Select Sale on Song

It's not just Karaka's Premier Sale that is securing all the spoils, the second session Select Sale is exploding with success to quickly become a leading sale in Australasia in its own right.

Last season alone, the Karaka Select Sale saw nine of its graduates go on to win 13 Group 1 races in New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong. That even rivals the Premier Sale's 10 Group 1 winning graduates for the season.

Saturday's $1 million Group 1 JR & N Berkett Telegraph Handicap (1200m) at Trentham has seen yet another Select Sale graduate win at the highest level with Mufhasa (Pentire x Shella Cheval) proving too strong for a field stacked with local and international talent. The son of Pentire notched up his fourth Group 1 win in the race, taking his stakes earnings to over $2 million. He is the fifth individual Group 1 winning graduate for the Select Sale this season.

The 2009/2010 season also saw some brilliant performances from Select Sale graduates. In Hong Kong, the tough performer Able One (Cape Cross x Gardenia) confirmed himself as one of the leading milers on the Hong Kong circuit, winning his second Group 1 Champions Mile. His racing record also includes the Group 2 Cathay Pacific Jockey Club Mile, the Group 2 Chairman's Trophy and the Group 3 Premier Cup. From his 34 starts he has won on 10 occasions and has earned connections over NZ$4 million in stakes.

In Australia, Monaco Consul (High Chaparral x Argante) was a leading staying three-year-old of the 2009 Australian spring with two Group 1 wins. His first start in Australia saw him take out the Group 1 Spring Championship Stakes, beating last year's winner of the Group 1 WA Ascot Stakes, Gathering.

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�Beauty Flash wins the 2010 Group 1 Hong Kong Mile

He was then given a four week break from the races before stepping out onto the Flemington turf and producing a brilliant performance to blow away his rivals in the Group 1 VRC Derby. He has since been purchased with a view to joining Patinack Farm's growing stallion roster, and will commence his stud duties later this year.

The last two winners of the coveted New Zealand Horse of the Year award have been won by Select Sale graduates, with last season's title going to the triple Group 1 winner Vosne Romanee (Electronic Zone x Madison Avenue). Winner of the Kelt Capital Stakes, the Zabeel Classic and the New Zealand Stakes, Vosne Romanee was also crowned the Champion Middle Distance Performer of the 2009/2010 season.

Tavistock (Montjeu x Upstage) was a star sprinter of the 2009/2010 season winning two Group 1 races.� His first came in the Group 1 Mudgway Stakes, a race with a list of illustrious winners including Miss Potential, Sunline, Seachange, Starcraft and Xcellent. Tavistock beat another quality field home in the race, including the 2008/2009 Horse of the Year and Select Sale graduate, Mufhasa.

His second Group 1 victory came in the Waikato Draught Sprint before he was sent to Australia in search of further black type success. And the son of Montjeu did exactly that, racing over the longer distance of 1600 metres to beat Dao Dao and Vigor in the Group 2 Blamey Stakes at Flemington. Crowned the NZ Champion Sprinter of the 2009/2010 season, he is another graduate of the Select Sale to be given the opportunity to establish himself as a successful sire, standing his first season at the famous Cambridge Stud in 2010.

The success did not end there, the Select Sale saw its second Derby winner of the season when Military Move (Volksraad x All Night Party) outclassed his rivals in the NZ Derby. The Group 1 Telegraph Handicap saw Vonusti (Ustinov x Reasonably) out sprint a strong field for the $1 million prize, and the 2008/2009 Horse of the Year Mufhasa made it a Group 1 sprint double for Select graduates, winning the Otaki-Maori Weight-for Age Classic.

Ekstreme (Ekraar x Cashcade) and Veloce Bella (Volksraad x Wave to Lottie) capped off a strong season winning the Group 1 Captain Cook Stakes and Group 1 Whakanui Stakes respectively.

The 2010/2011 season has seen the Select Sale's success continue with Group 1 winners already registered in NZ, Australia and Hong Kong.

The highly talented Brazilian Pulse (Captain Rio x Sharazad) showed that she has a big future in front of her in Melbourne this spring. Showing her class in the Group 2 Wakeful Stakes over 2000 metres, she was simply too strong for her rivals, taking a big win in the Group 1 VRC Oaks, a brilliant performance from a filly that had only had five previous starts. She has now earned close to A$1 million in stakes and looks to be a force to reckon with coming into the autumn racing.

The international meeting at Sha Tin in December saw Select graduate Beauty Flash (Golan x Wychwood Rose) lead all the way for a well deserved win in the Group 1 Hong Kong Mile. Ridden by the 2010 Melbourne Cup winning jockey Gerald Mosse, the five-year-old put his name next to Able One as one of the leading milers in Hong Kong. The victory adding to his list of top races he has already won including the HK-1 Hong Kong Classic Mile.

Group 1 racing at Ellerslie on Boxing Day 2010 saw the promising Booming (Don Eduardo x Beautiful Sea) emerge from the pack with a big turn-of-foot to win the Group 1 Zabeel Classic. Running second in last year's Auckland Cup, and third in the JRA Cup in Australia behind last season's Group 1 Metropolitan Stakes winner Herculian Prince (NZ), Booming holds a nomination for the 2011 Auckland Cup and looks to be a leading contender.

The Karaka Select Sale has 627 yearlings on offer from stallions including High Chaparral, Darci Brahma, Elusive City, Exceed and Excel, O'Reilly, Pentire, Perfectly Ready, Pins, Savabeel, Thorn Park, Volksraad and many more.

The Karaka Select Sale will run from 2-4 February with selling commencing at 11am. To view the catalogue online complete with pedigree updates and photographs & videos of selective lots, please visit www.nzb.co.nz.