Next month’s NZB Ready to Run Sale will be the third appearance for Taui Johnson’s Apex Bloodstock, whose first two drafts have produced a 100% clearance rate and a black-type graduate.
Apex Bloodstock presented a debut draft of five horses at the 2024 edition of the world’s leading two-year-old sale, selling all of them for a total of $125,000.
At last year’s Ready to Run Sale, Apex Bloodstock again achieved a perfect clearance rate with five horses selling for a significantly increased total of $427,500. Among that draft were two sons of quality stallion The Autumn Sun, which fetched $240,000 and $120,000.
“I’ve had a 100% clearance rate across those two drafts, which I’m pretty proud of,” Johnson said. “It obviously helped having those two The Autumn Suns last year.
“But it’s nice to go up there and become known as a seller, and to actually sell your horses and find homes for all of them. I like to meet the market and see where the horses fit. I’m pretty realistic.”
Apex has had an early flagbearer in Alottago (Tagaloa), who was a $20,000 purchase from the 2024 draft by Canterbury trainer Lance Robinson.
Alottago went on to have 11 starts for two wins, five placings and $110,610 in stakes. He finished second in the Group Three Barneswood Farm Stakes (1400m), third in the Group Two Wellington Guineas (1600m), Listed Welcome Stakes (1000m) and Listed Champagne Stakes (1200m), and seventh in the Group One New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m). He has since relocated to Hong Kong.
“For him to go on and do what he did, and then end up in Hong Kong, is a pretty massive achievement,” Johnson said.
“I paid A$8000 for him as a yearling in Australia, so it all came from a pretty modest purchase price. I bought him as a Ready to Run Sale horse, and to be fair, I thought he might have made a bit more than $20,000. I knew he had the goods when I sent him to the Breeze-Ups.
“But he was from the first crop of Tagaloa, who was a bit of an unknown and wasn’t really in demand at that stage. He might have also just lacked a little bit of size at the time of the sale.
“But good on the connections. He went on to race very well in stakes company as a two and three-year-old, and he raced at Group One level. People pay a lot of money to get horses that can compete in those kinds of races. It’s been good to have a horse like him as a graduate.”
Apex will offer a slightly larger draft of seven horses at this year’s sale, and Johnson is pleased with the group of horses he has put together.
“I think I’ve got some promising racehorses, and that’s what I’m about – producing racehorses,” he said.
“I’ve done a lot of work at yearling sales for some major studs in Australia, so I’ve learned a lot of my craft through working with those top-end thoroughbreds. I worked for Newgate and led through some of their million-dollar horses.
“It helps you know what to look for when you’re looking for yearlings and nice young horses to sell.
“I’ve got a nice bunch of horses this year with good qualities about them.
“They’re all different. Some look like they’ll run early, while others might make nicer three-year-olds with a bit of time. There’s something for everyone.
“One I think might be a highlight of my draft is the Noverre filly (Lot 191). She’s the only filly in my draft this year. She’s beautiful-looking, a good size and breezed up very well.
“We were on day two the Breeze-Ups and towards the end of the day. The rain came, and there were headwinds, which made it a bit of a challenge for young horses. But they still breezed up nicely and ran good times, so they defied the pattern for that afternoon. I thought they went exceptionally well.
“The Noverre filly and the Tassort colt (Lot 367) are a couple of really nice horses. I think they both could have serious ability.
“I’ve also got a Hello Youmzain (Lot 256) that’s a half-brother to a dual winner in Hong Kong recently (Ka Ying Lightning (NZ) (All Too Hard).
“The US Navy Flag (Lot 151) is a good, scopey horse that can develop into a serious racehorse with a bit of time.
“And there’s a nice Tarzino (Lot 80) that’s probably not your typical Tarzino – a bit more athletic – but he has nice scope and I’ve got a lot of time for him too.
“They’re all horses that I’m looking forward to hopefully finding nice homes for.”
View Apex Bloodstock's draft online here.
The 2026 edition of the Ready to Run Sale will take place at the Karaka Sales Centre from 11am (NZT) on 18 & 19 November.
