The Repository will be open for viewing from 5:00pm (NZT) Friday 29 May 2020 until the conclusion of the Sales. Viewing of studies and reports is limited to registered veterinarian only. If you have not registered contact us at https://plus.gavelhouse.com/Contact and we will send you a registration form. NB: you can log in using your NZB Repository login.
It is recommended that veterinarians check the Repository on a regular basis during the sales period to see if there have been additional studies submitted.
Bidding is now open for the 51 lots available on the latest gavelhouse.com fortnightly auction, which includes a former Te Akau Racing mare with outstanding pedigree credentials.
Stella Splendida (NZ) (Zoustar) was bred by Sir Peter Vela’s internationally renowned Pencarrow Stud and has star power on both sides of her pedigree.
Her sire Zoustar was himself a dual Group One winner from a nine-start career before embarking on a top-class stallion career at Widden Stud. He was Australia’s champion first-season sire in 2017-18, and his current service fee is A$220,000.
Zoustar is the sire of 582 winners from 835 runners, with 53 stakes winners including Group One stars Sunlight, Zougotcha, Zoutori, Lezoo, Mizzy, Ozzmosis and Joliestar. He has also made a promising start as a broodmare sire, with three winners including this season’s Group Three-winning Australian two-year-old Holmes A Court.
Stella Splendida’s dam is Scintillula (Galileo), who won the Group Three Meld Stakes (1800m) at Leopardstown and placed in the Group One Moyglare Stud Stakes (1400m). She also finished fourth in the Group One Irish Oaks (2400m) and Yorkshire Oaks (2400m).
Scintillula’s full-sister Cuis Ghaire (Galileo) won at Group Three level and placed in the Group One English 1000 Guineas (1600m). Cuis Ghaire is also the dam of Group One Al Quoz Sprint (1200m) winner Danyah (Invincible Spirit). Scintillula’s other siblings include the Listed winner The Major General (Galileo) and Group One placegetters Gile Na Greine (Galileo) and Claiomh Solais (Galileo).
From five named foals, Scintillula is the dam of four winners from four foals to race. Butter Chicken (NZ) (Savabeel) placed in the Group Two Autumn Classic (1800m), while the current three-year-old filly Waikato Girl (NZ) has recorded a win and three placings from a six-start career and finished third in last month’s Group Three Kembla Grange Classic (1600m).
Scintillula’s daughters have sold at Karaka for $400,000, $800,000, $800,000 and $600,000, while a colt fetched $230,000 last year.
Te Akau’s David Ellis secured Stella Splendida for $800,000 from Karaka 2021, and she immediately showed enormous promise with a dominant debut victory at Taupo.
“Wow, she’s fast,” rider Opie Bosson said after dismounting. “She had a bit of a look around and needs to drop the bridle, but that’s newness and she’s just class.”
Stella Splendida’s promising but short career has now finished with four wins and two placings from her 12 starts.
“She’s got a really top pedigree,” Ellis said. “We considered her the best filly in the yearling sale of her year and she rightfully topped the sale.
“She showed right from day one that she had an enormous amount of ability, and I think she’ll go on to make a terrific broodmare.
“We’ll be sorry to see her go, because she’s been such a beautiful filly, but that’s the way we do it with fillies like her – we put together a syndicate for their racing career, then put them up for sale when they finish racing.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the types of progeny that she’ll go on to produce.”
Another notable entry in the gavelhouse.com auction is Lot 51, Surtout (NZ) (Cape Blanco) – an unraced half-sister to Group One performers Supera (NZ) (Savabeel) and Eleonora (NZ) (Makfi). The latter is the dam of the current highly talented filly Ethereal Star (Snitzel).
As well as coming from such a high-class family, Surtout is being offered in foal to exciting first-season sire Profondo.
Lot 38, meanwhile, is the stakes-performed import Leytana (Intello), who is in foal to Ardrossan.
Bidding is open now and will close from 7pm (NZT) on Monday.
New Zealand Bloodstock’s 2024 National Online Yearling Sale is now live, with the quality 100-lot catalogue available to view on Gavelhouse Plus.
For the fourth year, the digital edition to NZB’s National Yearling Sales Series is set to be conducted on the premium online platform Gavelhouse Plus with bidding closing on Wednesday 17 April from 6pm (NZT).
