Waikato Times RTR Review

Aidan Rodley, Racing Editor of the Waikato Times today reports:

Sir Patrick Hogan and David Ellis are two of the biggest names in the racing industry and though they had key roles in yesterday's $430,000 Ready to Run Sale topper, it was the stage for a relative newcomer to take the limelight.

Regal Farm's Shane Crawford prepared the Sir Patrick and Justine, Lady Hogan-bred and owned High Chaparral-Deduction colt which was knocked down to Te Akau kingpin Ellis, giving the Cambridge vendor his first sale topper.

"It can't get much better than this," Crawford beamed last night.

Crawford runs Regal Farm with his partner Kara Waters, both former jockeys, and the couple enjoyed a watershed sale, presenting 17 two-year-olds and rewarded with outstanding results.

As well as the High Chaparral saletopper, Regal Farm sold a Savabeel-Chai Latte gelding for $260,000, a Holy Roman Emperor-Centafit colt for $220,000, a Bachelor Duke-Montmatre colt for $210,000 and a Zabeel-Mydanehillprincess colt for $200,000.

"Being able to sell the saletopper is amazing," Crawford said.

"I've got the utmost respect for Lyndhurst Farm. They do an amazing job with their horses - they are the benchmark, so to tip them off is huge."

Mark and Shelley Treweek's Lyndhurst Farm narrowly missed heading the leading vendor list by aggregate - pipped by Jeremy Whale's Diamond Lodge - but Regal Farm showed its punching power with an aggregate of $1.9 million.

The High Chaparral colt was a gorgeous two-year-old, having joined Crawford to be broken in soon after he was withdrawn from the Karaka yearling sales.

"He was a November foal so he might have just been a bit behind for the yearling sales but he's really blossomed since he came to us," Crawford said.

"That was definitely the sort of money we expected. To be honest, I thought he could have even gone for more than that. He's a lovely horse, beautiful.

"He's just an athlete, a lovely balanced horse and a typical High Chaparral. You could see what he's going to be - he's still six months away really."

Ellis was again prominent in the buyer's tally, ending the sale with the biggest spend of $910,000 on seven two-year-olds.

He had the misfortune of losing a Fastnet Rock colt three weeks ago that he had bought at this year's yearling sales as part of a four-colt package for a syndicate and said yesterday's top buy would be the replacement.

"He's bred on the identical cross as Dundeel, who is the most exciting colt we've had in New Zealand in the last five or 10 years, and I'd been looking at him for quite some time," Ellis said.

"His mother is a three-quarter sister to Might And Power and I really liked the way he breezed up. After studying him at Karaka, he's got an unreal attitude and I'd like to think he'll be at Riccarton this time next year and going one better than Chambord did in the 2000 Guineas."

Cambridge's Diamond Lodge sold yesterday's second-highest priced lot, an O'Reilly-Aria colt which fetched $340,000, knocked down to Bruce Slade's Round Table Racing and Sydney bloodstock agent James Harron.

That sale allowed Diamond Lodge to land the vendor honours, with 21 horses sold for a combined $2.426 million.

The sale saw new records for average, median and turnover, with 232 horses sold for $18,462,500, up 3 per cent on the previous record, set last year, of $17,852,000.

The average was $79,580, up 9 per cent on last year's record of $72,865, while the median of $50,000 was up 4 per cent on last year's $48,000. The clearance rate ended at 62 per cent.