Cambridge Stud Offers Keys to Eight Carat Family

28 December 2011

Sir Patrick and Lady Justine Hogan's Cambridge Stud presents its stellar yearling selection online today as the first of this year's Karaka vendors to be showcasing video footage of its 2012 yearling draft.

Cambridge Stud, the leading vendor by aggregate at New Zealand Bloodstock's Karaka Yearling Sales for the last 30 years, has the largest draft in the National Yearling Sales Series with 74 yearlings catalogued, 59 of which are in the Karaka Premier Sale.

"The Cambridge Stud draft is well up to the standard we have set in previous years and we have some lovely horses heading to the Sales next year," commented Sir Patrick.

"The 2012 draft is unique as not only will we be offering yearlings by a number of leading sires from New Zealand and Australia, we will be offering all of the horses bred on the stud in 2010 at the 2012 Karaka Yearling Sales.

"In addition to a number of top line colts, there will be some wonderfully bred fillies on offer. Many of these fillies are from the best thoroughbred families in the stud book and present a rare opportunity for buyers to purchase a filly from a highly successful family such as that of Eight Carat."

The home of Australasia's greatest living sire Zabeel (Sir Tristram x Lady Giselle by Nureyev), Cambridge Stud will be offering 18 of the champion sire's 32 Premier Sale entries. 

Zabeel still holds the Australasian record for the highest priced yearling ever sold at auction, the $3.6 million Group 1 winner and sire Don Eduardo, who was purchased from New Zealand Bloodstock's 2000 Karaka Premier Sale. Zabeel's entries in the 2012 Cambridge Stud draft include:

� One of 10 Zabeel yearlings from the highly successful Zabeel/Danehill cross, the filly at Lot 147 is a close relation to Group 1 winners Dizelle and Vengeance of Rain, both by Zabeel.

Lot 237, the filly from the Group 1 Sydney Cup winning mare Honor Babe (Honor Grades). 

The sire of 138 stakes winners - 41 at Group 1 level - and worldwide progeny earnings in excess of $160 million, Zabeel has been for many years one of the feature drawcards of the Karaka Sales.

Also standing at Cambridge Stud, Stravinsky (Nureyev x Fire the Groom by Blushing Groom) has 30 yearlings at Karaka 2012, 13 of which will be offered by Cambridge Stud.

The sire of 68 stakes winners worldwide, Stravinsky boasts a winners to runners ratio of over 70% and has sired Group 1 winners in New Zealand and Australia including the VRC and AJC Oaks winner Serenade Rose, Stradbroke Handicap winner (Mr) Baritone and New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes winner Captivate. Stravinsky's entries in the Cambridge Stud draft include:

Lot 161, the half-brother to Capital Diamond (Lucky Unicorn) who placed in this season's Group 1 New Zealand Bloodstock 1000 Guineas. The colt is from the Zabeel mare Diamond Smile, a daughter of the Group 1 winner and producer Diamond Lover (Sticks and Stones).

Lot 314, the half-sister to the $1.45 million yearling, the Group 1 winner Shower of Roses (Zabeel) from the Group 1 winning mare Marquise (Gold and Ivory), a daughter of Eight Carat.

One of the superstars of the Cambridge Stud draft this year is the three-quarter brother to the Group 1 winner and current Group 1 performer King's Rose (NZ) (Redoute's Choice) by Fastnet Rock at Lot 353. Declared by Sir Patrick as "an outstanding colt", the youngster is one of a number of yearlings in the draft by leading Australian sires, including Commands, Dehere, Exceed and Excel, Flying Spur, Lonhro, More Than Ready, Street Cry and Testa Rossa.

The stud will also offer the High Chaparral filly from Diamond Like (Danehill) at Lot 159. A stakes winning mare, Diamond Like is a daughter of the Group 1 winner Tristalove (Sir Tristram) and produced the colt by Zabeel who topped the 2010 Karaka Sales when purchased by James Bester for $2 million.

To view Cambridge Stud's draft and video clips of the yearlings for the Karaka Premier Sale, click here. For the Karaka Select Sale, click here.