All unbroken yearlings purchased from the National Online Yearling Sale are eligible to be nominated for NZB’s lucrative Karaka Millions Series. Just nine short months after they make their virtual sale-ring debut, graduates of the online sale can compete for a share of the $1m TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m), followed by the $1.5m TAB Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m) plus a $200,000 bonus for New Owners.
“This is the last chance to enter horses in the $2.9m Karaka Millions Series,” commented NZB Managing Director Andrew Seabrook.
“And with the two-year-old race only nine months later, the Online Sale presents buyers with a distinct advantage.”
Renowned vendors from across New Zealand are supporting the Sale, with a contingent of 46 proven, emerging, and first-season sires offered. The quality line-up includes progeny by heavyweights Almanzor, Contributer, Ocean Park, Shocking and Written Tycoon.
The best of New Zealand’s emerging sire talent is also represented, with yearlings by Ace High, U S Navy Flag, Satono Aladdin, Super Seth and War Decree, to name a few.
Buyers will also get the opportunity to secure lots from the first crops of Hello Youmzain, Ancient Spirit, Circus Maximus, Tagaloa and King’s Legacy.
Bidding will run for a five-day period, commencing Friday 12 April with the first lot closing on Wednesday 17 April at 6pm (NZT). Buyers must register on Gavelhouse Plus in advance in order to gain bidding approval.
All horses will be inspected by NZB agents who are available to assist buyers with enquiries. Buyers are also welcome to join the on-farm parades prior to the Sale, with the schedule available to view here.
For more information, contact Bloodstock Sales Manager Kane Jones (+64 27 274 4985 or kane.jones@nzb.co.nz), Sales Representative Patrick Cunningham (+64 21 181 5898 or Patrick.Cunningham@nzb.co.nz) or Andrew Buick (+64 27 555 0640 or Andrew.Buick@nzb.co.nz).
The last few days have delivered a series of unforgettable moments for Te Akau Racing, and there could be more to come for the syndication powerhouse with Star Of Justice (Justify) and Grace ‘N’ Grey (NZ) (Spirit of Boom) now available for sale on the latest 56 Lot fortnightly auction on gavelhouse.com.
Te Akau’s bumper weekend kicked off on Thursday night on Gavelhouse Plus. Group One-winning mare Maven Belle (NZ) (Burgundy) was sold for a whopping NZ$902,500, while the stakes-performed Snitzel filly Rhetorical (NZ) (Snitzel) fetched AU$202,500.
Those results were followed by a winning treble on racetracks across Australasia on Saturday afternoon, headed by an incredible 10th Group One victory by champion sprinting mare Imperatriz (I Am Invincible).
“It’s been a fantastic few days,” Te Akau principal David Ellis said. “We were delighted with Thursday night’s results on Gavelhouse Plus. We’ve had great success selling quality mares on that platform in the past, and that continued with terrific returns for both of those sets of owners. It was great to see.
“Then we had a wonderful day on Saturday, starting off with a quinella in the two-year-old race at Riccarton. We were unlucky not to win three big races at Moonee Valley later that afternoon, but any day that you win a Group One race, you have to be very happy – let alone when it’s the 10th Group One win in a horse’s career.
“Now we’re looking forward to selling a couple of horses on gavelhouse.com that are beautifully bred and both showed real ability on the racetrack.”
Group Three winner Star Of Justice was bred by esteemed nursery Pencarrow Stud and is by the undefeated American Triple Crown winner Justify, who has become one of the hottest young stallion prospects in the thoroughbred world.
The dam of Star Of Justice is the winning Fastnet Rock mare Fair Isle (NZ), who is a daughter of the Listed winner and Group One VRC Oaks (2500m) runner-up Miss Scarlatti (NZ) (Stravinsky).
Fair Isle is the dam of four winners from four named foals, headed by Star Of Justice and her five-time-winning stablemate Stonybreck (Tavistock).
Ellis paid $190,000 to buy Star Of Justice from Pencarrow Stud’s Book 1 draft at Karaka 2022. She won twice in a seven-start career, headed by the Group Three Barneswood Farm Stakes (1400m) at Ashburton in October. She also finished a close fifth behind Group One winner Crocetti (NZ) (Zacinto) in the Group Three Almanzor Trophy (1200m) at Ellerslie.
“Star Of Justice has a beautiful pedigree and showed her class with that Group Three win in the spring,” Ellis said. “We have a half-brother to her in the stable that I think can win black type (Stonybreck), so I believe there’s real upside in that family.”
