Despite the quality pedigrees, the outstanding individuals up for sale and the world-renowned horsemanship skills of kiwi vendors, what brings buyers back to Karaka year after year for New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready to Run Sale is its remarkable record of racetrack success.
The Ready to Run Sale stands head and shoulders above all other sales of its kind in Australasia, with an extraordinary honour roll of stakes-winning graduates throughout the last decade in particular.
- In five seasons, NZB's Ready to Run graduates have claimed 17 Group One titles and 102 stakes wins, compared with just four Group One wins and 62 stakes races for both Australian two-year-old sales combined.
- NZB has produced a higher ratio of winners to runners (61%) from the last five years than any other Australian two-year-old sale, and graduates have also earned on average 46% more prizemoney than their Australian counterparts combined.
- Graduates of NZB's Ready to Run Sale have also won more Group One races in the current five seasons than any other two-year-old Breeze Up Sale worldwide.
Standout recent graduates include:
GOLDEN SIXTY
Hong Kong megastar Golden Sixty (Medaglia d'Oro) holds the all-time record for prizemoney earned at Sha Tin and Happy Valley.
Bought for $300,000 from Riversley Park's draft at the 2017 Ready to Run Sale, Golden Sixty has won 21 of his 24 starts and more than HK$113.4m. That's the equivalent of NZ$25.5m, which is 85 times his purchase price. Golden Sixty has won six times at Group One level, headed by the 2020 and 2021 editions of the Hong Kong Mile (1600m), and he also triumphed in the Hong Kong Derby (2000m).
SHARP 'N' SMART
The latest addition to this standout list is Sharp 'N' Smart (NZ) (Redwood), who was offered at last year's Ready to Run Sale. His eight-start career has so far produced four wins and three second placings.
Trained by Team Rogerson, he was a sensational winner of the Group One Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) in Sydney, and he has also won the Group Three Gloaming Stakes (1600m) and Listed Champagne Stakes (1600m). He has earned more than $1.9m and was among the favourites for the Group One Victoria Derby (2500m) at Flemington, subsequently running a brave second.
TE AKAU SHARK
Bought by David Ellis for $230,000 from Lyndhurst Farm's draft at the 2016 Ready to Run Sale, Te Akau Shark (NZ) (Rip Van Winkle) became a fan favourite on both sides of the Tasman.
His 14-start career produced seven wins, five placings and more than $1.5m in stakes – six and a half times his purchase price.
Te Akau Shark was a Group One winner in both New Zealand and Australia, taking out the BCD Group Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa and the Chipping Norton Stakes (1600m) at Randwick, and he also finished third in one of the world's most prized weight-for-age races, the Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley.
BEAT THE CLOCK
Champion Hong Kong sprinter Beat The Clock (Hinchinbrook) was a $200,000 purchase from Prima Park's draft at the 2015 Ready to Run Sale.
From 25 starts, Beat The Clock won 10 races and earned over HK$52.8m in stakes. That's the equivalent of more than NZ$9m, which is 45 times his purchase price.
Beat The Clock has been an elite sprint performer in Hong Kong, winning the Group One Hong Kong Sprint (1200m), Chairman's Sprint Prize (1200m) and back-to-back editions of the Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m). He has also collected an additional four minor placings in Sha Tin's star-studded Group One sprint features.
MONGOLIAN KHAN
Mongolian Khan (Holy Roman Emperor) was a $220,000 purchase by the China Inner Mongolia Rider Horse Group at the 2013 Ready to Run Sale. He won the New Zealand Derby (2400m) and Australian Derby (2400m) in the first few months of 2015 – the first horse to win both of those famous classics in more than 30 years. He later added the Group One Caulfield Cup (2400m) to his collection, becoming the first horse in history to win all three showpiece races.
Mongolian Khan amassed over $4m in stakes, was a two-time New Zealand Horse of the Year, and now stands at Windsor Park Stud.
TURN ME LOOSE
Like Mongolian Khan, Turn Me Loose (NZ) (Iffraaj) also came out of the 2013 Ready to Run Sale, was also a Group One winner on both sides of the Tasman for Cambridge trainers Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman, and also retired to stand at Windsor Park Stud.
Bought by Todd Hartley for $52,500, Turn Me Loose won seven of his 20 starts and earned over $1.5m. The highlights were superb Group One wins in the New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) and Melbourne's Emirates Stakes (1600m) and Futurity Stakes (1400m).
GINGERNUTS
Gingernuts (NZ) (Iffraaj) was selected by Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis at the 2015 Ready to Run Sale and cost just $42,500.
His spectacular racing career delivered unforgettable thrills for his big syndicate of owners, and he became a hugely popular performer on both sides of the Tasman with sparkling successes in the Group One New Zealand Derby (2400m), Rosehill Guineas (2000m) and Windsor Park Plate (1600m). Gingernuts earned over $1.2m in stakes from a career that produced six wins from 12 starts.
NEW ZEALAND DERBY WINNERS
Over the last decade, Ready to Run Sale graduates have formed a particular affinity with the prestigious Group One New Zealand Derby (2400m) at Ellerslie.
Four of the last eight winners of the three-year-old showpiece have been sourced from the Ready to Run Sale, starting with the 2015 and 2017 victories by star performers Mongolian Khan and Gingernuts, who are both mentioned above. They were followed by Vin De Dance (NZ) (Roc De Cambes) in 2018 and Asterix (NZ) (Tavistock) in 2022.
Vin De Dance was a $70,000 purchase by Phill Cataldo Bloodstock from Ohukia Lodge's draft at the 2016 Ready to Run Sale. Derby glory at Ellerslie was the highlight of a 23-start, three-win career for Vin De Dance, who earned over $816,000 in prize-money.
Asterix, meanwhile, was selected by Bruce Perry Bloodstock and bought for $450,000 from Curraghmore's draft at the 2020 Ready to Run Sale.
Unplaced in his first two starts over 1400 and 1600 metres, Asterix scored a 2100-metre maiden win at Tauranga in mid-February in the third start of his career.
His only other appearance came in the Derby at Ellerslie on March 5, where he defied his inexperience with a superb victory by a length and a half over star filly La Crique (NZ) (Vadamos).
This year's Derby has proven to be a particularly strong form race, with La Crique going on to win the Group One Arrowfield Stud Plate (1600m) and the fifth-placed Pinarello (NZ) (Tavistock) capturing the Group One Queensland Derby (2400m). Regal Lion (NZ) (Jakkalberry), who finished third in the New Zealand Derby, crossed the Tasman and was runner-up in the Group Two Tulloch Stakes (1850m).
The 2022 edition of the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale will take place at the Karaka Sales Centre on 16 and 17 November 2022. The Breeze Ups were held at Te Rapa Racecourse on 17 and 18 October.
Online bidding is available for all prospective purchasers via bidonline.nzb.co.nz, plus an extensive online catalogue right here that will host pedigrees, parade videos and photos, breeze up clips and data analysis, updates and important information to assist your buying decisions.
NZB and New Zealand-based agents will also be available to complete inspections and provide evaluations at the upcoming Ready to Run Sale on-farm parades. View the full parade schedule here.
For enquiries or sale information, contact Bloodstock Executive Kane Jones (Kane.Jones@nzb.co.nz or +64 27 274 4985) or Sales Representative Regan Donnison (Regan.Donnison@nzb.co.nz or +64 21 512 466).
View the full catalogue and Breeze Up videos online here
