Kiwi Sires a Recipe for NZB Ready to Run Sale Success

Much of the NZB Ready to Run Sale’s extraordinary success has been underpinned by the stallions that have stood in New Zealand in recent decades.

Past and present Kiwi-based sires dominate the Ready to Run roll of honour, including five of the six graduates that combined to win 10 Group One races in Australia last season – Antino (NZ) (Redwood), Ceolwulf (NZ) (Tavistock), Feroce (NZ) (Super Seth), Gringotts (NZ) (Per Incanto) and Mr Brightside (NZ) (Bullbars).

Other notable recent successes have come from the likes of Hong Kong’s multiple Group One-winning sprinter Lucky Sweynesse (NZ) (Sweynesse) and New Zealand Derby (2400m) winners Gingernuts (NZ) (Iffraaj), Sharp ‘N’ Smart (NZ) (Redwood) and Asterix (NZ) (Tavistock).

The catalogue for the 2025 edition of the Ready to Run Sale, which will be held at Karaka in November, sees New Zealand sires once again represented in both quantity and quality.

 

SAVABEEL

Waikato Stud’s 10-time champion New Zealand sire Savabeel is best known for the National Yearling Sales Series, where he lures buyers to Karaka from far and wide every January to secure his exceptional progeny like multiple Group One winners Probabeel (NZ), Atishu (NZ), Lucia Valentina (NZ) and Orchestral (NZ).

But many of the mega-sire’s standout performers have also come through the Ready to Run Sale, including Group One-winning graduates Sangster (NZ) and Hall Of Fame (NZ) and the multiple Group Two winner and Group One-placed Brando (NZ).

Savabeel’s multiple Group One-winning daughter Shillelagh (NZ) is the dam of Hostility (I Am Invincible), who sold for a record price of $1.65m at last year’s Ready to Run Sale and was Group One-placed just four months later.

Savabeel’s Ready to Run Sale progeny have been highly sought after in recent years, fetching prices of up to $575,000.

The 2025 catalogue features 11 of his progeny, including:

• Lot 17, whose stakes-performed dam O’Naturelle (NZ) (O’Reilly) is a half-sister to the dam of the Group One winner and recent Group Two Theo Marks Stakes (1300m) placegetter Pier (NZ) (Proisir). Pier will contest Saturday’s Group One Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Randwick.
• Lot 83, the first foal out of the stakes-placed Samiam Seussie (Hinchinbrook).
• Lot 162, whose unraced dam Tiffany’s Rock (NZ) (Fastnet Rock) is a half-sister to four-time Group One winner Silent Achiever (NZ) (O’Reilly).
• Lot 413, whose unraced dam Kimberley Road (Redoute’s Choice) is out of a sister to the dam of European Horse of the Year and stallion prospect St Mark’s Basilica.

 

PROISIR 

The only sire not named Savabeel to finish at the top of the New Zealand premiership in the last decade is Proisir.

The Rich Hill Stud stallion has sired 243 runners from 388 runners, with 23 individual stakes winners including six at Group One level. In his premiership-winning season in 2022-23, his 89 runners in New Zealand produced 47 winners, eight stakes winners, five Group One winners and more than $4m in combined earnings.

Proisir’s standout progeny include trans-Tasman Group One winners Prowess (NZ) and Legarto (NZ), along with fellow elite performers Levante (NZ), Dark Destroyer (NZ) and last Saturday’s Group One Howden Insurance Mile (1600m) hero Waitak (NZ). Group One winner Pier (NZ) is among the leading contenders for this Saturday’s A$1.5m Group One Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Randwick.

Progeny of Proisir sold for up to $650,000 at the Ready to Run Sale last year. He has 13 two-year-olds catalogued for this year’s edition of the sale, including:

• Lot 123, the first foal out of black-type performer Sorrento (NZ) (Iffraaj).
• Lot 192, a filly out of a three-quarter-sister to the Group One Australian Oaks (2400m) winner Rising Romance (NZ) (Ekraar) who placed in another seven Group One races including the Caulfield Cup (2400m).
• Lot 294, whose dam is a winning full-sister to multiple Group One winner and champion sire High Chaparral.

 

PER INCANTO 

A series of outstanding performances by Gringotts (NZ) in Australia in 2024-25 provided the best possible advertisement for the Ready to Run Sale’s offerings of the progeny of Little Avondale Stud stallion Per Incanto.

Gringotts was offered by Kilmore Farm at the 2021 Ready to Run Sale, where he failed to meet his $450,000 reserve. He has now banked more than A$3.6 million from a 22-race career that has produced 10 wins and eight placings.

The Ciaron Maher-trained Gringotts kicked off last season with spring successes in the A$3m The Big Dance (1600m) and A$1m The Gong (1600m), then hit even greater heights in the autumn with a defeat of a quality field in the A$1m Group One George Ryder Stakes (1500m).

