New Zealand Bloodstock's Karaka May Sale features the usual big names on the stallion scene, headed by the undisputed current champion Savabeel.
The Waikato Stud resident has won four consecutive New Zealand sires' premierships, and he has an unassailable lead again this season with $3.8 million in total New Zealand earnings – almost double the $1.9 million of nearest rival Pins.
Savabeel is now the sire of 18 individual Group 1 winners, headed by repeat elite-level winners such asKawi(NZ),Lucia Valentina(NZ),Sangster(NZ),Scarlett Lady(NZ) andShillelagh(NZ).
His progeny were in hot demand in Book 1 of Karaka 2019, with 48 yearlings selling for a total of $14.2 million at an average of $296,250. He topped the sale with a $1.4 million colt.
Savabeel has three progeny in the Sale – the racehorses Rumour Has It (Lot 177) and Black Pearl (Lot 180), plus broodmare Amuse(Lot 231)who has been served bySweynesse.
Little Avondale'sPer Incantois another stallion having a huge season, sitting comfortably in the top three on the New Zealand premiership with 47 winners and $1.86 million in prizemoney.Santa Monica(NZ) andShadows Cast(NZ) have both been successful at Group 1 level.
Per Incanto has sired a total of 153 winners from 257 runners, 13 of them at stakes level including three Group 1.
There are three Per Incanto weanlings in the catalogue. The first of those,Lot 2, is a three-quarter brother to the sire's first Group 1 winnerDal Cielo(NZ).
Two other perennial leading stallions in New Zealand,Darci BrahmaandTavistock, are also represented – Darci Brahma with two weanlings, a two-year-old and four broodmares, and Tavistock with a yearling atLot 163.
One of the rising stars of New Zealand's stallion ranks, Windsor Park's multiple Group 1-winning shuttle stallionCharm Spirit, sits at the top of the first season sires' premiership this year with a lead of almost $100,000, headed by his Group 2 Matamata Breeders' Stakes winnerAretha(NZ).
Charm Spirit is the sire of three weanlings in this year's Sale.Lot 56is out of a full-sister to the Group 1 winnerI Do(NZ) (No Excuse Needed), andLot 128is out of a sister to the dual Group 1 winnerBooming(NZ) (Don Eduardo).
Recent racetrack results have emphasised the loss of a number of high-quality stallions, and the Karaka May Sale will be among your final chances to secure some of their progeny.
After eight springs at Haunui Farm,Showcasingceased shuttling to this part of the world following the 2017 season.
The scale of that loss has been vividly illustrated during the 2018-19 two-year-old racing season in New Zealand, where no fewer than 12 individual sons or daughters of Showcasing have won races. No other stallion has had more than three.
Just last weekend, Showcasing sired a two-year-old stakes double whenAll About Magic(NZ) ran away with the Listed Champagne Stakes (1200m) andRainbow Dash(NZ) won the Listed Waikato Equine Veterinary Centre Stakes (1100m).
Overall, Showcasing has sired 339 winners from 585 runners, including 35 at stakes level. From his southern hemisphere progeny, he has been represented by 147 winners from 259 runners, with 16 black-type winners. May Sale graduateHardline(NZ) won the 2015 Karaka Million 2YO.
Showcasing's final New Zealand progeny are now weanlings, and six of them will be offered during the Sale.Lot 33is closely related to the recent Listed Hawkesbury Gold Rush winnerIntuition(Street Cry).
The catalogue also features a Showcasing yearling –Lot 164, a half-brother to last week's Gold Coat Cup winnerThe Lord Mayor(NZ) (Rock 'n' Pop).
Pinshas been another major loss to New Zealand's stallion ranks. The Waikato Stud resident died in April of last year.
In the 12 months since then, he has sired 79 winners including nine at stakes level. The multiple Group 1 winnerMadison County(NZ) heads that list, along with Group 2 winnersPinmedown(NZ) andEmily Margaret(NZ), plus the Group 3 winner and Group 1 placedPrincess Kereru(NZ).Regency Legend(NZ) has made a big impression in Hong Kong.
Overall, Pins has sired 83 stakes winners, nine at Group 1 level over a variety of distances – from superstar Hong Kong sprinterAerovelocity(NZ) to Cox Plate winnerEl Segundo(NZ) and New Zealand Oaks winnerLegs(NZ).
Pins is also making a name for himself as a broodmare sire, with 29 stakes winners, four at Group 1 level. His stars this season include Livamol Classic winnerSavvy Coup(NZ) (Savabeel), top sprinterD B Pin(NZ) (Darci Brahma) and Karaka Million winnerProbabeel(NZ) (Savabeel).
There is one weanling from the final crop of Pins in the catalogue – Lot 95, a close relative to the Group 1 performersAl Jameel(NZ) (Tale of the Cat) andConstellation(NZ) (Fully Fledged). There are also five Pins mares in the broodmare section.
Another outstanding sire lost last season wasPentire, who died in November 2017. Rich Hill Stud's foundation sire produced outstanding horses over a range of distances, with his 16 Group 1 winners spreading from star sprinter-milers likeMufhasa(NZ) andXtravagant(NZ) to the extraordinary middle-distance performerXcellent(NZ), all the way up to Melbourne Cup winnerPrince of Penzance(NZ).
Pentire is also becoming a notable broodmare sire, with 14 stakes winners in that role including three at Group 1 level. Two of his mares feature in this year's catalogue withLots 181and224.
There are also two mares byRedoute's Choice(Danehill), the multiple champion Australian stallion who died earlier this year, atLot 187and212.
