Ellis strikes for Satono Aladdin filly at Karaka
Te Akau’s supremo pays $260,000 for well-related youngster as NZB’s Book 2 gets underway
A filly by Satono Aladdin (Deep Impact), one of the last lots through the ring on the first day of Book 2 at the New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka National Yearling Sale, provided fireworks late when Marcus Corban, who was acting on behalf of Te Akau’s David Ellis, snapped up the youngster for a session-topping $260,000.
The filly is out of the unraced mare Sparkling Rose (Bernardini) and the page was subject to a huge pedigree update after the catalogue went to print, with the filly’s sister, Too Sweet, having landed the Eclipse Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) on New Year’s Day for Roydon Bergerson. Too Sweet was herself purchased by her owner, Chris Rutten, for $50,000 out of Book 2 last year.
Too Sweet was offered by Phoenix Park 12 months ago, but consigning her sister was left to Nick King of Brighthill Farm and he rated her good enough to be offered earlier in the week at Book 1.
“I am delighted for the owner. We knew she would sell but we set a very realistic reserve based on the interest we had. She flew past the $120,000 reserve and even if she sold at $180,000 it would have been a great result,” he said.
King said he brought to the filly so she could gain the exposure during inspections for Book 1 and he was relieved that ‘big gamble’ had paid off.
Everything turned out perfect but at the beginning of the week I wondered if I’d done the right thing
“Everything turned out perfect but at the beginning of the week I wondered if I’d done the right thing,” he said. “She was in Book 2 but she was a Book 1 filly, especially after the pedigree update so I brought her to the sale early and put her in an empty box to give her the exposure as the two catalogues were combined.
“The gamble was, how would she handle being here for nine days, but she handled everything absolutely brilliantly. She has a brain. She knew why she was here and was a dream to take through the ring. Based on that, I think she will make a racehorse.”
Ellis finished Book 1 as the leading buyer having spent $4,497,500 on 26 yearlings and that group also included another filly by Satono Aladdin, who he bought from Curraghmore for $320,000.
“I was delighted to buy this filly today, and the demand that we’ve already had for shares in her just shows what a quality filly she is,” Ellis said.
“She wouldn’t have been out of place in Book 1. We’ve already sold 80 per cent of the shares in her.”
Given her precocious relation, Ellis is confident the filly will be a good candidate for the 2026 edition of the Karaka Millions 2YO (RL, 1200m), a race Te Akau has won eight times, including last Saturday with La Dorada (Super Seth).
“Having a classy two-year-old like Too Sweet as a full-sister is a tremendous advertisement for her, but I also thought she was just an outstanding individual in her own right. She stood out to me as a filly that would have every chance of making it to the Karaka Millions 2YO this time next year.
“Another thing that stood out to me about this filly today is that she’s closely related to Darci Brahma and Burgundy,” Ellis said. “They both went on to successful careers on the racetrack and at stud, and I’ve always said that Burgundy is the fastest horse we’ve ever had at Te Akau. I wouldn’t be surprised if this filly had some of that brilliance as well.
“The quality of the yearlings at Karaka this year has been very high. It’s been a competitive buying bench, but I’ve felt that I’ve been able to buy the horses I wanted at what I thought was good value.
“It’s just so exciting to go around the farm today and look at some of these lovely young horses that we’ve bought. A lot of them will be racing in 12 months’ time, and I can’t wait.”
Earlier in the day, a colt by Satono Aladdin proved popular when snapped up by Andrew Campbell and Tommy Heptinstall for $125,000.
Out of Octavia Rose (Shocking), the colt was bred by Alan Galbraith and offered by Rich Hill Stud and the operation’s John Thompson said he had expected him to be well received.
“He’s a true Rich Hill cross from a great family and he just floats when he walks, a trait of the Satono Aladdins, plus he has that classic Satono Aladdin temperament which trainers often comment on,” he said. “This is his largest crop and remember, he doesn’t have any three-year olds. I’m very happy with where he has gone.