Grace ‘N’ Grey was bred by Cambridge Stud owners Brendan and Jo Linsday in partnership with David Redvers Bloodstock. She is by Australian sire Spirit Of Boom, who has been a prolific source of winners with 398 from just 555 runners including 26 stakes winners.
Grace ‘N’ Grey is out of the Redoute’s Choice mare Gracious Grey, who won twice and is a three-quarter-sister to the Group Two winner Positive Peace (Stratum) and half-sister to another two stakes placegetters.
Both of Gracious Grey’s foals to race have been winners, with Grace ‘N’ Grey joined by the Group Three-placed Kind Words (Written Tycoon).
Cambridge Stud offered Grace ‘N’ Grey in Book 1 of Karaka 2021, where Ellis bought her for $240,000. She ran second on debut as a spring two-year-old, and her second career start produced a brilliant win on Boxing Day at Ellerslie – beating next-start Karaka Million 2YO (1200m) winner Dynastic (NZ) (Almanzor).
Grace ‘N’ Grey was a winner again in February of 2023 and ended her career with two wins and four placings from 10 races.
“She has a lovely line-up of stallions on her page, going back to immortal sire Northern Dancer, and hers is a truly international family,” Ellis said. “She is all class, a lovely type, and she was particularly impressive in that win at Ellerslie on Boxing Day as a two-year-old.”
Maven Belle (NZ) (Burgundy) is following in some famous Te Akau Racing footsteps, becoming the fifth Group One-winning mare from the stable to be offered for sale on Gavelhouse Plus.
Te Akau Racing has previously sold Avantage (Fastnet Rock) for a world-record price of $4.1 million, followed by Entriviere (NZ) (Tavistock) for $900,000, Amarelinha (NZ) (Savabeel) for $1.1 million and Belle En Rouge (NZ) (Burgundy) for $800,000.
Like Belle En Rouge, Maven Belle was bred by Te Akau’s David Ellis and Karyn Fenton-Ellis – this time in partnership with Mark and Julia Walker.
Maven Belle is by former high-class Te Akau racehorse Burgundy (NZ), who went on to sire 11 stakes winners including three at Group One level in a sadly short-lived stallion career at Cambridge Stud.
The dam of Maven Belle is Te Akau’s six-time winner and stakes-placed Doyenne (NZ) (Kilimanjaro), who is a half-sister to the four-time Group One winner Levante (NZ) (Proisir).
Maven Belle made her mark on the racetrack immediately, winning all of her first three starts as a two-year-old including the Group Two Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) and the Group Three 2YO Classic (1200m). She was a desperately unlucky third in the Group One Sistema Stakes (1200m), then scored a brilliant win in the Group One Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) to clinch champion two-year-old honours.
The following season brought further black-type success for Maven Belle, who won the Group Three Almanzor Trophy (1200m) and finished fourth against older opposition in the Group One BCD Group Sprint (1400m) under weight-for-age conditions.
Maven Belle collected another Listed placing as a four-year-old, and in the end her 12-start career produced six wins, two placings and $429,345 in stakes.
“Each year we syndicate what we think are the best two or three yearlings that we’ve bred,” Ellis said. “We’ve had some fantastic results doing this with horses like Belle En Rouge, who won the Oaks and was NZB Filly of the Year.
“And the year after Belle En Rouge, we did the same thing with Maven Belle. She was champion two-year-old, a top-class filly, and she comes from a beautiful family that goes back to some really top horses.
“From the day we first galloped Maven Belle, we knew she was a very good horse. Her win in the Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes delivered a first Group One for her trainer Mark Walker since his return from Singapore, so she was a very special horse for us at Te Akau and I’m sure she’ll make a lovely broodmare.”
Burgundy has had only seven runners so far as a broodmare sire, but three of them have won including Te Akau’s Group Three placegetter and leading Group One New Zealand Oaks (2400m) contender Qali Al Farrasha (NZ) (Almanzor).
Meanwhile, Te Akau Racing is also offering Maven Belle’s stakes-performed stablemate Rhetorical (NZ) (Snitzel), who is currently located at Cranbourne, on Gavelhouse Plus.
By champion Australian sire Snitzel out of the Group One-placed mare Xpression (NZ) (Showcasing), Rhetorical had eight starts for two wins and two placings. She ran third in the Listed Welcome Stakes (1000m) as a two-year-old, and she finished fourth in the Listed Canterbury Belle Stakes (1200m) as a spring three-year-old last September.
