Accolades Flow for NZB Ready to Run Sale Graduates

Graduates of New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready to Run Sale consistently shine brightly on racetracks across Australasia and Asia, and their performances have been recognised with multiple awards in recent seasons.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s sprinting headlines have been dominated by Beat the Clock (Hinchinbrook), the $200,000 purchase at the 2015 Ready to Run Sale who has won four Group One races and earned more than HK$52.8 million in stakes. 

Beat the Clock is now a two-time Hong Kong Champion Sprinter, collecting that accolade for both the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.

Over the last 12 months, he has been joined by a rising star of the Hong Kong ranks, Golden Sixty (Medaglia d’Oro), who was bought for $300,000 from the 2017 Ready to Run Sale.

Golden Sixty has made a massive impression with 12 wins from 13 starts and HK$36 million in stakes, including a rare clean sweep of Hong Kong’s Four-Year-Old Classic Series – the Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m), Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) and the Hong Kong Derby (2000m).

At this year’s Hong Kong Champion Awards, Golden Sixty was named Champion Four-Year-Old and Most Popular Horse of the Year.

The Ready to Run Sale has also produced the last three winners of Hong Kong’s Champion Griffin Award, for horses two or three years of age that have been imported to Hong Kong without previously racing.

The Champion Griffin Award was won by Premiere (NZ) (Dylan Thomas) in 2017-18, followed by Pick Number One (NZ) (Darci Brahma) and Good Luck Friend (NZ) (Swiss Ace) in 2019.

Premiere went on to win a total of seven races from 19 starts, headed by the Group Three Bauhinia Sprint Trophy (1000m), and earned HK$8.85 million in stakes. Between them, Good Luck Friend and Pick Number One have so far recorded nine wins from 19 starts and amassed more than HK$8 million.

Singapore

Superstar Debt Collector (NZ) (Thorn Park), who was a $120,000 purchase at the 2014 Ready to Run Sale, scooped multiple awards during a 12-win Singapore career that earned him more than S$3.4 million in stakes. 

He has been named Singapore’s Horse of the Year, Champion Three-Year-Old, Champion Miler, Most Improved Horse and Social Media Horse of the Year.

Mr Clint (NZ) (Power) was a $95,000 purchase from the 2016 Ready to Run Sale, and his five wins include the Singapore Guineas (1600m) and Singapore Gold Cup (2000m). He was named Singapore’s Champion Three-Year-Old in 2018 and Champion Stayer in 2019.

$57,500 Ready to Run Sale purchase Countofmontecristo (Echoes of Heaven) has won 10 races and more than S$2.1 million, with five black-type wins. He was Singapore’s Champion Three-Year-Old in 2017.

The same year, the Champion Two-Year-Old Award went to Be Bee (NZ) (Showcasing), who cost $250,000 at the 2016 Ready to Run Sale. Be Bee has earned more than S$680,000 in stakes during his six-win career.

Bahana (NZ) (Elusive City), who was picked up out of the 2013 Select Sale for $80,000 and Ready to Run Sale for $100,000, was Singapore’s Champion Stayer in 2016. He won seven races and more than S$1.27 million, headed by the Singapore Gold Cup (2200m).

New Zealand

The most decorated Ready to Run Sale graduate in New Zealand over the last decade has been Mongolian Khan (Holy Roman Emperor), who was bought for $220,000 from the 2013 Ready to Run Sale. 

The winner of the Group One New Zealand Derby (2400m) and Australian Derby (2400m) as a three-year-old and the Caulfield Cup (2400m) the following spring, Mongolian Khan is a two-time New Zealand Horse of the Year – winning the coveted title for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons. He was the seventh two-time New Zealand Horse of the Year Award winner in its 45-year history.

Mongolian Khan was also New Zealand’s Champion Three-Year-Old in 2014-15, and he was named Champion Stayer for both the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.

Turn Me Loose (NZ) (Iffraaj) was a $52,500 purchase at the 2013 Ready to Run Sale, and he was a Group One winner on both sides of the Tasman in the New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m), Emirates Stakes (1600m) and Futurity Stakes (1400m). He was New Zealand’s Champion Sprinter and Middle-Distance Horse in the 2015-16 season.

International buyers are encouraged to participate via NZB’s new user-friendly online bidding platform. Visit bidonline.nzb.co.nz and ensure you are registered and verified for online bidding 24 hours prior to the Ready to Run Sale.

Follow the steps in NZB’s online bidding guide to register, sign in and bid, available to download here.

While all New Zealand-based buyers and agents are welcome to attend the physical sale in person at Karaka. Registration can be completed as usual on sale says at the Sale Day office, or online here.

New Zealand-based agents are also available to complete inspections on behalf of international buyers during on farm parades and at the Karaka Sales Centre, with phone bidding another welcomed option for buyers.

View the full catalogue and videos online here.