“He had very low reserve and I thought he might make between $50,000 to $60,000 but he was always going to sell well judging from the x-ray hits.”
Campbell said he wanted to secure the youngster the moment he saw him step out of the box.
“He’s a nice type of colt with a lovely walk – John Thompson is right, he floats,” he said. “I didn’t see him until two days ago but when he stepped out of the box I said to myself, ‘boy, I hope there’s nothing wrong with you’ because I wanted him, there and then. He looked like he owned the place and never turned a hair
“We will give him six weeks off and then he’ll go on to Shaun Phelan’s for his early education but you won’t see him as a two-year-old.”
Leading trainers Roger James and Robert Wellwood made headlines on Tuesday when they purchased the sister to their former stable star Prowess (Proisir) for $1.1 million during the final session of Book 1 and they were back at Book 2 on Wednesday where they took home a filly by Ace High (High Chaparral) for $145,000.
The filly was offered by Seaton Park and she is out of the dual-winning mare Maenoha (Bachelor Duke), who is herself a half-sister to Group 3-winning pair Justamaiz (Guillotine) and Zabisco (Zabeel). Maenoha is also the dam of four-time winner Caledonie (Ghibellines).
Scott Eagleton of Seaton Park told ANZ Bloodstock News they decided to send the mare to Rich Hill Stud resident Ace High, believing he would inject some quality into her stock.
“We leased the mare and she is a physical mare and I thought a foal by Ace High might add some quality. I thought it was a smart mating. We got a colt first time around and he was a good colt but for a few reasons we couldn’t get him to the sale,” he said.
“We sent the mare back to Ace High and this filly fits exactly what we hoped for, still physical with some added quality. We were thrilled with her. She has a lovely walk and a lovely temperament. The mare has another Ace High filly at foot.”
Eagleton said he was very realistic in terms of the reserve he placed on the filly, so was delighted to see her realise six figures.
“I am a seller and her reserve was $30,000, but we were hoping for $60,000 to $70,000. She is in good hands and under Roger [James] and Robert [Wellwood] we know she will be placed properly to help make the mare and the sister.”
Wellwood said he loved the filly, physically and was also taken with her attitude during the inspection process and even mistook her for a Book 1 entrant.
“We loved her attitude and her balance,” he said. “She has a really good walk and has good natural strength and a lovely mix with athleticism
“Her pedigree is strong, and we genuinely thought she was a Book 1 filly.”
A chance viewing of Waikato’s first-season sire Noverre (Savabeel) delivered Jim Wallace of Ardsley Stud a solid result at Wednesday’s sale when he sold a colt by the stallion to John Foote Bloodstock for $130,000.
When I saw Noverre I was very taken with him and decided then and there to make a booking
“How he came to be, I took a foal who needed a foster mum up to Waikato Stud and while I was there Garry [Chittick] asked me when I’d last seen the stallions. It had been a while but when I saw Noverre I was very taken with him and decided then and there to make a booking and I have since booked another one,” he said.
The colt is out of the winning mare La Jolie Fille (Showcasing) and hails from the same family as Group 3 winner Exinite (Lord Ballina) and stakes winner Vitrinite (Lord Ballina).
“A colt from a young Showcasing mare who is strong as well as a correct individual,” said Wallace.
Foote finished the first session of Book 2 as the leading buyer, having bought six colts for a total of $530,000 and an average price of $88,333. Five of his purchases are bound for Hong Kong, with the other set to head to Victoria.
The Noverre colt was Foote’s highest-priced purchase on Wednesday and he described the colt as the ‘nicest’ yearling by the stallion.
“We didn’t buy any of Noverre’s progeny in the first book, but I was happy to buy one here because I thought he was the nicest one we saw,” Foote said.
Foote also made a pair of $100,000 purchases – a Hello Youmzain (Kodiac) colt from the Kilgravin Lodge draft, and a Wrote (High Chaparral) colt from Milan Park Stud.
“I said to [Kilgravin owner] Eion Kemp that I thought the Hello Youmzain colt should have been in the first book, and so did he,” Foote said. “I was pretty happy to get him today.
