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Sells for HK$6.5 million on Saturday
A grey gelding by Kodiac (Danehill) topped the Hong Kong International Sale (May) at Sha Tin on Saturday when bought by Kerm Din, who bought dual Group 1 winner Pakistan Star (Shamardal) at the 2016 sale, for HK$6.5 million (approximately A$1.26 million).
Catalogued as Lot 11, the gelding is out of the Listed-placed Dark Angel (Acclamation) mare Coolnagree who has produced two winners to date from as many foals to race. The gelding's third dam is three-time winner Birjand (Green Desert) who is herself the dam of multiple Group 1 winner Lucky Nine (Dubawi) who was crowned champion sprinter in Hong Kong twice. The gelding was bought at the 2018 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale for 525,000gns
Lot 9, a gelding by Darley shuttler Exceed And Excel (Danehill) sold for HK$4 million (approximately A$775,000) to owner Derek Tam Lap-tak who also purchased Lot 8, a Fastnet Rock (Danehill) gelding, for HK$3.2 million (approximately A$620,000).
The Exceed And Excel gelding, who was bought for 130,000gns from the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, is out of the winning Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) mare Callistan from the family of Group 1 winners Aussie Rules (Danehill), Coronet (Dubawi), Allegretto (Galileo), Albanova (Alzao) and Alborada (Alzao).
The Fastnet Rock gelding meanwhile is out of the unraced Sadler’s Wells (Northern Dancer) mare Roselita who has produced two winners to date and is a sister to the Group winner Precious Gem. The gelding’s third dam is Offshore Boom (Be My Guest) who produced eight winners headed by the multiple Group 1 winner and successful sire Rock Of Gibraltar (Danehill).
All of the 11 lots offered sold for a total of HK$31.7 million at an average of HK$2.88 million and median of HK$2.5million.
Mr. William Nader, Director of Racing Business and Operations at the Hong Kong Jockey Club, said: “We expected prices would be a little bit down today because of the economy and the global pandemic. There were no great surprises and we’re happy with the results.
“The most important point is that our interests are aligned to the owners. Our job is to select horses and prepare horses that can come in and produce a positive outcome for Hong Kong racing, so the true success of the sale will be known in the future.
“We’ve made a few changes to help fine tune the process and we are always aiming to get better year on year. It’s an ongoing process and we think the horses, having come in much earlier this year – in December – have acclimated better for the sale; we think the breeze-up last week was much better as a result and we hope this approach will manifest positively in the performances of the horses next season.”
The auction had been slated for March 20 but was postponed and rescheduled to May due to the COVID-19 situation. A second sale will be held at Sha Tin on July 3 which will consist of mainly horses sourced in Australia and New Zealand.
