Son of Savabeel to join Te Akau after Ellis wards off competition for talented colt
Day one at New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale heats up after pensive start
The kings of New Zealand racing; champion sire Savabeel (Zabeel) and Te Akau Racing’s David Ellis, combined to set the benchmark on day one of a unique Ready to Run Sale at Te Rapa in which Hong Kong and Australian buyers also played a key role in a stronger than predicted session of trade.
Ellis, who oversees the Te Akau racing empire, went to NZ$640,000 for a colt by the reigning seven-time leading New Zealand stallion at New Zealand Bloodstock’s 2021 two-year-old sale, which is being conducted away from its Karaka complex and in a virtual format due to government-imposed Covid restrictions.
One of 18 lots to make NZ$200,000 or more yesterday, the eye-catching Savabeel colt had breezed up in 11.44 seconds on the Heavy 10 track at Te Rapa on the second day of official breezes and so it was no surprise that Ellis had to fend off multiple bidders to ensure the colt remained in New Zealand.
Bred by Waikato Stud and offered by Ohukia Lodge as Lot 107 on behalf of Garry and Mark Chittick, he is a brother to New Zealand stakes winner Milford, being the fourth foal out of the unraced Etiquette (O’Reilly), herself a sister to champion miler and late sire Sacred Falls.
Waikato Stud bred and have standing rights in Te Akau Racing’s recent 2,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Noverre, another son of Savabeel.
As Ellis does when he buys a horse, he has a vision for where he expects the high-priced colt performing in a year to 18 months’ time and he believes day one’s top-priced juvenile could be Te Akau’s third 2,000 Guineas winner by the champion sire.
“We have had two colts who have won the 2,000 Guineas by Savabeel (Embellish and Noverre) and we have worked out now which ones we really like and which ones we think will make the grade and we just can’t have enough Savabeels at the stables,” Ellis told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“The secret with Savabeels is buying them out of the right mares and this one is out of an O’Reilly mare who is out of a Redoute’s Choice mare and that’s a cross that has worked brilliantly before.
“I bought this horse to win the 2,000 Guineas but to train on and be a Derby horse.”
Seven lots later, Ellis went to NZ$340,000 for another colt by the champion Waikato Stud stallion who is the first foal out of the unraced Fast Company (Fastnet Rock), herself a sister to Group 2 winner and Cornerstone Stud sire Valentia.
Offered by Riverrock Farm for Jamieson Park as Lot 114, he breezed up in 11.10 seconds on a Dead 6 surface.
Ellis also bought another six two-year-olds on day one, adding colts by Deep Field (Northern Meteor) (NZ$140,000), Astern (Medaglia D’Oro) (NZ$150,000), a gelding by Churchill (Galileo) (NZ$160,000) and a Tavistock (Montjeu) filly for NZ$170,000.
He also purchased a Darci Brahma (Danehill) gelding (NZ$60,000) and a Per Incanto (Street Cry) filly (NZ$50,000) for Fortuna Syndicate’s John Galvin.
Ellis commended NZB for the depth of the market on day one, which got off to a slow start but increased trade saw the clearance rate lift to 65 per cent last night, a figure auction house officials are expecting to rise overnight.
“There was a lot of apprehension because nobody knew how it would go (at Te Rapa), but it was quite incredible,” Ellis said.
“Everybody in the industry in New Zealand should take their hats off to NZB. They really did run a terrific sale.
“At all ready to run sales around the world, there’s always a huge tailend and so there’s going to be a lot of pass-ins … but (day one) was enormously successful.
“Most of the vendors I spoke to are very happy.”
Deep Field’s progeny once again prove popular
Below Ellis’ top-end haul aimed at bolstering the already powerful Te Akau stable, it was the international market which was prominent, with a number of Australian-based trainers and owners competing against the Hong Kong market for the better credentialed two-year-olds.
That was evident with Hong Kong buyers’ thirst for the progeny of Deep Field continuing at the New Zealand sale with the second and third highest-priced colts sold on day one, both by the Newgate Farm-based stallion, destined for the leading Asian racing jurisdiction.
Five juveniles by Deep Field, who has sired 13 individual winners in Hong Kong to date, sold yesterday, with four heading to Hong Kong, led by Lot 44 who made NZ$470,000.
Auctioneer Steve Davis, conducting the sale like an orchestra, solicited multiple extra bids to achieve the price tag for the Riversley Park-presented colt who ran home in 10.80 seconds for his breeze-up, despite striking a Heavy 10 surface.
He was bought by Hong Kong trainer Jimmy Ting who called on the assistance of Magus Equine’s Willie Leung to source the colt on behalf of a client.
“The Deep Fields do very well in Hong Kong,” Ting said, who on his purchase of Lot 44, added: “His breeze-up was good, he has a big stride, he is a very strong horse, and his action is good, so I tried to buy him.
“I am very lucky that the buyer could buy him. I need to talk with the owner to see whether he comes straight back to Hong Kong or stays in New Zealand for a few months.”