“She had a huge amount of potential and unfortunately didn’t get the chance to completely fulfil that on the track,” Ellis said. “She won twice at two and was Listed-placed. I thought she was extremely unlucky not to win at stakes level.
“She’s a beautiful foal out of a mare that exuded a lot of class and really tested our champion filly Avantage in the Group Three Gold Trail Stakes (1200m). It’s not easy to buy such a well-bred filly by a champion sire like Snitzel.”
Snitzel also boasts impressive statistics as a broodmare sire. His daughters have produced 512 winners from 784 runners, with 29 stakes winners including Golden Slipper (1200m) heroine Mossfun (Mossman), last week’s Randwick Guineas (1600m) winner Celestial Legend (Dundeel) and the standout two-year-old of the current New Zealand season, Velocious (Written Tycoon).
Bidding on the two mares will end from 7pm (NZT) on Thursday 21st March. Buyers looking to bid on the Gavelhouse Plus mares must set up their usernames and profiles well in advance of the close of auction if they have not bid on the site before by registering here.
The latest fortnightly auction on gavelhouse.com gives buyers access to a pair of blue-blooded broodmare prospects that have recently been retired from the Te Akau Racing stable.
The first of these high-class offerings is the black-type performer Belle Of The Ball (NZ) (Savabeel).
Bred by Waikato Stud, she is by super-sire Savabeel out of two-time winner and Melbourne Group Two placegetter Lady Tatia (Duke Of Marmalade). Belle Of The Ball’s second dam is a sister to Group One winners Shogun Lodge (Grand Lodge), Singing The Blues (Bluebird) and Referral (Dr Grace).
David Ellis selected Belle Of The Ball from Waikato Stud’s draft in Book 1 of Karaka 2020, where he bought her for $300,000.
She had 22 starts for three wins and six placings, winning twice at Riccarton and once at Matamata. She also finished second in the Group Three Anniversary Handicap (1600m) at Trentham, second in the Listed Warstep Stakes (2000m) at Riccarton, fourth in the Listed NZB Insurance Stakes (1600m) at Riccarton and fourth in the Listed Spring Classic (2000m) at Riccarton.
“She was a high-class mare who never had the best of luck on the racetrack, but she certainly showed a huge amount of ability,” Ellis said. “That placing in the Anniversary at Trentham was a top run from a long way back, finishing second behind her Group One-winning stablemate Belle En Rouge (NZ) (Burgundy).
“Going forward, I think that breeders just won’t be able to get enough of these high-quality Savabeel mares. They’re going to be enormously valuable.”
An eight-time champion New Zealand sire and holding a dominant lead on the premiership in 2023-24, Savabeel is also making a name for himself as a broodmare sire. His daughters have so far produced 420 winners from 700 runners, with 26 stakes winners including Group One stars Savatoxl (Kuroshio), Icebath (NZ) (Sacred Falls) and Never Been Kissed (NZ) (Tivaci).
The other Te Akau offering on gavelhouse.com is the beautifully bred Never Forgotten (Fastnet Rock).
The three-year-old filly is a full-sister to the Group One Australian Oaks (2400) winner Unforgotten (Fastnet Rock), as well as Special Memories (Fastnet Rock), who was a black-type performer in the Te Akau tangerine.
“She comes from a wonderful family that we know very well,” Ellis said. “We had her sister Special Memories, who was placed at stakes level and also finished fourth in the Group One New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m).
“A daughter of Fastnet Rock of her quality is going to be a huge asset for any stud. I have no doubt that she’s going to leave magnificent foals.”
Fastnet Rock has an outstanding record as a broodmare sire. His daughters have been represented by 1269 winners from 1996 runners, with 110 individual stakes winners including the likes of Santa Ana Lane (Lope De Vega), Warm Heart (Galileo), Russian Emperor (Galileo) and Zougotcha (Zoustar).
The latest gavelhouse.com fortnightly auction is now open for bidding with 75 Lots on offer and the first closing from 7pm (NZT) on Monday.
At odds of 70-1, Young Diva was a clear outsider for last Friday’s DPA Chartered Accountants (1400m) at Taupo, but as trainer Allan Wright said, she didn’t know that.
