The results underlined the auction’s continued growth as one of the most successful auctions for two-year-olds in the world.
“It’s quite remarkable, another record sale,” said NZB sales manager Kane Jones. “The entire team has made a tremendous change, not just in the last few days, but months and even years, building relationships for this sale. I am very proud of the entire team.
“It’s just a magic number that reaches €41 million in sales, but the average has gone up and the median has also gone up, indicating that the mid-market has been particularly strong.
“This sale has gone from strength to strength over the last five years. The horses did phenomenally and the type of horses brought to this sale improves year on year. It is only a credit to the vendors who continue to support this sale and make it what it is.”
Hong Kong buyer Yeung Kin-Man again emerged as the lead buyer, the second half of the catalog inspiring 82.8% of his total spend of NZ$3.57 million across 16 lots, with the lion’s share going to the NZ$825,000 (US$466,410) sales topper son of the Australian champion sire Zoustar —Lot 374.
Sam Beaton’s Riversley Park has become a leading supplier for the eighth year running, selling 33 of 39 lots for NZ$6,525,000, culminating in the Satono Aladdin colt (lot 105), who sold to Sanxiong Gao for NZ$675,000.
Of the 353 lots on offer, 265 were sold, achieving a strong clearance rate of 75%, in line with recent years.
Offered as Lot 374 by Kit Brooks’ KB Bloodstock, Zoustar is the fourth foal out of the winning Hussonet mare Hijack Hussy, from the family of Hong Kong Sprint (G1) winner Inspiration, Australian Guineas (G1) winner Wandjina and fellow Group 1 scorers Masked Party and Festal.
“Mr. Yeung was looking for another Zoustar. This one looks big and strong and is an early type, so it is likely that we will bring it to Hong Kong sooner,” said bloodstock agent Willie Leung. “Last year we bought more and we are already about to bring ten new horses to Hong Kong. He wanted to stock up on some more and then pick the quality horses to go to Hong Kong.”
Brooks said he couldn’t have been happier with the way the NZ$200,000 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale purchase was presented during the preparation, and was pleasantly surprised by the amount he gave back.
“He is a beautiful and nice colt who was the stable favourite,” he told ANZ News. “Gosh, I wish we could find some more like him. It was a pleasure to have him around. He made our work very easy.
“He’s big and strong, perfect for Hong Kong, and he handled the preparation smoothly. I thought he would earn around NZ$500,000, but I was a bit surprised by the NZ$825,000.”
Next on the New Zealand sales calendar is the highly anticipated 100th National Yearling Sale, which kicks off with the TAB Karaka Millions Raceday at Ellerslie on January 24, Book 1 at Karaka on January 25-26, Book 2 on January 27 and the Karaka Summer Sale on January 29.
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