The Australian and New Zealand Oaks winner Bonneval heads this season’s New Zealand Bloodstock Group 1 graduates by capturing the Underwood Stakes to add to her last season’s NZ Horse of The Year, Champion 3YO and Champion Stayer titles.
Bonneval, by the outstanding sire Makfi, is a $150,000 graduate of the 2015 NZ National Premier Yearling Sale from Westbury Stud, trained by Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman.
Also in Australia this season Mighty Boss, a $180,000 2016 NZ Premier Sale purchase from Curraghmore, won the Caulfield Guineas while Aloisia won the Thousand Guineas at Caulfield.
At home in New Zealand Embellish, a $775,000 buy at the 2016 Premier Sale from Waikato Stud captured the NZ 2000 Guineas, Hasahalo a $110,000 2016 Select Sale buy won the NZ 2000 Guineas and Gingernuts the Windsor Park Plate.
In Hong Kong this season Beauty Generation, $60,000 2014 Select Sale graduate from Highden Stud, won the Hong Kong Mile and Mr Stunning, a $250,000 2014 Premier Sale purchase won the Hong Kong Sprint.
At the 2018 NZ National Yearling Sale Gingernuts is represented in Book 1 on Day 2 the 29 January with a half-sister by young sire Jakkalberry from Novara Park and Aloisia later in Book 1 with a half-brother by Swiss Ace consigned by Brighthill Farm.
New Zealand Bloodstock conducts its 92nd National Yearling Sales in a revised format with the new Karaka Book 1 replacing the Select Sale and expanded to 700 lots. The first 100 lots are catalogued to sell from 5pm on Sunday 28 January, going through to Wednesday 31st.
Book 2 will comprise 378 lots on 1-2 February with this elite session in past years boasting the likes Aloisia, Jon Snow, Ugo Foscolo and Volkstok’n’barrell. The Sale series concludes with Book 3 on 4 February ‘where the astute come to find a diamond in the rough.’
This 92nd NZB National Yearling Sale hosts 133 top-line stallions with 16 first season sires. Highly popular sire Savabeel has 75 yearlings catalogued in Book 1, who in 2016-17 was crowned Champion NZ Sire for the third time, and already this season has the classic winners Embellish and Hasahalo.
NZ Bloodstock boasts that Karaka graduates in six seasons of the sale have recorded 100 Group 1 victories. In the past four seasons they have won 72 Group 1 events, 41% more than graduates of their closest competitor at Australian yearling sales.
Last season nine individual Yearling Sale graduates won 10 Group 1 feature events in New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong including the Australian Oaks, Australian Derby and Hong Kong Sprint.
The Karaka Million Twilight Meeting will be staged at Ellerslie Racecourse on Saturday 27 January, the eve of the National Yearling Sale, and credited as the nation’s richest raceday.
The $1m Karaka Million 2YO of 1200m is open to all yearlings sold at Karaka in 2016. Again, it will be supported by Karaka Million 3YO Classic of 1600m and now carrying $1 million prize money with the $100,000 Collinson Forex Karaka Stayers Cup to be run over 2200m.