Gringotts is one of nine Group One winners by Per Incanto. Four of those have been in Australia – Gringotts, Jimmysstar (NZ), Roch ‘N’ Horse (NZ) and Little Brose. Belclare (NZ), Evaporate (NZ) and Marble Arch (NZ) all won at Group Two level in Australia last season.

Per Incanto has also had significant success in Hong Kong, where he has sired 47 winners from 71 runners.

Per Incanto boasts an overall total of 441 winners from 669 runners, with 33 individual stakes winners. Demand has been strong for his progeny at the Ready to Run Sale, where he has fetched prices as high as $320,000 in recent years.

This year’s catalogue features 13 sons or daughters of Per Incanto, including:

• Lot 348, a full-brother to Group One Levin Classic (1600m) winner Bonham (Per Incanto).
• Lot 214, a half-brother to War Eternal (NZ) (Pierro), who has won five races in Australia and has placed in the Group Three Spring Stakes (1600m) and Group Two Alister Clark Stakes (2040m). He also finished fourth in the Group One Randwick Guineas (1600m).
• Lot 233, the first foal out of an unraced Frankel mare. The second dam is a half-sister to the multiple Group One winner and exciting sire Hello Youmzain.
• Lot 398, whose dam is a half-sister to Group One Toorak Handicap (1600m) winner Allez Wonder (Redoute’s Choice) and three-quarter-sister to the dam of Group One winner and sire Tivaci.

 

SUPER SETH 

There have been few, if any, New Zealand stallions that have got off to a start that compares to Super Seth.

Waikato Stud’s freakish young stallion has sired four Group One winners from his first two crops, and all of them recorded their big-race triumphs between March and June of this year – Feroce (NZ) in the Australian Guineas (1600m), Linebacker (NZ) in the Randwick Guineas (1600m), La Dorada (NZ) in the Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) and Maison Louis (NZ) in the Queensland Derby (2400m).

Super Seth has been credited with a total of 54 winners from 95 runners so far, with seven individual Group and Listed winners. He was unsurprisingly New Zealand’s leading first-season sire in 2023-24 and leading second-season sire in 2024-25.

Super Seth was just starting to catch fire at the time of last year’s Ready to Run Sale, including Group One placings in Australia by Feroce in the Caulfield Guineas (1600m) and Linebacker in the Champagne Stakes (1600m). Buyers began to take notice, and Super Seth’s progeny sold for up to $420,000 and $340,000 at last year’s sale. The $420,000 purchase was Sulek (NZ), who was an impressive maiden winner in Melbourne on Wednesday of this week.

Buyers will have access to 10 progeny of Super Seth at the 2025 Ready to Run Sale, including:

• Lot 271, a half-sister to the exciting up-and-comer Exaggeration (NZ) (Embellish), who won again on August 24 to improve his career record to three wins and a second from four starts.
• Lot 384, a half-brother to triple Group One winner and successful sire Turn Me Loose (NZ).
• Lot 389, whose winning dam Ipso Facto (NZ) (More Than Ready) is a half-sister to the Group winners Zourion (NZ) (Zoustar) and Pearl Of Alsace (NZ) (Tavistock).
• Lots 153 and 400, sons of black-type performers Tessastock (NZ) (Tavistock) and Miss Valencia (NZ) (Ocean Park) respectively.

 

SATONO ALADDIN 

Rich Hill Stud’s Satono Aladdin burst into the spring spotlight last weekend with an impressive Group Two Hawke’s Bay Guineas (1400m) victory by the lightly raced Magic Carpet (NZ), who is now on a path towards next month’s Group One New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton.

That was effectively the second Hawke’s Bay Guineas winner in a row sired by Satono Aladdin, who was also represented by Lantern Way (NZ) in 2023. He had no three-year-olds last season because he missed a year of shuttling during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Altogether, Satono Aladdin has sired 34 winners from 68 runners in New Zealand and 17 from 29 in Australia. His 12 black-type winners are headed by the Group One Australian Oaks (2400m) and New Zealand Oaks (2400m) winner Pennyweka (NZ), along with Group Two Millie Fox Stakes (1300m) winner and Group One Coolmore Classic (1500m) runner-up Firestorm (NZ).

Only seven two-year-olds by Satono Aladdin have previously gone through the ring at the Ready to Run Sale. No fewer than 16 will be offered next month, including:

• Lot 261, a half-brother to this year’s Group One Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) winner War Machine (NZ) (Harry Angel).
• Lot 112, a full-brother to the Group Three Gloaming Stakes (1800m) winner Raf Attack (NZ) (Satono Aladdin).
• Lot 391, a half-brother to six-race winner and Group Three placegetter Tevere (NZ) (Contributer). Their dam Italian Princess (NZ) (Bertolini) won five races up to Listed level.
• Lot 33, a daughter of the multiple stakes winner Pennacchio (NZ) (Align). Herself a winner of eight races, Pennacchio is the dam of seven winners from eight foals to race including Hong Kong Group Three winner Full Of Beauty (Darci Brahma) and black-type performers Il Affare (NZ) (Dundeel) and Clever Man (Dundeel).
• Lot 46, whose dam Postmans Daughter (NZ) (Postponed) won nine races including the Group Two Counties Cup (2100m), Group Three Foxbridge Plate (1200m) and Group Three Taranaki Breeders’ Stakes (1400m). She also placed in three Group One races. Postmans Daughter is the dam of Group Two Eight Carat Classic (1600m) placegetter The High Priestess (NZ) (Reliable Man).

