The 98th National Yearling Sales Series will take place at Karaka from Sunday 28 January to Friday 2 February featuring 682 of New Zealand’s finest yearlings in Book 1 and another 442 in Book 2, so we’re taking a closer look at what buyers can expect in terms of sire talent.
Savabeel is the King of Karaka.
Savabeel remains the big drawcard at Karaka and deservedly so with 57 yearlings all of them in Book 1, while Almanzor (Fr) has more in total with 64, 51 of them in Book 1 and the remainder in Book 2.
Firm favourites with the Australian market, Per Incanto (USA) and Ocean Park are also well represented with 51 and 45 youngsters in Book 1.
The first season sires with the big numbers that Aussie buyers need to get a handle on are Hello Youmzain (Fr) and Circus Maximus (IRE), who have very different profiles in terms of pedigree and performance.
Shuttling from Coolmore to Windsor Park Stud, Circus Maximus (IRE) is a triple Group I winning Champion 3YO Miler by Galileo, while Cambridge Stud shuttler Hello Youmzain (FR) is a dual Group I winning sprinter by Invincible Spirit’s half-brother Kodiac.
Circus Maximus (IRE) is by champion sire Galileo.
Where he stands in France at Haras d’Etreham, Hello Youmzain is priced at €22,500, while Circus Maximus is on the Coolmore roster in Ireland at a fee of €10,000. Both were elite racehorses and have strong female pedigrees, so there will be huge interest in their offspring.
Hell Youmzain (FR) is by champion sire Kodiac, a son of Danehill.
Proisir is the stallion on the rise in New Zealand and he does have 35 yearlings in Book 1, but they were conceived in 2021 when his fee was still at $12,500, so the pedigrees still aren’t quite there in terms of Black Type on the page. His fee rose to $17,500 last year and this year he’s been fully booked at $70,000, so expect Karaka 2026 to be when you see the real blue-blood yearlings by this champion sire take centre stage.
