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Te Akau principal David Ellis CNZM has purchased horses at three yearling sales this year, and now preparing for the Inglis Easter Sale in Sydney.

Most recently, Ellis purchased four yearlings during the Inglis Premier Sale (3 – 5 March) in Melbourne, two of which have already sold, after continuing his 19-year reign as leading buyer at Karaka (28 Jan. – 2 Feb), and ramping up purchases at the Magic Millions Sale (8 Jan. – 16 Jan.) on the Gold Coast, in support of the new Te Akau Australia stable base at Cranbourne (Victoria) - where he was third top leading buyer of yearlings this year.

Inglis provided some stunning David Ellis statistics recently for the upcoming Easter Sale (7 & 8 April), stating 77% winners/runners, 39% black type horses/runners, 30% stakes winners/runners, indicating the superb success Ellis has had with purchases from their sales.

It was highlighted by Group One winning colt Age Of Fire (Fastnet Rock); Group Three winner Summer Monsoon (Stratum); stakes' winning two-year-old Sassy ‘N’ Smart (Smart Missile); multiple winner and Group Three placed Zouluminous (Zoustar), and current Melbourne sprinting mare Sans Doute (Not A Single Doubt), who racked up a hat-trick on the straight course at Flemington, winning the A$150,000 Resimax Group Plate (1100m) on Saturday 2 March.

Sebastian Hutch, CEO Inglis Bloodstock said: “Te Akau’s success shopping at our Easter Sale has been extraordinary and now with a stable in Australia, we’re hoping it’s something that can be built on in terms of what they’ve achieved.

“We have a spectacular group of horses to be auctioned in early April, and given the strike rate (3.2) that Te Akau trainer Mark Walker has created winning races at metropolitan meetings this season in Melbourne, we are really looking forward to seeing the purchases that David (Ellis) and his selection team make.”