 

ALMANZOR 

Cambridge Stud stallion Almanzor finished third on the New Zealand premiership last season, having sired the winners of two of the three time-honoured Kiwi staying features – Auckland Cup (3200m) winner Trav (NZ) and New Zealand Cup (3200m) winner Mehzebeen (NZ).

His high-class daughter Qali Al Farrasha (NZ) was a placegetter in the Group One New Zealand Oaks (2400m) as a three-year-old and continued to perform at the highest level at four last season, placing in the Group One Thorndon Mile (1600m), Otaki-Maori WFA Classic (1600m) and New Zealand Stakes (2000m).

Almanzor has sired a total of 74 winners from 134 runners in New Zealand and 76 from 160 in Australia. He has been represented by three Group One winners worldwide – Victoria Derby (2500m) winner Manzoice, Sydney Cup (3200m) winner Circle Of Fire, and this year’s top-class French filly Gezora, whose four wins include the Prix De Diane (2100m).

Almanzor has had progeny sell for over $300,000 at each of the last four Ready to Run Sales, headed by a top price of $475,000.

The Ready to Run Sale catalogue features nine juveniles by Almanzor, including:

• Lot 92, the second foal out of dual Group Three winner Secret Allure (NZ) (Zacinto).
• Lot 205, whose dam Zentessa (NZ) (Zed) placed twice at Listed level and has produced the dual Listed-placed Lil Zena (NZ) (U S Navy Flag).
• Lots 62 and 423, who are the progeny of stakes performers Quattro Katie (Zoustar) and Lady Krovanh (Dehere) respectively.

 

HELLO YOUMZAIN 

Freshly crowned New Zealand’s leading first-season sire of 2024-25, Cambridge Stud’s Hello Youmzain has sired 11 winners from his first southern hemisphere crop.

Platinum Diamond (NZ) put together three consecutive Listed wins in the Castletown Stakes (1200m), Ryder Stakes (1200m) and Wanganui Guineas (1200m), while Lucy In The Sky (NZ) captured the Listed Champagne Stakes (1200m). Another of Hello Youmzain’s talented daughters, Remala (NZ), has had one start for a very impressive win at Ellerslie on Boxing Day.

Eight of his two-year-olds will go through the ring during the Ready to Run Sale, including:

• Lot 14, a half-sister to the Group Two Sarten Memorial (1400m) winner Pareanui Bay (NZ) (Lonhro). Their dam Okahu Bay (Flying Spur) won the Group Three South Australia Fillies’ Classic (2500m).
• Lot 76, the second foal out of Group Two-winning mare Robusto (NZ) (Zed).
• Lot 283, who is out of a three-quarter-sister to Melbourne Cup (3200m) winner Efficient (NZ) (Zabeel).

 

SHAMEXPRESS 

Windsor Park Stud’s Shamexpress has been thrust into the international spotlight by his incredible son Ka Ying Rising (NZ).

The reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year has had 16 starts for 14 wins and two seconds, earning more than HK$68m. He currently boasts a 13-race winning streak including the Group One Hong Kong Sprint (1200m), Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m), Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m) and Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m). He has broken track records, he is the world’s highest-rated sprinter, and he is a red-hot favourite for the A$20m The Everest (1200m) in Sydney later this month.

But Shamexpress is no one-trick pony. He has sired a total of 154 winners from 234 runners, with 15 stakes winners including two at Group One level – Ka Ying Rising and Coventina Bay (NZ). He has also enjoyed recent Group Two successes from the likes of Grinzinger Belle (NZ) in Melbourne and Sterling Express (NZ) in New Zealand.

The catalogue for the Ready to Run Sale features four Shamexpress two-year-olds –the progeny of the winning mares Sensibility (NZ) (Savabeel), Wicket Maiden (NZ) (Power), High Tail It (NZ) (High Chaparral) and Kewzero (NZ) (Perfectly Ready).

Other Kiwi stallions heading the Leading Sires tables with progeny in the Sale include Shocking, Belardo, Derryn, Vadamos, Time Test, Turn Me Loose, Swiss Ace, El Roca plus a raft of emerging and first season crops. 

The 2025 edition of the Ready to Run Sale will take place at the Karaka Sales Centre from 10am (NZT) on Wednesday 12 & Thursday 13 November, with Breeze Ups to be held at Te Rapa Racecourse on Monday 13 & Tuesday 14 October.