3 minute read
Good day at the office for Trelawney Stud.
Trelawney Stud's Brent Taylor was celebrating on Monday after three of his offerings made just under NZ$1.6 million early on on the second day at Karaka 2020. The first was a colt by Waikato Stud's first-season sire Tivaci (High Chaparral), who was snapped up by Bruce Perry for NZ$500,000.
Brent Taylor was thrilled with the result, particularly with Trelawney's strong links on both sides of the pedigree.
"We were very excited about the prospect of selling that horse," he said. "It is a family we have had a bit to do with over the years.
"We loved Sayyida (granddam) when she was racing and we are really happy that she expressed her ability through Ocean Park and Grunt.
"I thought this horse from day one was an outstanding colt. He has taken the pressure of the prep and the sale very well. I just loved him and thought he is a great opportunity for Bruce and his partners."
Taylor was also delighted to get such a good result for Waikato Stud stallion Tivaci with the nursery having sold the stallion's dam Breccia (Fastnet Rock) at the 2008 edition of this sale for NZ$140,000.
"He is a stallion we saw when he was racing before Waikato Stud bought him and we invested with them," he said.
"We have got some emotional attachment because we bred the dam of Tivaci, so we know the family particularly well.
"To match those families together has been fantastic."
Catalogued as Lot 241 the colt is out of the winning Van Nistelrooy (Storm Cat) mare Ruqqaya and is a half-brother to dual Group 1 winner Grunt (O'Reilly) and stakes-placed filly Addison (Jimmy Choux). Ruqqaya herself is a half-sister to prolific Group 1 winner and now sire Ocean Park (Thorn Park).
The yearling will join Perry's colt syndicate whose success is currently being advertised by the Danny O'Brien-trained Listed winner Banquo (Written Tycoon).
"He's part of a colts' partnership we have put together with Lib Petagna, Waikato Stud, James Chapman (of Jamieson Park), Jomara Bloodstock, Greg Clarke and Dave and Mickey Wilson," said Perry, who is Petagna's Bloodstock Manager.
"I didn't think I would get him, I was tapped out.
"We bought a couple at the Gold Coast, an I Am Invincible colt and a Lonhro colt, and this one was a horse we wanted. Lib was in Tivaci and I was the under-bidder on him when he was a yearling.
"I love the Tivacis and this is just a beautiful horse. We'll get him broken in here and he'll eventually go to Australia."
Two lots later Taylor also sold an Ocean Park (Thorn Park) filly out of dual Group 2 winner Ruud Van Slaats (Van Nistelrooy), who was knocked down to Peter Moody for NZ$450,000. She was catalogued as Lot 243.
David Ellis made Taylor's morning even better as the Te Akau supremo picked up where he left on the first day at Karaka 2020 securing a colt by Yarraman's Park super sire I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) for NZ$625,000.
Taylor was delighted with the result and is hoping the colt can develop into a top-class racehorse and then take up stud duties.
"He is a ripping colt who has taken the pressure of the sale well," Taylor said. " He is a beautiful moving horse, and I would like to think he will be up on our stallion wall in the future.
"When we first took over Trelawney Stud 20-something years ago we bought a mare called Real Success. She was our first major purchase and from that has come the results we have seen today, along with Loire this season on the track.
"It is a great game played slowly and we have become an overnight success in the last 23 years."
Having confirmed on Saturday the Savabeel (Zabeel) he purchased for NZ$800,000 was bought for the colt's syndicate, Ellis was was unwilling to commit whether this yearling would also be joining the syndicate, but he is confident he will progress into a contender for the Karaka 2YO Million (RL, 1200m).
"We are going to wait and see what we finish up with before confirming what goes into the colts syndicate this year but he is certainly one that we will consider," said Ellis.
Ellis said he had to dig deeper to secure the colt, but was also encouraged to see Australian agent Mark Pilkington - who he rates as one of the best judges in the world - as the underbidder.
"He is a beautiful colt and Mark Pilkington was the underbidder, who I regard as one of the best judges in the world, so it was great that such a great eye saw the same as what we did," Ellis said.
"He was bred by one of our great nurseries [Trelawney] of all time and some of the best horses New Zealand has ever produced have come off that farm."
He was also quick to praise the efforts of the Taylors: "Brent and Cherry Taylor are taking it to another level. They are just unbelievable operators and really good supporters of Te Akau Racing so it was nice to be able to buy such a nice colt off them.
"He is a really precocious colt, a lot of class, a lot of strength and beautifully balanced.
"We just loved him the moment we saw him and he just ticks all the boxes.
"You can see when they come to the sale whether they are enjoying it, whether they want to be part of it, whether they are coping with leaving home for the first time.
"They are like teenagers when they go flatting for the first time, some take a while to get used to it while some people excel in it.
"I thought it was about the right price although I was hoping to get him for $500k. On the really good ones I don't like getting beaten as, if he is a Group 1 horse, then he is a NZ$25 - NZ$30 million stallion which is what the studs will have to pay.
"We have come here off the back of the stable being on fire and we have a lot of owners who want to be part of racing with Te Akau so we are buying the horses that we really really like.
"We've been quite picky in what we buy. We've got a great team of Joe Walls, Jamie Richards and Mark Walker helping me along with Doug Black our vet from Waikato Equine who is an important part of the team."
Catalogued as Lot 247, the colt is out of four-time winning O'Reilly (Last Tycoon) mare Sancerre, who is herself out of Queensland Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Vouvray (Zabeel) making her a half-sister to Champalou (Encosta De Lago) - the dam of Listed winner Champ Elect (Choisir).
The colt's third dam is Group 2 winner Read Success (Success Express) the dam of six winners, including Vouvray, and she also produced Syrah (Traditionally) - the dam of Thorndon Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Touch Of Ruby (Pins) and this season's New Zealand 1,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Loire (Redoute's Choice).
Later on in the afternoon, Trelawney sold a Tivaci colt (Lot 336) out of Syrah for NZ$300,000 to Pike Racing.
