Zoustar Filly Tops Karaka Opener

It was a welcoming sight on Day One at New Zealand Bloodstock’s 95th National Yearling Sales Series with a number of active bidders participating online and in person at the Karaka Sales Centre. 

NZB’s Managing Director Andrew Seabrook was cautiously optimistic in the weeks leading into the Sale, with both vendors and buyers remaining positive.

“It was a pleasing start to the week ahead given the current circumstances, and being the first time since Phar Lap was sold that international buyers have not been on the grounds here in New Zealand.”

“It was great to see confidence from the domestic market with a number of trainers, syndicators and buyers coming out strong on the first day.

“Earlier in the week, I had accepted that a ten percent decrease on last year’s average would be a pleasing result, so we are tracking well.

“It was also great to see the amount of participation on our online bidding platform, with 41% of the yearlings offered today receiving online bids,” said Seabrook.

At the conclusion of Day One, leading buyer David Ellis (CNZM) was in high spirits after purchasing 12 lots for a total spend of $2,540,000 including the two top lots for his Te Akau stable.

Ellis was strong off the back of another scintillating DoubleTree by Hilton Karaka Million 2YO (1200m) victory, securing a well-bred Zoustar filly out of Galileo mare Scintillula (Lot 94) from Sir Peter Vela’s Pencarrow Stud draft for $800,000.

Pencarrow Stud Manager Leon Casey commented on the highlight of Day One.

“We were pretty hopeful as she had a good following and it was great to see lots of New Zealand buyers in the ring bidding on her and recognising her value.”

“$800,000 is a lot of money but she was a lovely filly and had a beautiful pedigree, so it really is great value.

“She has a big stamp of the Galileo in her and is very similar to her mother.

“We are excited to see a filly like this go into the Te Akau organisation and watch them do their magic with her,” Casey said.

Ellis also purchased Lot 52, a Written Tycoon colt out of Pussy O’Reilly (NZ) (O’Reilly) for $625,000. The colt was consigned by Woburn Farm on behalf of legendary breeders Sir Patrick and Lady Justine Hogan.

“I think he is a really precocious, well-bred horse by a sire that is absolutely on fire in Australia and I can see him being out in November this year,” commented Ellis.

Renowned New Zealand-based trainer Graeme Rogerson was also active throughout Day One, purchasing seven lots for a total turnover of $1,290,000.

Included in his purchases was a Savabeel colt out of On Broadway (NZ) (Pins) (Lot 5) from Waikato Stud and an Almanzor colt out of Onlyarose (NZ) (One Cool Cat) from Cambridge Stud’s draft (Lot 7).

A spread of domestic and international sires were in demand, with Savabeel, Iffraaj and Pierro all featuring prominently in the early leaderboards.

First season sire Almanzor leads the freshman table with 21 lots sold for an average of $151,429.

View the full results here.

To enquire about Passed Lots contact Regan Donnison on +64 21 512 466 or email regan.donnison@nzb.co.nz or Kane Jones on +64 27 274 4985 or email kane.jones@nzb.co.nz.

Catch the highlights and Lot-by-Lot footage from Day One online.

Selling continues on Day Two of Book 1 tomorrow where a further 190 lots will go through the ring from 1PM (NZT) at Karaka.

Karaka 2021 Book 1 Day One Statistics