The five-year-old mare had been unplaced in her previous nine outings and was out of favour with punters after producing a last placed performance at Matamata a week prior.
However, Wright said her last start performance was better than it looked, which was reinforced by her winning display at Taupo.
The daughter of Turn Me Loose was the best away from the gates and was taken straight to the front by jockey Jasmine Fawcett, where they dictated terms throughout and ran out a half-length victor.
While many were surprised by the result, Wright was not.
“It wasn’t a real surprise,” he said. “Lynsey Satherley rode her at Matamata the week before and couldn’t get a run. She reckons she would have run in the first five there.
“She has had bad draws and bad luck. If you look at her first five runs, they were reasonable runs.
“It was great to get that win with her. Any win is a good win.”
Young Diva has had a quiet weekend following her win and Wright said he is yet to decide what her next assignment will be.
“She is a light-framed horse, so we will space her races after backing her up like that. We don’t have any set plans with her as yet,” he said.
A dry stock farmer, horses and racing have always been a passion for Wright, who inherited the racing bug off his father.
“My father trained Silver Bay and Token Bay, they made open-class, but I prefer training maidens, it is cheap racing and good fun,” Wright said.
While scrolling through gavelhouse.com two years ago, Wright saw Young Diva, who was being sold as a broodmare prospect but he thought she fitted the bill as a project horse for him and he went to $200 to secure her.
“She is a well-bred filly and we like to try the horses that are slower maturing. She is a five-year-old now and it has just taken time,” he said.
“I just like getting a horse and bringing them through. When you get a win, it makes you feel good.”
Wright said he only ever has a couple of horses in work, with the majority of their work undertaken around the farm, with Wright using them as his primary choice of transport when doing stock work.
“They are our motorbikes, and we use them as farm hacks,” he said. “If they show anything we carry on racing them.” – NZ Racing News, photos Race Images.
The purchase of two-time stakes winner Live Drama (NZ) (Ghibellines) for $75,000 on gavelhouse.com this week means that breeder Warwick Jeffries is about to enhance his broodmare band with two of the South Island’s best-performed racemares from recent seasons.
Jeffries won last season’s New Zealand Small Breeder of the Year Award, which is restricted to breeders with a broodmare band numbering five or fewer. From such small numbers, he produced multiple Group One-winning star Legarto (NZ) (Proisir) and fellow Group One winner Dark Destroyer (NZ) (Proisir).
Jeffries also bred Legarto’s half-sister Emanon (NZ) (Burgundy), who has won 11 races in the South Island while on lease to Orari-based trainer Lionel Dobbs and his wife Janine Young.
Emanon will return north to Jeffries’ Tauranga property later this autumn, where she will take up residence alongside her former racecourse rival Live Drama.
“Having purchased Live Drama, and with Emanon’s lease running out in May, it means that two of the best-performed South Island racemares from the last few years will be coming back to our place,” Jeffries said. “They competed against each other a number of times and won a total of 20 races between them, and now they’ll be sharing a paddock and starting their broodmare careers together.”
Jeffries was impressed by the racetrack performances of Live Drama, who turned her $8,500 price tag at the 2018 New Zealand Bloodstock South Island Sale into more than $330,000 in prize-money.
Live Drama’s high-class career spanned six seasons, winning on debut as a two-year-old in May of 2019 and placing at Group Three level as a seven-year-old in November.
She had a total of 35 starts for nine wins, 12 placings and $332,340 in stakes for her big group of owners. Her best wins came in the Group Three South Island Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) and Listed Great Easter Handicap (1400m), while her eight black-type placings included the Group Three Canterbury Breeders’ Stakes (1400m), White Robe Lodge WFA (1600m) and Stewards’ Stakes (1200m).
“Having just retired with a 97 rating, she was a very good racehorse,” Jeffries said. “She won her only start as a two-year-old quite comfortably, so she showed a lot of natural speed.
“She won nine races including two at stakes level, and she also had another eight stakes placings, and only a select few mares achieve a career like that.
“She’s by Ghibellines, who is a very well-bred stallion and in my view will become a successful broodmare sire in time.
“I’ve got a couple of stallions in mind that I think could be suitable matings for her, and one of those is obviously Proisir, who I’m a shareholder in. But there’s others that will be worth considering as well. I thought she was a good mare to buy, and I’m looking forward to breeding from her.”
