Bittersweet Snitzel result for Cambridge Stud – $850,000 for Group 1-winning mare’s second and final foal at Karaka

A Snitzel colt out of an Oaks winner will do his racing in Australia after a prominent owner of Chris Waller’s paid $850,000 for the Cambridge Stud-bred and sold yearling on the opening day of the New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Sale. 

During an extended 290-lot opening session in which seven yearlings sold for $500,000 or more, Cambridge Stud’s Scott Calder was left “a bit speechless, really” after the session-topping result inside the last hour of the day. 

As NZB celebrates the country’s own 100-year history at the 2026 sale, the sale of the Snitzel colt was also a milestone result for owners Brendan and Jo Lindsay who bought the famed property from Sir Patrick Hogan in 2017.

“He is the only Snitzel colt in the sale I think and he’s out of a Group 1-winning mare but you never really expect that to happen,” Calder said. 

“I think that’s the equal highest result we’ve had at the farm since Sir Brendan and Jo have owned it, so it’s pretty awesome.”

The result, however, was bittersweet as New Zealand Oaks winner Amarelinha died after giving birth to the colt, just her second foal, in 2024.

“Hopefully he’ll go on and give her a bit of a legacy, but it was a huge thrill,” Calder said.

“Often in the ring they teeter away at $250,000 and you think, ‘oh, that might be it’ and then the bidding was just crazy from there, so just very exciting and look hopefully he goes on to be a really good horse for them.”

Waller’s agent Guy Mulcaster was thankful he had the backing of a stable client to bid with so much conviction.

“He’s a beautiful colt by a champion size Snitzel, out of a New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year, Amarelinha,” Mulcaster said. 

“We had a really good client that wanted to buy a good colt today, and he’s hopefully going to buy some good fillies tomorrow, so fingers crossed,” Mulcaster said.

“He was a horse we saw early, and he just stayed in my mind, and we were lucky enough to take the man to see him today, and he behaved really well, and buying off Cambridge Stud, you can’t go wrong.”

Cambridge Stud also sold an Anamoe colt, the fourth foal out of the stakes-placed Savabeel mare Save The Date, for $650,000 to Mulberry Racing’s Mike Gregg whose stable of horses are with Hawkesbury-based Brad Widdup.

The opening session also belonged to Trelawney Stud’s Brent and Cherry Taylor who sold three six-figure descendents of a family they started a quarter of a century ago.

The Taylors have been nurturing the family since 2002 when they paid $160,000 for a Zabeel filly Sayyida who didn’t reach any great heights on the track for trainer Roger James but she did produce Cox Plate-winning stallion Ocean Park and created a black-type dynasty.

Sayyida’s daughter Ruqqaya, the dam of Grunt and Group 2 winner Zayydani, had a Proisir colt sell for $600,000 to Yulong on the first day, then Zayydani had her Wootton Bassett colt sell for $450,000 to trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, Kestrel Throughbreds’ Bruce Slade and syndicator Darby Racing.

Soon after, another daughter of Sayyida, the stakes-placed Addison, had her So You Think filly sell for $250,000 to Victorian trainer Tom Dabernig and Pinhook Bloodstock’s Dave Mee.

Yulong will send the Proisir half-brother to its resident stallion Grunt to Waterhouse and Bott to train.

Waterhouse and Bott’s main agent Slade was one of the vanquished bidders, but once Yulong had won the day, he rushed quickly over to Yulong’s Jun Zhang and Sam Fairgray to ensure the colt would head to Tulloch Lodge.

“Bruce is always on the job,” Fairgray joked. 

“When we looked at him (the colt) we thought he was very similar to Grunt.

“He’s a great moving horse and good physical, so I’m really pleased to be taking him home. 

“He’s a lovely big frame horse and a great mover and you’re going to see he’s just keep improving all the time, so we’ll get him back to Australia and Gai and Adrian will train him.”

The Taylors have invested in fillies, as opposed to broodmares and were thrilled with the result.   

“It’s been a family that’s been particularly good to us, we’ve had a great deal of success, and it all goes back to a mare called Sayyida that Cherry and I bought many years ago when we were just sort of forming our bloodstock partnership together,” Brent Taylor said. 

“She was extremely talented, unfortunately her race career was cut short by injury, so we went on to treat her as a Group 1 mare and bred her accordingly.”

Kevin “Millie” Walls’ KPW Bloodstock, which acts for prominent Australian owners Ron and Judy Wanless, underbid the half-brother to Grunt one lot after going to $675,000 for a Super Seth colt.

He hails from the family of the late Sir Patrick Hogan’s champion mare Katie Lee who completed the New Zealand 1000 and 2000 Guineas double in 2009.

Sold by Hallmark Stud, the high-priced colt is the second foal out of the unraced mare Rozala, whose half-sister Legramor is the dam of Group 3 winner Public Attention, now domiciled in Hong Kong.

“We actually bought the half-brother to this colt last year (by Hello Youmzain for $100,000). He’s won a jumpout for us and I know he goes pretty well,” Mills said.

“I thought this was just an outstanding colt, one of the best-moving colts on the complex. Ron wanted to keep putting his hand up. I said no, but he kept on going.”

Monday’s second day starts at 10am NZDT.

Sale statistics – Day 1

Catalogued  290 (250)

Offered 270 (223)

Sold 206 (163)

Clearance 76% (73%)

Aggregate $38,137,500 ($26,665,000)

Average $185,133 ($163,589)

Median $140,000 ($120,000)

Top Lot $850,000 ($725,000)

*2025 in brackets