The prestigious catalogues for New Zealand Bloodstock’s 92nd National Yearling Sales Series are available online now and will be in letterboxes from early December. Posing the destination of choice for many to secure their yearlings, the week-long showcase is set to present 1,247 of the best Thoroughbreds from around the country at New Zealand Bloodstock’s iconic Karaka Sales Centre near Auckland.
The annual yearling showcase for 2018 will see a new sales format, with the Karaka Million Twilight Meeting, New Zealand’s richest race meeting, now on Saturday, January 27, leading into the Sales Series, which will commence on Sunday and run through until the following Sunday. These changes to the sale format are designed to enable buyers to inspect more horses and experience Kiwi racing at its best.
The first session of the 2018 National Yearling Sales Series will now take place on the evening of Sunday, January 28, starting at 5pm. With 100 yearlings to be offered, this night session will kick off the new-look catalogue structure, being the first of 700 horses catalogued together in the new 'Karaka Book 1’.
BOOK 1 will present the very best horses the New Zealand industry has to offer. Featuring some of the world’s finest pedigrees and the progeny of a host of global powerhouse sires, this is the centrepiece of the week. In 2017 the Premier Sale (now Book 1) featured a colt by the New Zealand legend O’Reilly who subsequently topped the sale at NZ$825,000. Book 1 will run from until Wednesday January 31.
BOOK 2 has become an elite session in its own right. This season’s G1 Thousand Guineas winner Aloisia along with last season’s Australian Derby winner Jon Snow (sold for $65,000), Two Thousand Guineas winner Ugo Foscolo ($50,000), and Herbie Dyke Stakes winner Volkstok’n’barrell ($50,000) were all sourced from this session. This year’s Book 2 has 378 yearlings catalogued and will run across Thursday and Friday, February 1-2.
BOOK 3 will offer the remaining 169 yearlings on Sunday, February 4, and doesn’t fall short of potential G1 winners, with the likes of recent dual listed Singapore winner Gilt Complex, and G1 winners Gaultier and Iamishwara having emerged from this session.
What makes Karaka so special is the consistent delivery of high-performance graduates around the globe. In as little as six seasons, alumni of the sale have reached 100 G1 wins. In the last four seasons, they have claimed 72 G1 titles – 41 percent more than graduates of the sale's closest competitor at Australian yearling sales.
Last season saw nine individual yearling sale graduates pass the winning post ahead of the field in ten G1 features. Coveted race success came not only on home turf but also in the prestigious racing jurisdictions of Australia and Hong Kong with the Australian Oaks, Australian Derby, and Hong Kong Sprint.
Contributing to the steady flow of G1 success are the five alumni that have started this season in impressive form. Mighty Boss (Not a Single Doubt) rose to the occasion in the Caulfield Guineas, Aloisia (Azamour) claimed the Thousand Guineas, Bonneval (Makfi) powered in the Underwood Stakes, Embellish (Savabeel) succeeded in the Two Thousand Guineas, and Hasahalo (Savabeel) triumphed in the One Thousand Guineas.
The National Yearling Sales Series offers an extensive selection of sires, both proven and young stallions, from across the world. There are 133 sires represented across the three sessions including 16 first-season sires. Among these will be the progeny of 29 G1-winning dams and siblings to 42 G1 winners.
At Karaka 2018, all yearlings offered at the National Yearling Sales Series are eligible for the Karaka Million Series, which now includes two $1 million races. This crop of yearlings will be racing for the $1 million Karaka Million 2YO in 2019, the $1 million Karaka Million 3YO Classic in 2020, plus the $100,000 Collinson Forex Karaka Cup for the remainder of their career.
KARAKA 2018 SCHEDULE
- Karaka Million Twilight Meeting: Saturday January 27
- Book 1: Sunday 28 January – Wednesday January 31
- Book 2: Thursday February 1 – Friday February 2
- Book 3: Sunday February 4