There was plenty of interest in lot 375, the Shamus Award colt out of stakes-placed mare Exchanges, on the second day of New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready To Run Sale of 2YOs, but when the dust settled it was Andrew Williams who came out on top.
The Sydney-based bloodstock agent went to $550,000 to secure the colt he highlighted as the pick of the sale, fending off several underbidders which included Caulfield trainer Lloyd Kennewell.
“I have bought him for an international client, with a view of him initially heading to Lindsay Park Racing (in Victoria) on the way to Hong Kong,” he said.
“We thought it was the best breeze of the sale and physically we thought he was the best horse of the sale.
“He is just a very good individual and he is just head and shoulders above anything else we saw this week.
“He is a special horse to add to the programme.”
There was plenty of interest in the colt, who was sold through the draft of Woburn Farm, and as a result Williams was prepared to go a little bit further than he planned to secure him.
“I genuinely thought he was going to be a $400,000 to $500,000 horse and that is what the good horses are making these days,” he said.
Williams said the sale offers great diversity and his team were able to identify and secure horses at opposite ends of the sale’s spectrum.
“We have got a team who do a full analysis of the breeze. There are people here who are inspecting and obviously the vets are heavily involved,” he said.
“We have done every breeze here and also bought a horse for $40,000, which I absolutely loved. So it’s quite a diverse little market.
“The stats out of the sale are unbelievable, there’s no doubt about that with the number of Group One and stakes winners it has produced.”
Meanwhile, later in the day Hong Kong bloodstock agent Willie Leung hoped he uncovered a stallion prospect after going to $440,000 to secure lot 407, the Savabeel half-brother to four-time Group One winner and Waikato Stud stallion Sacred Falls.
“It’s always a dream to have a horse with a stallion pedigree and he has a good pedigree. He is a half-brother to Sacred Falls and by champion sire Savabeel, who is doing really well in Hong Kong.
“We will try and keep him as a colt if possible, but we will just see how he goes in the next six months.
“He will stay here for the preparation and then will head up to Hong Kong.
“I bought him for Mr Jackie Wong, who is a big owner in Hong Kong, and also for trainer Michael Chang.”
Although there was plenty of interest in the colt, Leung believes he was value at $440,000.
“I think this one was quite reasonable for a horse that is physically strong with an excellent pedigree. So I think this is good value to have a Savabeel with an outstanding pedigree.
“He was within my budget and was a good buy.”
At the close of the two day sale, 257 lots were sold for an aggregate of $23.6 million and a clearance rate of 74 percent, up from 68 percent last year. – NZ Racing Desk, images Trish Dunnell
