The NZ Bloodstock READY TO RUN Sale “Breeze Ups” were conducted earlier this week over two days being Monday15 October and Tuesday 16 October.
A total of 367 of the 407 catalogued 2yo’s galloped over the final 200 metres of the Te Rapa racecourse straight, with each lot individually timed and filmed.
On both days, the Breeze Ups were held in blustery conditions upon a track rated as Dead 4, with the running rail out 12 metres. The average time across both days for the 367 2yo’s was a very slick 10.85 seconds.
For purchaser confidence, after they complete their Breeze Up, every horse had blood taken immediately to permit screening for prohibited substances by a purchaser against a saleday sample.
For the Australian based buyers, there were several exciting prospects that showed above average ability.
Day 1 Summary:
Breeze Ups were successfully completed with 191 two-year-olds going through their paces at Te Rapa.
On the first day with first use of the track, the average time for day 1 was a quick 10.94 seconds.
The fastest time of Day went to Lot 366 a Towkay colt from the Red Ransom mare Tereshkina who was in our opinion pushed along and left nothing in the tank to Breeze Up in 10.16 seconds.
However without doubt, the stars of the show on Day 1 were the 2yo’s from the Lyndhurst Stud draft. Run by the experienced team of Mark and Shelly Treweek, this couple is renowned in NZ at being the best at their craft and their horses shone throughout the day. They built their reputation over many years of producing the better performed lots at each and every sale that go onto racetrack success. This is something of vital importance in Ready To Run sales as vital buyer confidence in the product is paramount and Lyndhurst produces 2yo’s to match.
Lyndhurst Farm is renowned in NZ at being the best at their craft
The first heat of the day 1 saw Lyndhurst Farm’s Falkirk colt at Lot 27 run the 200 metres in 10.26 seconds. The colt is a half-brother to the stakes placed Mercedario (Bigstone) and Let Me Handle It (High Chaparral).
Two other highly impressive colts Lyndhurst Farm also sent out were Lot 215 the Encosta de Lago / Mrs. Sqillionaire half-brother to Group 1 winner Green Birdie and Lot 387 the Northern Meteor / Villa Valencia colt from the family of Golden Slipper winner Polar Success who Breezed Up in 10.56 seconds and 10.63 seconds respectively. Both these colts caught the eye in the stylish and effortless way they went about their work without being placed under pressure. Both these colts look natural racehorses.
DAY 2 Summary
The second day at Te Rapa racecourse concluded with the balance of 176 horses taking to the track.
The track maintained its ideal Dead 4 rating and with the assistance of continued blustery conditions the average Breeze Up time of 10.75 seconds was slightly faster than yesterday’s average time of 10.94 seconds.
A new fastest time was set by one heat posting a pair of sub-10 second times, with Lot 244 Guillotine / Our Chicaine colt running a sharp 9.93 seconds, and Lot 171, the Darci Brahma / Lacango colt running the second fastest time of the day in 9.94 seconds. These two in our opinion, belted along as if it was the Golden Slipper and were red lining all the way to break the 10 sec mark.
On the day there were several Fastnet Rock colts to Breeze Up as well.
Mana Park’s Fastnet Rock colt Lot 242 from the American bred Stravinsky mare Oraia, ran 10.21 seconds.
Lyndhurst Farm’s Fastnet Rock two-year-old Lot 285 from Raskova (Soviet Star), a half-sister to the Group 3 winner Solvini, ran 10.40 seconds.
Ascot Farm’s Fastnet Rock colt at Lot 128 also turned in a good Breeze Up running 10.54 seconds.
Other two-year-olds to feature on the final day of the Breeze Ups included:
JK Farm’s Lot 19 Casino Prince colt who completed the 200 metres in 10.21 seconds.
Lyndhurst Farm’s Lot 23 Magic Albert colt half brother to 3 SW ran 10.63.
Lyndhurst Farm’s Lot 259 Encosta De Lago colt from a half to Horlicks Gr1 in 10.67.
IN REVIEW :
20 BEST Breeze Ups Identified with Australian Buyer Appeal.
(Bonus Race Eligibilities / Proven Commercial Stallions / Pedigree Ratings)
1) In our initial selection process we have identified 20 potential candidates.
Having determined that there were 81 candidates with Australian buyer appeal, we concentrated on these lots.
