Karaka

A son of Snitzel brought a session-topping NZ850,000 (€428,111) from Guy Mulcaster bidding alongside trainer Chris Waller to top the first session of the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale at Karaka on Sunday. "He is a beautiful colt by champion sire Snitzel, out of a New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year, Amarelinha [Savabeel]," Mulcaster told TTR AusNZ of lot 265, which was consigned by Cambridge Stud. "I had a really good client that wanted to buy a good, good colt today and he's hopefully going to buy some...

Few bloodstock agents manage to rack up the miles that Ed Stapleton puts in on a yearly basis. That's ironic, because if it wasn't for being stopped in his tracks during the Covid-19 pandemic back in 2020, Stapleton may never have made a go of it in both hemispheres.  Now, Stapleton spends six months of the year in the southern hemisphere, where he is already up and running for 2026 after striking at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. Attention turns to the National Yearling Sale at Karaka, which...

by Renee Geelen/Kit Gow/TTR AusNZ Buyers remained hungry for top quality fillies on Day 3 of the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale, with Rich Hill Stud's Proisir (Aus) delivering the two top priced lots on the day. Curraghmore continued their super sale, providing two of the most sought after yearlings in the session on behalf of Nearco Stud.   Lot 564 - Proisir (Aus) x Donna Marie (NZ) (Don Eduardo {NZ}), filly, NZ$1,100,000 The full-sister to champion middle-distance horse Prowess (NZ) (Proisir {Aus}) was always going to command attention...

by Renee Geelen/Tom Baddock/TTR AusNZ The spotlight on Day 2 at Karaka 2025 was firmly on lot 345, a magnificent filly by champion sire Savabeel (Aus). As a full-sister to star mare Orchestral (NZ), she captured the attention of all the big hitters and ultimately fetched a jaw-dropping NZ$2.4 million, breaking the record for the highest-priced filly in the history of the sale. Lot 345 - Savabeel (Aus) x Symphonic (NZ) (O'Reilly {NZ}), filly, NZ$2,400,000 After an intense bidding war, Guy Mulcaster and Chris Waller were compelled to stretch their...

by Renee Geelen/Tom Baddock/TTR AusNZ Wootton Bassett (GB) continued his meteoric rise through the stallion ranks, supplying two of the top five highest priced lots on Day 1 of Karaka 2025, while the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Tom Magnier and Michael Freedman featured prominently on the buyers' list. Lot 6 - Wootton Bassett (GB) x Il Affare (NZ) (Dundeel {NZ}), colt, NZ$725,000 The progeny of Wootton Bassett (GB) continued to be hot property on Day 1 of Karaka 2025, starting out where they left off at the Magic Millions Gold...

A total of 1,088 lots have been catalogued for the 2025 New Zealand Bloodstock (NZB) National Yearling Sale, which is scheduled to take place at Karaka from January 26-30. The catalogue, which is now available to view online, features 661 yearlings in Book 1 and another 427 in Book 2. Previous graduates of the sale include Mr Brightside (NZ) (Bullbars {Aus}), an eight-time Group 1 winner in Australia, in addition to Lucky Sweynesse (NZ) (Sweynesse {Aus}) and Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress {Aus}), both top-class sprinters in Hong Kong. A...

by Alan Carasso Any time you hand the car keys to Joao Moreira, you have a fair bit of confidence that good things are to come. Still, entering Sunday's HK$24-million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) at Sha Tin, there were questions aplenty as to whether Sky Darci (NZ) (Darci Brahma {NZ}), the race's highest-rated galloper, would see out the trip, having underperformed in the two lead-up events. But, one race after bringing up his 100th winner for the season, the 'Magic Man' put a brilliant steer on the Kiwi-bred and...

Breeders and buyers anticipating the upcoming first 2-year-olds by Almanzor (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) in Europe were provided a boost in recent weeks at the sales in Australia and New Zealand, where the triple Group 1 winner's first Southern Hemisphere yearlings were warmly received. After his three yearlings sold at Magic Millions averaged A$506,666 with a top price of A$800,000, Almanzor went on to be leading first-season sire at Karaka Book 1 with 43 sold for an average of NZ$190,698. Almanzor, who is based at his birthplace Haras d'Etreham in...

History tells us that when one darling of the Hong Kong turf fades into the sunlight, almost invariably--though not to be taken for granted--another one appears. Fairy King Prawn (Aus) was the marquee Hong Kong galloper at the turn of the century and it wasn't long after that Silent Witness (Aus) took the jurisdiction by storm, embarking on a 17-race winning streak that included back-to-back runnings of the G1 Hong Kong Sprint in 2003-2004. A Derby win often paves the path to Hong Kong super-stardom, and such was the case...