3 minute read

For many stables and syndicators, horses recruited from New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready to Run Sale and the lucrative prizemoney on offer in Australia are proving to be a winning combination.

The honour roll for Karaka's annual sale of two-year-olds famously features Australian headline acts such as Victoria Derby (2500m) winner Sangster, Australian Derby (2400m) and Caulfield Cup (2400m) hero Mongolian Khan, Emirates Stakes (1600m) and Futurity Stakes (1400m) star Turn Me Loose and Rosehill Guineas (2000m) winner Gingernuts.

But Ready to Run Sale purchases have delivered rich returns right across the spectrum, producing the highest ratio of winners to runners (62%) of any two-year-old sale in Australasia in the last six years and amassing 59% more prizemoney than rival sales.

With Australian prizemoney at record heights and continuing to increase at all levels, that proven track record makes the Ready to Run Sale an outstanding source of young talent for many Australian buyers – particularly those that are looking for three-year-old middle-distance types.

Among those are expat Kiwi trainers Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young, who paid just $19,000 for Sangster at the 2010 Ready to Run Sale. The son of Savabeel went on to amass more than $1.5 million, headed by Group One triumphs in the Victoria Derby, Auckland Cup (3200m) and International Stakes (2000m).

Busuttin and Young have quickly found success among their purchases from last year's sale, with Footlights (bought for $400,000), Celestial Fury ($120,000) and Commander Harry ($50,000) all showing bright early promise.

"It's a month away from 10 years now since we won the Derby with Sangster, so that's a nice anniversary to reflect on," Busuttin said.

"Footlights, Celestial Fury and Commander Harry are three nice three-year-olds that we bought from the Ready to Run Sale last year. To have all three of them run and win less than 12 months after their purchase date, it just shows what a great concept the sale is and the quality of horses you can get.

"Footlights  is one of our better-regarded three-year-olds this year. He's running in the Super Impose Stakes (1800m) at Flemington this weekend, and we definitely see him as a Group-quality colt.

"Like Footlights, Celestial Fury is another talented son of Savabeel. He won a $120,000 Saturday race as a late two-year-old, so he's already nearly paid back his purchase price. We think he's progressing pretty well towards races over a bit of ground later on, possibly culminating in a Derby.

"And we paid $50,000 for Commander Harry, which shows you don't have to pay the big prices to get the nice horses.

"It's a sale we're very keen to buy from every year. We have a great relationship with the breeders back in New Zealand. We like to support them, and they put their support behind us in turn as well.

"New Zealand won't be breeding a Golden Slipper (1200m) winner any time soon, and nor does it need to. You get a very different kind of horse from that Ready to Run Sale at Karaka, and there's plenty of races for very good money here in Australia that suit those types of horses down to the ground.

"All across Australasia and Asia, everyone knows and respects those New Zealand pedigrees and the preparation those horses are given in New Zealand conditions. It's a country that's always batted above its weight in that regard. The results speak for themselves, and buyers will keep coming back year after year.

"The Ready to Run Sale really demonstrates what the New Zealand industry does best, and there's no need to change something that isn't broken."

Another big fan of the Ready to Run Sale is the increasingly prominent syndicator Roll The Dice Racing, whose colours have been carried by quality horses such as Gr.1 Coolmore Classic winner Krone and the blistering Inglis Millennium (1100m) winner Profiteer.

But they have also enjoyed significant success with horses sourced from New Zealand, notably with Ayrton – the winner of five of his seven starts and more than A$400,000 to date, headed by the Gr.3 Gunsynd Classic (1600m).

A pair of purchases from last year's Ready to Run Sale have the potential to follow suit. Mahrez, who is also by Ayrton's sire Iffraaj, was a $110,000 purchase and made a stylish winning debut at Geelong on Wednesday, while the early signs are promising for the $100,000 buy Mortar.

"Mahrez was pretty impressive at Geelong," Roll The Dice Racing director and racing manager Steve Travaglia said.

"He's always shown a bit. He spent some time over in New Zealand with Lauren Brennan after we bought him, and she always thought he could really gallop.

"He had a bit of shin soreness going into that race and after it as well, so that probably adds even more merit to his performance.

"We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but we'd like to think he could be up to racing in better company in the future. He'll head out to the paddock now, and we'd love to have a look at something like the Australian Guineas (Gr.1, 1600m) later in the season. It remains to be seen whether he's up to that level, but hopefully he can take that step.

"Mortar is a nice son of Tarzino that Henry (Dwyer, trainer) really likes. We're taking things easy with him at the moment, he's a fairly heavy type of horse, but he certainly moves along very nicely.

"Tarzino seems to be off to a promising start at stud, which has been encouraging to see. Hopefully this bloke will make a nice racehorse too, and we'll be two-from-two with our purchases from that sale last year.

"With Ayrton as well, we've had a pretty good run with horses we've bought from New Zealand in recent times. We've added another couple over the last few weeks – a Tarzino filly and a Per Incanto gelding, both bought after some promising trials.

"We like how these New Zealand horses are given plenty of time and not rushed. They're taken through a great education process, and by the time we get them over to Australia, they're nice, ready-made racehorses. Something like the Ready to Run Sale takes away a lot of the guesswork."

Toowoomba trainer Matt Kropp has also had success with his Ready to Run Sale purchases, winning two races with Trusty Lad (bought for $180,000), two with Calm Seeker ($170,000), two with Mt Mort Shark ($65,000) and one with Aliraaj ($50,000).

Kropp took a shot at the Gr.1 Queensland Derby (2400m) at Eagle Farm in late May with both Mt Mort Shark and Calm Seeker.

"Both of them certainly deserved that opportunity, and horses are only three once," Kropp said. "Unfortunately not a lot went their way – they both drew bad gates, and they were probably just coming to the end of their preparations a little bit as well. But they've had a good spell and are back in work now.

"Those two and Aliraaj all came from that Ready to Run Sale in 2019, so we had a great strike rate with the horses we bought there that year, and I think you'll see much better things from all three of them once they've got a little bit more experience and maturity.

"Those Ready to Run Sale horses have a great record of coming over and winning races in Australia, and we really like them. Hopefully things will be back to normal again in the not-too-distant future and we can go back again.

"We did buy one online from the sale last year (Zanilla Roc, who cost $67,500). We haven't raced him yet, but he's shown quite a bit and we really like him."

The 2021 edition of the Ready to Run Sale will be held at Karaka on November 17 and 18, with breeze ups to take place at Te Rapa on October 11 and 12.