NZ Bloodstock National Weanling Sale Bouyant

Buoyant Results at the 2007 New Zealand Bloodstock National Weanling Sale

A busy day of selling at Karaka today saw 188 of the 252 lots on offer sell for $2,335,150 with an average of $12,421 and a pleasing 85% clearance rate.

The results reflected improvements on last year's Sale right across the board, with the average up 9% from $11,406, the median up 17% from $6,000, the clearance rate up from 84%, and turnover up from $2,304,000 with 14 fewer horses sold this year.

Marketing Manager Petrea Vela confirmed it was buoyant trade throughout the day. "We are very pleased with the solid day of selling we've had at Karaka today. Good quality horses were consistently commanding good money and combined with the increased median and healthy clearance rate has meant a very successful result for the industry."

The Sale got off to a flying start with three of the top lots of the day coming in the first half hour. Topping the sale at $115,000 was the Elusive City colt out of Zabelette at Lot 11, a half-brother to last season's Group 1 Brisbane Cup winner Art Success (Pentire). Offered by Curraghmore Stud, the colt was purchased by New Zealand Bloodstock as agent.

Just a few lots later was the second highest price of the day, with Lot 17 fetching $75,000. The colt, also from the Curraghmore Stud draft, is by Danehill's dual Group 1 winning son in Spartacus whose oldest New Zealand-bred crop are just yearlings. Out of Zabeel mare Alpine, the colt is a half-brother to stakeswinner Vercors (Catbird) and current performer Huluava (Pins).

The first season sires making their sale ring debut included:
Savabeel with a top price of $57,500 (Lot 131 ex La Charea), One Cool Cat with a top price of $55,000 (Lot 219 ex Splash of Beauty), Johar with a top price of $44,000 (Lot 239 ex There's No Doubt), King's Chapel with a top price of $41,000 (Lot 8 ex Wychwood Lass), Handsome Ransom with a top price of $36,000 (Lot 180 ex Panache), Scaredee Cat with a top price of $12,500 (Lot 77 ex Entrechat Douze) and Hawkeye with a top price of $8,000 (Lot 105 ex Hayizah).

A large crowd of predominantly domestic buyers competed hotly for the wide selection on offer with Joe Barnes's J & I Bloodstock Ltd the leading individual buyer of the day with five weanlings bought for $147,000. He paid a top price of $60,000 for Lot 46, a Pins colt out of unraced Centaine mare, Centaine Gu Li.

The leading vendor for the second year in a row was Gordon Cunningham's Curraghmore Stud which sold 17 weanlings for an aggregate of $495,900 and an average of $29,171, in addition to laying claim to the top two lots of the Sale.

Gordon Cunningham was delighted the day's results. "It was a strong market today from top to bottom and the prices reflected that across the board. The level of interest was certainly up on last year which is an expression of confidence in our yearling market and another encouraging step for the industry."

This is just the second year that the weanlings have been offered at a dedicated Sale with New Zealand Bloodstock's National Broodmare & Mixed Bloodstock Sale now conducted in July. Entry forms for this Sale are now available from New Zealand Bloodstock, with entries closing on Friday 25 May.

Tomorrow Karaka will play host to the Bloomsbury Stud NZ Dispersal Sale, with broodmares, weanlings, yearlings and racehorses offered from 1pm.

ends

© Scoop Media