NZB’s Ready to Run Sale at Karaka is a story of success breeding success – the world-beating record of its graduates on the racetrack has created more and more demand from the buying bench, leading to an ever-increasing standard of pedigrees appearing in the catalogue.
That trend has continued with the upcoming 2024 edition of the Ready to Run Sale. The pages of its 404-lot catalogue are stacked with quality, comparing very favourably with what the thoroughbred world has come to expect from the elite Book 1 session of the National Yearling Sales Series every January.
No fewer than 43 of the dams represented in the catalogue were themselves successful at black-type level, including six Group One winners. The catalogue also features dozens of siblings to stakes winners.
The Ready to Run Sale catalogue as continued to improve in quality since it went to print, with Lot 372 being a full-brother to Arkansaw Kid (Harry Angel), who scored a sparkling victory in the Group Two Bobbie Lewis Quality (1200m) at Flemington last Saturday.
Also among the cream of this very classy crop are:
- Lot 1: A colt by Deep Field, who has topped the Hong Kong sires’ premiership in all of the last three seasons and had two-year-olds sell for up to $750,000 at this sale last year. This colt is a half-brother to five winners including Samantha (Snitzel), whose four victories included the Listed Fireball Stakes (1100m) at Randwick.
- Lot 32: A well-related colt by I Am Invincible out of the Group One winner (La) Luna Rossa (NZ) (Written Tycoon).
- Australian super-stallion I Am Invincible is also the sire of Lot 53, a filly whose dam Lubiton (Snitzel) won five times up to Group Three level.
- Lot 61: Westbury Stud’s son of American Pharoah and the Snitzel mare Mallyon. The unraced Mallyon is a half-sister to champion stallion Savabeel.
- Lot 62: A gelding by Shalaa out of a half-sister to the great I Am Invincible.
- Lot 94: A gelding by Wootton Bassett out of O’Marilyn (O’Reilly), who won the Group One Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m). O’Marilyn is the dam of three winners including the Group Two Skyline Stakes (1200m) winner O’President (Fastnet Rock).
- Lot 151: A beautifully bred son of Wootton Bassett. This colt is a half-brother to the Australian Group Three winners Eloping (Choisir) and Of The Brave (Starspangledbanner). Eloping is even better known as the dam of Godolphin’s multiple Group One-winning sprinter In Secret (I Am Invincible).
- Lot 156: The only two-year-old in the catalogue by the phenomenal racehorse and sire Frankel. This colt is out of Salsa Bella (Siyouni), who placed at Grade Three level in America.
- Lot 158: A gelding by I Am Invincible out of the Group Two performer Sassy ‘n’ Smart (Smart Missile). This gelding’s full-sister Monte Supreme (I Am Invincible) has won twice in Australia.
- Lot 174: A colt by champion Australian sire I Am Invincible out of the outstanding Savabeel mare Shillelagh (NZ). Shillelagh won eight races including the Group One Cantala Stakes (1600m) and Group One Empire Rose Stakes (1600m).
- Lot 179: By Capitalist out of the Group Two-winning and Group One-placed mare Sister Madly (Redoute’s Choice). Sister Madly is also a half-sister to Hong Kong’s legendary sprinter Silent Witness (El Moxie).
- Lot 185: From the first two-year-old crop of the classy Hanseatic, this colt is a half-brother to the Group One Coolmore Classic (1500m) heroine Krone (Eurozone). Hanseatic is also the sire of Lot 380, who is a half-brother to the Group One Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m) winner Bella Vella (Commands).
- Lot 300: Riversley Park’s So You Think colt is a half-brother to the Group Two Hot Danish Stakes (1400m) winner Reelem In Ruby (Pierro).
- Lot 312: A gelding by gun sire Hellbent out of a half-sister to the dam of triple Group One winner Pride Of Jenni (Pride Of Dubai).
- Lot 327: A colt by Wootton Bassett out of a winning full-sister to the elite racehorse and sire Zoustar (Northern Meteor).
Other notables in the catalogue include:
- Lot 6: This colt by U S Navy Flag is a half-brother to the multiple Group One winner and successful sire Turn Me Loose (NZ) (Iffraaj).
- Lot 40: Waikato Stud’s gelding by Ocean Park (NZ) out of Legs (NZ) (Pins). Legs herself won five races including the Group One New Zealand Oaks (2400m) and Kelt Capital Stakes (2040m), while her seven foals to race have all been winners and include Listed winner Wolfwhistle (NZ) (O’Reilly) and the Group Two-placed Scrutinize (NZ) (Savabeel).
- Lot 80: This colt by All Too Hard is a full-brother to the Singapore Derby (2000m) winner Hard Too Think (All Too Hard).
- Lot 81: The only two-year-old in the catalogue by Zed, who sadly died at Grangewilliam Stud this spring. This colt is closely related to Zed’s legendary daughter Verry Elleegant (NZ).
- Lot 136: An Almanzor colt out of Rare Delight, a well-credentialled mare by Redoute’s Choice. Herself the dam of five winners including Group Two performer Saint Alice (So You Think), Rare Delight is a half-sister to the dam of Group One winner Booker (Written Tycoon) and Group Two performer and sire Banquo (Written Tycoon).
- Lot 202: A filly by Ocean Park (NZ) out of the multiple Group One placegetter Strada Cavallo (NZ) (Alamosa). This filly is a full-sister to the highly promising Sydney-based three-year-old Powers Of Opal (NZ) (Ocean Park).
- Lots 317 and 318: Sons of Group One-winning mares Charmont (High Chaparral) and Chenille (NZ) (Pentire) respectively.
More than two dozen of the two-year-olds in the 2024 Ready to Run Sale catalogue are eligible for the lucrative Karaka Millions Series, while any horse purchased at this sale can compete in New Zealand’s brand-new $3.5m race, the NZB Kiwi (1500m). The three-year-old showpiece will be run at Ellerslie every March.
The 2024 edition of the Ready to Run Sale will take place at the Karaka Sales Centre from 11am (NZT) on 20 & 21 November, with Breeze Ups to be held at Te Rapa Racecourse on 21 & 22 October.
