A Century of National Yearling Sales Success: Auckland Cup

This weekend’s $600,000 Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Cup (3200m) will be the 151st running of the iconic Ellerslie two-miler, which has been won by dozens of supreme stayers sourced from the National Yearling Sales.

NZB will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Yearling Sales at Karaka next January. That 100-year history has produced no fewer than 27 winners of the Auckland Cup.

In fact, an Auckland Cup winner came out of the very first National Yearling Sale at Trentham in 1926. CONCENTRATE (NZ) (Kilbroney) was bought for 800 guineas by Wellington industrialist R. J. (Bob) Murphy. Concentrate’s top-class career also produced victories in the Wellington Cup (3200m) and the New Zealand St Leger (2800m), and he finished third in the 1931 Melbourne Cup (3200m).

Other notable Auckland Cup-winning National Yearling Sale graduates include:

• The mighty JEZABEEL (NZ) (Zabeel), who remains the only horse to win both the Auckland Cup and the Melbourne Cup. Jezabeel was bought for just $26,000 as a yearling at Karaka in 1994. She won the Auckland Cup in January of 1998, then carried on to Flemington and defeated fellow Karaka graduate Champagne (NZ) (Zabeel) in a heart-stopping finish to the Melbourne Cup the following November. Jezabeel was owned and trained by Brian Jenkins, and she had 26 starts for seven wins, five placings and A$2.024m in stakes.
• PRIZE LADY (NZ) (Prized) scored back-to-back Auckland Cup triumphs in 2007 and 2008. She is one of only eight horses to win the Auckland Cup two years in a row, and she is the only one to do so since Il Tempo (NZ) (Time And Again) in 1969 and 1970. Prize Lady was bought for $13,500 from the 2003 Select Yearling Sale at Karaka. She earned more than $950,000 in stakes, with her Auckland Cup double backed up by a second in the Group One New Zealand Oaks (2400m) and a fourth in the Group One Queensland Oaks (2400m). Prize Lady is the dam of the New Zealand Cup (3200m) winner Dragon Storm (NZ) (Shocking), who was a $55,000 yearling purchase at Karaka in 2016 and later sold for $150,000 at the Ready to Run Sale.
• EXPANSE (NZ) (Bulandshar) was a sale-topping yearling at 1050 guineas in 1942. He won the Great Northern Derby (2400m) at Ellerslie two years later, then added the Auckland Cup in 1945.

  

• Class mare SWANEE (NZ) (Foxbridge), who won the Auckland Cup in 1949, was bought for 800 guineas at the National Yearling Sale. She also placed in the Wellington Cup, Clifford Plate (2000m), Nathans Memorial (2000m) and Rotorua Cup (2200m).
• The 1966 Auckland Cup was won by the prolific stayer APA (NZ) (Gabador), who was bought from the 1960 National Yearling Sale and went on to win 18 races. His other feature-race victories included the Brisbane Cup (3200m) and the Waikato Cup (2400m).
• Cambridge trainer Tony Pike collected two Auckland Cup wins in a three-year period with Karaka-sourced mares Rock Diva (NZ) (Lucky Unicorn) in 2015 and Chenille (NZ) (Pentire) in 2017. Rock Diva cost $200,000 at the 2012 Premier Sale and had 15 starts for three wins, six placings and $442,299 in stakes. She has since had two yearlings go through the Karaka sale ring, selling for $370,000 and $320,000. Chenille was a $55,000 purchase from the 2013 Premier Sale and earned $548,375 from a 27-start career that produced nine wins and eight placings. She has had yearlings sell for $180,000 and $230,000 at Karaka.

THE 2025 AUCKLAND CUP

There are a number of Karaka yearling graduates among the contenders for the 2025 edition of the Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Cup.

• Son Of Sun (NZ) (Tavistock) was offered by Cambridge Stud in Book 1 of Karaka 2021, where he was bought for $65,000. He has had 20 starts for six wins, three placings and $343,245 in stakes. He won the Group Three Queen Elizabeth II Cup (3200m) at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day.
• His Bruce Wallace and Grant Cooksley-trained stablemate Trust In You (NZ) (Sweynesse) was bought for $26,000 from Book 2 of Karaka 2020. He has won four of his 35 starts and more than $378,000, including victory in last year’s edition of the Queen Elizabeth II Cup. He also finished fourth in the Group One Metropolitan Handicap (2400m) at Randwick in October.
• Sword In Stone (NZ) (Redwood) was a $33,000 purchase by his co-trainer Stephen Gray from the 2017 Select Sale. He has earned more than $2.8m from his 44-start career. He finished third in the Group Two Waikato Guineas (2000m) as a three-year-old, then relocated to Hong Kong and was renamed Columbus County. His highly successful Hong Kong career included placings in the Group One Hong Kong Vase (2400m) and Champions & Chater Cup (2400m).
• Khan Hunter (NZ) (Mongolian Khan) was bought for $130,000 from Book 1 of Karaka 2019. He has had 44 starts for six wins, seven placings and $234,340. He finished second in last year’s Queen Elizabeth II Cup and has run fourth and fifth in the last two editions of the Group Two Avondale Cup (2400m).
• Lostcause (NZ) (Sweynesse) was purchased by Phill Cataldo Bloodstock for $11,000 from Book 3 of Karaka 2020. He has earned $66,285 from an 18-start career to date and has been close up in seventh in the Group Three New Zealand Cup (3200m) in November and eighth in last month’s Avondale Cup.