Drakaina’s commanding victory in Saturday’s Listed NZB Airfreight Stakes (1400m) at Wingatui completed a remarkable rise to prominence for a filly that was bought for just $3,000.
The daughter of Ace High caught the eye of her trainer and part-owner Ebony Turner on gavelhouse.com last year. She was unplaced on debut at Ascot Park in November, then won at $50 odds at Gore on December 24 before finishing fourth in the Listed Gore Guineas (1335m) and second in last month’s Listed Dunedin Guineas (1400m).
Drakaina stepped out as a $5.50 second favourite for Saturday’s NZB Airfreight Stakes, and she continued her rapid rise with a runaway win.
Jockey Jasmine Fawcett drove Drakaina forward from a wide gate and took an early lead, but then was happy to settle in second when The Real Treasure made a big mid-race move to take over in the back straight.
Drakaina cruised back up on the outside of that rival coming towards the home turn, but she was being accompanied every step of the way by the riderless Amiinit, who had parted company with jockey Lee Callaway when the gates opened.
The riderless horse drifted across towards the rail just in front of Drakaina at the top of the home straight, but she was unfazed and produced a brilliant turn of foot to dash clear of the rest of the field.
Drakaina got further and further in front through the final 200m, dashing to victory by six and a half lengths over Sense Of Timing and Epee Beel.
The NZB Airfreight Stakes was the first stakes success for the Riverton-based Turner, who is in only her second season of training.
Fawcett, who had her first ride on Drakaina in Saturday’s $80,000 feature, was delighted to play her part.
“I hadn’t ridden her before, but my agent (Jacob Edens) had a good opinion of her previous form and was keen for me to ride her,” she said. “I was really glad I ended up on the right horse.
“This filly gave me a fantastic feel and it was a great performance. It was a good-quality field today and she proved she was definitely up to stakes standard. I thought the loose horse made it an even more impressive performance – that didn’t make it easy for her at all, but she handled everything really well and then put them away very convincingly in the straight.”
Drakaina has now had five starts for two wins, a placing and $79,235 in stakes – more than 26 times her purchase price.
The NZB Airfreight Stakes was the second leg of the New Zealand Bloodstock Southern Filly of the Year Series, and Drakaina earned 7 points and now shares top spot on the table with the Listed Canterbury Belle Stakes (1200m) winner Viva Vienna.
The two remaining legs of the series are the Listed NZB Insurance Stakes (1600m) at Riccarton on April 13 and the Listed New Zealand Bloodstock Warstep Stakes (2000m) at the same venue a week later.
“I have no doubt that she’ll go a bit further than this,” Fawcett said. “I’m sure she’d be very competitive in those other three-year-old fillies’ races that are coming up at Riccarton, if that’s the way she goes. I’m not sure what her plans are from here. I’ll leave that up to Ebony, who’s done a great job with this horse so far. I’ll just do as I’m told, and I’ll definitely be keen to ride her again.” – NZ Racing News, photo Race Images.
Six years after being bought for just $8,500 from New Zealand Bloodstock’s South Island Sale, Live Drama (NZ) (Ghibellines) has retired with more than $330,000 in prize-money to her name and is being sold as a valuable broodmare proposition as part of a 75 Lot sale on gavelhouse.com.
Live Drama’s high-class career spanned six seasons, winning on debut as a juvenile in May of 2019 and placing at Group Three level as a seven-year-old in November.
She had a total of 35 starts for nine wins, 12 placings and $332,340 in stakes for her big group of owners. Her best wins came in the Group Three South Island Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) and Listed Great Easter Handicap (1400m), while her eight black-type placings included the Group Three Canterbury Breeders’ Stakes (1400m), White Robe Lodge WFA (1600m) and Stewards’ Stakes (1200m).
“She’s been a great mare and I’m really proud of what she’s achieved on the track,” trainer and part-owner Lance Robinson said.
“She’s been late-scratched at the gates the last two times we’ve taken her to the races, so we just felt that she might be showing us that she’s had enough of being a racehorse. She’s been so good to us, so the syndicate decided that the best thing to do by the horse was to bring an end to that stage of her career.
“She’s done a fantastic job for us and far exceeded what we were expecting when we bought her for $8,500 as a yearling.”
While her most prestigious win came over 1600 metres, Robinson was particularly struck by Live Drama’s performances in the South Island’s biggest sprints.
