A season filled with black-type success saw NZB Ready to Run Sale graduates produce 15 stakes wins, adding to a tally of 115 stakes races won by alumni in the past six seasons.
As the quality of horses sold at the Ready to Run Sale grows so do the racetrack results. Graduates of the RTR Sale have won nine Group 1 races in the past three seasons while no comparable Sale in Australasia has provided a Group 1 winner in that period.
One race that Ready to Run Sale graduates have an affinity with is the Group
1 VRC Derby, with the 2014 edition this Saturday. Kiwi three-year-olds have a
rich history in Australia having won 40% of Derbies in the past five seasons.
In 2011 it was bargain NZ$19,000 Ready to Run Sale buy Sangster (NZ) (Savabeel) who was victorious in the 2500m classic.
Last year another son of Savabeel and Ready to Run Sale graduate in Savvy Nature (NZ) entered the race as favourite on the back of wins in the Group 3 Spring Stakes and Group 2 Mitchelton Wines Vase.
There is a similar theme to this year's Group 1 VRC Derby with Ready to Run Sale graduate and son of Savabeel Atmosphere (NZ) among the favoured runners. Trained by Trent Busuttin, Atmosphere enters the race with second placings in the Listed UCI Stakes and Group 2 Mitchelton Wines Vase.
A top-performing three-year-old from last season was Atlante (Fastnet Rock), the winner of the Group 1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas. He was one of four Group 1 winning graduates of the Ready to Run Sale last season.
Tough miler Nashville (NZ) (Darci Brahma) made it back-to-back wins in the Group 1 Haunui Farm WFA Classic. Up and coming galloper Albany Reunion (Fastnet Rock) came of age with a brave win in the Group 1 Easter Handicap, the third Group 1 winner in New Zealand for the season.
On the international scene, Glorious Days (Hussonet) triumphed in the Group 1 Hong Kong Mile on the famed International Meeting held at Sha Tin. He became the fourth consecutive winner of the race from Karaka.
A Singapore Group 1 was also achieved with Super Ninetyseven (Show a Heart) capturing the Sgp-1 Raffles Cup.
Other stakes winners in the past season include Military Move (NZ) (Volksraad), Midnite Promise (NZ) (Librettist), El Padrino (NZ) (Mr Nancho), Elusive Catch (NZ) (Elusive City) & City Lad (NZ) (Elusive City).
The new season has kicked off with a bang as Atlante made a winning start to his career in Australia, defeating Group 1 winner Trust in a Gust in the Listed Drummond Golf Stakes.
El Padrino added another stakes win in Singapore and captured the first international race in South Korea. Also in Singapore, speedy sprinter Faaltless (Faltaat) raced to victory in the Sgp-3 Garden City Trophy.
Back in New Zealand, Turn Me Loose (NZ) (Iffraaj) announced himself as a leading three-year-old with a gutsy victory in the Group 2 Hawkes Bay Guineas.
These racetrack results tell the story that New Zealand Bloodstock's Ready to Run Sale is the most successful Sale of its kind in Australasia.
The 2014 Ready to Run Sale has attracted a catalogue of 396 two-year-olds. Each horse was given the opportunity to Breeze Up with the final 200m of their work timed and filmed, click here to view Breeze Up clips. This year's Ready to Run Sale is on Wednesday 19 & Thursday 20 November at Karaka.
For more Sales news and information, visit www.nzb.co.nz . To view the catalogue for NZB's Ready to Run Sale, click here.
