Ohukia Lodge returns to Karaka with power-packed draft of two-year-olds
The New Zealand Ready To Run Sale has been a lucrative well for Jamie and Chanel Beatson’s Ohukia Lodge and the pair head back to Karaka with a draft of high-class juveniles who are likely to prove popular with the cosmopolitan buying bench assembled for the high-performing auction which begins its two-day run on Wednesday.
Ohukia Lodge’s results speak for themselves, not least given they have recorded the second highest aggregate for the past three editions of the auction.
Twelve months ago, the operation sold 21 lots for an aggregate of NZ$4.67 million, recording the fourth highest average of $222,381. In the previous year, 22 of their consigned two-year-olds realised NZ$5.133 million at average price of $233,318, the third best figure that year. In 2022, Ohukia Lodge parted with 27 juveniles for gross receipts of NZ$5.027 million and finished the sale with the third best average of $186,204.
This week Ohukia Lodge will present 22 lots by a mixture of proven and young exciting sires in a draft Jamie Beatson describes as ‘having something for everyone’.
“There are a few in the draft for everyone. There are a few in there that we’ve bred and a few from Waikato Stud who they’ve bred and there are some really nice types in there,” he said.
The pair of breeze-up sessions took place at Te Rapa last month and with timings now carefully scrutinised and analysed by prospective buyers, Beatson must have been relieved to see a fair few of his draft clock smart times in their workout.
The quickest time in the group was delivered by a colt by Newgate Farm-based sire, Capitalist (Written Tycoon). The colt’s time of 10.31 saw him come out best among his peers and was the third best time in the whole sale. The time was only marginally bettered by two colts, one by Bivouac (Exceed And Excel) and another by Tassort (Brazen Beau), from the Riversley Park draft.
Ohukia Lodge picked up the Capitalist youngster for $75,000 from Newgate Farm’s Inglis Classic draft earlier this year and Beatson said he was surprised he did not have to pay more for him as a yearling.
He said: “We were a bit shook when he got him as cheaply as we did at $75,000 at the Classic sale. He’s about twice the size as when we bought him and he’s developed into a very nice animal now and looks a picture now.
“He’s a nice big horse who has got a lot of substance to him and has a lovely action on him when he gallops. Everything we’ve done with him has been so straightforward and he put in a very fast breeze and showed a lot of natural ability.”
Catalogued as Lot 152, the colt is out of the Listed-placed winner Terminology (Star Witness), herself a sister to the super fast sprinter Swift Witness.
Timing is everything in this game and a colt by a stallion who can seemingly do nothing wrong at present features among the lots set to be offered by Ohukia Lodge this week.
Lot 365 is a colt from the second southern hemisphere crop of Darley’s shuttle stallion Ghaiyyath (Dubawi), whose son Observer played a starring role when producing a dominant display to win the VRC Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) during the opening act of the Melbourne Cup Carnival earlier this month.
However, for Ghaiyyath it has been more than about one horse. His two southern hemisphere crops have yielded ten winners from 32 starters and alongside Observer, the stallion has sired three other stakes winners including the hugely exciting Different Gravy, winner of the TAB Trophy (Listed, 1800m) on Oaks day at Flemington.
One of his self-confessed ‘picks of the sale’, Beatson said the colt, who they bought for $30,000 from Blue Gum Farm at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale, was very much made in the mould of his father and shaped like a Classic-type.
“The stallion looks to be a very good stallion, the Derby winner [Observer] looks a different league and this looks like a typical Classic horse and has a good physique to him and a good bit of size to him,” he said.
“He’s a lovely big horse with a big action on him and he’s probably going to be a miler / Derby-type horse. He’s actually one of my picks of the sale. I have a lot of time for him and I think he will be a good racehorse. He’s got the right attitude and lovely, big stride on him.”
Despite being by the world champion son of Dubawi (Dubai Millennium), who excelled over a trip, the colt seems to have inherited some of his dam’s speed, having clocked a slick 10.68 in his breeze.
He is out of Hampton Classic, a dual 1000-metre winning daughter of Exceed And Excel (Danehill), who is herself a sister to Meydan Al Quoz Sprint (Gr 1, 1000m) winner Amber Sky, with the pair being out of the Group 2-scoring sprinter Truly Wicked (Rubiton).
Another to show good speed despite being by a stallion known more for staying prowess was Lot 285, a colt by Armory, a son of Galileo (Sadler’s Wells), who stands for the Mapperley Stud / Windsor Park axis.
