On its opening day of selling, New Zealand Bloodstock’s 2021 Ready to Run Sale continued to reach new heights, reinforcing its position as the leading sale of its kind worldwide.
The key sale indicators on day one climbed substantially on 2020’s results, with the aggregate, average and median all increasing respectively.
After an action-packed day of selling at Te Rapa Racecourse, NZB’s Managing Director Andrew Seabrook was relieved and delighted at the conclusion of Day One.
“The Sale did take an hour or so to warm up, however, that’s nothing out of the ordinary for this type of sale.”
“We saw an incredible increase in both the median and average, with the median rising 95% on last year’s results at the end of Day One. The average raised by about 40%, with the total turnover up by $2.7 million on 2020’s aggregate while selling the same amount of two-year-olds.
“The clearance rate is down (from 69% to 65%) but we do anticipate to sell more lots overnight as we head into day two, which will see the clearance rate begin to rise,” Seabrook said.
Te Akau Racing Principal David Ellis reclaimed his throne as the leading purchaser by aggregate, securing eight lots for a total spend of $1,710,000.
The highest priced two-year-old on day one was Lot 107, a colt by prolific sire Savabeel out of O’Reilly mare Etiquette (NZ). The juvenile will join the tangerine stable, after Ellis secured him for a $640,000 price tag from Ohukia Lodge’s draft.
Ellis also secured Lot 114, another Savabeel colt out of Fast Company (NZ) for $340,000 from Riverrock Farm’s draft.
“I just love the Savabeel’s,” Ellis said. “He’s just an incredible sire and it’s fantastic for New Zealand to have a stallion of his quality – we just can’t get enough of them in the stable.”
Savabeel proves to be a dream combination for Te Akau Racing, after the stable scored a Guineas double in recent weeks with The Perfect Pink (NZ) (Savabeel) and Noverre (NZ) (Savabeel) claiming the Group One accolades.
Buyers from Hong Kong were strong on the first day, securing a number of six figure purchases via NZB’s online bidding platform.
Lot 44 a Deep Field (ex Bang On) colt was purchased by Mr Jimmy Ting for $470,000 from Riversley Park’s draft, while Lot 64, another Deep Field colt (ex Carlina) was bought by Mr Me Tsui for $350,000 from Regal Farm.
Two powerhouse stables were neck in neck to claim the leading consignor by aggregate title on day one, but it was Jamie and Chanelle Beatson’s Ohukia Lodge which topped the table at the close of trading, selling 12 lots for a total of $2,495,000.
Sam and Hana Beatson’s Riversley Park banner was not far behind, selling 10 lots for $2,055,000.
Chard Ormsby and Aliesha Moroney’s Riverrock Farm was the leading consignor by average at the closure of day one, selling three lots for an average of $223,333.
NZB continued to navigate unusual circumstances after COVID-19 border restrictions saw the auction house move its two-year-old sale to Te Rapa Racecourse, with no international buyers on the ground for the second year running.
Despite this, the demand was high for quality lots with strong international and domestic buying benches represented both physically and virtually.
“I think we achieved some pretty outstanding results in what were trying circumstances selling horses digitally,” said NZB’s Bloodstock Sales Manager Danny Rolston.
“This is a testament to the incredible effort put in by the vendors, who provided a vast amount of transparent information for our buying bench,” Rolston said.
Selling on the second day of NZB’s Ready to Run Sale will commence tomorrow from 1PM (NZT) at Karaka, with all the live action from 12:45PM (NZT) aired on Freeview channel 200 in New Zealand, online at nzb.co.nz, livestreamed on NZB’s Facebook page and highlights streamed on Sky Racing and Racing.com in Australia.
To make enquiries about any Passed Lots contact Kane Jones +64 27 274 4985.
View the Sale day highlights and lot-by-lot footage here.
