A Snitzel colt topped Day 2 of the New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale Jan. 29, but it was the continuing demand for well-bred fillies that brought the second session to a crescendo.
After the sister to Prowess and Japanese Emperor sold for NZ$1.9 million and NZ$900,000, respectively on Sunday, sought-after fillies by Savabeel , bought for NZ$650,000 and NZ$620,000, and a daughter of champion stallion Proisir, purchased for NZ$600,000, all changed hands inside the final 90 minutes of the session.
Earlier, it was Karaka kingpin David Ellis who continued his dominance of the NZB sale, adding nine yearlings to the Te Akau stable on Day 2, and his most expensive addition was a NZ$825,000 (US$502,486, NZ$1=US$0.6090) son of Snitzel, who can lay claim to being the sale’s highest-priced colt so far.
Consigned by Haunui Farm, he is the first foal out of the Chitty family’s Sydney Cup (G1) runner-up Rondinella (NZ), a four-time winner from 1,400 meters to 2,100 meters for Roger James and Robert Wellwood before being transferred to Australia and the care of John O’Shea.
A three-quarter sister to the winner of six stakes races in Celebrity Dream, Rondinella was nine times stakes-placed, three of them at group 1 level.
“We’re absolutely over the moon to be able to take a Snitzel colt of that quality home,” Ellis said. “We thought that he was one of the best colts we’ve seen at Karaka in five or six years. Karaka Millions, here we come.
“He’s got beautiful size and balance and looks like he’s got a good temperament. You can see in my book—’Real 2-year-old type. Karaka Millions winner’.
“There was good competition for him, but there is on all of these good colts. Snitzel is one of the best sires we’ve had in this part of the world in the last 50 years, he’s that good, and this is the sort of money that you have to pay to buy a colt with this quality. We’re thrilled. But I didn’t have a lot left—I was on the ropes.”
Rondinella provided the Chittys with plenty of racetrack highlights and now she’s continued that on into the sale ring with her first foal.
“We were very proud of Rondinella when she was racing,” Mark Chitty said. “She earned a million dollars for us and this colt is a nice horse, as nice a yearling as we have bred, and he represents the ninth generation of Foxona, our foundation mare we bought from Seton Otway for £60 as a weanling.”
A solid Day 2 at @karakachat 🙌 There were many highlights, including our loyal team member Simon selling his Tivaci x Monegan Star colt (Lot 342) to @pstokesracing. We can’t wait for day 3 🎉 pic.twitter.com/Xr6Dajjfog
— Waikato Stud (@WaikatoStud) January 29, 2024
Te Akau raced Snitzel’s 2021 Diamond Stakes (G1) winning 2-year-old Sword of State, who has just completed his second season at Cambridge Stud. But it was to another group 1-winning stallion that Ellis compared his expensive purchase.
“He’s not the same sort of horse as Sword of State. I think he’s more like Darci Brahma, who was champion 2-year-old, 3-year-old, and 4-year-old,” Ellis said.
“He won a group 1 in Australia as a 2-year-old, and I think this colt is the same. After the Karaka Millions, I could see us turning him out for a week and then getting him ready for the Golden Slipper. That’s the plan.”
