The National Yearling Sales Series concluded on Sunday with New Zealand Bloodstock's Festival Sale which failed to match last year's impressive gains made from 2015. 2016 saw increases in all areas and despite the clearance rate holding up well this year at 78% and the top price paid improving on recent years, the aggregate fell 22% to NZ$2,332,000. Further to this the average dropped 7.5% to NZ$14,854 and the median fell by 16% to NZ$10,000. New Zealand Bloodstock managing director Andrew Seabrook was far from despondent however and commented, “It was pleasing to see the Sale end up with 78% clearance and to have buyers from Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore stay on. We also have some new initiatives domestically with the likes of the New Zealand Chinese Jockey Club that could grow to be quite considerable contributors to the industry.”
The abovementioned New Zealand Chinese Jockey Club made their presence felt by acquiring the top lot, a colt offered by Hallmark Stud as lot 1132 from the winning O'Reilly (NZ) mare Astrogal (NZ). Knocked down for NZ$90,000 the Super Easy (NZ) colt is destined for the Donna Logan and Chris Gibbs stable. Alan Fu ,CEO of the successful buying group is pleased with how the concept has been received and said, “There's been interest from the local Chinese community to invest in racehorse ownership for some time but the general perception out there was that it's a very expensive sport. We've put a lot into changing that perception, educating people and answering their questions.”
He continued, “Syndication has made racing horses more accessible and our members like the idea, the lifestyle and the community we've created. When we showed the colt to investors today, he was quickly fully syndicated. We hope the Super Easy colt can be a Karaka Million horse and earlier in the sale we also bought into a Power colt with David Ellis.“
Next highest of the day was lot 1212,a colt by Dalghar (Fr) offered by Long Acres Stud and hammered down to Regal Farm for NZ$70,000. Bloodstock agent Paul Moroney had a productive sale, ending up the leading purchaser by spend, signing for four lots for a total of NZ$171,500. The most expensive of the quartet was lot 1288 a filly by Dalghar (Fr) that cost NZ$48,000. Victorian-based trainer Paddy Payne was the most active of the international purchasers with five lots bought for NZ$113,000 including lot 1179 a colt by Shocking (Aus) that sold for NZ$55,000.
The session's leading vendor was Haunui Farm who traded 12 horses in total for NZ$193,000 including a top price of NZ$40,000 for lot 1241, a colt by Iffraaj (GB) that sold to Hong Kong-based Tartan Meadow Bloodstock. The final result for Karaka 2017 saw a total of NZ$82m traded, down 5% on the previous record breaking edition. The average remained steady at NZ$86,973 versus last year's NZ$88,042. The median dropped to NZ$50,000, NZ$5,000 less than last year's amount while the clearance rate was an encouraging 78%, up from 75% in 2015.
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