NZB Ready to Run Sale Shines Once Again in Group 1

There was a sense of d�j� vu at Riccarton Park on Saturday with the impressive victory of Turn Me Loose (NZ) (Iffraaj) in the Group 1 $400,000 SOTHYS 42nd New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m), a graduate of the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale.

Turn Me Loose (NZ) triumphant in the Group 1 SOTHYS New Zealand 2000 Guineas. Photo courtesy of Trish Dunell.

It was the second consecutive year that a graduate of New Zealand Bloodstock�s Ready to Run Sale won the Group 1 three-year-old feature following the win of Atlante (Fastnet Rock) last year. Both horses were trained to victory by the training partnership of Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman. Adding to the nostalgia, Opie Bosson was the winning rider on both horses and recorded his sixth win the race.

Atlante went on to compete at the highest level in Australia and Baker is confident Turn Me Loose can do the same.

�Both horses did come out of the Ready to Run Sale,� he said. �I have no doubt he can compete in Australia � I think he is good enough.

�He is Melbourne-owned but I haven�t discussed his future with his owners yet, I will in the next day or two. He is going out for a spell now though.�

Atlante was one of four Group 1 winners for the Ready to Run Sale last season and one of nine Group 1 wins by Ready to Run graduates in the past three seasons � the only Sale of its kind in Australasia to produce a Group 1 winner in that period.

Purchased at the Ready to Run Sale less than a year ago, Turn Me Loose entered Saturday�s race having won the Group 2 Hawke�s Bay Guineas earlier this season and was an unlucky third placing in his previous race when slipping at the start.

Bosson had Turn Me Loose sitting in second placing early in the 1600m event. The son of Iffraaj found himself in front early in the long Riccarton straight and when Bosson asked him to quicken he did just that. He raced away from the field to win by three-lengths and was eased down at the winning post for an effortless win.

�He ran a nice race,� commented Baker. �He has the attributes of a good horse and it is fair to say he is a promising horse.�

Saturday�s Group 1 victory was Turn Me Loose�s third win from just six starts along with three minor placings. He has earned $321,250 for his owners S Brown, L de Souza, T Hartley, J Lark, D Painter, J Robertson & P Vawdrey.

Todd Hartley purchased Turn Me Loose for $52,500 at the 2013 Ready to Run Sale from Mana Park.

It was a fruitful day for George and Maryanne Simon of Mana Park who bred Turn Me Loose and they are offering a half-brother to Suavito (NZ), winner of the Group 2 Momentum Energy Stakes at Flemington on Saturday, at this year�s Ready to Run Sale.

Turn Me Loose is out of Danehill mare Indomitable, a three-quarter-sister to six-time winner and stakes placed Martial Art (Tiger Hill). His second dam is Kwan (Sadler�s Wells) who is a blood-sister to Group 1 winner Fairy Heights (Fairy King).

Turn Me Loose is the first New Zealand Group 1 winner for his sire Iffraaj, the sire of four Group 1 winners in the Northern Hemisphere. Iffraaj has eight horses entered in next week�s Ready to Run Sale (19 & 20 November).

Breeze Up clips for the Sale can be viewed online and the Ready to Run Handbook is also available for viewing now.

To view the catalogue for the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale, click here. For more sales news and information, visit www.nzb.co.nz.