Lot 40 the top price of the day – the Tavistock colt purchased for $170,000 by Lyndhurst Farm from Curraghmore’s draft
Trish Dunell
The popularity of the New Zealand thoroughbred was evident on Day One of New Zealand Bloodstock's National Weanling, Broodmare and Mixed Bloodstock Sale.
Massive gains were recorded across the board, the highlight being a 188% increase in the median price to $11,500 from $4000 last year and an 85% increase in the average to $22,709 (up from $12,302). The day one aggregate settled at $2,952,200, up $1,168,450 on last year's opener and this with 15 less horses contributing to the figure.
The strong demand that drove the record figures also saw the clearance rate finish up at 87%.
The progeny of Cambridge Stud stallion Tavistock have been in white-hot form on the racetrack and unsurprisingly his stock were in high demand in the sale ring, accounting for three of the top five lots.
Pinhookers Mark and Shelley Treweek of Lyndhurst Farm went to $170,000 to secure a son of the boom sire.
Catalogued as Lot 40, the attractive bay was sold by Gordon Cunningham's Curraghmore on behalf of breeder Greg Tomlinson and is out of the Volksraad mare Sentura, dam of two stakes performers including the Nigel Blackiston-trained Electric Aura which placed in the Tasmanian Oaks this year.
"I obviously like the fact he's by Tavistock and to top it off he's out of a Volksraad mare, which is the same cross as Volkstok'n'barrell," Mark Treweek said.
"We just fell in love with him as soon as we saw him and thought he was the horse of the sale for us, so we just wanted him."
Treweek indicated the colt would be re-offered as a yearling at Karaka in January.
A short time later a Tavistock colt (Lot 78) from the Viking Ruler mare Times Remembered was knocked down to the bid of bloodstock agent Phill Cataldo for $155,000, seeing off a host of under-bidders including Paul Moroney, Rider Horse and Paul Willetts.
Sold by Brighthill Farm, the colt was bred by the Dowager Duchess of Bedford and is a grandson of her four-time Group One winning mare Snap.
"I bought him for a couple of New Zealand investors and it is more than likely that he will go back through the ring in January," Cataldo said.
The leading buyer was Rider Horse NZ, with principal Mr Lang Lin in attendance at the sale.
Rider Horse NZ purchased a total of 20 weanlings on Day 1, including 16 colts and four fillies.
"I had the plan to buy this volume of horses," Mr Lang said via interpreter Victoria Wang. "We are looking to buy 30 to 40 weanlings at the sale."
"My plan for this weanling sale was to buy some premium weanlings, as well as some more affordable weanlings.
Massive gains were recorded across the board, the highlight being a 188% increase in the median price to $11,500 from $4000 last year and an 85% increase in the average to $22,709 (up from $12,302). The day one aggregate settled at $2,952,200, up $1,168,450 on last year's opener and this with 15 less horses contributing to the figure.
The strong demand that drove the record figures also saw the clearance rate finish up at 87%.
The progeny of Cambridge Stud stallion Tavistock have been in white-hot form on the racetrack and unsurprisingly his stock were in high demand in the sale ring, accounting for three of the top five lots.
Pinhookers Mark and Shelley Treweek of Lyndhurst Farm went to $170,000 to secure a son of the boom sire.
Catalogued as Lot 40, the attractive bay was sold by Gordon Cunningham's Curraghmore on behalf of breeder Greg Tomlinson and is out of the Volksraad mare Sentura, dam of two stakes performers including the Nigel Blackiston-trained Electric Aura which placed in the Tasmanian Oaks this year.
"I obviously like the fact he's by Tavistock and to top it off he's out of a Volksraad mare, which is the same cross as Volkstok'n'barrell," Mark Treweek said.
"We just fell in love with him as soon as we saw him and thought he was the horse of the sale for us, so we just wanted him."
Treweek indicated the colt would be re-offered as a yearling at Karaka in January.
A short time later a Tavistock colt (Lot 78) from the Viking Ruler mare Times Remembered was knocked down to the bid of bloodstock agent Phill Cataldo for $155,000, seeing off a host of under-bidders including Paul Moroney, Rider Horse and Paul Willetts.
Sold by Brighthill Farm, the colt was bred by the Dowager Duchess of Bedford and is a grandson of her four-time Group One winning mare Snap.
