‘I’d equate what Proisir is doing to what I Am Invincible has done in Australia’
Major yearling sales can be the cause of the odd sleepless night for those selling. This is wholly understandable given the fine margins between success and disappointment, and not to mention the financials at stake. However, John Thompson of Rich Hill Stud could hardly be more content heading into the upcoming New Zealand Bloodstock (NZB) Karaka Yearling Sale. And with good reason.
Rich Hill is responsible for one of the auction’s standout drafts, with the group containing a whole host of well-credentialed youngsters. The strength of the offering reflects the sharp upward curve the stud’s stallion roster is on, a point emphasised by Proisir (Choisir) and Satono Aladdin (Deep Impact) being the two best-represented sires in the catalogue.
And, moreover, Thompson has been in the game long enough to have already ridden the ups and downs, so he recognises that things in New Zealand are very much trending in the right direction. Experience has also taught him that worrying won’t change a thing in the sales ring.
“Rich Hill has been established for 30 years now and I was selling yearlings under another banner before that, so I’ve been heading to the sales for probably 40 years,” said Thompson.
“I joked last year that I’m an overnight sensation, and it’s only taken 30 years! It is a nerve-wracking time because you do have a big commitment to these horses. Costs of everything around the world have risen; wages, feed, vet fees. And while the return at the top end has increased, the return for your average middle market horse hasn’t increased a great deal over the last period.
“We’ve got around 40 horses in our draft and when you add up what you’ve spent on them it is a significant amount of money, and your income in the breeding industry all tends to come at one time of the year through service fees and yearling sale receipts. We need it to go well because it costs a lot to run a commercial horse stud.
“But I’ve learned over the years that there’s not much point having sleepless nights. I might’ve done early on but not now. As long as you dot all the Is and tick all the Ts, and make sure everything is done properly and the horses are presented as well as they can be, that’s really all you can do. Your product markets itself in terms of racetrack success.”
On that front, Rich Hill’s breeding roll of honour boasts Group 1-winning names such as Ferlax, King Mufhasa, Penny Gem, Prince Of Penzance and Xtravagant, all of whom are by former flag-bearing stallion Pentire (Be My Guest). Other elite-level winners Rich Hill have been involved in down the years include Bezeal Bay (Zabeel), Defibrillate (Shocking), I Am A Star (I Am Invincible), Leica Guv (Deputy Governor), Say No More (Pentire) and Zarita (Pentire), to name but a small few.
Thompson and the team have hosted a broad cross-section of agents, pinhookers, syndicators and trainers in recent weeks, and have been buoyed by the feedback during their on-farm inspections.
“We’ve had the domestic buyers on the farm and it’s been encouraging to hear that, from what they’re saying, the prize-money that’s been injected into New Zealand is having a positive result with their buying orders,” said Thompson.
“The people who’ve been attending the inspections certainly seem more upbeat than perhaps they have previously. But obviously Karaka isn’t going to go well unless we get a good international buying bench as well, that’s the key to it.
“Talking to people who went to Magic Millions and the sales company [NZB], they believe there’s a very good cross section of Australian trainers planning on attending. There’s a couple of real stalwarts that always buy in New Zealand every year and it seems they’ll all be coming over again.
“It would be great to get some new faces too as there’s some up-and-coming young trainers and syndicators in Australia, so that’s where the sales company have to get out there and see if they can get those people on a plane over here.”
The New Zealand-bred racehorse was given the best possible piece of international advertising at Sha Tin on Sunday when Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress) smashed the track record with another dominant display in the Centenary Sprint Cup (Gr 1, 1200m). And Ka Ying Rising’s latest triumph is not the only factor likely to draw international attention towards New Zealand, as Ellerslie will host two World Pool meetings this year, starting with the Karaka Millions card on Saturday.
The six-race twilight meeting features the Railway Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) for the first time, as well as the usual valuable Karaka Millions 2YO (Listed, 1200m) and Karaka Millions 3YO (Listed, 1600m) contests. The second meeting to be included in the World Pool is Champions Day on March 8, which will feature the southern hemisphere’s richest three-year-old contest, the $4.5 million The NZB Kiwi (1500m).
“The New Zealand-bred product keeps performing in all our major markets, and that for us is a key thing because we’re really an export nation,” says Thompson. “But I guess the encouraging thing with horses now is people aren’t selling them quite so quickly because we’ve got a reason to keep them and run them in the races coming up.
“The Karaka Million is going to be a big night with the inclusion in the World Pool, that’s really exciting for our country, then a month later we have Champions Day with The NZB Kiwi, which we’re all looking forward to.
“I’ve been in this industry a while so I’ve seen some ups and downs and fortunately at the moment everything seems to be positive. All this enables new people to get involved and hopefully in time we’ll get some more international involvement. We’ve already seen Australian horses targeting some of our races, which is a good thing because it exposes our industry to a wider audience.”
International and domestic buyers alike seem certain to be impressed by Rich Hill’s Karaka consignment. After withdrawals, the Book 1 draft comprises 27 yearlings, 21 of which are by the operation’s home stallions. A further 12 lots follow in Book 2.
Rich Hill’s headline offering features nine lots by Proisir, ten by Satono Aladdin and one apiece by Ace High (High Chaparral) and Shocking (Street Cry).
