All of the biggest names in New Zealand and Australia’s sire ranks will be represented in force at the upcoming 2017 National Yearling Sales Series at Karaka.
For one of them, Waikato Stud’s mighty O’Reilly, this Sale will carry special significance. The 21-year-old died in his paddock on New Year’s Eve 2014, and this will be his final crop of yearlings to go through the sale ring at Karaka.
A multiple Group 1 winner on the racetrack himself, O’Reilly has sired 85 individual stakes winners including more than a dozen at the highest level.
His star performers around the world include the likes of War Affair (NZ), Sacred Falls (NZ), Silent Achiever (NZ), Shamexpress (NZ), Shamrocker (NZ), The Jewel (NZ) and Alamosa (NZ).
O’Reilly’s progeny have earned more than $128 million in prize-money worldwide.
His final Karaka crop features 43 Lots in the Premier session, including Lot 205, a brother to Sacred Falls offered by last year’s leading vendors Waikato Stud. Another is Lot 10, a brother to Shamexpress to be offered by Beltana Stud.
Fellow Waikato Stud stallion Savabeel had a boomer of a Sale in 2016, amassing an aggregate of $11.545 million in the Premier session alone. Last season’s champion sire in terms of domestic, Australasian and worldwide earnings, and the leading sire again so far in 2016-17, Savabeel will again be represented by an impressive crop of 64 yearlings in the Premier catalogue.
Another sire with significant representation at Karaka 2017 is Cambridge Stud’s Tavistock, who sired three Derby winners last season – Tarzino (NZ) in the Victoria Derby, Tavago (NZ) in the Australian Derby and Werther (NZ) in the Hong Kong Derby. Tavistock has 56 yearlings in the 2017 Premier Sale.
Poised to make a massive impact at Karaka is a sire who will have just one yearling go through the ring. Legendary racehorse Frankel, the winner of all 14 of his starts including 10 at Group 1 level, has made an incredible start to his stud career. He had one yearling catalogued for last year’s Sale, his first progeny to be sold in Australasia, and the colt topped the Sale at $1.3 million.
The Frankel yearling in 2017 will be offered by Curraghmore and is out of the stakes-winning German mare Give Me Five. The yearling is a half-brother to Ascot Gold Cup winner Colour Vision.
New Zealand’s leading first season sire Power is also strongly represented, including 12 yearlings in the Premier catalogue.
Fastnet Rock has been a constant presence among the leading sires at Karaka in recent years, and 2017 is set to be more of the same with 14 well-bred yearlings in the Premier catalogue.
Other sires represented in the Sale include Animal Kingdom, Choisir, Darci Brahma, Exceed and Excel, Foxwedge, I Am Invincible, Makfi, Medaglia d’Oro, Ocean Park, Pierro, Redoute’s Choice, Sebring, Sepoy, Snitzel, So You Think, Super Easy, Uncle Mo, Written Tycoon and Zacinto.
