Strong Sire Selection at NZB Weanling Sale

The 2012 Weanling selection at New Zealand Bloodstock's upcoming Weanling & Broodmare Sale (7-9 May) is set to offer buyers 350 young thoroughbreds by a strong line-up of 75 stallions from around the world, 15 of which will be represented by their first southern hemisphere progeny at Karaka.

Weanlings from this session averaged just over NZ$13,000 in 2011, and pinhooking from this Sale to the yearling sales a few months later has become lucrative business for some.

Gordon Cunningham's Curraghmore Stud was the source of one of the pinhooking highlights at the 2012 Karaka Yearling Sales. Curraghmore offered the Savabeel colt from Primera Dama at last year's May Sale where he was purchased for $90,000. The colt was then offered at this year's Karaka Premier Sale where he fetched $240,000 to the bid of Spicer Thoroughbreds.

The leading vendor for the sixth consecutive year at last year's Weanling session, Curraghmore Stud has had outstanding success with weanlings selling the likes of Group 1 winner Sousa (Galileo). The stud is represented again this year with another strong draft of 28 weanlings.

Bruce and Maureen Harvey's Ascot Farm were also in on the pinhooking action purchasing a Savabeel colt from Haunui Farm for $42,500 at last year's May Sale and selling him to DGR Thoroughbreds for $270,000 at the Premier Sale eight months later.

Group 1 winning mare Veloce Bella will have a full sister in the Weanling session.

Of the 75 individual sires represented at this year's session, New Zealand based stallions feature prominently.

The progeny of kiwi sires was highly prized by Australian buyers at Karaka 2012 with nearly 80% of all 293 purchases destined for Australia being by sires on the New Zealand roster in the 2009 season. This demand was fuelled by both the achievements on the international stage and the current exchange rate which continues to present exceptional value.

The 2012 Weanling session will offer progeny by New Zealand's leading sires including O'Reilly, the sire of eight stakes winners this season in New Zealand and Australia, including his third Derby winner Silent Achiever.

New Zealand's reigning champion sire Thorn Park is represented in the session and is having another fine season courtesy of his multiple Group 1 winning sons Jimmy Choux and Veyron. Thorn Park is also the sire of the smart three-year-old Ocean Park who ran the toughest of seconds in the Group 1 Rosehill Guineas.

New Zealand's sire ranks are bustling with vitality as a number of younger stallions are stepping up and making impressive starts to their stud careers.

A leading performer in this category, the inform Savabeel saw his son Sangster become his second Group 1 winner this season when claiming the VRC Derby. The Cox Plate winner has sired 15 stakes winners thus far and has begun his stud career in much the same manner as his sire Zabeel who had produced 18 stakes winners at the same stage of his career.

Also turning heads at stud, Darci Brahma sired his first Group 1 winner this season with Artistic winning the New Zealand Oaks and he has three very smart three-year-olds heading to Queensland in Nashville, Group 3 winner Malandrino and Artistic. Falkirk has also been making a name for himself courtesy of his sons Fay Fay who won the HK-1 Hong Kong Derby and dual Group winner Durham Town.

Curraghmore Stud's Iffraaj filly, a half-sister to the dual Group 1 winner Booming.

These promising young sires are all represented in the Weanling session as well as Any Suggestion, Elusive City, Nadeem, Perfectly Ready, Snippetson and Snitzel. Some of the highlights include:

• Lot 52, the half-sister by Iffraaj to the dual Group 1 winner Booming (Don Eduardo).
• Lot 68, the filly by Starcraft from the stakes winning Redoute's Choice mare Cabazon.
• Lot 229, the Fast 'n' Famous filly from the Group 1 Australian Oaks winning mare On Air (Mi Preferido).

With weanlings also on offer by the likes of Group 1 producing sires High Chaparral, Keeper, Pentire, Pins and Volksraad, some of the highlights in the session include:

• Lot 12, the sister to the Group 1 winner Veloce Bella (Volksraad).
• Lot 71, the Pins colt from the Group 1 winning Canny Lad mare Cannsea,dam of the stakes placed Weighted (Encosta de Lago).
• Weanlings by leading Australian sires Encosta de Lago and High Chaparral including the colt from Soelin (Stravinsky) which will be offered in Northfields Stud's Unreserved Deplenishing Sale.

The first crop of any young stallion is always eagerly awaited and the session will give buyers the opportunity to purchase the progeny of 15 freshman sires from around the world, many of which have themselves succeeded at the highest level.

Included in the star-studded list is the four time Group 1 winner Mastercraftsman (Danehill Dancer) who stands at Windsor Park Stud, an operation that has registered outstanding success with shuttle sires including Montjeu and High Chaparral.

Mastercraftsman has a strong draft in the Weanling session headlined by the half-sister to the dual Group 1 winning sprinter and now sire Tavistock.

A dual Group 1 winner at two, Mastercraftsman took his Group 1 winning tally to four as a three-year-old with victories including the highly prestigious Group 1 Royal Ascot St James's Palace Stakes (1600m), won by the world champion Frankel in 2011. The son of Danehill Dancer has 11 weanlings on offer in the May Sale, five of which are from stakes winning mares and/or siblings to stakes winners including:

• Lot 103, the half-sister to the stakes winner Roxon (Postponed) from the Group 3 winning mare Delightful (Omnicorp).
• Lot 350, the half-sister to the dual Group 1 winner and young sire Tavistock (Montjeu).

Also included in the appealing line-up is Road to Rock (Encosta de Lago) who stands at Wellfield Lodge. A stakes winner at ages three, four and five, Road to Rock was one of the standout performers at the 2010 Sydney carnival winning the Group 1 George Main Stakes and Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes. He has 19 weanlings in the May Sale including:

• Colts from the stakes winning mares Hanabananah (King Charlemagne) and Superjet (Jetball).

The other freshman sires represented include Battle Paint, Buffalo Man, Duporth, Globetrotter, Nom du Jeu, Raise The Flag, Roc de Cambes, Sufficient, Tavistock and Thewayyouare, including:

• Colts by Swiss Ace from the Group 1 winning mare Winning Wave (Crested Wave) and a half-brother to the stakes winner One Swanstonstreet (Sandtrap).
• Lot 285, the filly by Red Giant from the Group 2 winning mare Sarajay (Danasinga).
• Lot 341, the colt by the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap winner Wanted from the two-year-old stakes winning More Than Ready mare Tinsel Time.

To view the sire index for the Weanling session, click here.

New Zealand Bloodstock's National Weanling, Broodmare & Mixed Bloodstock Sale will be held at the Karaka sales complex from 7-9 May. The catalogue can be viewed online by clicking here or viewed on the new free iPad sales application which can be downloaded here.