Andrew Seabrook is not promising a repeat of last year’s perfect storm that led to a record New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale.
But NZB’s long-time managing director remains confident that trade will be brisk with demand from Hong Kong and Australia, in particular, to underpin this year’s two-day sale which starts on Wednesday.
“After last year's sale, I said to myself, ‘geez, I don't know if we can ever do that again’. It was incredible, you know, up 45 percent and up $10 million on turnover, so we've got a lot to live up to this year,” Seabrook told The Straight.
“But with the results that we've been having, particularly in Australia in the last few months … with three Group 1-winning milers Antino, Ceowulf and Mr Brightside in the last sort of six weeks has really helped promote the sale.
“It’s good to see so many Australians here and, of course, we've got the Hong Kong buyers who have come back and are hopefully as strong as last year.”
Last year’s sale turned over more than $35 million, which has enabled vendors and traders to reinvest in a better class of horse leading into this year’s edition.
Colts by champion Australian stallion I Am Invincible, particularly Lots 32 and Lot 174, are tipped to prove popular with high-end buyers during the opening session while two-year-olds by Deep Field (Lot 21 and Lot 190) and juveniles by Proisir (Lot 79 and 200) are also expected to feature prominently.
Seabrook believes that is evident around the Karaka complex during inspections this week.
“I think the pinhookers, given the success of last year, went out and spent a little bit more money on their pinhooking investments, so I think across the board, the quality is slightly up and not just in pedigree, but we are also very happy with what we’ve seen,” he said.
“And there's one or two colts there that are going to make serious money.”
One of those could be Kiltannon Stables’ I Am Invincible colt out of the former Chris Waller-trained two-time Group 1-winning Savabeel mare Shillelagh who is already the dam of the stakes-placed Roger James and Robert Wellwood-trained mare Irish Legacy.
Bred by Christopher Grace, who also raced Shillelagh, the colt breezed up in a slick 9.97 seconds at Te Rapa last month.
The only horse to break 10 seconds for the 200-metre gallop, the colt was passed in with a reserve of $420,000 at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale last April.
Kiltannon Stables’ Lorraine Forbes said the colt had thrived since arriving at the Cambridge property earlier this year.
“We thought he would go well, but going sub-10 was pretty special,” Forbes said.
“He's excited us from the minute we broke him in, to be fair. He's always been a lovely horse with an outstanding temperament.
“He's by an outstanding stallion as well, so you can't go wrong, can you?”
Hong Kong bloodstock agent Andy Lo, 29, is one buyer making his first visit to the NZB sale, buoyed by the fact his client won this year’s Hong Kong Derby with Massive Sovereign.
It was another Hong Kong Derby winner in Werther, who won the race in 2016, that caused Lo to become fascinated with horses who have been bred and sold out of New Zealand.
“This is my first time in New Zealand, but I've always had my eyes on New Zealand because it has always been producing good horses. All types of horses, from sprinters to stayers, and one of my favourite horses growing up was Werther,” Lo told The Straight.
“Golden Sixty was also sold here and lately, Ka Ying Rising was a New Zealand-bred horse. New Zealand has always been a place that I've had my eyes on, but I’ve never had the chance to come over here.”
Lo bought Massive Sovereign from Coolmore, which also privately sold Hong Kong’s champion stayer, the Group 1 winner Russian Emperor, and the horse’s Derby win for trainer Dennis Yip and owner Kam Hung Chan has been the catalyst for the agent’s rise in profile.
“Funnily enough, when I was pitching the horse to him (Chan), I said, ‘this horse has a chance at the Derby’ and then he did manage to win it, so it's a thrill,” he said.
“It's one feeling to do something unexpected, but it's another thing doing something that you thought could happen and having it come off.”
The final pre-sale assessment is left with Seabrook.
“We're coming off a huge result last year so I'd be thrilled if we could go close to matching last year's, I really would,” he said.
The NZB Ready to Run Sale will begin at 11am local time on Wednesday.
Staff Writer
