New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale attracts buyers from far and wide in search of the classic-type horses this country is famous for producing, and a new name joined that list during the Book 1 session at Karaka this week.
Bloodstock agent Craig Ramsay made five purchases for his South African-based client, who was a first-time purchaser at Karaka under the name Betting Entertainment Technologies International Limited. The total spend was $885,000.
“They’ve been bought for an emerging international owner based in South Africa who’s making his first move into New Zealand,” Ramsay said.
“I used to train and breed horses in South Africa myself, and I’ve been friends with this owner for more than 30 years now. We came here hoping to buy six horses for him this week – three colts and three fillies.”
Ramsay’s first purchase was Lot 265, a Savabeel colt from the Trelawney Stud draft that was knocked down for $275,000. The colt is out of the winning Fastnet Rock mare Samoon, who is a half-sister to Gr.1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) winner Shamal Wind.
Six lots later, Ramsay secured a Tivaci filly for $110,000. Offered by Waikato Stud, the filly is out of a winning half-sister to last month’s Gr.3 Bonecrusher Stakes (1400m) winner Sethito.
Another member of the Waikato Stud draft, Lot 382, was bought by Ramsay for $100,000. The colt is by Savabeel out of the well-related Pins mare Vanilla Essence.
Ramsay paid $240,000 for Lot 449 from Riversley Park. The Almanzor colt is out of the Listed Ottawa Stakes (1000m) winner Applegate, who is the dam of six winners from seven foals to race including stakes winners Impendabelle and Cloudy.
Lot 510, a Tivaci filly out of the unraced Savabeel mare Caramel Sundae, was bought for $160,000.
“We didn’t come here looking for early horses, and I doubt any of our purchases will do much racing before they’re three,” Ramsay said. “Having said that, the Tivaci filly we just bought (Lot 510) had a bit more precociousness.
“We bought the Savabeels with the idea of hopefully having Derby and Oaks types horses as three-year-olds. I was drawn to the Tivacis because I thought we might not have to pay quite as much, but they’re bred on very good crosses and we did have to go a bit further to secure them.”
While the yearlings were bought with the intention of taking them to South Africa, logistical challenges may see them begin their careers in New Zealand.
“The plan is to get the horses to South Africa, but the issue is with transport,” Ramsay said. “We’ve tried three different freight companies and haven’t yet been able to come up with any certainty. So that’s something that needs to be worked out.
“In the meantime, I might encourage the owner to leave these horses in New Zealand and have a crack here. Everything is on such a positive note with the racing in this country at the moment. My client races horses in America, the UK and Ireland but not yet in the southern hemisphere apart from South Africa, so this might be an opportunity for him to race somewhere new.” – NZ Racing Desk.
