Strong Competition at NZB Ready to Run Sale

19 November 2013

Day 1 of New Zealand Bloodstock’s 2013 Ready to Run Sale of 2YOs concluded today at Karaka, with some hot competition over the course of the day reflected in a strong average and median for the 107 horses sold.

With 30 more lots catalogued than last year, Day 1 featured 220 of this year’s 437 entries, with 107 sold for $8,787,500, compared with 111 sold for $8,063,000 on Day 1 last year.

That represented an average of $82,126 today, tracking 13% ahead of last year’s record Sale average of $72,865, with a median of $55,000, also significantly ahead of last year’s record of $48,000.

The top price of the day came late in proceedings with Anton Koolman’s Fraternity Thoroughbreds signing for Lot 201 for $320,000, the Holy Roman Emperor colt from Rule the Waves (King’s Best) offered by Lyndhurst Farm.

Lot 201

Lot 201 in action at the Breeze Ups.

Sydney-based Koolman and wife Margaret were back buying at Karaka for the first time in several years, with Fraternity Thoroughbreds purchasing two horses today for a total of $560,000. Earlier in the day, they secured the fourth top price of the day Lot 155 the Exceed and Excel colt bought for $240,000 from Mana Park.

“I’m not a committed breeze up sale guy and I haven’t bought here for a while but we have found a few we like,” commented Anton.

“I liked [Lot 201]’s type and Holy Roman Emperor is going well in Hong Kong and Singapore so, although he was a lot of money, we wanted him and were prepared for that. He’ll go to Australia and then on to Hong Kong to be trained by Paul O’Sullivan.”

Also returning to Karaka after a lengthy absence was Macau’s seven-time champion trainer Gary Moore, who announced his return by securing the third-top priced lot of the day, the colt at Lot 167 bought for $270,000 from Diamond Lodge.

The sole entry in the Sale by Northern Meteor, the youngster provided one of the eye-catching Breeze Ups, breezing in a time of 10.30 seconds.

“Northern Meteor has been well publicised as a fantastic sire and I liked this horse from the moment I saw him. I’m very pleased to have got him as I bought him for a very good client of mine in Macau,” commented Moore.

“I have looked at the statistics from this Sale over the past few years and I think the quality of horses here is very high and they have been beautifully prepared by the consignors.”

“I’ve been to a number of horses-in-training sales looking for the right horse and it is this Sale that has come out on top. I’m delighted to be back here in New Zealand and I’m sure I’ll be back in the future, hopefully with my brother John.”

Lot 122 provided an early highlight with the Bernardini gelding from the Danehill mare Miguelita bought for $300,000 by Willie Leung’s Magus Equine for Hong Kong from Lyndhurst Farm.  

“I love Bernardini and paid a bit more than I expected to for this horse but Bernardini is doing very well in Australia and America at the moment. This horse is a big, strong mover and I know he’ll take a little bit more time to strengthen up so I will leave him in New Zealand for more education before sending him up to Hong Kong,” said Leung.

“The New Zealand Ready to Run Sale always brings me a bit of luck so I always enjoy coming here to buy.”

Mark & Shelley Treweek’s Lyndhurst Farm looks all but certain to hold onto its position as the leading vendor at this Sale for the seventh year in a row, providing four of the top six lots of the day. Seven of their 21 entries have sold for $1,381,000 at an average of $197,286, well ahead of their Day 1 average last year of just over $142,000. Lyndhurst will open proceedings tomorrow with Lot 221, with a total of 11 catalogued for tomorrow.

After Fraternity Thoroughbreds, the next leading buyer for the day was New Zealand’s David Ellis of Te Akau Racing, with five horses bought for $360,000. Ellis’ top price was $150,000 paid at the end of the day for the Murtajil colt at Lot 218 from Bradbury Park.

Ellis was the only local buyer in today’s top ten, with Australia, Singapore, Macau, China, and Hong Kong also represented, showing the diversity of the buying bench.

NZB Co-Managing Director Petrea Vela commented on the day’s proceedings.

“We are very pleased with the strong and diverse international buying bench we’ve got here at Karaka, as strong as we’ve ever seen. There’s very good competition on a number of the horses on offer which has been reflected in the average and median far exceeding last year’s records. 

“This is the second biggest Ready to Run catalogue we’ve had here in over 10 years and, with the increased numbers, matching last year’s clearance rate was always going to be a challenge and that has proven the case. After some quiet patches early on it picked up over the afternoon and hopefully we can see some strengthening to the clearance again tomorrow.”

With over 100 individual sires represented, there were a diverse range of stallions featuring prominently and it was New Zealand-based sires Savabeel and Mastercraftsman that ended the day on top of the leading sires table based on average with three or more horses sold.

Selling will continue at Karaka tomorrow with Lots 221 to 437 from 11am. The Sale will also be streamed live online at www.nzb.co.nz.

