Vendors Put Their Best Foot Forward at NZB’s National Weanling & Broodmare Sale

New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Weanling, Broodmare & Mixed Bloodstock Sale will be in full swing this time next week with 61 vendors presenting drafts of weanlings, yearlings, two-year-olds, unraced stock, racehorses, broodmares and stallion shares.

Gordon Cunningham & Tom Magnier

For the past nine consecutive years Curraghmore Stud has been the leading vendor at the National Weanling Sale. Gordon Cunningham’s operation returns this year with a draft of 15 entries, including 11 weanlings. The draft includes:

• Lot 83 – A colt by freshman sire Rock ‘n’ Pop out of Listed winning mare One Man To Beat (Menifee).
• Lot 101 – A filly by Australian freshman sire Pierro out of a stakes placegetter Prestigious Miss (Written Tycoon), a half-sister to Group 3 winner Cassini (Reset).
• Lot 136 – A colt by Makfi out of dual Group 2 winner Sarajay (Danasinga).
• Lot 330 – A colt by Rock ‘n’ Pop out of Group 2 winning dam Highflying (Entrepreneur) and a half-brother to stakes placegetter Media World (O’Reilly).
• Lot 403 – Dancer’s Tale – a racing and breeding proposition – by Tale of the Cat. Dancer’s Tale is a Listed winner and is from the same family as stakes winners Pussy Willow (O’Reilly) and Pussy O’Reilly (O’Reilly).

The largest draft of the Sale will be presented by Waikato Stud. Of Waikato Stud’s 73 entries 67 of them have been catalogued as part of the Stud’s unreserved deplenishing sale. Horses among their combined drafts include:

• Lot 263 – A filly by O’Reilly out of dual stakes-winning mare Classic Clare (Gold Brose).
• Lot 314 – A colt by Ocean Park and a half-brother to Group 3 winner Crepe De Chine (Pins), Arenti (O’Reilly), winner of the Sgp-1 Lion City Cup, and Listed winner Glam Slam (Pins).
• Lot 191 – A colt by Rock ‘n’ Pop who is a half-brother to Listed winner Raid (Pins).
• Lot 454 – Broodmare Ombre Rose (O’Reilly) is a triple Listed winner and runner-up in the Group 1 New Zealand Stakes. Dam of Singapore stakes placegetter Room for Excuse (No Excuse Needed).
• Lot 518 – Broodmare Aroon (Volksraad) is the dam of Group 3 winner Take The Rap – St Rap (H.K.) and is a half-sister to Listed winner Keano (Pins). Believed to be in foal to Ocean Park.

Home of New Zealand’s leading two-year-old sire Showcasing, local Karaka nursery Haunui Farm is well-represented in the National Weanling Sale with 35 weanlings catalogued, including:

• Lot 100 – A filly by Reset who is out of a half-sister to Group 1 winner Critic.
• Lot 102 – A colt by Showcasing who is out of a half-sister to the dam of Rising Romance (Ekraar), winner of the Group 1 Australian Oaks.
• Lot 133 – A filly by Iffraaj who is out of a three-quarter-sister to winner of the Group 1 Sydney Cup Gallic (Zabeel).

Matamata vendors Bradbury Park have a divided draft of weanlings and broodmares. Amongst their draft are:

• Lot 231 – A colt by Jimmy Choux who is a half-brother to stakes placegetter in New Zealand and Hong Kong Maz Quin – Regency Dragon (H.K.) (D’Cash). A winning half-sister, High Viz, is catalogued in the racehorse division at Lot 409.
• Lot 235 – A colt from the first crop of dual hemisphere Group 1 winner Reliable Man.
• Lot 466 – Broodmare Prodigious (Golan) out of Listed winner Venzuela (Success Express) who is a half-sister to Group 1 winner Baldessarini (Green Perfume) and Listed winner Camacho (Maroof). Believed to be in foal to Super Easy.
• Lot 566 – Broodmare Existential (Henrythenavigator) is out of a three-quarter-sister to Group 1 winner Spartacus (Danehill), HK-1 winner Super Satin (Danehill Dancer), Group 2 winner Johan Cruyff (Danehill) and Group 3 winner Meteor Shower (Danehill Dancer). Believed to be in foal to Road to Rock.

