KEY POINTS:
Champion trainer Geoff Small says he won't have any bias toward his former pacing hero Elsu when the great horse makes his debut as a sire at Karaka today.
But that won't stop Small going home with a few of his progeny.
Elsu is the new kid on the block at the Australasian Classic Yearling Sale, which kicks off four days of standardbred sales today, with three more to follow at Christchurch.
Close to 200 yearlings will go under the hammer today and while Christian Cullen will be the star sire represented, remarkably, Elsu has more yearlings on offer.
With Christian Cullen having paved the way for domestic stallions to be more readily accepted by yearling buyers, Elsu's stock will attract a lot of attention today.
And that is deserved, says Small, who not only trained Elsu but is rated the best judge of yearlings in the training ranks.
"I like his yearlings, and I say that without any bias," said the hard-nosed Small. "I have seen a lot of them, because, after all, there are a lot of them in the sale, and he has left some really nice types.
"A lot of them are quite strong too, which is important because our young horses are racing harder now.
"I am going to the sale deliberately not to be biased to his stock and treat each yearling on its merits but I will be buying a couple of Elsus for sure.
"Often that is when you get bargains for sires, when they have their first crops as the sales. Just look at the first Christian Cullen crop, they went for a fraction of what they would today."
Elsu retired as New Zealand's richest-ever pacer. Among the Elsus who will attract attention is a half-sister to last season's champion filly in Susie Maguire.
While Elsu will have a strong debut, most of the top lots today will be by Christian Cullen, who has become a sales phenomenon.
One of his standouts will be Mervynstar, Lot 180, a colt out of former speedy mare Star Of The Ball.
A big, good-looking type from a fast maternal line he is the ideal yearling to fetch big money, especially as he comes late in the day when prices can be 20 per cent higher than they were a few hours earlier.
While the Karaka sale is usually more elite than its Christchurch rival the $30,000 average of last season looks certain to slide a little.
With more yearlings at Karaka today than last season and 500 still to be sold at Christchurch later in the week buyers may be reluctant to go charging in.
The sale starts at 10.30am and will be shown live on SkySport3.
POOR TIMING COSTS BREEDERS
At first glance, Lot 35 at Karaka has sales topper written all over him.
But when you look just above the breeding of the Bettors Delight-Chaangerr colt you will see why he will fetch only realistic money today.
Right above his name, Bettor Change, is his birth date: January 1, 2007. Which means the half-brother to Changeover is Northern Hemisphere Time bred. And that could cost his owners $50,000.
Being by champion US sire Bettors Delight out of Chaangerr, the dam of pacing freak Changeover, Bettor Change should have been today's most sought-after lot.
But because he was born later than many of his fellow yearlings he is smaller - he is only 13 months old.
"We didn't plan for him to be Northern Hemisphere Time bred, it just turned out that way," says co-vendor Rob Carr.
