Racing: Spotlight on legends at the Karaka sales

Bart Cummings. Photo / NZPA

Two octogenarian legends of the turf are likely to become the centre of attention at next week's 2012 Karaka Yearling Sale, one with an uncanny eye for horseflesh and the other with deep pockets.

For 84-year-old Australian trainer Bart Cummings, it's his annual pilgrimage to a place he calls "horse heaven" where many of his record 12 Melbourne Cup winners have originated.

And for 86-year-old Malaysian business tycoon, Dato Tan Chin Nam, it's a rare visit to a happy hunting ground where his $110,000 investment four years ago in a High Chaparral colt has morphed into a $60 million international stallion prospect called So You Think.

With eight Group 1 victories to his credit and a bankroll of nearly $9 million, So You Think is the poster boy for a slick new marketing campaign by New Zealand Bloodstock. "He's the ultimate ambassador" said NZ Bloodstock managing director of sales and marketing Petrea Vela.

No less than 147 sires are represented among the 1444 yearlings catalogued, but among the myriad blue bloods on offer - from Group 1 mares like Lashed, Legs and Marquise - there'll be no points for guessing the potential sale topper. Lot 284, to be offered by Windsor Park Stud on Tuesday, has been described by stud manager Rodney Schick as "a beast" of a colt. By High Chaparral from La Souvenir - it makes him a three-quarter brother to So You Think.

Australian buyers are again expected to dominate the sale, backed by a powerful currency that provides a 30 per cent discount on everything purchased. However, Vela says the fact Kiwi-breds claimed more than 30 per cent of Australia's Group 1 wins last season speaks for itself.

New Zealand's leading buyer for the past six years won't hear any talk of a recession. David Ellis of Te Akau Racing says he's ready to unleash the same firepower that saw him spend almost $5 million on 33 horses last year. Raising the minimum stake level from $5000 to $7000 from March will be "a big incentive for people to want to buy horses", he says.

Among the vendors, Cambridge Stud is on track to secure its title as leading vendor on aggregate for the 32nd year running.

It seems comments by prominent Australian breeder Gerry Harvey that he's going to "topple me off the list" have touched a nerve for stud master Sir Patrick Hogan.

"Maybe he's made me more determined that he's not going to do that. And I'm happy that goes in print."

The strategy is simple. Rather than retain his top-flight fillies to race privately, Sir Patrick has boldly committed his entire draft of 74 yearlings to Karaka to give buyers rare access to the illustrious Eight Carat family which he says "is the best in the [stud] book".

And while the yearlings will all be groomed to look their best in the sales ring next week, Cummings knows only too well it's not just about appearances. In 1964 he bought what he called two "ugly ducklings" at bargain basement prices. Galilee was pigeon toed and Red Handed had a club foot, a paralysed ear and a head "like a violin case", but they still won Melbourne Cups. Little wonder he's become a legend.