Holy Moly - Gold Coast Class

A small number of shares remain in three stunning yearling fillies that Te Akau principal David Ellis purchased a fortnight ago at the 2017 Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

We put the spotlight on one of three beautiful fillies:

Lot 95 b f Camelot - Holy Moly (Holy Roman Emperor) $250,000 (draft: Coolmore Stud)

“The filly was one of the highlights of the sale and since returning home I've had Australian breeders ringing to see if they could buy her outright,” Ellis said.

“But I want her for our stable, and for my owners, and she certainly ranks as one of the highest quality fillies I've ever bought.  She's an exceptional filly and one of the people at the [Coolmore] Stud said that she is among the nicest fillies they've prepped for a long time.

“She has a lovely pedigree and a filly I'm incredibly excited to have for Steve (Autridge) and Jamie (Richards) to train.”

By the fastest son of sire of sires Montjeu, Camelot was said to be the perfect racehorse by trainer Aidan O'Brien. “A beautiful horse with a terrific action; he had speed, class, and was super intelligent to go with it,” he said.

“Camelot was one of the best racehorses they've ever had at Ballydoyle,” Ellis said.

“When you have a look at the races that he won, he's one of the best colts that Coolmore have ever had go to stud. He's an unbelievably highly regarded sire and because he only shuttled once to Coolmore in Australia this might be the only opportunity that New Zealanders have of getting involved.

“Camelot was the champion three-year-old colt in Europe and Great Britain in 2012, won two races at two, plus he won the 2000 Guineas and both the Epsom and Irish Derbies.”

Holy Moly and her dam Clarissa (Zabeel), were impressive winners on home soil in New Zealand.

“Holy Moly was a very, very good filly in New Zealand,” Ellis said.

“We always kept an eye on her and I was really attracted to the pedigree as her sire, Holy Roman Emperor, is regarded as a very good broodmare sire.  She won on debut as a two-year-old and went on to win races like the Soliloquy (Stakes), and of course she's out a Zabeel mare, Clarissa, and you just can't get a better influence than Zabeel in any pedigree.

“This is Holy Moly's first foal,” Ellis said.

“I love buying first foals and we've had a lot of success with buying the first foal out of a mare.  She has travelled home with the others from the Gold Coast, and currently in a beautiful paddock at Te Akau Stud.

“They've all settled in terrifically well and with their heads down all the time they can't believe how good the grass is here.”

Having secured these lovely yearlings, the attentions for Ellis now turns to Karaka: the New Zealand Bloodstock 91st National Yearling Sales Series which begins on Monday 30 January at Karaka and extends until 5 February.

“I've looked at every horse in the premier sale, many twice,” Ellis said.

"I've looked at the next one-hundred and twenty that I like and have that list down to eighty horses that I will try and bid on and hopefully we can finish up with fifteen to twenty that we can take home for our stable.”

Ellis added: “We sold nine horses from the Ready to Run Sale in ten days and these latest yearlings from the Gold Coast are moving quickly too”.

PS that's our lovely Camelot filly in the middle - happy and grazing on the lush Te Akau grass yesterday - we have named her 'Guinny' after the Queen of Camelot - Guinevere