More than ever before, horses bought from the NZB Ready to Run Sale at Karaka will be eligible to compete for significant prize-money within 18 months of their purchase.
The catalogue for the 2025 Ready to Run Sale features 40 two-year-olds who are eligible for the lucrative Karaka Millions Series, which is headed by the $1m TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) and the $1.5m TAB Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m) at Ellerslie every January.
That number has increased from 28 in the catalogue for the 2024 Ready to Run Sale and just 18 in 2023.
Horses eligible for the Karaka Millions Series in the 2025 Ready to Run Sale are denoted on the bottom of their catalogue page with the ‘KM’ logo.
All horses purchased at the 2025 Ready to Run Sale will also be eligible for the 2027 edition of the NZB Kiwi (1500m). With base prize-money of $4m in 2026 and $4.5m in 2027 along with additional bonuses, the slot race is the Southern Hemisphere’s richest three-year-old event and is run on Champions Day at Ellerslie in early March.
Ready to Run Sale graduates made their presence felt in the inaugural NZB Kiwi in March of 2025, with Perfumist (NZ) (El Roca), (Lord) Penman (NZ) (Contributer) and Domain Ace (NZ) (Contributer) all featuring among the high-quality field of 14.
Perfumist, who earned $200,000 with her fifth placing in the NZB Kiwi, was a $190,000 purchase by Bjorn Baker Racing, OTI, Phill Cataldo Bloodstock and Clarke Bloodstock from breeder Westbury Stud’s draft at the 2023 Ready to Run Sale. She has gone on to earn A$588,758 from a 16-start career that has produced six wins and four placings, most recently finishing second in the A$250,000 Group Three Angst Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on October 18. Perfumist is lining up in Saturday’s A$10 million Golden Eagle (1500m) at the same venue.
Lord Penman and Domain Ace both finished outside the placings in the NZB Kiwi, but a $100,000 stake was paid all the way down to 14th and last place.
Lord Penman was passed in at the Ready to Run Sale with an $80,000 reserve, and he has had 11 starts for four wins, four seconds and A$439,164. He was a last-start second placegetter in the A$1m Silver Eagle (1300m) and, like Perfumist, will contest the Golden Eagle this weekend.
Domain Ace was passed in at the Ready to Run Sale with a reserve of $50,000. He has earned $292,610 from an 18-race career that has produced two wins and four placings.
It is also worth noting the two-year-olds catalogued in the upcoming Ready to Run Sale that are eligible for other bonus schemes such as Entain-NZB Insurance Pearl Series (13), BOBS (138), QTIS (5), and VOBIS Silver and/or VOBIS Sires (57).
NZB’s 2025 Ready to Run Sale will take place at the Karaka Sales Centre from 10am (NZT) on Wednesday 12 & Thursday 13 November.
