Karaka Sale Summary 2009

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Karaka Sale Summary 2009

Amid worldwide economic uncertainty the New Zealand Bloodstock Yearling Sales Series has delivered solid results over the course of the past week at Karaka, with decreases across key statistics belying the level of activity seen in the ring throughout the week.

New Zealand Bloodstock Managing Director Petrea Vela says the industry has achieved a solid set of results this year given the circumstances.
"The feeling on site at Karaka over the course of the past week has been one of a genuinely very solid sale and the market here has proven robust in the face of these worldwide economic challenges. Unfortunately we have seen figures down on last year but that was to be expected after the record-breaking sale we had in 2008.

"There was good depth to the buying bench all week, but particularly pleasing was the strength of our local buyers who have shown great confidence in the domestic industry. We thank all our vendors and buyers for their participation this week and wish them the very best of luck with their Karaka yearlings."
In the final analysis, $74,624,700 worth of bloodstock has changed hands over the course of the seven days of selling. This is down 33% on last year's record turnover of $111,148,850, which was up 36% on the previous record set in 2007 of $81,238,200.

A total of 1199 of the 1710 yearlings catalogued were sold over the week, representing an overall clearance rate of 76%, with the largest catalogue at this sale series since 2002.

Buyers

The leading buyer across the entire sales week was New Zealand buyer David Ellis of Te Akau Racing, with 25 yearlings purchased for $5,134,000 across the Premier and Select sessions. Ellis has been the leading New Zealand buyer at this sale now for four years in a row. His purchases included four of the top eight lots of the sale, with a top price of $750,000 paid for the Encosta de Lago colt from Wyndham Special at Lot 327.
In all New Zealand buyers accounted for $32.6 million for over 700 yearlings sold. In addition to David Ellis, also prominent were Roger James, Graeme Sanders, Bruce Wallace, John Wheeler, Dean Hawthorne, Paul Moroney and Alan Sharrock.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club, represented at Karaka by Mark Player, was the next leading buyer of the sale with 25 yearlings purchased for $4,055,000. This spearheaded a total spend by Hong Kong buyers of just over $10.8 million for 103 horses.

In addition to the HKJC, Hong Kong was represented at Karaka by buyers including Willie Leung (10 purchases), Dominic Li (3 purchases), Dan O'Donnell (5 purchases), Danny Shum (3 purchases) and Nancy Wong and Tommy Chung of The Thoroughbred Trader (6 purchases).

The leading Australian based buyer of the sales series was Melbourne trainer Danny O'Brien with 12 yearlings bought for $1,230,000. He was joined at Karaka and on the buyers' tables by fellow Australians including Debbie Price, John Chalmers, Mark Pilkington, John O'Shea, Robert Roulston, Mick Price, John Foote, Anthony Cummings, Bart Cummings and others.
In total, Australian buyers have spent $24.5 million for more than 240 yearlings.

The next largest buying contingent was from Singapore, with 66 yearlings purchased for over $3.6 million. This included purchases by Michael Freedman, Laurie Laxon and Stephen Gray.

Also represented at Karaka over the past week have been buyers from Malaysia, Macau, South Africa, Philippines, United States, England, Ireland, New Caledonia and Japan.

Sires

Following the trend at many Australasian sales in recent seasons, topping the sires tables by average was Redoute's Choice with five of his eight entries sold for $2,980,000 at an average of $596,000. That includes a top price of $700,000 shared by Lot 85 (ex La Sizeranne, bought by Roger James) and Lot 98 (ex Love Connection, bought by David Ellis).

The next leading sire was Encosta de Lago with 11 of 14 entries sold for $4,190,000 at an average of $380,909. This included the top price of the sale, a colt from Giovana (Lot 7) bought by Matamata trainer Lance Noble for $800,000.
Next on the list was New Zealand sire Zabeel, with 25 of his 31 entries sold for $6,085,000 at an average of $243,400. His top price was $510,000 paid for the blueblood colt from Miss Power Bird (Lot 132) bought by David Ellis.

Leading the sires by aggregate Cambridge Stud sire Stravinsky, with 37 lots sold across the three sales sessions for $6,185,000, at an average of $167,162. His top price was $775,000 paid by Dean Hawthorne for the filly from Zabeel mare Diamond Smile (Lot 454).

The leading first season sire by aggregate was Windsor Park Stud's son of Tale of the Cat, Falkirk, who had 26 of 32 entries sell for $1,009,250 at an average of $38,817 and a top price of $160,000 (Lot 183). Leading by average was Oratorio, with six of 10 entries sold for $939,000 at an average of $156,500 and a top price of $375,000 (Lot 129), a half-sister to Karaka Million runner, Katie Lee.

Vendors

For the 28th year in a row it was Sir Patrick Hogan's Cambridge Stud that was the leading vendor by aggregate across the sales series. With 60 of 71 entries sold, Cambridge Stud's $10,617,000 tally included two of the top three lots of the sale. This represented an average of $176,950 for the draft, with a top price of $775,000 for the Stravinsky filly from Diamond Smile purchased by bloodstock agent Dean Hawthorne (Lot 454).

Leading the vendors by average, with a 100% clearance rate, was Pencarrow Stud, with 19 yearlings sold across the Premier session for an average of $257,105. The Stud's top price was the $700,000 Redoute's Choice colt from Love Connection (Lot 98).

ENDS

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