Te Akau Huge on Day 1

The Waikato Times reports:

David Ellis dominated the Karaka sales ring yesterday.

The Te Akau Racing kingpin bought 26 yearlings for a total of nearly $4.5 million, headed by a Fastnet Rock-Randaroo colt for $680,000 from the draft of Hamilton's Curraghmore Stud.

"This year I've put together a syndicate of my very best clients to try and buy the four best colts in the sale to hopefully win black-type in Australia and New Zealand and we then want them to go on and be the next Darci Brahma for the New Zealand breeding industry," Ellis said.

Ellis was the underbidder on yesterday's top-priced lot - the Fastnet Rock-Katie Lee colt that was knocked down to Hamilton trainers Graeme and Debbie Rogerson - but he was rapt to secure the colt out of Randaroo.

"This is a colt that I believe could be a real Sires' Produce colt," Ellis said.

"I'd like to think he'd be running in the autumn as a two-year-old. He's very mature. He's a wonderfully balanced type of colt and I can see him being a real Guineas colt in the spring as a three-year-old as well."

The full-brother is in work with David Hayes and has shown a lot of talent. I really wanted this colt for our stable."

Another of Ellis' key buys was an Encosta De Lago filly out of Love Diamonds on behalf of Coolmore Stud for $400,000 from the draft of Cambridge Stud.

"Today we've bought 26 horses and I'm looking forward to buying more tomorrow," Ellis said.

"We're looking to in the next 12 months taking our business to the next level. We only finished second in the premiership in Singapore last year and this year we want to win the premiership in New Zealand and Singapore and to do that you've got to get the best horses that New Zealand breeds and you've got to come to the sales to buy them.

"We've got a terrific number of really good owners that have supported us and we got a particularly big thrill because John Magnier asked me to buy a filly for him and for Coolmore Stud. It's the first time he's bought a filly in New Zealand that will stay in New Zealand and race in New Zealand."

Curraghmore studmaster Gordon Cunningham was delighted with the Fastnet Rock-Randaroo colt's price.

"There's a little bit more caution in the market so we didn't really know what to expect," he said.

"I loved this colt. He's very mature, probably as well developed as any horse on the saleground. He's a horse I'd be expecting to be pinging along pretty early on.