Buyers stepped up a gear to compete for yearlings on Day 2 of the NZB Premier Sale at Karaka on Tuesday.
The headline act arrived when Cambridge Stud’s Fastnet Rock – Nureyev’s Girl colt paraded as Lot 353. The dam has already foaled G1 winning mare King’s Rose (Redoute’s Choice) and her yearling was knocked down to David Ellis for $1,750,000.
Sir Patrick Hogan predicted the colt would be the star of the show before selling started at Karaka and he wasn’t disappointed after a heated bidding duel between Ellis and Coolmore Stud.
“I did expect a high price for this colt but I wanted to secure him for the New Zealand racing and breeding industry,” Ellis said. “It’s essential we retain horses like this in New Zealand. He is an outstanding individual and the fact that he’s by such a great sire out of a Nureyev mare gives him the potential to win Group 1 races.
Ellis bought under the Te Akau Stud banner and led the Premier Sale with 27 yearlings at an average of $231,944. He has been the leading New Zealand buyer at Karaka for the last seven years.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club was next best with 12 yearlings for $2.65 million. Top priced were the colts by Encosta de Lago (Lot 66) and Thorn Park (Lot 432) for $350,000.
Particularly active among the Australian buying bench were Gai Waterhouse & James Harron, John Chalmers, Bart Cummings, Duncan Ramage, Hawkes Racing, John O’Shea, Mark Kavanagh and Segenhoe Thoroughbreds. The total Australian spend was $26.6m.
For the 31st year in a row Sir Patrick Hogan’s Cambridge Stud was the leading vendor by aggregate, with 43 yearlings sold for $10.82 million at an average of $251, 628.
At the conclusion of the two-day Premier Sale, 350 yearlings sold for $54.13 million. The average was down 12% to $154,677. The clearance dipped 5 points to 74%. The median for the two-day session dropped $20,000 to $120,000.
New Zealand Bloodstock Co-Managing Director Petrea Vela said the company was very pleased to see the market strengthen on Day 2. “It’s disappointing not to have been able to get the clearance rate up a bit higher but hopefully over the course of the next couple of days there’ll be more sales completed from this session.”
Karaka will commence the first day of the three-day Select Sale – Lots 517 to 725 – on Wednesday.