New Zealand Bloodstock’s Premier portion of the Karaka sale concluded on a
high note, with a new record in average, median and aggregate.
Topping the
two-day sale was Lot No. 299, who realized top price of NZ$1.45 million during
Tuesday’s second session. By leading sire Redoute’s Choice, the colt is
out of the *Sir Tristram mare Popsy, winner of the New Zealand
Derby (NZ-G1) and ARC Championship S. (NZ-G1) and weighted the second top filly on the New
Zealand
three-year-old Free Handicap in 1993-94. Offered by Esker Lodge, the bay was
purchased by trainer John Sargent. The 18-year-old mare Popsy, currently owned
by New Zealand millionaire Sam Kelt, is the dam of six winners, including
multiple stakes winner and Group 2 placed Lilakyn (Danehill).
Heading the
fillies over the course of the two-day Premier sale was Lot 82, a bay by
first-crop sire One Cool Cat. Offered by Sir Patrick Hogan’s Cambridge Stud, the
filly was purchased by Nathan Tinkler’s Patinack Farm for NZ$925,000 Monday. Out
of the group winning mare Diamond Cashel (Sir Tristram), the
yearling is a half sister to Group 3 winner Royal Asscher (Stravinksy).
“This filly took everyone’s eye and we had to beat off a bit of competition to
get her,” said Tinkler. “At the end of the day, she is a half to Royal Asscher,
and if you are going to get a filly out of that family, well, it was always going
to cost us a lot of money.”
Tinkler, who recently sold his Queensland-based
mining company for a reported U.S.$300 million, emerged from the first two
sessions as the leading buyer overall, securing 24 yearlings for a gross of
NZ$7,920,000.
“Business had been kind to me, and I now have a bit more time to
play with horses,” explained Tinkler. “We’re trying to to build a broodmare band
and looking at potential stallions, and we’re aiming to speard the risk a bit by
buying them as yearlings.”
At the conclusion of the two-day sale, figures were up across the board,
headed by gross rising by a healthy 36 percent to NZ$77,115,500 in 2008.
“We knew that we had a strong catalog this year, but we never predicted the sort
of results we have seen over the past two days,” explained New Zealand
Bloodstock Marketing Director Petrea Vela.
With 387 lots sold this
term, compared to 363 in 2007, gross climbed to over last year’s total of
NZ$56,834,400. Median also shot up by 36 percent from NZ$110,000 in 2007 to
NZ$150,000, while average increased 27 percent to NZ$199,265 from NZ$156,567.
“Being the first sale in the southern hemisphere helped this year, but we
still needed a very strong catalog and powerful buying bench to deliver these sort
of results,” added Vela. “We have been overwhelmed by the support the sale
received by both local and international buyers so far, and hope it can continue
throughout the rest of the week.”
The three-day Select Sale continues from Wednesday to
Friday. The two-day Festival yearling sale is scheduled
for February 3 and 4.