Among the standouts on pedigree are Lot 351, the Proisir half-sister to Aeliana (Castelvecchio), winner of the Reginald Allen Handicap (Listed, 1400m) and the Carbine Club Stakes (Gr 3, 1600m) before she flashed home for a never-nearer second in the Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) at Caulfield in November.
There is also a Proisir half-sister to Lupo Solitario (Satono Aladdin) (Lot 287) who won the Bonecrusher Stakes (Gr 3, 1400m) before being sold to Hong Kong, and a brother to Riodini (Lot 635), another Bonecrusher Stakes winner who also reached the podium in Group 1 company in Australia, namely in the George Main Stakes (now known as King Charles III Stakes) (Gr 1, 1600m) and Epsom Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m).
Although nature has determined the draft contains more fillies by Proisir than colts, the pedigrees on show reflect the elevated levels of support the stallion has received as his fee has increased on the back of some deeply impressive racecourse results.
Despite humble origins, Proisir has already come up with six Group 1 winners and boasts a black type performers to runners ratio of 13 per cent that would be the envy of stallions standing at a much higher fee.
This year’s yearlings were bred at a fee of $17,500 (plus GST), while crops conceived at $70,000 (plus GST) and $80,000 (plus GST) are already in the pipeline.
“It’s been well documented that the progeny Proisir has racing were conceived off $7,000 and $9,000 service fees, so the quality of the mares wasn’t particularly good,” said Thompson.
“But he’s managed to upgrade a lot of those mares and I think this year our Proisir fillies in particular not only have the looks, but they also have a superior pedigree to what we’ve presented by the sire previously.
“I’d equate what Proisir is doing to what I Am Invincible has done in Australia, and obviously the best-bred Proisirs won’t be hitting the racetrack for another few years yet, so when you look at it from that perspective it’s very exciting.”
It was at Karaka 12 months ago that Proisir played his part in breaking the New Zealand record price for a yearling when Hallmark Stud’s sister to Prowess fetched NZ$1,600,000 when selling to Moody Racing.
“Not many stallions throw million–dollar yearlings really because: number one, they have to be a successful stallion; number two, they have to have a pedigree; and number three, the horse has to be a good physical type,” said Thompson. “Not many stallions can get that combination, so that was really satisfying.”
And while the seven-figure filly may be the most noteworthy example, she is far from the only instance of breeders receiving a significant windfall courtesy of Proisir.
“We syndicated the horses early on and it has been widely acknowledged that that was mainly among smaller breeders in New Zealand,” said Thompson.
“The filly who sold for $1.6 million last year, she came from Hallmark Stud and they’re a shareholder in Proisir. So not only has he thrown them and their mare a very high-class filly in Prowess, they’ve repealed the benefits commercially as well.
“Another shareholder, Warwick Jeffries, bred Legarto and Dark Destroyer from the handful of mares he owns, and they’re both Group 1 winners. Lately the likes of Godolphin and Yulong have bought shares, sometimes from people who didn’t pay a lot when Proisir was first syndicated.”
Hallmark will once again offer a sister to Prowess and last year’s sale topper this year. The filly is catalogued as Lot 564.
Excitingly for Rich Hill and the farm’s clients, Satono Aladdin looks to be following a similar path. The son of Deep Impact (Sunday Silence) has already sired Australian Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) and New Zealand Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Pennyweka and has seen his fee climb to $65,000 (plus GST). His current yearling crop was bred at $12,500 (plus GST) and his Rich Hill-consigned lots include a brother to Australian Group 3 winner Raf Attack (Lot 299) and a sister to New Zealand’s champion two-year-old Tokyo Tycoon (Lot 439).
“We can probably say the same about Satono Aladdin too because he served a big book of quality mares the year this year’s yearlings were bred,” Thompson continued.
“He’s another well-credentialed horse with a beautiful international pedigree and he just seems to have found his niche with the New Zealand mares. Particularly with us because if you look at his results with mares by Pentire, another good stallion who we stood, he’s had Pennyweka, a dual Oaks winner, and Lupo Solitario, who won the Bonecrusher Stakes last year. There’s another nice horse we raced recently called Desert Mystic who’s won his last two starts.
“Overall we’re very pleased with the draft. And that’s not to forget Shocking and Ace High. Ace High is on the up at the moment and had a nice winner [Garnacho] at Flemington on Saturday and had another unbeaten horse [Dealt With] win again at Pukekehoe on Sunday, so he’s an exciting young sire.
“As studmasters, we don’t stand a stallion lightly because it’s a big commitment so we all secretly hope they’ll work out. Our stallions all have great credentials but it’s really satisfying the way it has all come together in the last few years.”
Before the sale kicks off, Thompson and the Rich Hill team will be keeping a close eye on the Karaka Millions race meeting at Ellerslie on Saturday.
“It seems as though our stallions will be very well represented right across the board,” he said.
“Proisir has the defending champion in the Railway in Waitak, and by all accounts they’re very happy with him going into the race. Proisir has a nice filly called Prosegur that could run very well in the three-year-old race and at the minute Satono Aladdin has the joint favourite [Too Sweet] for the two-year-old Karaka Million, and there’ll be other horses running on the night by Ace High and Shocking. We’re really looking forward to it. If everything comes together it could be a really exciting night for the farm.”
With Rich Hill’s fingerprints on so many promising names, be that yearlings, racehorses or stallions, an exciting few days look assured. Just don’t expect Thompson to lose any sleep over it.