A pair of prized colts sired by the late, great Savabeel are among the headline lots at the New Zealand Bloodstock Weanling Sale, which takes place June 25 at Karaka.
A total of 114 youngsters will go under the hammer, including the first crop offered at auction by exciting young stallions Chaldean, Paddington, Mr Mozart and Hilal.
But most eyes will inevitably be trained on Lots 20 and 137, the sale's two Savabeel colts consigned by Waikato Stud and Cambridge Stud, respectively.
Already precious commodities given Savabeel's remarkable knack of producing elite athletes, the colts will no doubt be in even higher demand given the imminent paucity of the product following the untimely passing of Waikato's former flagbearer earlier this month.
Waikato principal Mark Chittick and his trusty team on the Matamata farm were understandably devastated by the loss of their venerable veteran, who was buried directly beside the box where he had actively served for the previous 21 years of a life well lived.
But the Chittick family, which toasted his lasting legacy with a reassuringly expensive glass or two of French red wine, acknowledges that the show must go on; and so the post-Savabeel era officially begins Thursday morning when Lot 20 enters the Sir Patrick Hogan Auditorium at Karaka.
In what may form a future trivia question, the colt—whose dam Purple Rain is the half sister to stakes-placed mare Felton Road—gives prospective buyers the opportunity to secure Savabeel's first posthumous foal to enter the open market.
"He's a nice colt and very typical of the breed," Chittick told ANZ News.
"He's a big, dark colt, so you can readily pick him out as a son of Savabeel. He's a late foal so he's still got plenty of growing and maturing to do, but he's taken everything in his stride so far—as they all have.
"I would be very happy to take any of our draft to a yearling sale next year, or to keep them as longer-term racing propositions, so I hope the buyers will appreciate that we've made every effort to present a really nice group of horses at this sale."
Chittick revealed that the inclusion of the son of Savabeel—not to mention seven colts by Coolmore's recent acquisition Super Seth—was reflective of Waikato's renewed focus on offering buyers quality over quantity at this particular sale.
That approach was borne out by the family farm's results last year, highlighted by the NZ$130,000 Waikato realized for Super Seth's chestnut colt out of Queen Leonora (Savabeel); and while Chittick was reluctant to predict that any member of its 11-strong draft of colts might fetch an even higher price 12 months on, he has no doubt that the buying bench will be impressed by the quality of the stock on offer.
"We've put a lot of preparation into this draft and have made a conscious effort to take a really nice group of horses to this sale," he told ANZ News.
The trading gets underway at 11 a.m. local time when Westbury Stud offers a filly by Redwood, followed immediately by the first of Waikato Stud's 11 weanlings, a colt by the farm's resident stallion Ardrossan.
