A well-related son of Harry Angel provided a late highlight in the final hour of the 2024 NZB Ready to Run Sale at Karaka on Thursday when he was knocked down to a $520,000 bid from bloodstock agent Morgan Carter.
The colt was catalogued as Lot 372 and was in the draft of Ohukia Lodge, who bought him for A$300,000 as a yearling in Sydney. He is out of the Exceed and Excel mare Florabella, which makes him a full-brother to the well-performed Australian sprinter Arkansaw Kid.
Previously the winner of the Inglis Banner (1000m) and placed in the Gr.1 Blue Diamond (1200m), Arkansaw Kid has added victories in the Gr.2 Bobbie Lewis Quality (1200m) and Listed Regal Roller Stakes (1200m) since the catalogue went to print. The Ben, Will and JD Hayes-trained Arkansaw Kid has had 18 starts for four wins, six placings and A$1.4 million in stakes.
Bidding began at $100,000 on Lot 372 but was fiercely contested from that point on, breaking the half-million barrier and finishing up at $520,000.
“We knew we’d have to go strong on this colt,” Carter said. “Our original assessment was somewhere around the $400,000 range, but after seeing how strong the sale has been, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy.
“We’re very happy to have bought him. He looks like the type of horse who’s not going to take long. He’ll have a couple of weeks in the paddock now, and then we’ll assess him and make a plan for him from there. He’ll eventually end up in Hong Kong.”
The colt was one of just two progeny of Darley Stud stallion Harry Angel to go through the Karaka sale ring during the Ready to Run Sale this week. The other was Lot 306, a son of the Epaulette mare Cambric from the draft of Kilgravin Lodge, who fetched $400,000.
Lot 372 headlined a series of strong results late on Thursday. Just a few minutes earlier, Lot 369 was bought by Waikato Bloodstock for $400,000. The Castelvecchio gelding was offered by Kilgravin Lodge and had been bought for A$10,000 from the 2023 Inglis Sydney Weanling Sale.
Not long afterwards, a Hellbent colt catalogued as Lot 385 was also knocked down for $400,000.
