Category: Gallops

Bloodstock agent Kevin ‘Millie’ Walls was a force to be reckoned with on the buying bench of Book 1 of Karaka 2026, spending more than $3.6 million across Sunday and Monday. Walls secured one of the highest-priced lots on Sunday’s opening day of the sale with a $675,000 colt by Super Seth, and he followed that up on Monday with an $850,000 colt by Alabama Express from the draft of Elsdon Park. The colt went through the ring as Lot 383 and is the first foal out of the winning…

The dizzying rise of Cambridge Stud stallion Sword Of State continued at Karaka on Monday with a sale-topping $1.1 million yearling in his second crop. With his oldest progeny two-year-olds, the Group One-winning son of Snitzel has already been represented by Listed Debutant Stakes (1000m) winner and Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) placegetter Torture, highly impressive two-start, two-win colt Warwoven and smart last-start winner State The Obvious. Sword Of State’s burgeoning reputation led to an average price of $260,250 across 20 yearlings sold through Sunday and Monday’s Book 1 session of…

Bloodstock agent Guy Mulcaster secured the $850,000 highest-priced lot on Sunday’s opening day of Karaka 2026, and he followed it up on Monday with something even bigger. Mulcaster Bloodstock and Chris Waller Racing went to $950,000 to secure Lot 471 – the highest-priced yearling ever sold by Landsdowne Park. The colt is by one of the world’s most in-demand stallions, Justify, out of the winning mare Heart To Heart. That daughter of Zoffany is a half-sister to the Gr.1 Prix du Jockey Club (2100m) and Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (1400m) winner…

Guy Lowry is no stranger to longshot success at the highest level and he went agonisingly close to another major upset at the weekend. The Hastings trainer produced Milan Park’s Adventador to win the 2016 edition of the Gr.1 Telegraph (1200m) at 80 to one and a decade later almost pulled off a bigger upset with the same colours in the Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m). Now operating in partnership with Leah Zydenbos, Lowry’s long-range plan with Magill was all but executed to perfection when the youngster finished a close second…

Trainers Darryn and Briar Weatherley were rapt with Bulgari’s runner-up effort behind Belle Cheval in the Gr.3 Almanzor Trophy (1200m) at Ellerslie last Saturday, and they are now eyeing further stakes targets at the Auckland track. The Hello Youmzain colt showed plenty of promise when winning on debut over 1100m at Te Rapa as a juvenile but was unplaced in his subsequent five outings as a three-year-old, including a midfield performance in the Gr.2 Auckland Guineas (1400m) on Boxing Day. He was unwanted by punters in the Almanzor Trophy, jumping…

Moments after Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress) forged into Hong Kong racing history with a record-equalling win in the HK$13 million Gr.1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m) at Sha Tin on Sunday, David Hayes predicted the world’s best sprinter could potentially break Sha Tin’s 1400m course record next month. Reacting to Ka Ying Rising’s effort to post a 17th consecutive victory to match the winning streak of Silent Witness from 2002 to 2005, Hayes believes the superstar galloper can threaten Sha Tin’s 1400m record of 1m 19.92s – jointly held by…

NZB’s historic 100th National Yearling Sale kicked off with a solid first day of trade with increases across the average and median reflecting a healthy middle market. At the close of selling for the opening session, a total of 207 lots sold for a total aggregate of more than $38 million. The average reached $184,529, a 12% increase on the Book 1 total last year, while the median closed at $140,000, an increase of 27%. Fittingly, Cambridge Stud who have been selling yearlings for more than 70 years at the…

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,…