Buyers Benefit from Proven Sale

15 April 2019

Written Tycoon weanling Sale-topper returned to Karaka and sold for $475,000.
Hallmark Stud's Written Tycoon colt sold for $475,000 at Karaka 2018.

New Zealand Bloodstock’s Karaka May Sale has played a leading part in the recent successes of Group One winners Yourdeel (NZ) (Dundeel) and Gingernuts (NZ) (Iffraaj). Not only has the Sale been a source of top performers, but also a commonplace for the practice of pinhooking.

Yourdeel and Gingernuts are just a couple of the golden opportunities that have been realised by astute buyers who have made a return on investment, followed by bright futures on the racetrack.

Purchased as relatively low-priced weanlings, many have not only returned as yearlings but also Ready to Run two-year-olds. Yourdeel was a $30,000 weanling that made $100,000 in his second sale ring appearance in Book 1 at Karaka 2018, while Gingernuts sold for $5,000 as a weanling and then $42,500 as a two-year-old at the 2015 Ready to Run Sale.

A similar story can be told at NZB’s recent sales. Hallmark Stud purchased a Written Tycoon colt (Lot 190) out of Dan Myers’ 2018 Karaka May Sale. Outlaying $170,000, the highest priced weanling at the Sale, he returned to Karaka 2019 in eight short months as Lot 100 and fetched $475,000 from the bid of Te Akau Racing’s David Ellis.

Written Tycoon weanling Sale-topper returned to Karaka and sold for $475,000.
Written Tycoon x Into the Groove colt pictured as a weanling.

Other lots that started their journey as weanlings and made a strong return include a selection of Book 1 and Book 2 yearlings:

  • Carlaw Park’s Mongolian Khan colt (Lot 296) was purchased as weanling by Riverrock Farm for $45,000 and sold as a yearling for $200,000 to Chris Waller Racing and Mulcaster Bloodstock
  • Beaufort Downs purchased their So You Think colt (Lot 364) as a weanling for $54,000 and sold him for $200,000 as a yearling to the bid of Ontrack Thoroughbreds
  • Kilgravin Lodge’s Highly Recommended colt (Lot 995) was purchased as a weanling by Barry Donoghue for $25,000 and sold to Bourbon Lane Stable and Marsh Racing as a yearling for $110,000

Young sire Shamexpress provided the biggest return at the 2018 Ready to Run Sale when Hallmark Stud purchased a weanling (Lot 174) from his second crop of foals. Spending $13,000 to secure the colt, he then returned through Kilmore Farm’s Ready to Run draft as Lot 131 where he sold for $225,000 to the bid of Busuttin Racing and Tim Scales.

Proven dual hemisphere sires Iffraaj and Showcasing had weanlings from the Karaka May Sale that also turned into profitable two-year-olds:

  • Ian and Shelly Wright Partnership purchased their Showcasing gelding (Lot 99) as a $5,500 weanling and 18 months down the track they sold him to Singapore’s Cliff Brown Racing for $80,000
  • Regal Farm’s Iffraaj colt (Lot 318) was purchased as a weanling by Shamrock Farm for $10,000 and was knocked down to the bid of active buyer Cliff Brown Racing for $60,000

The weanling session at the 2019 Karaka May Sale on 17 May will showcase 154 quality youngsters, and with an average price of $13,431 to secure a weanling at the Sale last year, there are plenty of opportunities for buyers to pinhook into next year’s Yearling Sale and Ready to Run Sale.

There is representation from the eagerly anticipated first crops of New Zealand sires Tivaci, Turn Me Loose, Vadamos, Tarzino, Preferment, Belardo, Rageese, Vanbrugh, Wrote, Telperion and Puccini as well as Australian sires Flying Artie and Divine Prophet. And also this season’s leading New Zealand sires Pins, Per Incanto, Darci Brahma, Showcasing and Iffraaj to name a few.

Several lots also feature star performers on their pedigree page that were sold through the Karaka sale ring.

The first Lot to enter the ring (Lot 1) is a half-brother to this season’s joint NZB Filly of the Year Series winner and Group Two winner Imelda Mary (NZ) (Ferlax), Lot 136 is a three-quarter brother to Group One-placed filly Belle du Nord (NZ) (Reliable Man) and Lot 138 is a half-sister to multiple stakes winner in Singapore Bobo So Cute (Savabeel).

Collect your catalogue now to research your next pinhooking, breeding, racing and investment ventures. View the catalogue online here, request a printed catalogue online here, or contact reception on +64 9 298 0055 or [email protected].