KEY POINTS:
John Thompson knows a certain Pentire-sired colt will attract plenty of attention tomorrow afternoon.
Rich Hill Thoroughbreds will sell a brother to recently retired pin-up performer Xcellent and there has been plenty of interest in the colt.
"He's well put together and I think people are realising that all the stock of Pentire are not particularly tall so that's no longer a factor when people inspect them.
"They're great staying horses and this colt does have big shoes to fill because Xcellent was one of those horses you don't see that often on the racetrack.
"With the strong Australian buying presence here at Karaka this colt has had his share of visitors.
"This sale is very top heavy with colts and I can see the well-bred fillies fetching huge money as the colts make up about two thirds of the premier catalogue."
One bloodstock agent who has inspected the brother to Xcellent on any number of occasions has been Matamata-based Paul Moroney. And if anyone knows anything about selecting and training progeny of Pentire, it's Moroney.
The Matamata agent and trainer selected and purchased Xcellent from the Karaka Sale and is impressed with what he saw in the younger yearling brother.
"He's a nice rangy, well-balanced type of Pentire colt and he's going to attract plenty of bidding when he enters the ring.
"I've talked to the owners of Xcellent and we'll certainly be looking at him and sometimes it's difficult to predict what you end up with when you go to the sales.
"With the current EI [equine influenza] issue in Australia this has to be the most powerful Australian buying bench I've seen attend a yearling sale at Karaka.
"It's brilliant for the vendors and for New Zealand Bloodstock but it'll mean a lot of the Kiwi buyers will struggle to compete in the premier sale. It'll be tough also buying in the select sale as there will be a huge demand for quality yearlings,"
Moroney has been a prolific buyer at New Zealand yearling sales but is the first to admit that he does not chase the million dollar yearlings.
"I think the most I've ever paid for a yearling is $325,000 and our successful recipe, like a lot of other stables, is to buy quality stock in high numbers."
Moroney is certainly a big fan of the stallion Pentire.
Out of the six Pentire-sired yearlings he has purchased, five have become Group performing racehorses.
