Hallmark ready to offer landmark draft at Karaka
Some neat pieces of numerical symmetry surround Hallmark Stud’s presence at next week’s Karaka Yearling Sale.
As New Zealand’s most famous auction celebrates its 100th edition, Hallmark raises its own half century, with its 50th successive draft following its first, at the old National Sale, in 1977.
And how fitting that Hallmark is able to kick off the entire sale with Lot 1, a well bred colt by Harry Angel (Dark Angel) whose second dam was three-time Melbourne stakes winner Dama De Noche (Snippets).
While presenting the first lot of a sale can be something of a poisoned chalice, with many potential buyers watching and waiting in those early stages, the Hallmark team will be delighted to take “the honour” in what is a landmark sale for them.
Not that they’d stopped to think about it, but Mark Baker – who owns the stud south of Auckland with his father Denny – was chuffed when his chat with ANZ News this week turned up the fact that this would be their 50th straight draft at New Zealand’s most important sale.
“The first thing I’d say is – I don’t know where the time went,” Baker said. “But you look back and you realise we’ve had some great times, though there’s highs and lows, like everything with horses.
“But it seems like yesterday that I went down there with my father with our first draft back in the 1970s. Time goes pretty quick.
“It’s a nice milestone, though it’s not something you’d think about that much. But like all of us Kiwi breeders, we’re small, we’ve all got each other’s backs, and we’re just proud to be a Kiwi breeder given what we produce in this country.”
Hallmark can boast some glowing history, with its recent highlight being the breeding of Prowess (Proisir), the dual Group 1 winner whose sister is in the Bakers’ draft next week, as Lot 387.
In tandem with close associate, Taranaki-based breeder Trevor Hurley, Hallmark also bred the elite-level winning half-siblings Katie Lee (Pins) and Banchee (Oratorio). They were New Zealand’s Champion 3YO and 2YO in 2009-10, making their three-time stakes-winning dam Miss Jessie Jay (Spectacularphantom) the only Kiwi broodmare to have left both such champions in the same year.
Katie Lee, in turn the only filly to have won New Zealand’s double of the Two Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) and One Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m), is the second dam of Hallmark’s Lot 93 on Sunday, a colt by Super Seth (Dundeel).
Other graduates from the farm include top-tier winners Humidor (Teofilo), Bonny Lass (Super Easy) and Wyndspelle (Iffraaj), along with a host of other black–type victors.
Fittingly, Baker rates Hallmark’s 50th straight New Zealand draft as one of its finest of the past decade, with ten varied yearlings promising “something for everyone”.
It’s been forged out of a recent change of strategy at the 260-acre farm.
After phasing out their breaking business more than a decade ago, Hallmark also stopped standing stallions four years back, with Super Easy (Darci Brahma) their last, as they concentrated on owning stallion shares.
And two years ago, the stud stopped foaling down, sending its mares to give birth at nearby Haunui Farm instead.
“Everything’s just a bit more streamlined, and more efficient now,” Baker said.
“We stood three or four stallions for a long time but we stopped that. It was mainly just out of economics. New Zealand’s broodmare band shrunk from 6,500 to 2,500, and it became hard to fill stallions.
“Also, when you stand a stallion, you’ve got to support them, so you send all your mares to them. But if the stallion turns out to be no good, you’ve tainted your band for a couple of years.
“So we enjoy being able to utilise other stallions, concentrating on quality not quantity, which not only helps the overheads but is more streamlined.
“We also used to foal down here, but we’ve stopped that now.
“We still do a lot of trade horses – foals to yearlings, yearlings to two-year-olds.
“So there’s been a few changes in the past ten years but it’s going well. You need luck like everything in racing. With an ounce of that you manage to keep your head above water.”
As for Hallmark’s four colt, six filly draft next week, Baker is excited about a selection of yearlings he feels can satisfy most wish lists.
“There’s some very sharp horses there that look very precocious that could be out early,” he said. “There’s some lovely colts who’d be perfect trade horses, for the trial market or ready to run.
