Buyers head to Hamilton for a sale conducted on-farm by NZB.
The only NZB sale this month is held not on the outskirts of Auckland, the site of NZB’s previous sale (January’s signature Karaka Sale, at which 100 years of the National Yearling Sale was celebrated), but at Highview Stud near Hamilton.
There may be just 40-odd lots, but the unreserved deplenishing sale offered by NZB with one of its longstanding vendors still packs plenty of interesting lots into its catalogue pages.
“There’s a changing of the guard at Highview, with my son Kurtis now taking a more prominent leadership role,” explained the stud’s Brent Gillovic said. “We’ve accumulated a lot of horses, so this is a genuine reduction process to trim the operation back to around 30 to 40 mares before I hand over the reins.”
Savabeel, More Than Ready, Sweynesse and Divine Prophet are some of the stallions represented, though the likes of Embellish, Armory, Sword Of State and Xtravagent can also be found in the sires list.
Offerings by Highview’s own Wrote include Lot 20, the first foal out of Sizzling Gold, whose dam Baubo is a half-sister to the dual Group 2 winner Lady Kipling.
The stud’s Santos and Divine Prophet, father of Lot 1, a fill out of a winning half-sister to the multiple Group 1 heroine Prowess, are also represented.
More Than Ready, meanwhile, is the sire of Lot 43, the mare Landslide who produced the Listed-placed Danyelli, and Ocean Park is behind Lot 42, the mare Illusion who has a filly by Highview’s Mr Mozart at foot and was served by the same sire last year.
Vadamos, Dream Ahead and Time Test are also behind a collection of lots, in Dream Ahead’s case the mare Quesadilla (Lot 31), from the immediate family of Group 1 winners Sober Suit and Titantic Jack, and in Time Test’s case a young filly out of the Listed-placed Tuilana (Lot 6).
Shuttle stallion Hello Youmzain also has representatives, namely a young half-brother (Lot 16) to the aforementioned Listed-placed Danyelli, being out of Landslide. Wyndspelle, meanwhile, the New Zealand racing hero who died last month at stud in Victoria, has sired both a mare yet to enter broodmare duties (Lot 34; Wyndsong) and an as-yet unraced filly (Lot 18) out of the winning Pentworth House.
Other lots of interest include:
Lot 22, a Wrote filly out of an unraced half-sister to the Avondale Cup winner Sacred Master.
Lot 35, the mare Amparo (by Colombia), covered by Wrote and with a filly at foot by Sword Of State.
Lot 41, Hot As, an unraced mare by Hot Streak with a filly at foot by Mr Mozart.
Trade begins at 1pm on Sunday.
The catalogue can be viewed here.
Well Written has been making waves in New Zealand and Shane McNally has more
James Burn profiled Malaysia in the first instalment of a new series look at small racing nations
View the latest Global Rankings for horses, owners, breeders, trainers and jockeys