"I bought him for a couple of New Zealand investors and it is more than likely that he will go back through the ring in January," Cataldo said.
The leading buyer was Rider Horse NZ, with principal Mr Lang Lin in attendance at the sale.
Rider Horse NZ purchased a total of 20 weanlings on Day 1, including 16 colts and four fillies.
"I had the plan to buy this volume of horses," Mr Lang said via interpreter Victoria Wang. "We are looking to buy 30 to 40 weanlings at the sale."
"My plan for this weanling sale was to buy some premium weanlings, as well as some more affordable weanlings.
Lot 109 is the $130,000 So You Think colt pictured with Rider Horse NZ’s Lang Lin (left) and vendor Gordon Cunningham, of Curraghmore.
Trish Dunell
"I will keep the better pedigreed weanlings here in New Zealand and the remainder will be sent back to China."
Amongst the headline purchases for Rider Horse NZ was an I Am Invincible filly out of the stakes placed Pivotal mare Pipette, purchased for $130,000 from the draft Dan Myers.
Rider Horse NZ also paid $130,000 for a colt by So You Think from the Listed winning Encosta de Lago mare Astounded, purchased from the draft of Curraghmore.
"I would like to offer both the So You Think colt and the I Am Invincible filly for re-sale at Karaka next year, but if they don't make the sale I am happy to race them in New Zealand," Lang said.
"We have a group coming down to New Zealand in the coming weeks and they will be looking to purchase horses to head to China in an aircraft of about 80 horses in July."
Gordon Cunningham's Curraghmore has been the leading vendor at this sale for the past ten years, and the Te Awamutu vendor is once again leading that field.
"It has been a good sale," Cunningham said.
"We expected our horses to sell well. We brought quality horses here and they were well received in advance of the sale and sold accordingly.
"It's very encouraging to see people on the front foot out there trying to buy horses and a universal vote of confidence in the quality of horses we breed."
Hawera breeder Dan Myers also enjoyed a solid day's trade and is currently the second leading vendor of the sale by aggregate.
"I'm very satisfied with the outcome of the whole day," Myers said.
"On balance, some were over and some were under what we hoped they might make but we decided that's the market and we are going to sell them.
"There's a lot of good people here to buy horses and they are the better judges than me."
Myers has supported the sale with his entire crop of foals this year.
"It's something we would strongly re-consider doing again in the future," he said.
NZB Managing Director Andrew Seabrook was thrilled with the day's trade.
"The product we are producing continues to perform in some of the world's toughest racing jurisdictions and the staggering results we have seen here today are not only good for our vendors but good for the industry as a whole," he said. – NZ Racing Desk.
Amongst the headline purchases for Rider Horse NZ was an I Am Invincible filly out of the stakes placed Pivotal mare Pipette, purchased for $130,000 from the draft Dan Myers.
Rider Horse NZ also paid $130,000 for a colt by So You Think from the Listed winning Encosta de Lago mare Astounded, purchased from the draft of Curraghmore.
"I would like to offer both the So You Think colt and the I Am Invincible filly for re-sale at Karaka next year, but if they don't make the sale I am happy to race them in New Zealand," Lang said.
"We have a group coming down to New Zealand in the coming weeks and they will be looking to purchase horses to head to China in an aircraft of about 80 horses in July."
Gordon Cunningham's Curraghmore has been the leading vendor at this sale for the past ten years, and the Te Awamutu vendor is once again leading that field.
"It has been a good sale," Cunningham said.
"We expected our horses to sell well. We brought quality horses here and they were well received in advance of the sale and sold accordingly.
"It's very encouraging to see people on the front foot out there trying to buy horses and a universal vote of confidence in the quality of horses we breed."
Hawera breeder Dan Myers also enjoyed a solid day's trade and is currently the second leading vendor of the sale by aggregate.
"I'm very satisfied with the outcome of the whole day," Myers said.
"On balance, some were over and some were under what we hoped they might make but we decided that's the market and we are going to sell them.
"There's a lot of good people here to buy horses and they are the better judges than me."
Myers has supported the sale with his entire crop of foals this year.
"It's something we would strongly re-consider doing again in the future," he said.
NZB Managing Director Andrew Seabrook was thrilled with the day's trade.
"The product we are producing continues to perform in some of the world's toughest racing jurisdictions and the staggering results we have seen here today are not only good for our vendors but good for the industry as a whole," he said. – NZ Racing Desk.
