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New Zealand Bloodstock’s Karaka May Sale features the usual big names on the stallion scene, headed by the undisputed current champion Savabeel.
The Waikato Stud resident has won four consecutive New Zealand sires’ premierships, and he has an unassailable lead again this season with $3.8 million in total New Zealand earnings – almost double the $1.9 million of nearest rival Pins.
Savabeel is now the sire of 18 individual Group 1 winners, headed by repeat elite-level winners such as Kawi (NZ), Lucia Valentina (NZ), Sangster (NZ), Scarlett Lady (NZ) and Shillelagh (NZ).
His progeny were in hot demand in Book 1 of Karaka 2019, with 48 yearlings selling for a total of $14.2 million at an average of $296,250. He topped the sale with a $1.4 million colt.
Savabeel has three progeny in the Sale – the racehorses Rumour Has It (Lot 177) and Black Pearl (Lot 180), plus broodmare Amuse (Lot 231) who has been served by Sweynesse.
Little Avondale’s Per Incanto is another stallion having a huge season, sitting comfortably in the top three on the New Zealand premiership with 47 winners and $1.86 million in prizemoney. Santa Monica (NZ) and Shadows Cast (NZ) have both been successful at Group 1 level.
Per Incanto has sired a total of 153 winners from 257 runners, 13 of them at stakes level including three Group 1.
There are three Per Incanto weanlings in the catalogue. The first of those, Lot 2, is a three-quarter brother to the sire’s first Group 1 winner Dal Cielo (NZ).
Two other perennial leading stallions in New Zealand, Darci Brahma and Tavistock, are also represented – Darci Brahma with two weanlings, a two-year-old and four broodmares, and Tavistock with a yearling at Lot 163.
One of the rising stars of New Zealand’s stallion ranks, Windsor Park’s multiple Group 1-winning shuttle stallion Charm Spirit, sits at the top of the first season sires’ premiership this year with a lead of almost $100,000, headed by his Group 2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes winner Aretha (NZ).
Charm Spirit is the sire of three weanlings in this year’s Sale. Lot 56 is out of a full-sister to the Group 1 winner I Do (NZ) (No Excuse Needed), and Lot 128 is out of a sister to the dual Group 1 winner Booming (NZ) (Don Eduardo).
Recent racetrack results have emphasised the loss of a number of high-quality stallions, and the Karaka May Sale will be among your final chances to secure some of their progeny.
After eight springs at Haunui Farm, Showcasing ceased shuttling to this part of the world following the 2017 season.
The scale of that loss has been vividly illustrated during the 2018-19 two-year-old racing season in New Zealand, where no fewer than 12 individual sons or daughters of Showcasing have won races. No other stallion has had more than three.
Just last weekend, Showcasing sired a two-year-old stakes double when All About Magic (NZ) ran away with the Listed Champagne Stakes (1200m) and Rainbow Dash (NZ) won the Listed Waikato Equine Veterinary Centre Stakes (1100m).
Overall, Showcasing has sired 339 winners from 585 runners, including 35 at stakes level. From his southern hemisphere progeny, he has been represented by 147 winners from 259 runners, with 16 black-type winners. May Sale graduate Hardline (NZ) won the 2015 Karaka Million 2YO.
Showcasing’s final New Zealand progeny are now weanlings, and six of them will be offered during the Sale. Lot 33 is closely related to the recent Listed Hawkesbury Gold Rush winner Intuition (Street Cry).
The catalogue also features a Showcasing yearling – Lot 164, a half-brother to last week’s Gold Coat Cup winner The Lord Mayor (NZ) (Rock ‘n’ Pop).
Pins has been another major loss to New Zealand’s stallion ranks. The Waikato Stud resident died in April of last year.
In the 12 months since then, he has sired 79 winners including nine at stakes level. The multiple Group 1 winner Madison County (NZ) heads that list, along with Group 2 winners Pinmedown (NZ) and Emily Margaret (NZ), plus the Group 3 winner and Group 1 placed Princess Kereru (NZ). Regency Legend (NZ) has made a big impression in Hong Kong.
Overall, Pins has sired 83 stakes winners, nine at Group 1 level over a variety of distances – from superstar Hong Kong sprinter Aerovelocity (NZ) to Cox Plate winner El Segundo (NZ) and New Zealand Oaks winner Legs (NZ).
Pins is also making a name for himself as a broodmare sire, with 29 stakes winners, four at Group 1 level. His stars this season include Livamol Classic winner Savvy Coup (NZ) (Savabeel), top sprinter D B Pin (NZ) (Darci Brahma) and Karaka Million winner Probabeel (NZ) (Savabeel).
There is one weanling from the final crop of Pins in the catalogue – Lot 95, a close relative to the Group 1 performers Al Jameel (NZ) (Tale of the Cat) and Constellation (NZ) (Fully Fledged). There are also five Pins mares in the broodmare section.
Another outstanding sire lost last season was Pentire, who died in November 2017.
Rich Hill Stud’s foundation sire produced outstanding horses over a range of distances, with his 16 Group 1 winners spreading from star sprinter-milers like Mufhasa (NZ) and Xtravagant (NZ) to the extraordinary middle-distance performer Xcellent (NZ), all the way up to Melbourne Cup winner Prince of Penzance (NZ).
Pentire is also becoming a notable broodmare sire, with 14 stakes winners in that role including three at Group 1 level. Two of his mares feature in this year’s catalogue with Lots 181 and 224.
There are also two mares by Redoute’s Choice (Danehill), the multiple champion Australian stallion who died earlier this year, at Lot 187 and 212.
