Chris Waller will train the record-breaking $2.4 million sister to star mare Orchestral after the daughter of champion sire Savabeel created scenes not seen at a New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale for a quarter of a century.
The eye-catching filly’s huge price tag smashes the $1.6 million paid for Prowess’ sister at last year’s sale and her multi-million dollar price also makes her the second most expensive yearling ever sold at Karaka.
That record is held by subsequent ATC Australian Derby winner Don Eduardo - incidentally, the damsire of Prowess whose Proisir sibling will go through the ring on Tuesday - who was sold in 2000 for $3.6 million.
Last season’s Group 1 New Zealand Derby and Vinery Stud Stakes winner, the Roger James and Robert Wellwood-trained Orchestral returned to winning form in Saturday’s Listed Elsdon Park Aotearoa Classic at Ellerslie, a timely reminder to the potency of the family.
And potential buyers were out in droves hoping to purchase a collector’s item filly, but in the end it was Waller, agent Guy Mulcaster and a New Zealand client who will guide the next stage of the valuable yearling’s career after paying the massive sum on day two of the 99th NZB National Yearling Sale.
Minutes after the Savabeel-Symphonic filly was sold on Monday, her co-breeder Sarah Green had tears in her eyes as she tried to comprehend the stunning result.
Tim Rowe
“We were expecting interest, but never at that price. This is a fairytale,” Barneswood Farm’s Green said.
“My dad died when I was six months old and he was a jockey. My stepfather was an owner-trainer and I just kept thinking how proud they would be.
“I never wanted to sell this filly but my husband (Chris) talked me into it, so he is off the hook now.”
New Zealand South Island transport magnate Glenn Ritchie will race the filly, entrusting Sydney’s premier trainer Waller to prepare the blueblood yearling.
Ritchie, who sold his bus company Ritchies Transport in 2021 to a global investment firm, also races the Andrew Carston-trained two-year-old filly Miss Ziggy, a daughter of Brazen Beau who ran third in Saturday’s $1 million Karaka Millions.
Glentree Racing’s Bruce Wilson was the underbidder but big players such as Te Akau’s David Ellis and Yulong’s Zhang Yuesheng are also believed to have bid above $1 million on the Haunui Farm-consigned filly.
It was a welcome relief for Mulcaster to be able to land a signature filly, having been outbid on the $2.3 million sister to Group 1-winning sprinter In Secret at the Magic Millions earlier this month.
“I think over the last 18 months I've been beaten on half a dozen good ones, so let's hope that karma works and we landed on the right horse,” Mulcaster said.
RECORD LOT - $2.4 million 🎥@HaunuiFarm's Lot 345, a full sister to Orchestral, makes $2.2 million at Karaka 2025 to the bid of @cwallerracing / @MulcasterBS, breaking records for the most expensive filly purchased out of Karaka and the highest priced yearling to sell in 25… pic.twitter.com/z82OTfnZQm
— New Zealand Bloodstock (@KarakaChat) January 27, 2025
“I looked at all the well-bred fillies and I thought she was the one that, on type, went with the pedigree, so that was a key point for us.
“Chris loved her from when he saw her and we took the owners here to see her this morning and they looked at her for 30 seconds and went with our judgment.”
The filly’s family also features this season’s New Zealand 2000 Guineas-winning colt Savaglee, and fellow Group 1 winners Daffodil, Aegon and Atishu, another daughter of Savabeel who is trained by Waller.
While reluctant to part with the sought-after filly, having sold Orchestral for $625,000 at Karaka in 2022, Green vowed to retain her weanling sister, the fourth living foal out of the stakes-placed Symphonic.
Tim Rowe
The Barneswood Farm principal bred the filly with her business partner, Dutchman Ger Beemsterboer.
“I always thought when you breed a horse and you sell it you don’t get the same thrill from watching them, but you absolutely do,” Green said.
“It is still like our baby and I am sure Betty, who I named at birth, will still be as exciting.”
Statistics - day one and two
Aggregate $56,495,000 ($58,905,500)
Average $172,768 ($176,893)
Median $120,000 ($140,000)
Clearance 76% (77%)
Catalogued 480 (480)
Sold 327 (333)
Top lot $2.4 million ($1.6 million)
*2024 in brackets