2013 Ready to Run Sale Statistics
2013 DAY 1 2012 DAY 1
AGGREGATE $8,787,500 $8,063,000
AVERAGE $82,126 $72,640
MEDIAN $55,000 $52,500
CLEARANCE 57% 67%
CATALOGUED 220 204
SOLD 107 111
TOP LOT $320,000 (Lot 201) $300,000 (Lot 19)
Top Lots
Lot Type Breeding Vendor Purchaser Price
201 B. C Holy Roman Emperor / Rule the Waves Lyndhurst Farm Fraternity Thoroughbreds (NSW) $320,000
122 BR. G Bernardini / Miguelita Lyndhurst Farm Magus Equine (Hong Kong) $300,000
167 B. C Northern Meteor / Pastel Rose Diamond Lodge Mr GW Moore (Macau) $270,000
155 B. C Exceed and Excel / On Hallowed Ground Mana Park Fraternity Thoroughbreds (NSW) $240,000
63 G. C Mastercraftsman / Kew Lyndhurst Farm John Chalmers Bloodstock (WA) $220,000
59 B. C Thorn Park / Kashira Lyndhurst Farm Leung Wang Tun (Hong Kong) $220,000
139 BB C Bachelor Duke / Montmartre Regal Farm Mr YM Hui (Hong Kong) $210,000
180 Ch. C Sebring / Pride of Africa Mana Park Poletti Corporation (NSW) $200,000
171 B. G Savabeel / Pin Oak Ascot Farm MJ Freedman/Michael Wallace B/S (Singapore) $200,000
146 B. C Zabeel / Mydanehillprincess Regal Farm Shailer Thoroughbreds (Matamata) $200,000
192 B. C Pentire / Red Queen Pertab Bloodstock Ellerslie Lodge BN Heys (NSW) $200,000
Leading Purchasers by Aggregate
Purchaser Location Bought Aggregate Average Top Price
Fraternity Thoroughbreds New South Wales 2 $560,000 $280,000 $320,000 (Lot 201)
Mr DC Ellis Te Akau 5 $360,000 $72,000 $150,000 (Lot 218)
John Chalmers Bloodstock Western Australia 2 $350,000 $175,000 $220,000 (Lot 63)
MJ Freedman/Michael Wallace B/S Singapore 2 $350,000 $175,000 $200,000 (Lot 171)
Ellerslie Lodge BN Heys New South Wales 2 $340,000 $170,000 $200,000 (Lot 192)
Mr YM Hui Hong Kong 2 $305,000 $152,500 $210,000 (Lot 139)
Magus Equine Hong Kong 1 $300,000 $300,000 $300,000 (Lot 122)
China Inner Mongolia Rider Horse Group China 3 $275,000 $91,667 $160,000 (Lot 26)
Mr GW Moore Macau 1 $270,000 $270,000 $270,000 (Lot 167)
Mr M Chang Hong Kong 2 $270,000 $135,000 $170,000 (Lot 81)
Leading Vendors by Aggregate
Vendor Sold Aggregate Average Top Price
Lyndhurst Farm 7 $1,381,000 $197,286 $320,000 (Lot 201)
Mana Park 10 $1,122,500 $112,250 $240,000 (Lot 155)
Regal Farm 11 $1,020,000 $92,727 $210,000 (Lot 139)
Diamond Lodge 7 $645,000 $92,143 $270,000 (Lot 167)
Anzac Lodge 4 $495,000 $123,750 $170,000 (Lot 81)
Ascot Farm 2 $320,000 $160,000 $200,000 (Lot 171)
Bradbury Park 3 $318,000 $106,000 $150,000 (Lot 218)
Kilgravin Lodge 5 $303,000 $60,600 $110,000 (Lot 160)
The Oaks Stud 3 $295,000 $98,333 $150,000 (Lot 215)
Pertab Bloodstock 3 $267,500 $89,167 $200,000 (Lot 192)
Leading Vendors by Average (three or more sold)
Vendor Sold Average Aggregate Top Price
Lyndhurst Farm 7 $197,286 $1,381,000 $320,000 (Lot 201)
Anzac Lodge 4 $123,750 $495,000 $170,000 (Lot 81)
Mana Park 10 $112,250 $1,122,500 $240,000 (Lot 155)
Bradbury Park 3 $106,000 $318,000 $150,000 (Lot 218)
The Oaks Stud 3 $98,333 $295,000 $150,000 (Lot 215)
Regal Farm 11 $92,727 $1,020,000 $210,000 (Lot 139)
Diamond Lodge 7 $92,143 $645,000 $270,000 (Lot 167)
Pertab Bloodstock 3 $89,167 $267,500 $200,000 (Lot 192)
Venture Thoroughbreds Ltd 3 $68,333 $205,000 $120,000 (Lot 15)
Kilgravin Lodge 5 $60,600 $303,000 $110,000 (Lot 160)
Leading Sires by Average (three or more sold)
Sire Sold Average Aggregate Top Price
Savabeel 3 $150,000 $450,000 $200,000 (Lot 171)
Mastercraftsman 3 $143,333 $430,000 $220,000 (Lot 63)
Bachelor Duke 5 $109,600 $548,000 $210,000 (Lot 139)
Elusive City 3 $91,667 $275,000 $100,000 (Lot 32, 64)
O'Reilly 6 $87,500 $525,000 $130,000 (Lot 62)
Alamosa 6 $82,500 $495,000 $190,000 (Lot 210)
Keeper 5 $74,000 $370,000 $140,000 (Lot 29)
Darci Brahma 3 $63,333 $190,000 $100,000 (Lot 49)
Guillotine 5 $52,000 $260,000 $95,000 (Lot 193)
Mr. Nancho 3 $36,167 $108,500 $40,000 (Lot 38)