The next four slots had a distinct New Zealand flavour, with slot two going to the $675,000 bid of Kerri Spence Bloodstock and Clotworthy Racing, slot three knocked down to Wexford Stables for $700,000, well-known owner and industry supporter Daniel Nakhle made sure he was in the mix when securing slot four for $675,000, while Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis ensured his ‘King of Karaka’ title wasn’t lost when his $675,000 bid bought slot five.
Te Akau Racing director Karyn Fenton-Ellis was rapt her husband was able to secure a slot, but said it was unnerving going into the auction not knowing what to expect. “We had spoken to numerous people that we knew were registered, as the New Zealand industry is quite a compact industry, and no one knew what to expect,”she said. “When we come to the Karaka yearling sales, we have a game plan and know exactly what to expect. David Ellis never gets nervous and we know exactly what we want to do, he has bought some very expensive yearlings here. We sort of had a game plan, but it had to be a bit flexible. We talked about this (NZB Kiwi) and we said given Te Akau Racing’s success with (trainers) Sam (Bergerson) and Mark (Walker), and the whole team, we were taking a slot home for our owners.”
Te Akau Racing are hoping to have a number of contenders for what will be the southern hemisphere’s richest three-year-old race, and Fenton-Ellis said they already have a transparent system in place to identify their contender. “We have got a very good process that we have already decided on because we may have a number of contenders,” she said. “We will be very transparent with an independent third-party involved so that every owner and every horse in the Te Akau stable know they are equally considered and it will be a judgment made on merit.”
Australian businessman Ozzie Kheir has been a strong supporter of the New Zealand thoroughbred industry, sourcing many of his racehorses from this side of the Tasman, and he ensured there would be a trans-Tasman element to the NZB Kiwi when he secured slot six for $700,000.
Entain New Zealand took Kiwi punters on a whirlwind ride when securing a slot in last year’s A$20 million The Everest (1200m) and their representative I Wish I Win just came up shy when runner-up to Think About It. They are hoping to replicate that excitement on home soil after securing slot seven for $700,000.
Chief executive Cameron Rodger had been the underbidder on a number of previous slots, so was delighted to finally come out on top with just a couple of lots to go. “I was nervous,” Rodger said post sale. “They were opening and going higher and faster than we ever dreamed of. We had to revise the strategy there. I had the CFO (chief financial officer) next to me so we had to make a few emergency budget increases, but we got there, so we are pretty happy. There were a great number of bidders early on from a different range. We didn’t want to be last, so that was the strategy, but the market found its price really well, so I think everyone will be pretty happy with how it turned out.”
Rodger said the process of filling their slot had already started. “We have had a look at who didn’t get one and we are probably going to start conversations as we speak and that is the beauty of a slot race, it gets you engaged and talking starts right from the dot,” he said. “Hopefully we can have a few on our radar soon.”
Rodger was pleased with how the slot race has been received and he said that has been reinforced by the heavy level of interest in the evening’s auction. “I think the action you saw today is a vote of confidence in the industry about where things are and where things are going,” he said. “That is important to us and we believe in the path that everyone is on at the moment, so bring on 2025, we can’t wait.”
Cambridge trainer Andrew Forsman is hoping eight is his new lucky number after paying $675,000 for the slot, while Cambridge Stud principals Brendan and Jo Lindsay were intent on securing the final slot of the night, and went to $700,000 to fulfil that. “At the end of the day it is $3.5 million in prizemoney, plus a $1 million bonus. New Zealand has never seen anything like this before,” Brendan Lindsay said. “Jo and I have to be a part of it and we were always going to buy lot nine. We decided that we were going to buy lot nine no matter what happened – last in, first out. We would have gone a bit higher. We made our mind up that we were going to buy the last lot.”
After the dust settled, the nine slots sold for an aggregate of $6.225 million, with an average price of $691,667, and a median of $700,000.
The remaining five slots for the NZB Kiwi have been purchased by Auckland Thoroughbred Racing, Waikato Thoroughbred Racing, RACE, and the Canterbury Jockey Club, with New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing holding the final slot for promotional purposes.
New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing chief executive Bruce Sharrock was rapt with the outcome of Tuesday’s auction.“Tonight exceeded all expectations and sets a new standard for the New Zealand racing industry,” he said. “The best part was how excited our participants and stakeholders are, and it sets us up extremely well for the future.”
NZTR chairman Cameron George echoed those sentiments and said it was great to see international interest in the concept. “It’s an outstanding result for the industry and we are really proud of the fact that people around the world were participating,” he said. “We are looking forward to the next 12 months and how we can make this race the great event we can have in New Zealand racing.”
New Zealand Bloodstock has been instrumental in the launch of the NZB Kiwi and managing director Andrew Seabrook couldn’t have been happier with Tuesday’s outcome. “It’s the first time that a slot race has been auctioned anywhere in the world. Everyone went into the unknown and what unfolded was quite incredible,” he said. “It’s great to see global participation and there is an amazing buzz here at Karaka.”
Results
Average – $691,667
Aggregate: $6,225,000
Median: $700,000
Slot 1: John Chew – $725,000
Slot 2: Kerri Spence Bloodstock and Clotworthy Racing – $675,000
Slot 3: Wexford Stables – $700,000
Slot 4: Daniel Nakhle – $675,000
Slot 5: Te Akau Racing – $675,000
Slot 6: Ozzie Kheir – $700,000
Slot 7: Entain New Zealand – $700,000
Slot 8: Forsman Racing – $675,000
Slot 9: Cambridge Stud – $700,000
The inaugural running of the NZ Kiwi will be run at Ellerslie in March 2025 over 1500 metres for the Stakes of $3.5m, which lifts to $4m in 2026 and $4.5m in 2027 – there is also $1m of bonuses on offer
Readers should note that eligibility for this race is confined to 3yo’s, to any horse that is bred in NZ or any horse that has been sold at a NZ Bloodstock Yearling, Weanling or Ready To Run Sale.
From a Fortuna perspective, the three Yearling Fillies that we have bought at the 2024 Yearling Sale, i.e the Too Darn Hot, El Roca and Written TycoonFillies are all eligible to run in the 2026 edition (shares still available in the Too Darn Hot and the El Roca) – Click HERE to see our Buy Shares page) – notable that our 2yo Filly Our Paramour (by Contributor), whom we purchased at the 2023 Ready To Run Sale, will be eligible to run in the inaugural 2025 edition. She is fully sold of course, but she had her debut trial at Tauranga 20th Feb, finishing boldly for 3rd and trials again at Taupo 14th March – her ownership group have a lot to look forward to as she develops and matures and gets to the races – there are only 14 runners in the NZ Kiwi, so competition will be fierce for the slot places, with performances during the Spring and early summer of 2024 being critical
