Month: January 2026

A late, great sire and a deceased Group One-winning dam combined with an $850,000 colt that topped the opening day of the Book 1 session of Karaka 2026 on Sunday. The colt was offered by Cambridge Stud and went through the ring as Lot 265 in the final hour of the day. He is by the four-time champion Australian sire Snitzel, who died in June, and was the second and final foal produced by Savabeel mare Amarelinha before her untimely death in a paddock accident. Herself a $300,000 purchase by…

Leading Victorian trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr look set to pay the late entry fee for the Group One Herbie Dyke Stakes with Knobelas (NZ) (Belardo) after her luckless third in the Aotearoa Classic. Speaking to Racing.com, Price said the $750,000 Te Rapa feature over 2000 metres was firmly on the radar, with the late entry costing $17,000. “It’s a $750,000 Group One. I have a very strong feel that mare has a strong 2000m in her. It was a very good run (on Saturday),” Price said. “So,…

The milestone 100th edition of New Zealand’s National Yearling Sale has caught attention throughout the thoroughbred world, including one of the United Kingdom’s leading trainers. Among the crowd at Karaka on Sunday was the recognisable figure of William Haggas, the winner of more than a dozen Group One races in his homeland including the Derby (2400m) with Shaamit and Oaks (2400m) with Dancing Rain, along with other elite-level triumphs in France, Ireland, Germany, Italy and Australia. Haggas was invited to attend the centenary sale by NZB principal Sir Peter Vela,…

Weigh In is live from the NZB Karaka Sales Complex to review all the action of the TAB Karaka Millions race night and get all the latest news, straight from the horse’s mouth. Weigh In, January 25

Bloodstock agent Kevin ‘Millie’ Walls was a key player on back-to-back big lots at Karaka on Sunday, securing a colt for $675,000 before being underbidder on a $600,000 colt that was the very next yearling through the ring. Bidding on behalf of his clients and good friends Ron and Judi Wanless, Walls withstood the challenge of Andrew Williams and Jamie Richards to win a fierce bidding duel for Lot 93. The colt was offered by Hallmark Stud and is by rising star Waikato Stud sire Super Seth out of the…

A striking colt by Satono Aladdin lured respected trainer David Payne back to Karaka on Sunday after more than a decade-long absence. The last time the South African-born Payne bought a horse at Karaka was in 2013, when he paid $150,000 for a High Chaparral colt – the latest in a long line of purchases dating back to the 1980s. “I haven’t been here for at least 10 years,” the now Sydney-based horseman said. “I used to come in the 1980s, including the old days when it was at Trentham.…

Elen Nicholas has ridden the highs and lows of racing with Knights Realm (NZ) (Castledale), and Saturday proved to be the pinnacle of their journey. The Cambridge-based apprentice rode the Clinton Isdale-trained gelding in his first two starts, with the pair involved in a race fall in their second outing which resulted in Nicholas being sidelined by injury for over a year. “It wasn’t his fault, he fell over a horse that had fallen in front of him. It was just the wrong place at the wrong time,” Nicholas said.…

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