Above: Lot 155, Westbury Stud's Pierro colt was the top lot on day one after fetching $900,000. Photo / Darryl Sherer
Above: Lot 155, Westbury Stud's Pierro colt was the top lot on day one after fetching $900,000. Photo / Darryl Sherer
NZ Bloodstock thrilled by a fast start to sales, with an $800,000 lot in the first two hours.
Waikato bloodstock agent Garry Carvell went home with the horse he wanted on the first day of New Zealand Bloodstock's National Yearling Sale yesterday.
He went to $900,000 to secure lot 155, the Pierro colt out of Redoute's Choice mare Our Squeezer, from Westbury Stud's draft.
Carvell said the colt's pedigree was particularly enticing, with Our Squeezer being a half-sister to Imposingly, the dam of three-time Group One winner Bonneval and Group winners Lord Arthur, Imposing Lass, Full Of Spirit, and Lady Cumquat.
"He's by a sire who's booming and the cross with Redoute's Choice mares produces plenty of winners and stakes winners.
"He's a lovely horse and they aren't easy to find. When you go through the sales in Australia there were only two or three colts out of Redoute's Choice mares.
"I thought he would go to $800,000 or more."
Carvell said his new owners would take a patient approach with their new acquisition.
"We'll take our time with him and get him broken in and go from there.
"He'll be telling us how good he is and where he goes."
Chris Waller's Sydney stable will be the recipient of one of the other top-priced lots on the day with bloodstock agent Guy Mulcaster outlaying $575,000 to secure Lot 189, a colt by United States Triple Crown winner American Pharoah from the Pencarrow Stud draft.
Mulcaster had been keen to show Waller the athletic colt after inspecting him earlier in the week and got the thumbs up to pursue the colt on behalf of stable clients after Waller was excited by what he saw.
"Chris went and saw him on Saturday morning and he loved him so we were pleased to secure him," Mulcaster said. "He (American Pharoah) is doing a super job as they are doing it on the grass and on the dirt so to have a horse of his calibre standing down here is a real privilege.
"He is leaving super types and you won't see a horse walk like that very often."
The colt is out of Tiger Hill mare Posavina and is a half-brother to five-race winner Podravina while multiple stakes winner Rasa Lila also features in his extended family.
Lot 28, the Showcasing colt out of Don Eduardo mare Khales. Photo / Trish Dunell
●A strong resemblance to Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) winner Jameka led to the first $500,000 sale at Karaka yesterday.
Leading Australian trainer Ciaron Maher was taken aback by the similarities between lot 28, the Showcasing colt out of Don Eduardo mare Khales, and his former star galloper. He was adamant he would secure the half-brother to dual stakes winner Bahana and left racing manager Will Bourne in charge of bidding duties.
"Ciaron got off the plane this morning and said if I don't buy this horse I will lose my job," Bourne quipped. "It was Ciaron's pick of the sale and I still wanted to be employed on Monday.
"We had a look at him on Saturday morning and then we came back that afternoon and he just said that was the horse on the complex that he wants. He said he really reminded him of Jameka. The way she walked was very similar to him and he was taken back by him and loved him."
Maher purchased the colt for $500,000 out of Haunui Farm's draft in partnership with Louis Le Metayer of Astute Bloodstock and both parties were happy with their purchase.
"We have done a bit of business with Astute over the years," Bourne said. "I saw Louis Le Metayer looking at the horse this morning and went over and said instead of us bidding against each other why don't we buy him together."
Le Metayer was impressed by the colt and was delighted to secure a yearling from the final New Zealand crop of former Haunui Farm shuttle stallion Showcasing.
"His service fee has gone up to £50,000," Le Metayer said.
"They are the last ones in New Zealand and the mare has produced a stakes winner, so there's a lot to like."
Racing Minister Winston Peters opens the 94th National Yearling Sales at Karaka yesterday. Photo /Dean Purcell
●Te Akau Racing boss David Ellis had the words of Singapore-based trainer Mark Walker ringing in his ears throughout a spirited bidding war for Lot 79, a Savabeel colt from the Waikato Stud draft on the first day of the sale at Karaka.
Ellis sealed the deal on the precocious youngster with a final offering of $800,000, the exact sum that Walker had advised would be required to secure the colt.
"When we were looking at our notes on this horse this morning my budget was $600,000 but Mark said to me you won't get him for less than $800,000," Ellis said.
"As usual Mark was dead on.
"He's a beautiful colt and interestingly the genetic experts say the genetic cross is as high as you could ever get.
"When you combine that with his athleticism then we think he will be in the race (Karaka Million 2YO) next year. He's a different sort of horse to Probabeel but you could compare him very favourably with Cool Aza Beel," Ellis said.