“Wrote is going very well in Hong Kong. I bought that colt for David Hall, who rang me up this afternoon and said he wanted to buy the horse.”
Foote also bought an Ardrossan (Redoute’s Choice) colt for $80,000, a Reliable Man (Dalakhani) colt for $75,000 and a Shocking (Street Cry) colt for $45,000.
“The Shocking will go to Victoria for a good client of mine who only buys stayers,” Foote said. “If they can’t run a mile and a half, he doesn’t want them. This horse fit the bill perfectly. He’s a lovely Shocking out of a Zabeel mare. There’s a lot of Zabeel in him and a lot of quality. For $45,000, he’s pretty good really.”
The respected bloodstock agent said he was pleased with his purchases for the first day of Book 2.
“It’s been pretty good shopping today, really,” Foote said. “The horses have made their money, but not too high.
“You find some good opportunities when you stick around for Book 2 of the sale. There’s always nice horses here. We’ve bought some horses from this sale that have gone on to win good races in Hong Kong.
“When you buy from this second tier, you may have to give away a little bit in terms of pedigree, but I’ve never found that pedigree means too much when it comes to Hong Kong. You always try to buy as much pedigree as you can, but you’re really buying an athletic individual with a bit of size that looks like it can run.
“Stallion-wise, you don’t have to be too particular. There are winners by all sorts of stallions in Hong Kong, including some that do extremely well up there and don’t do so well here. You don’t have to be too fussy.”
International bloodstock agent Ed Stapleton, who spends six months of the year in the southern hemisphere, enjoyed a brilliant result on Wednesday when he turned a $16,000 pinhook into $100,000.
Stapleton purchased a colt by Portland Sky, Widden Stud’s Group 1-winning son of Deep Field (Northern Meteor) at the Inglis Weanling Sale last year and the colt was picked up by Bryce Tankard of Waikato Bloodstock at Karaka.
Stapleton said they had purchased the colt with Book 2 of the Karaka sale in mind and was delighted to see the plan come to fruition.
“We deliberately targeted Book 2 with this colt and we thought a Group 1-winning son of Deep Field would suit the strong trade market in New Zealand for horses going to Asia, where Deep Field has been historically highly sought due to his strong results on the racetrack,” he said.
“We bought him unfurnished and through the expert prep of Dylan Ralph and Jamieson Park in New Zealand he flourished into the strong type of colt we expected him to be and the type desired by the trade market in New Zealand.
“We were delighted that he has been bought by Bryce Tankard of Waikato Bloodstock, who is an exceptionally good judge and an agent who has a brilliant track record for sourcing Hong Kong winners.”
Out of the winning mare Life Changing (Ferocity), the colt hails from the same family as Group 1 winner turned Newgate Farm-based sire Capitalist (Written Tycoon) and other topline winners including Miss Pennymoney (Brocco) and Merlene (Danehill), who in turn produced fellow elite-level winner Merlene De Lago (Encosta De Lago).
NZB’s bloodstock sales manager Kane Jones was satisfied following the first day of Book 2.
“It was pleasing to see such spirited bidding on the quality horses, from local trainers, local agents as well as some of the internationals that have stayed on the grounds.
“It was great to see an astute judge in John Foote give Book 2 the respect it deserves. He’s put in the work and purchased some lovely horses.
“The clearance rate finishing on 73 per cent is very satisfying and it will continue to rise overnight.”
The second and final day of Book 2 gets underway on Thursday, with the first lot set to go through the ring at 10am (NZT).
Book 2 – Day One |
||
| 2025 | 2024 | |
| Catalogued | 199 | 118 |
| Sold | 122 (73%) | 57 (64%) |
| Aggregate | $4,936,500 | $2,637,000 |
| Average | $40,463 | $46,263 |
| Median | $30,000 | $37,500 |
| Top Lot | $260,000 | $220,000 |
| *no comparisons as Book 2 was conducted in a different format | ||