The colt stopped the clock at 10.52.
“This colt is bred by Windsor Park. He’s a really nice-bodied horse and a lovely, natural mover. He’s a decent-sized horse and he’s been pretty natural from the word go and everything has happened quite easily for him,” said Beatson.
The youngster is out of the Listed-winning Golan (Spectrum) mare Cora Lynn, making him a half-brother to the Group 3-placed winner Weona Smartone (Shamexpress).
While Armory was placed second in the Cox Pate (Gr 1, 2040m), he showed precocity as a two-year-year-old. He won three of his first four starts, including the Futurity Stakes (Gr 2, 7f) at the Curragh and the Tyros Stakes (Gr 3, 7f) at Leopardstown.
He was then tested at the highest level in the National Stakes (Gr 1, 7f), where he finished second to champion two year-old Pinatubo (Shamardal).
Armory’s seven-start two-year-old season concluded with placings in both the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (Gr 1, 1600m) and Criterium International (Gr 1, 1400m) in France.
A Classic campaign that commenced with a fourth in the Irish 2,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m) and concluded with a runner-up finish in The Valley showpiece resulted in Armory being crowned champion three-year-old in Ireland and joint champion three-year-old in Europe in the intermediate category.
At four, he landed the Huxley Stakes (Gr 2, 1m 2.5f) at Chester and finished third in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes (Gr 1, 1m 2f).
Amory made the perfect start to his second career when his daughter Silhouette made an impressive start at Trentham last month, winning an 900-metre contest by 4.3 lengths. She remains the stallion’s only starter to date.
Vinery’s Ole Kirk (Written Tycoon) is another sire doing brilliantly with his first two crops. The son of Written Tycoon (Iglesia) was crowned champion first-season sire last year and his 22 winners are spearheaded by five stakes winners, including recent Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Ole Dancer.
Ohukia Lodge will offer one of only two lots by the sire at the sale. A $180,000 purchase from the Baramul Stud draft at the Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale last March, the youngster is out of Group 3-placed winner Statuesquely (Medaglia D’Oro).
Beatson said: “This colt won’t take long at all. I can see him winning a race as a two-year-old. He races quite easily and looks a real natural.
“He looks like a real get-up-and-go sort of horse. He’s very relaxed and nothing seems to faze him, which is a great attitude to have as he goes straight from the sale into someone’s stable and it won’t bother him. It won’t take long before he’s headed to the races I wouldn’t have thought.
“The stallion has had one winner from one runner and she looks a pretty smart filly. He has started on the right track which is pleasing to see.”
Also among Ohukia Lodge’s offering, are a couple of colts by speed influence Cosmic Force (Deep Field) and a son of Hellbent (I Am Invincible), a stallion who was thrust into the spotlight over the weekend when his son Revengeance landed the Golden Gift (1100m) at Rosehill, while his five-year-old daughter Vivy Air added to her record in the Five Diamonds (1800m) on the same card.
The Hellbent breezed in 10.85, having been bought by Beaston for $120,000 at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale.
“The Hellbent colt I like, he’s a really nice horse,” he said. “The stallion had a nice juvenile winner on the weekend and that always helps get the sire in the limelight which is always a big help and it just refreshes everyone as to what the stallion can do.
“The two Cosmic Forces are nice horses who have shown good ability and they are both really nice types.”
The Cosmic Force colt out of the stakes-placed winner Aghna (Foxwedge), a $130,000 buy for Ohukia Lodge and Jim Carey at the Inglis Classic sale, stopped the clock at 10.82. Meanwhile, the other, a son of three-time winner Etheridge (Roman Emperor), breezed in a time of 10.56. He was purchased for $140,000 at the same Inglis sale.
With this year’s edition coming hot on the heels of two record-breaking years and more high-class results on the racecourse, the thirst for stock from the sale has never been in higher demand.
Beatson said if the inspections on Sunday were anything to go by all the early signs were they are set for another strong edition.
“We are a lot busier than I thought we’d be for the first day, so that was quite nice and we’re ticking along alright,” he said. “There are a lot more people who have come in earlier than I thought, so that is quite encouraging. It’s a mixture of buyers, we’ve had a few local trainers and bloodstock agents around today and there are a lot of internationals too, and I would say there are more internationals than normal at this early stage of the sale.
“New Zealand Bloodstock have done a lot of work behind the scenes and they have got a lot of the right people here and so far it seems to be tracking the right way. We are really looking forward to the sale because so far it has started really well.”