Strong Trade at Opening Session of Karaka Select Sale

The first day of New Zealand Bloodstock's three-day Select Yearling Sale saw solid trade today at Karaka, with figures that are holding up strongly against last year's results.

The highlight of the day came early in proceedings with the filly by first season sire Iffraaj fetching $290,000 to the bid of New Zealand trainer Roger James. From Trelawney Stud, the filly at Lot 540 is from a family already familiar to James since he trained the mare Sayyida (Zabeel) to win on two occasions.
Iffraaj (by Zafonic) - having broken the record in the northern hemisphere for the number of individual winners by a first season sire - also featured prominently at the Premier Sale as the leading first season sire with 16 yearlings sold for $1,402,500 at an average of $87,656.

The filly at Lot 540 was one of four purchases made by James so far at this Sales Series, which also include the Nadeem colt at Lot 72 of the Premier Sale for $110,000.

The leading buyer of the day has been Willie Leung's Magus Equine with 6 yearlings bought for $630,000, including a top price of $185,000 paid for the colt by Holy Roman Emperor at Lot 658, and the most expensive entry by Excellent Art at Lot 551 for $170,000.

This brings Leung's total purchases at Karaka to nine so far, with three yearlings bought from the Premier Sale including the Shamardal colt at Lot 264 for $250,000.

Leung is very pleased with the selection he has to choose from at this year's Select Sale.

"I am happy to see very nice horses here but also at an available price.

"My most expensive purchase, the Holy Roman Emperor colt, was bought because the family produce very nice horses in Australia and it was a nice type. He might need a bit more time, but I think he will be a good miler, and they are doing very well in Europe, which is why I was prepared to pay a higher, but still reasonable, price.

"I purchased the Excellent Art colt today because I like the stallion and this yearling looks like a precocious type and is just a really, really nice horse.

"Elusive City is popular in Hong Kong which is why I bought two yearlings by him, while Iffraaj is doing very well and is very popular in Europe.

"I'm looking forward to the rest of the Sale and have two or three other horses that I will try for as well."

With 205 lots catalogued for this session, 139 lots have sold for $7,208,000 at an average of $51,856, almost on par with the final Select Sale average last year of $52,346.

After a quiet start to the day, the Sale settled into a solid momentum with the middle market strength seen at the Premier Sale also reflected here by a current median of $44,000, 10% ahead of last year.

NZB Co-Managing Director Petrea Vela says the demand has remained strong for desirable lots.

"Buyers are reporting that the market is still very competitive at this session and quality lots are still tough to buy. A few more local buyers have made their presence felt today which is encouraging, but there are also a number of international buyers who have stayed on from the Premier Sale hoping to find some value. While buyers are being selective in their purchasing, we're hopeful that the quality on offer will encourage some good competition over the next few days."

Day 2 of the three-day Select session commences at 11am tomorrow (Thursday 3 February) with Lots 721 to 940. The Sale will be streamed live on the NZB website. Click here to view Passed Lots from today.

ENDS

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