“Probably the thing that stood out to me was those performances in the big sprints at Riccarton,” he said. “She ran second in two of them (2021 Stewards’ Stakes and 2021 Pegasus Stakes), just narrowly beaten both times, and then she was fifth in the Stewards’ in November – a huge performance carrying 57.5kg and being badly buffeted all the way. I thought that was probably one of the best performances of her career.
“For her to run such big races in those major sprints, while also being a Group Three winner over 1600 metres, it just shows how versatile she was.”
Live Drama is by White Robe Lodge stallion Ghibellines, who has proven to be a prolific source of racetrack success with 81 winners including six at stakes level. That list is headed by the Group One Turnbull Stakes (2000m) hero Smokin’ Romans (NZ), along with Live Drama and the well-performed Palmetto (NZ) and Markus Aurelius (NZ).
The dam of Live Drama is the three-race winner Sheeza Drama (NZ) (Pure Theatre), whose four foals to race have all been winners. She is a half-sister to the stakes-performed Stage Whisper (Rubiton), while another half-sister is the dam of stakes winner Cherry Creek (NZ) (Monashee Mountain) and granddam of Group Three winner Coulee (NZ) (Gallant Guru).
More than a dozen Australian stakes winners feature further down the pedigree page.
“I have no doubt that she’ll make a lovely broodmare for someone,” Robinson said. “I’m looking forward to following her career and seeing how she goes.
“The syndicate that raced her, none of them are really breeders, so we thought it was fairest for the owners and best for the horse if we sold her as a broodmare. That will give her every opportunity, which is what she really deserves.
“We just hope a good stud or breeder buys her now and gives her those opportunities, and I have no doubt that she’ll do a fantastic job for them, like she did for us.”
Milan Park’s Tony Rider went full-circle on gavelhouse.com on Monday night, buying back the multiple Group-winning mare Aromatic (NZ) (Sacred Falls) for $257,500.
Rider bred Aromatic and offered her in Milan Park’s yearling draft in Book 1 of Karaka 2018, where she was bought by Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis for $160,000.
Aromatic carried the tangerine colours of Te Akau to six wins and 14 placings from a 32-start racing career, earning more than $419,000 for her owners in the Te Akau Sacred Wine Syndicate.
The highly talented grey was a triple Group winner during the 2022-23 season, capturing the Group Two Travis Stakes (2000m), Group Three Manawatu Breeders’ Stakes (2000m) and Group Three Counties Cup (2100m).
But Aromatic’s significance to Rider stretches beyond her own racetrack achievements. She is out of one of his foundation horses, Vickezzchardonnay (NZ) (Don Eduardo), who herself won five races including the Group Three Taranaki Cup (1800m) and finished fourth in the Group One Auckland Cup (3200m) and a brave fifth in the Group One New Zealand Oaks (2400m).
“It’s certainly special to buy this mare back, and I’m very, very happy to have her,” Rider said. “I think I own most of the family – there’s one in Australia, but all the rest are here with me.
“Vickezzchardonnay was one of the very first horses I bought from the late David Benjamin. I bought three weanlings from him at that early stage, and she was one of them, and it’s amazing what she’s done for us since then.
“Aromatic really did the family proud during her career with Te Akau. David Ellis and Mark Walker always spoke very highly of her and said she had a massive heart and would just keep trying.
“She’s quite similar to her mother Vickezzchardonnay in that regard – she also had an incredible heart. Noel Harris rode her when she finished fourth in the Oaks, and he said that he looked down at the turn into the home straight and could see a shoe dangling off her foot. He wasn’t going to ask her to do too much from that point on, but she kept going herself. She tried so hard all the way down that straight, got up into fifth place, and then they had to walk her off the track. She just had such a huge heart, and from what Aromatic did in her career, it looks like that’s a trait that runs in the family.
“I’m delighted to have bought her and really looking forward to breeding from her. I haven’t made any plans yet in terms of what stallions we might send her to – that’s something we’ll work out as we get a bit closer to the next breeding season. But she’s going to be a terrific addition to the broodmare band at Milan Park.”
Other notable results in the auction was the sale of Love For All for $25,000 and with plenty of competition during the final countdown, clearance settled at 77%. Entries are now being taken for the next fortnightly mixed bloodstock auction and are due online by 10pm on Monday 26th February. The catalogue then launches on Thursday 27th February and the auction runs through until 7pm (NZT) on Monday 4 March.
Fortnightly online bloodstock auctions 