A strong representation of weanlings are represented in Brighthill Farm’s draft, with 16 youngsters followed by six entries for the broodmare session, these include:

• Lot 36 – A colt by Rios out of a Listed winning mare Lookatmelads (College).
• Lot 107 – A filly by Dalghar who is a half-sister to Listed winner Napatap (Patapan).
• Lot 204 – A colt by Azamour who is closely related to dual Group 2 winner Precedence (Zabeel) and upcoming three-year-old sire Tavistock (Montjeu).
• Lot 324 – A colt by Azamour out of a half-sister to Group 1 winner Boundless (Van Nistelrooy).
• Lot 572 – Broodmare Franny (Selkirk) is a full-sister to Group 1 winner Forte Dei Marmi (Selkirk) and Listed winners Savarain (Rainbow Quest) and Wallis (King’s Best). Believed to be in foal to Dalghar.

Owned and operated by the Baker family, Hallmark Stud had a prosperous start to the year after their pinhook success Hardline (Showcasing), whom they purchased at the 2013 National Weanling Sale for $43,000 and re-sold at the 2014 Karaka Select Sale for $130,000, won the 2015 $1m Karaka Million.

Hallmark Stud have a draft of 34 horses entered in next week’s Sale, over half of these are weanlings, including:

• Lot 98 – A colt by Tartan Bearer who is a half-brother to Group 2 winner and winner of the HK-1 Hong Kong Classic Cup Thunder Fantasy (Lucky Owners). This colt is a full-brother to this year’s Karaka Select Sale highest priced yearling who fetched $525,000. His dam, Pink Pier, is also for sale catalogued at Lot 464.
• Lot 171 – A colt by Iffraaj who is out of a full-sister to Group 2 winner Philamor (Generous).
• Lot 276 – A colt by Super Easy who is a half-brother to Group 3 winner Dancing Daggers – Hofmeister (Aust.) and Listed winner Callanish (Fastnet Rock).
• Lot 294 – A filly by Redwood who is the first foal of a daughter of Group 2 winning mare For Love (Omincorp).

Cambridge-based farm Wentwood Grange have enjoyed a stellar run of form with their graduates of late with Kermadec (Teofilo) winning the Group 1 Doncaster Handicap and Gust Of Wind (Darci Brahma) victorious in the Group 1 Australian Oaks.

Wentwood Grange will present 28 lots across the three-day sale, including:

• Lot 87 – A colt by Tavistock out of half-sister to stakes-winner Moss Downs (Tom’s Shu), winner of the Group 1 Easter Handicap.
• Lot 108 – A filly by Keeper who is the daughter of the Group 2 winner Pulcinella (Stravinsky). Her dam is catalogued at Lot 467.
• Lot 211 – A filly by Alamosa out of a half-sister to dual Group 1 winner Jokers Wild (Black Minnaloushe).
• Lot 242 – A filly by Rock ‘n’ Pop out of a half-sister to the winner of the Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes Bel Mer (Bel Esprit) and Sgp-3 winner Ken Arok (Bel Esprit).
• Lot 512 – Broodmare Ace Of Hearts (Van Nistelrooy) is a half-sister to dual Group 1 winner Jokers Wild (Black Minnaloushe) and is from the same family as the recent Group 1 Champions Mile winner in Hong Kong Able Friend (Shamardal). Believed to be in foal to Shamexpress.

Little Avondale Stud has had a fruitful season, headed by Dal Cielo (Per Incanto), the Group 1 Diamond Stakes winner, who was bred and sold by the Stud. The Masterton operation has a selection of 29 weanlings with a further four broodmares that include:

• Lot 10 – A colt by Zed who is a half-brother to Listed winner Monachee (O’Reilly) and stakes placegetter Ciara (O’Reilly).
• Lot 105 – A filly by Darci Brahma out of Listed winner Princess Annaliese (Van Nistelrooy), who is a half-sister to Group 3 winner Gondorff (Montjeu).
• Lot 205 – A colt by Nadeem who is a half-brother to multiple Group 1 winner Viadana (Towkay).

New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Weanling, Broodmare & Mixed Bloodstock commences next Monday on 11 – 13 May with selling beginning at 11am each day.

The weanling session takes place on the first and second day, with the latter part of the second day selling mixed bloodstock. The broodmare session takes place on the third day with stallion shares to conclude the Sale. Entries in the supplementary catalogue will be sold at the end of each session.

Catalogues can be requested from reception@nzb.co.nz or can be viewed online. For further sale information or news at NZB visit www.nzb.co.nz.