The average time across the 2 day Breeze Up sessions was 10.85 secs. We have deliberately limited our review criteria to those horses that broke the 10.70 seconds mark. Simply that time represents an approximate Breeze Up one length faster than the average time. Naturally we are not intending to purchase horses for the sake of it and we don’t want to own below average candidates. Despite how these 2yo’s may have been bred, this is not a yearling sale but rather a performance sale. Each and every 2yo has had the opportunity and preparation to give a good indication relating to their ability levels.
Some of these 2yo are bound to get big prices in the sale ring
2) Next we only considered from that list, candidates that we observed had Breezed Up with a good action and did it with an easy flowing economical style without being pushed along to hit the line. We only wanted to be attracted to horses with obvious improvement remaining.
3) We were not interested in selecting the fastest horses because it was obvious to our eye that these had been “over cooked” to run time and as a result have little upside for improvement. Also being pushed that hard to run quickly, historical data from previous sales reveals these 2yo’s seldom make into successful racehorses and statistically, they have very short to a zero racing careers mainly due to injury created by being pushed too hard too early.
4) Then we considered only those lots which have commercial appeal to Australian buyers. Many horses that did Breeze Up well were by non descript, unsuccessful or unproven local NZ sires. Naturally being a NZ sale that’s what you would expect to find in such a catalogue. However these horses offer little reward to Australian based owners because they are ineligible for the rich bonus monies on offer by schemes such as BOBS or Super VOBIS etc. Simply with our prizemoney in Australia being so attractive, buyers cannot disadvantage themselves buying horses not eligible for these extra $20,000 bonus monies for Saturday races.
5) From a starting position of 81 candidates we were reduced to 25 qualified lots (31%).
6) We then rated and ranked these qualified lots pedigrees on genetic capabilities and the success of the cross of the Sire over the Broodmare Sire lines. We are particularly committed to these tools as part of our selection model and it has repeatedly proven to be a sound source of racetrack success. Yet again it seems to have proven its worth with 20 of the 25 lots being rated within our A grade pedigree rating criteria whilst 5 of the 25 lots were removed from the list as they were rated below an A grade score.
An analysis of these 20 qualified lots there were: 7 x A+++ ; 4 x A++ ; 4 x A+ : 5 x A
The 5 lots we removed from the list at this point included:
1 Fastnet Rock (F-63%),
2 x Encosta De Lago’s (1 x B+ 1SW ; 1 x 0SW),
2 x Magic Albert’s (1 x D -35% ; 1 x 0SW).
Whilst an argument could be put forward to have included the Encosta De Lago rated B+ 1 SW in the list, the fact that the cross has only produced the 1 Stakes Winner does not give us enough confidence in the mating to offset being flexible to the self imposed A grade cut off score.
It continues to support / prove the selection model’s statistic merits. With 25 qualified lots, 20 were A grade ratings (80%), whilst 5 horses that rated B to F supplied (20%) of the lots.
Yet A grade was only represented by 29% of the total catalogued lots whilst 71% was catalogued as B to F grade.
7) From these 20 qualified lots, we will physically inspect each one and get their x-rays read. Any purchases we make we shall have scoped and their blood samples analysed to ensure they are free of prohibitive substances.
8) We remain confident that with the AUD/NZD exchange rate being so favourable at $1.27 we will be able to successfully purchase some high quality bloodstock at this sale at what is hoped a bargain price after the exchange benefits.
12 Sires are represented amongst the 20 qualified 2yo’s remaining on our list. They are:
BERNADINI
CASINO PRINCE
CHARGE FORWARD
ENCOSTA DE LAGO
EXCEED AND EXCEL
FASTNET ROCK
FLYING SPUR
MAGIC ALBERT
MOSSMAN
NORTHERN METEOR
STRATUM
TESTA ROSSA
DVD copies of all Breeze Up videos will be available from Tuesday 23 October. To request a copy of the catalogue and the Breeze Up DVD – indicating whether it is for TV or PC - please contact NZB at reception@nzb.co.nz or call +64 9 298 0055.
Breeze Up clips will also be available for viewing at www.nzb.co.nz or on the free iPad application which can be downloaded off the NZB website.
To view the catalogue online for the 2012 Ready to Run Sale of 2YOs visit the NZ Bloodstock website.