Darryl Sherer
For more than two decades, New Zealand Bloodstock’s Karaka Yearling Sale has been a happy hunting ground for DGR Thoroughbred Services’ Duncan Ramage.
Following the advice of Hall of Fame trainer Bart Cummings, Ramage made his first trip to Karaka in 1994.
“I was indoctrinated by Bart who said Karaka was the place to be to source understated, underestimated horses,” Ramage explained.
It would be great advice, with Ramage sourcing the Group One galloper Catalan Opening upon his Karaka debut.
This selection criteria has more than stood the test of time, with outstanding gallopers to his credit since including champions such as So You Think, Norzita, First Seal, along with Allez Wonder, Roman Emperor, Precedence, Beat The Fade, Kroner and High Cee.
Interestingly, of all the elite gallopers selected, it is Catalan Opening, who occupies the spot of sentimental favourite.
“Catalan Opening was purchased for $80,000 and went on to win the Doncaster, the Chrysler Stakes (now the Cantala Stakes) and was one of the first colonial horses to go up and win the Hong Kong International Bowl,” said Ramage.
“His best win was probably the Hong Kong Bowl, but right up there as his bravest performance would be his third placing to Might & Power in the Caulfield Cup. He wasn’t a mile and a half horse but he was just so brave that day.”
Remarkably, the majority of Ramage’s elite black-type winners have been purchased at prices less than the corresponding sale average.
Ramage has historically purchased exclusively for Bart Cummings (and then the James Cummings stable) and for Dato Tan Chin Nam and regulars, but for the first time in 2018 he will be welcoming new racing partnerships with a variety of Australian trainers.
“With the terrific prize money on offer in Australia for races 2000m and beyond and New Zealand’s ability for produce elite three-year-old milers and classic horses that progress to be Cups and weight-for-age horses, it’s a great time to be getting involved," said Ramage.
“You just have to look at Australasia’s leading prize money earners and you can very clearly see that the majority of these top horses did their racing over a mile and beyond.”
Ramage’s 2018 Karaka mission will see him look to source his usual quota of NZ horses, with attention to detail punctuating every step of the way.
“My aim (as always) is to source the very best athletes possible who possess pedigrees that we know perform at the top level. I’ve already done a lot of homework into what horses DGR Thoroughbreds will target and over the next few days, my vet and I will be inspecting each of these youngsters in terms of who looks the most capable of competing in Australia at the highest level,” he said.
“The horses purchased will then be supervised each step of the way with Ramage attending track work and their spelling farm on a weekly basis.”