Kiwi Buyer Prominent

From today's "Informant" - credit Richard Edmunds -

New Zealand buyers have been in the thick of the spirited bidding action at this week's Inglis Easter Yearling Sale in Sydney, making their presence felt with a string of purchases over the first two days.

Te Akau's David Ellis has once again been at the forefront, securing three yearlings. He paid A$150,000 for a filly by Smart Missile out of Panorama Ridge, A$135,000 for an O'Reilly colt out of Royal Era and A$240,000 for a Redoute's Choice filly out of New Zealand's Queensland Oaks winner Scarlett Lady.

Scarlett Lady's triumph in the 2011 Queensland Oaks brought up the first Australian Group One win for her regular rider James McDonald, who still has fond memories of the daughter of Savabeel despite riding countless other stars during his rapid rise to international stardom in the four years since.

“She was a very special filly to me and really helped me build a profile in Australia,” McDonald said on the Te Akau Racing website. “She had a great turn of foot and had the ability to race as a younger horse against the older fillies and mares. She was one of my best and favourite racehorses going around at that time.”

STOP PRESS - Te Akau also purchased a Charge Forward colt today (below) for A$90,000 which has been sold to a Te Akau Singapore client and will do his future racing under the guidance of Mark Walker ...