Cummings Buys Up At Karaka
- Monday, 31 January 2011 07:15
Bart Cummings has returned to New Zealand in search of another so You Think, buying two colts by the champion's sire High Chaparral on the first day of the Premier yearling sale at Karaka.
Cummings bought a colt out of O'Reilly mare A Real Princess for $NZ470,000 ($A366,371) and a colt out of Cadell for $NZ300,000.
Last year Coolmore paid a reported $30 million for a half share in So You Think who was a $110,000 purchase at Karaka three years ago and due to start racing in Europe in a few months.
"I only bought one High Chaparral before today and he turned out pretty good, he won a couple of Cox Plates," Cummings said.
Te Akau Stud's David Ellis paid Monday's top price of $800,000 for a Danehill Dancer colt out of the Zabeel mare Ballycairn on what was generally a patchy day.
"We've won Guineas races at Riccarton five times in the last six years and I would love to win one of them again with him and then take on the Australians," Ellis said.
"I thought he was an absolute quality colt, one of three in the sale that I thought were stunning colts.
"Danehill Dancer is one of very few sires leaving top horses in both hemispheres and if we can win a Group One with this colt I can really see him standing in the northern hemisphere."
Ellis later spent $480,000 on an O'Reilly-Chimeara colt from the Pencarrow Stud draft.
The day started with a bang when the first yearling through the ring, a colt by High Chaparral out of Queen Caelia, sold for $600,000, but it seemed to lull after that before picking up later in the day.
The Queen Caelia colt was bought by Victorian property developer Mark Casey and his father-in-law Doug McLennan.
"It was either him or a new Ferrari," Casey said.
"We thought he was the best High Chaparral in the sale and we would rather have the one we wanted for $600,000 rather than two for $300,000."
High Chaparral currently leads the Australian sires' premiership thanks to the deeds of Descarado, Shoot Out and So You Think.
The highest-priced filly was a Zabeel-Cat Shmea filly from the Curraghmore Stud draft sold for $550,000.
A half-sister to Australian group one sprinter Velocitea, she was bought by Australian agent Rick Connolly on behalf of Patinack Farm.
A Zabeel colt out of champion New Zealand racemare Seachange was bought trainer Graeme Rogerson on behalf of Lloyd Williams for $500,000.