The colt was a $125,000 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale purchase by Riversley Park’s Sam Beatson from the Evergreen Stud draft. From the same family as recent Matriarch Stakes (Gr 2, 2000m) winner Zayydani (Savabeel), he is the seventh foal out of Pins (Snippets) mare Bang On, herself a daughter of New Zealand Group 1 winner Critic (Centaine), while this is also the family of Group 1 winners Ocean Park (Thorn Park) and Prince Kaapstad (Kaapstad).
“That was at the top end of what I expected. I pinhooked him myself so he was on the market well before then and with these good colts, people just seem to want them,” Riversley Park’s Sam Beatson said.
“The agents have said they have been getting their lists through and everybody seems to be on the same horses.”
Ting also purchased two sons from the first crop of Yarraman Park Stud stallion Hellbent (I Am Invincible), going to $200,000 for Lot 80, a Riversley Park-offered colt and first foal from Congrats (A.P Indy) mare Contralto, and $150,000 for a gelding out of Choisir (Danehill Dancer) mare For Me Dad. The latter was catalogued as Lot 125, also from the Riversley Park draft.
Twenty lots after the $470,000 colt was traded, a Regal Farm-consigned Deep Field colt made NZ$350,000 after being purchased by Hong Kong’s Me Tsui.
The colt, catalogued as Lot 64, breezed up in 11.41 seconds. He was a $70,000 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale graduate for Richardson Racing Stables from the draft of Lime Country Thoroughbreds.
He is the fourth foal out of Carlina (Fusaichi Pegasus). An unraced half-sister to the stakes-placed Parachute Man (High Chaparral) and Rosa Perlato (Encosta De Lago), the dam of stakes winners Hawkshot (Fiorente) and Power Scheme (Fiorente), both of which ended up in Hong Kong.
Another son of Deep Field, offered by Kilgravin Lodge as Lot 69, sold to Hong Kong’s EHT Hung for NZ$150,000.
Lot 137, another colt by Deep Field from the Kilgravin Lodge draft who was offered on behalf of Jordan Bloodstock, was sold for NZ$250,000 to Waikato Bloodstock’s Bryce Tankard after breezing up in 10.80 seconds.
He was a $170,000 purchase from the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale from the Rosemont Stud draft after being bought to pinhook by Jordan Bloodstock with agents Bevan Smith and Johnny McKeever.
Three colts by Deep Field will be offered today.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong trainer Ricky Yiu, who has also been active at the Inglis Ready2Race and Magic Millions 2YOs In Training sales this year, combined with New Zealand agent Dean Hawthorne to land a colt by Capitalist (Written Tycoon) for $320,000. He was catalogued as Lot 103.
He was also pinhooked through Kilgravin Lodge after being bought out of the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale by Smith and McKeever for $170,000 from the Lime Country Thoroughbreds draft.
McEvoy takes shine to Almanzor colt
Another colt heading overseas, albeit closer to home, is a juvenile by Cambridge Stud’s young shuttler Almanzor (Wootton Bassett) who was bought early in the afternoon session by Group 1-winning trainers Tony and Calvin McEvoy for NZ$330,000.
The son of Almanzor, who breezed-up in 10.68 seconds, showed exceptional acceleration when asked to quicken by his rider, putting a space on his galloping partner in the Te Rapa hit-out.
“He really took my eye, that horse. He looked very purposeful and still has a lot to learn, of course, as he was looking around but you could see what was under the bonnet when he focused up,” McEvoy told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“As long as the horse is doing it nicely within himself – and he was doing that – he had more to offer from what I could see.
“He’s a big powerful horse with a nice action, so there’s lots to like about him.”
He was purchased by McEvoy-Mitchell Racing in conjunction with New Zealand agent Bevan Smith on behalf of an undisclosed Queensland-based client.
Offered by Phoenix Park as Lot 12 and from the first southern hemisphere crop of Almanzor, the Geoff Taylor-bred colt is the second foal out of winning mare Tricoteuse (Guillotine).
He was a NZ$260,000 purchase by Octagon Bloodstock from the Curraghmore draft at the Karaka Yearling Sale in January.
“I have been finding it hard to buy yearlings the last couple of years – and I have been bidding up to $300,000 and (it’s hard to) buy a nice horse – so here’s an opportunity,” McEvoy said.
“He was a $260,000 yearling, we’ve been able to see him use himself and then I can buy him for this sort of money. I thought it was very good shopping even though it is a lot of money, but I was pretty pleased with that purchase today.”
He is the first horse by Almanzor, whose first crop progeny were hot property at the yearling sales earlier this year, to land in the McEvoy stable, but asserted that he wouldn’t mind having a few more in his barn.
“If (Cambridge Stud’s Henry Plumptre) is watching, he might send some now that I’ve bought one,” McEvoy said.
The colt’s sale price may have caught vendor Janine Dunlop by surprise but there was a strong indication that he would sell well prior to the auction.
“The x-ray hits were just phenomenal on the horse. He had been vetted and paraded that many times,” Dunlop said.
“There was an element of surprise and I think it was a tremendous result for the horse, but on saying that, the interest had been there. It was pretty exciting, and my owner Geoff Taylor was thrilled with the result.”
