New Zealand’s Breeder of the Year will offer a rare selection of yearlings at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. Waikato Stud tend to send a few yearlings to Australia every year through other vendor’s drafts, however, they have brought drafts to this sale under their own name in the past as well.
Bluebloods asked Mark Chittick why he’d chosen to send a draft of ten yearlings to the Gold Coast in 2021?
“Two main reasons. The Australian industry is the most positive and productive part of racing in the world, and year in year out we sell the majority of our yearlings to the Australian market.
It makes sense with the obvious challenges this year to spread our horses among different sale companies, given there is still a chance the Australian buyers might not be able to travel to New Zealand. We decided to take our product to them.”
How has Waikato Stud risen to the challenges presented by COVID19?
“The decision to spread out our yearling across different sales this year has come from this situation, but it also sets up Waikato Stud for a longer term involvement in the Australian yearlings market. We are so lucky – the best racing in the world is only three hours away. Waikato Stud’s results on the Australian racetrack are excellent, a fact we are very proud of.
In terms of other impacts, it’s mostly been business as usual, and our next challenge will be to ensure we can attend the Australian sales alongside our horses.”
Describe your Magic Millions draft for 2021
“We were absolutely meticulous on selection for this sale. It was a lengthy process that took everything into consideration to ensure the product was 100% for this market; type, pedigree, x-rays, scope, everything. We wanted potential buyers interested in our product to bid with confidence knowing that the horses can’t be faulted in any way.”
With over one hundred stakes winners and multiple Champion Sire titles, Savabeel is one of the great stallions of the current era. Best known for his classic winners, his stock are versatile and buyers at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale should note his two year-old group horses; Gr.1 ATC Champagne Stakes winner Pasadena Girl, and Gr.1 ARC Diamond Stakes winners Cool Aza Beel and Sword of Osman. Waikato Stud’s Savabeel yearlings for this sale all have precocious pedigrees that will appeal to Magic Millions buyers.
His six yearlings include four colts and two fillies. Plenty of two year-old form surrounds the first foal of Gram, Lot 355, as he is a three quarter brother to Gr.2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes winner Gold Fever (Savabeel), a race also won by this yearling’s dam’s half-brother Gold Rush, while Calaverite won the Listed Gimcrack Stakes; and this yearling’s second dam is Gr.2 Karrakatta Plate winner Gold Rocks.
A standout on paper is the colt from Candelabra, Lot 134, as he is a three-quarter brother to Gr.1 winners Diademe and Embellish (now standing at Cambridge Stud), from the family of Gr.1 sprinter Sacred Star, meanwhile another stunning pedigree page belongs to Lot 155, the full brother to Listed winner Savacool who is out of Chilled Out, a half-sister to Gr.1 placed Listed winner The Big Chill.
The other Savabeel colt, Lot 922, is the third foal of winning mare Urban, who is a half-sister to tough Gr.3 winner Residential from a strong colonial family. Waikato Stud will also present two Savabeel fillies; Lot 605, from speedy winning mare O’Dianne (who ran fourth in two Listed two year-old races) is from a solid New Zealand family with plenty of quality black type winners. The other filly, Lot 935, is out of a full sister to four time Gr.1 winner and sire Alamosa (O’Reilly) as well as closely related to Macau Listed winner Sacred Capital, while Gr.1 winning two year-old Dal Cielo also in this family.
Waikato Stud will present three yearlings by their young sire Tivaci, whose first crop have recently turned two. Tivaci is a sprinting son of High Chaparral who won the Gr.1 All Aged Stakes. The colt from Chorus, Lot 160, is a half-brother to two stakes placed winners, from the family of Gr.1 winners Daffodil, Good Faith, and recent NZ Two Thousand Guineas winner Aegon. A colt, Lot 442 is the third foal of winning mare Kim Dynasty, a half-sister to Gr.1 winner Arlingtonboulevard and stakes winner Europe to Africa. The other Tivaci is a filly, Lot 138, and she is the first foal of Caramel Sundae, a daughter of Gr.2 Angus Armanasco Stakes winner Shopaholic, from the great Waikato Stud family of Sacred Falls.
Ocean Park has been kicking goals lately with the likes of Kolding, Tofane, and Oceanex, and his yearling colt from Impurrfection, Lot 392, is the second foal of a half-sister to Singapore’s Golden Horseshoe winner Kiwi Karma and Australian Listed winner Seaway.
Buyers who inspect Waikato Stud’s draft can buy with confidence knowing the horses all come from a farm with an outstanding black type producing record.
