Sydney Morning Herald View

The Sydney Morning Herald reflects on the Karaka Premier Sale:-

All the familiar faces were at the Karaka Yearling Sales in New Zealand last Monday and Tuesday and once again David Ellis' Te Akau Racing and Fastnet Rock captured the headlines.

Ellis, whose 22 multiple purchases will race in New Zealand and Singapore, was  the leading Karaka buyer for a record 10th time and bought  the top lot  for $NZ800,000 ($A756,160)) for the third time in the past five years.

Fastnet Rock maintained his grip as the top stallion with his filly from Il Quello Veloce becoming his fourth straight sales topper.

Of the 298 lots to change hands, 127 were bought by Australians for $NZ20,412,500, with the overall sale netting $NZ44,962,500.

The top-priced lot, the Fastnet Rock filly,  sparked a stirring bidding duel between Ellis and Lindsay Park's David Hayes, who  dropped off after a $NZ750,000 bid.

The filly's pedigree includes  the great mare Parfore. Parfore is the dam of Terravista, recently voted as one of the world's top sprinters of 2014, as well as Tiger Tees, Super Easy and Ball Of Muscle.

The Il Quello Veloce yearling was sold during the last 30 minutes of the second and final session, with the Tuesday far exceeding Monday's sales.

Fastnet Rock had 13 yearlings sell for a great average of $NZ331,538. Redoute's Choice's average was lower at $NZ 273,00 but he had only three lots sell.

Other NSW-based stallions which sold strongly were More Than Ready (2 lots for $NZ870,000) and Snitzel (two lots for $NZ600,000).

NZ sires with huge representation were Savabeel who had 38 lots sell for an average of $NZ189,342 and O'Reilly, who had 37 sell for a $NZ148,243 average. Rip Van Winkle's 22 lots averaged $NZ126,363.