As is almost customary at a two-year-old sale, it started slowly, but agent Guy Mulcaster and trainer Chris Waller stepped in early to buy lots nine and ten, colts by The Bold One (Fastnet Rock) and Reliable Man (Dalakhani), for NZ$70,000 and NZ$120,000 and once the NZ$330,000 Almanzor colt was traded, momentum started to build.
Australian-based trainers have a strong hand in market
Fellow expatriate Kiwi Bjorn Baker and his agent Jim Clarke also landed a blow early, buying a Sweynesse (Lonhro) gelding for NZ$100,000 from the Woburn Farm draft, while other NSW trainers who made their mark were Annabel Neasham, Kris Lees and Ethan Ensby as did Sydney-based agent Andrew Williams and James Moss’ Tricolours Racing and Syndications.
Leading Brisbane trainer Tony Gollan also teamed up with agent John Foote to buy two juveniles, one of them in conjunction with syndicator Roll The Dice Racing, while Gold Coast-based Kacy Fogden bought a Kermadec (Teofilo) colt for NZ$260,000.
Victorian-based Kiwis Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young, long-time supporters of the NZB Ready to Run Sale, were again active yesterday, taking home four juveniles.
The most expensive of those was a NZ$300,000 Sacred Falls (O’Reilly) colt, who ran 11.15 seconds for his breeze, from the Ohukia Lodge draft.
Catalogued as Lot 73, he is out of Savabeel mare Cheryl Moana Marie, a sister to stakes winner and Hong Kong Group 1 runner-up Victory Magic and a half-sister to the Group 2-placed Mark Two (Pins).
Busuttin and Young also bought a filly by Sacred Falls, who is from the same family as Group 1 winner Adventador (Fast ‘N’ Famous). Catalogued as Lot 95, she was purchased for NZ$250,000 in conjunction with Group 1 Bloodstock’s Mathew Becker from Ohukia Lodge.
The Cranbourne-based trainers also bought Lot 129, a Savabeel gelding from Ohukia Lodge for NZ$70,000 and a Reliable Man (Dalakhani) filly (Lot 55) for NZ$100,000 from Ardsley Stud. The pair were bought in partnership with Patella Bloodstock.
Melbourne trainers Mick Price and Mick Kent Jnr also bought a gelding by Savabeel (Lot 83), with the assistance of agent Phill Cataldo, for NZ$200,000 while Clayton Douglas’ Bradlee Park used agent Dean Hawthorne to buy a gelding by Shamexpress (O’Reilly) (Lot 46) for NZ$200,000 from Ascot Farm.
On the opening day, Ohukia Lodge was leading vendor by aggregate, parting with 12 horses for NZ$2,495,000 while Riversley Park was second with ten lots selling for a total of NZ$2,055,000.
Chad Orsmby and Aliesha Moroney’s Riverrock Farm was the leading vendor by average, selling three two-year-olds for a mean of NZ$223,333.
Overall, 80 horses sold yesterday for an aggregate of $10.344 million, an increase of 36 per cent year-on-year, while the average of NZ$129,300 was up 39 per cent.
The median was at NZ$100,000, up a significant 95 per cent on last year. If the figures hold up today, NZB Ready to Run Sale will set a record average and median, although the smaller catalogue will contribute to that if it does occur.
New Zealand Bloodstock sales manager Danny Rolston admitted the sale got off to a shaky start but once market values were established he was pleased with how the day’s trade panned out.
“There’s definitely the right sort of activity on those higher end horses. It felt a bit like a feast or a famine there for a couple of hours,” Rolston told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“The first two hours of the sale were quite patchy, and that’s not totally unusual at a Ready to Run Sale, as quite often day one is a bit softer than day two in all aspects.
“Once you start off with a lower clearance rate, it is a bit of an uphill battle trying to get that up, but we are expecting that to climb overnight with the selling of some passed-in lots.”
Pleasingly for Rolston, the spread of buyers gave him confidence that NZB’s reputation of offering high-class racehorses was being recognised by the international market.
“It wasn’t all Asia, like it can be. Hong Kong was very strong, but it was great to see our friends from Australia engaged in the sale as well and having a pretty good stab,” he said.
“We are pretty lucky this year being stacked with a lot of quality falling across both days. It’s certainly not the case of the best ones being gone, so there’s plenty of nice horses to come who are by the right sires, too.”
Importantly, he believes there are buyers who are yet to show their hand.
“We still feel there’s plenty of people who were prepared to buy who haven’t yet purchased,” he said.
“Of course, we would have liked more activity through the first couple of hours, but that’s not unusual for it to start a bit slower and build momentum and we are expecting tomorrow to carry on a bit more like the second half of today.”
Day two will start at 1pm NZ time.
Sale statistics – day one
2021 2020
Catalogued 160 160
Offered 124 119
Sold 80 (65%) 82 (69%)
Aggregate NZ$10,344,000 (+36%) NZ$7,615,500
Average NZ$129,300 (+39%) NZ$92,872
Median NZ$100,000 (+95%) NZ$51,250
Top Lot NZ$640,000 NZ$525,000