Tartan Meadow snaps up Crocetti relation
The 2023 New Zealand 2,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Crocetti (Zacinto) got back in the winning groove when he landed the Railway Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) at Ellerslie on Saturday and on Sunday a close relation by Proisir (Choisir) to the now dual Group 1 winner fetched $450,000 when bought by Tartan Meadow Bloodstock.
Offered by Haunui Farm, the colt is out of Group 2-winning mare Irish Colleen (Shinko King), whose five foals to date have all been winners and the quintet is headed by four-time Group 3 winner Crosshaven (Smart Missile) and fellow Group 3 scorer Killarney (O’Reilly). The mare’s dual-winning daughter Gracehill (O’Reilly) produced Crocetti.
The colt’s breeder Daniel Nakhle was quick to applaud New Zealand Bloodstock for assembling a diverse and active buying bench at this year’s sale.
“We are thrilled with the result as we were unsure of the market. We hoped he might make between $400,000 and $500,000 but we had a realistic reserve set. You have to get them on the market. All credit to NZB for assembling a top bench of buyers from Australia,” he told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“He is a strong colt from a running family which is very close to my heart. Can’t get much better timing than a Group 1 winner within the last 24 hours.
Nakhle, who also bred and races Crocetti, said the gelding will now head to the BCD Sprint (Gr 1, 1400m) at Te Repa on Saturday week
“Danny [Walker] tells me Crocetti will go to Te Rapa for the BCD Sprint. He thinks 1400 [metres] is his go now. After that, I don’t know. Danny will work it out.”
Day one statistics
At the close of selling for the opening session, a total of 163 lots sold for $26,665,000, down 13 per cent on the numbers recorded at the same point of the sale last year.
The clearance rate finished at 73 per cent, while the average of $163,589 was down 16 per cent on the figure recorded 12 months earlier and the median dropped 20 per cent to $120,000.
“We started off with a hiss and a roar. There’s no doubt about that. And then as the sale made its way through, it’s clear that they’re being very picky on what they’re after and the good ones are selling very well. The middle to top end is okay and holding up and anything that’s not there is struggling – is the best way to put it,” New Zealand Bloodstock’s director of business Mike Kneebone said.
“I think that’s a tribute to the vendors – I think they’ve got a good handle on the market. They know what product they’ve got and they’re very keen to meet the market. We’ve noticed that with the reserves coming in that they want to sell and I think that’ll even improve more as the sale goes on. Not only do the vendors get their reserves and everything in order, but the buyers decide what they want as well.”
“I think they find that the top prices of the sale haven’t come through yet. There’s some really nice horses to come forward and it is just the way the book has fallen. You’ve got to remember last year we had the $1.6 million filly on the first day and that probably skews the figures a little bit for today.
“All in all, I think there’s some really nice horses to come forward and from what I can see from the buyers looking out from the sales rostrum, they’re very hungry for good horses.”