“There’s fillies with broodmare residual value, with great pages. A couple look particularly sharp, and a couple look more like Classic distance horses.
“So it’s a really nice cross-section on type and on pedigree as well. We’re really happy with how they’ve shaped up and come to hand.”
While their first yearling kicks off the sale, if there’s one stand-out in Hallmark’s draft it’s their last one, the aforementioned Lot 387.
She’s a sister to the outstanding Prowess, winner of six stakes races and five on the bounce including the back-to-back elite double of Ellerslie’s New Zealand Stakes (Gr 1, 2050m) and the Vinery Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) at Rosehill.
Dam Donna Marie (Don Eduardo) – a daughter of Group 2-winning mare Scarlet Runner (Kingdom Bay) – has also thrown the stakes-placed Ajay Tee (Foxwedge) among her six foals to race.
“This one is more like Prowess than any of the dam’s other foals,” Baker said.
“The others have been a bit sharper looking, but with this one there’s a bit of daylight under her. She’s got size and scope and quality, and she looks like she’ll be that middle distance, Oaks type of filly.
“She’s very straightforward. She eats, sleeps and takes everything in her stride. She’s a late October foal but she’s grown out well so far.”
Lot 93 is a son of Waikato Stud’s burgeoning sire Super Seth (Dundeel) who has those two Hallmark stars – Miss Jessie Jay and Katie Lee (Pins) – as his second and third dams, and is the second foal of the unraced Rozala (Almanzor).
Another of Katie Lee’s daughters, Legramor (Commands) is the dam of Sydney Group 3 winner Public Attention (Written Tycoon).
“This is one of the nicest horses we’ve bred for a while,” said Baker, who sold Rozala as a yearling before buying her back to breed from.
“He’s well balanced, has a great girth, great rein, and is correct. He’s an incredible mover, he’s got a great action, and he uses himself extremely well. He’s got an incredible brain, is a very kind horse, and takes everything in his stride.”
Lot 339 comes from Hallmark’s line in pinhooking. The colt is by the much discussed Home Affairs (I Am Invincible). Coolmore’s buzz sire is out of the blocks well with four winners from his first 14 runners, including New Zealand black-type victor Kinnaird, who took Ellerslie’s Eclipse Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) earlier this month.
This first foal out of the stakes-placed Celtic Glory (Toronado) was bought as a weanling by Hallmark at last year’s Inglis Great Southern sale for $160,000.
“He’s muscle on muscle and looks very sharp,” Baker said. “He’s got a massive girth, a huge forearm, a big hip, and uses himself well. You wouldn’t be surprised to see him go early. And I think Toronado should make a good broodmare sire.”
Lot 1 is an ideal type to begin an auction, Baker said. Hallmark’s colt is by Darley’s highly successful Australian shuttler Harry Angel out of a city-placed half-sister to dual black-type victor Nocturnelle (Elusive Quality), dam of Group 3 winner Dracarys (Snitzel).
“He’s a beauty,” Baker said. “He’s by a hot stallion in Harry Angel, and he’s a lovely horse to kick the sale off with.
“He’s very similar to our Home Affairs colt actually. He’s got a big powerful hind quarter, a great girth and good rein, a good head and is very correct – everything everyone wants to see.”
Lot 251 is what Baker calls a “really classy” filly by Ardrossan (Redoute’s Choice).
“She’s a lovely, medium-sized, well-balanced filly, with a beautiful head and a great brain. She’s very laid back,” Baker said. “She’s beautifully proportioned, and correct, and floats across the ground. She’s all quality.”
The filly is a half-sister to New Zealand Group 2 and Listed winner Robusto (Zed), a mare who’s not to be confused with Australia’s Group 2 and Listed winning Robusto (Churchill), the gelding trained by expat Kiwi Bjorn Baker who – surprisingly given the NZ gene pool – is no relation to the Hallmark Bakers.
“Bjorn still calls me ‘Brother Baker’ though, so we’ll run with that, given the way he’s going,” Mark said with a smile. “We’ve sold a few horses to him over the years. I’d love to sell him some more, looking at the form he’s been in.”