It's New Zealand's turn in the yearling sale spotlight with Karaka's two-day Premier Sale beginning on Monday featuring a catalogue of 465 yearlings and a buying bench including some of the world's major horse players.
Karaka follows a record-breaking spending spree at the Gold Coast Magic Millions sale a fortnight ago, and several powerful international buyers have remained in the southern hemisphere to try their luck at finding a group 1 performer.
Frankel fever arrived at Karaka 12 months ago when one of the world's most talked about gallopers in the past decade topped the sale with a yearling colt fetching $NZ1.3 million ($1.24 million) from an international syndicate and going to trainer Chris Waller.
Bloodlines has sought the view of New Zealand Bloodstock's sales manager, Danny Rolston, on what could be some of the most sought-after yearlings at Karaka.
Rolston had a great deal of input into the selection of the Premier lots and, for that matter, the Select Sales' 641 lots and Festival Sales' 241 yearlings, which mean there are 1347 yearlings catalogued to sell from January 30 to February 5.
Rolston has given his top five, with all lots selling on Monday.
Lot 10: O'Reilly x Volkrose colt: "He's a full-brother to group 1 sprinter and sire Shamexpress. He is a quality type built in the same mould as his older relation," Rolston said. Shamexpress won the VRC Newmarket and more than $1.15m on the track. He received a great book of mares at Windsor Park and this is the last crop of yearlings to be sold by the deceased super-sire O'Reilly.
Lot 25: Snitzel x Zenella colt: "The colt is from a young Zabeel mare with group 1 form, a striking colt with a stallion's pedigree should he run up to his looks," Rolston declared. Zenella is a daughter of Zabeel and Diamond Like and hails from Sir Patrick Hogan's Cambridge Stud. The colt is an early foal and is from one of the great New Zealand stud book families with Tristalove , Viscount, Don Eduardo, Kaapstad, Viking Ruler and many more in his bloodlines.
Lot 109: Savabeel x Daffodil filly: "She's an athletic type and an excellent mover. She's by our leading sire who at last year's Karaka Sale had 54 yearlings gross $NZ12,460,000 and the sire is well clear in the current sires' premierships. She is the daughter of a champion filly of her generation who won three group 1s including the AJC Oaks at Randwick and has a current daughter achieving black type form in New Zealand."
Lot 130: High Chaparral x Diamond Like filly. "She's a top-quality filly that would appeal in any broodmare band around the world. She's a standout and bound to figure prominently on the results sheet," Rolston said. The filly boasts a similar pedigree page as the earlier selection of Rolston's from Cambridge Stud and appeals as a mouth-watering offering.
Lot 181: Frankel x Give Me Five colt. "He's by the unbeaten champion and the only one by the sire selling this year at Karaka through Curraghmore's draft. He is a half-brother to a Royal Ascot winner in Colour Vision, successful in the group 1 Royal Ascot Gold Cup. He's also a very athletic colt that carries the Monsun blood that has been so successful in Australia and he presents a rare opportunity for players in the 2017 yearling market."
One-stop shop
Sir Patrick Hogan's Cambridge Stud is offering every yearling from his farm for the first time, according to stud manager Marcus Corban. "Sir Patrick is always proud to offer his yearlings exclusively at Karaka," Corban said. "It's the only sale he's sold yearlings at for a number of years now. We have some absolutely standout colts and fillies available and we cannot wait to get them to Karaka and in front of the buyers' bench."
Cambridge has 45 yearlings at the Premier Sale, including some by Australian-based sires such as Redoute's Choice, Snitzel, Fastnet Rock, Medaglia d'Oro and Camelot.
And then there are the Cambridge-owned stallions Tavistock, Power and Burgundy, which Hogan is hopeful can give the stud another leading vendors' win after 31 earlier successes, though Waikato Stud has had a three-year winning run.
Another 27 yearlings will be sold by Cambridge Stud at the Select Sale.
Best of the best
William Inglis has gone for quality rather than quantity going by the release of the catalogue for the 2017 Easter Yearling Sales at Newmarket from April 4 to 6.
Inglis has compiled its smallest catalogue this decade, totalling 480 lots, and national bloodstock manager Jonathan D'Arcy said the smaller number of yearlings was in line with its strict selection policy.
"This will be a special year to be at Newmarket for the Inglis sales and I am very proud that we have been entrusted by our clients with an amazing array of yearlings," D'Arcy said.
"Inglis has always maintained a strict selection policy with the Easter Sale and this year we have trimmed the catalogue to showcase what we feel are 480 of the finest yearlings to be offered in Australasia in 2017."
Snitzel (44), Redoute's Choice (36), Sebring (35), Pierro (33), Fastnet Rock (27), Medaglia d'Oro (26), Zoustar (26), More Than Ready (20), Exceed And Excel (19) and All Too Hard (18) represent the leading stallions standing at studs in Australia.
Inglis is also excited to offer three colts by Frankel; three lots by champion US sire Tapit; one filly by Sea The Stars; one colt by Shamardal; and one colt by Dansili.
The catalogues will be mailed out next week.
Cape cheer
The Cape Thoroughbred Sales in South Africa last weekend were a resounding success, attracting their biggest international bench of worldwide buyers to their Cape Town complex.
Frankel was represented by four yearlings in the two-day sale and, while the quartet never reached the heights of previous northern and southern hemisphere sales, the stallion came away with the leading sire by average. He had an average of $A205,250 with his top lot being a filly from Fastnet Rock's daughter, Little Fastnet, signed for by US agent Justin Casse for $A390,000.
Other big buyers were English-based David Redvers, who returns to Karaka next week, the Magnier brothers and the China Horse Club.
The ultimate racing form guide with free tips, live odds and alerts for all racing.