps up racing interests
During trade on day three, a filly by Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Super Seth (Dundeel), from one of Haunui Farm’s foundation families which is littered with black–type performers, was bought to eventually become a member of expatriate Kiwi Ian Moses’ select broodmare band. But not before the horse has a racing career in Australia.
The most expensive at $625,000 of the yearlings sold by first season sire Super Seth, who averaged $160,758 in Book 1, the filly will be trained in Sydney by John Sargent.
In late 2021, Aussie Pet Mobile founder Moses sold his US-headquartered global animal grooming franchise and he retired to Byron Bay on the NSW North Coast.
He has three broodmares at Coolmore in the Hunter Valley, as well as promising John Sargent-trained three-year-old filly Byron Belle (Snitzel) resuming at Canterbury today.
Randwick-based Sargent signed the docket alongside Moses’ Laguna Partnership and agent Barry Lee.
“I have lived in the US for the last 30 years and I now live in Byron Bay,” Moses said.
“I have been involved in racing for about 20 years. Barry Lee has been a friend of mine for that long. He bought my first horse which was the Group 3 winner Temple Hills and was quite a good horse and we have been in touch ever since.
“I liked the pedigree, that was the most important thing. I am trying to put together five real quality broodmares and I had four of them and this will be the fifth.
“I thought she was a great type, very athletic – I loved her. I thought she was the best filly in the sale.”
The 11th foal out of grand producer and Group 3 winner Valpolicella (Red Ransom), the filly is already the dam of Group winners Vavasour (Redoute’s Choice), Vilanova (Commands), Celebrity Dream (Thorn Park) and the Group 1-placed Rondinella (Ocean Park). The valuable filly was bred and offered by Haunui Farm as Lot 616, which tops off the stud’s strong sale, having also sold the Pierro (Lonhro) half-sister to champion Melody Belle (Commands) for $500,000 on day two.
“And now (we have sold) the Super Seth filly from Valpolicella, a family that we have bred from for eight generations. Both fillies are outstanding, beautiful on type and with huge residual value,” Haunui Farm managing director Mark Chitty said.
“We had seven Super Seths. They are good movers and I haven’t been disappointed in any of them.”
Forsman hoping to write new chapter with Tycoon
Cambridge trainer Andrew Forsman’s solo career, sans his retired co-trainer Murray Baker, gained another shot in the arm yesterday when agents Andrew Williams and Bevan Smith’s patience was rewarded when they landed a $460,000 daughter of champion sire Written Tycoon (Iglesia) with one bid more than budgeted.
Consigned by Cambridge Stud as Lot 488, the Written Tycoon filly is the second foal out of the former Lance Noble-trained Save The Date (Savabeel), a Group 3-placed four-time winner who was raced by Brendan and Jo Lindsay.
She was bought by Forsman, Williams and Smith; their second purchase in partnership this week.
Forsman recently announced that he would open a satellite stable at Macedon Lodge, near Melbourne, to complement his New Zealand stable and the investment in high-end fillies will go some way to ensuring the trainer has the ammunition to make his mark consistently in Australia.
“She is a filly we have been waiting for, we had to wait until day three, which was a little agonising in itself,” Williams said.
“We are very happy to get her. We went over budget by $10,000 in order to get her, but hopefully that is a good decision in the long-term.
“We are excited to get her and she is going to get every chance with Andrew Forsman and hopefully we see her in the Melbourne spring as a three-year-old filly.
“We need to buy quality in order to compete in Melbourne. We have got to take fillies like this and put them through Andrew’s system and let’s hope they are good enough to be running in Melbourne in the spring.”
Macedon Lodge may be the filly’s future home, but Williams suggested the daughter of Written Tycoon – as well as a $600,000 Savabeel filly purchased from Elsdon Park on day one of the sale – was likely to be educated at Forsman’s Cambridge stables during her formative stages in a bid to qualify for next year’s Karaka Million 2YO (1200m) next year.
“She is a horse that we have looked at multiple times throughout the week and singled out her and the Savabeel filly on day one,” Williams said.
“We bought Ethereal Star at this sale last year with Andrew Forsman and she is a stakes winner and runner-up in the Karaka Million a fortnight ago, so let’s hope we can have similar success with this filly.
“We will point her in that direction [the Karaka Million] and see if we can get her there. You need to have a lot of luck to get a runner pre-Christmas, everything needs to go right.
“We thought she was forward enough physically, her demeanour and everything about her was faultless.”
Save The Date’s first foal, juvenile colt Ceremonious (Pierro), who was a AUD$120,000 Inglis Ready2Race Sale graduate from Cheltenham Stables last October, is in training with Chris Waller at Flemington.
‘Milly’ snaps up Per Incanto colt for $450,000 on day three
Kevin “Milly” Walls and Joe Curran have been working in consort at the Magic Millions and Karaka sales this year on behalf of Queenslanders Ron and Judi Wanless, purchasing 22 yearlings across the two sales.
At the Gold Coast last month, signing under Curran Bloodstock, the pair purchased 11 yearlings for AUD$4.815 million and over the past three days they added another 11 for a spend of $3.085 million under the KPW Bloodstock banner.
Walls said he and Curran’s clients were enamoured with racing and were investing heavily in 2023 in the hope of living more racecourse glory.
“They’re good clients and he loves the game and loves racing. This is their passion – and they are getting stuck in this year,” said Walls, the former long-time manager at Trelawney Stud before launching his own bloodstock business two years ago.
“Joe Curran and I do the legwork and we get into the pedigrees, then get together and do the shortlist.
“At the end of the day, the client makes the decision. It is good to have everyone back [at Karaka] and the atmosphere has changed and the spirit around this week has been great.”
Yesterday, among the Wanless’ haul at the New Zealand sale, they added a Per Incanto (Street Cry) colt out of Group 1-winning mare Sharvasti (Montjeu) for $450,000 from the draft of Little Avondale Stud, home to the sire who has enjoyed significant success in New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong.
“He is a great type and that is our main thing. We start off on type and then we go through the breeding and if we like it, we try very hard to buy it,” Walls said of the Per Incanto colt.
“He is a good sire who throws both colts and fillies and we bought a nice filly by him on day one.
“He was one of the nicest Per Incanto colts here, so you would expect to pay that. We went a bit above the budget we had for him, but he was such a nice horse.”
The Wanless’ have enjoyed enormous success, which started with Amalfi (Carnegie), both the owners and trainer Peter Moody’s maiden Group 1 winner in 2001 when the horse won the Victoria Derby (2500m).
Chris Waller and agent Guy Mulcaster were also active at Karaka, purchasing 11 yearlings for $2.88 million; New Zealand syndicator Go Racing also purchased 11 lots for $1.935 million; Ciaron Maher Racing took home 12 yearlings for $1.905 million, and the Hong Kong Jockey Club spent $1.47 million on five yearlings.
John O’Shea and agent Suman Hedge spent $1.36 million on eight yearlings; while training partners Roger James and Robert Wellwood bought seven yearlings for $1.32 million; Wexford Stables bought nine, and Hong Kong-based expatriate NZ trainer Jamie Richards bought five yearlings in his brief return to Karaka.
The first of three Book 2 sessions starts at 11am NZ time today.