Snitzel heads NZ Premier Sale sire averages
Once upon a time, it was unthinkable that Australian-based stallions would dominate the list of leading sires at New Zealand’s flagship yearling sale.
Yet that has been one of the key trends at the New Zealand Premier Sale over the past five years, especially as Zabeel’s stellar career wound down. The supersire’s last appearance on top of the stallion averages was in 2011 when he headed off Red Ransom.
A year later Zabeel was the only New Zealand-based sire in the top ten, and Fastnet Rock claimed the No. 1 spot. He held it for the next three years ahead of seven other Australian-based stallions in 2013, and four in 2014 & 2015.
But when this year’s Premier Sale concluded on Tuesday evening there was a new name at the head of the sire averages: Snitzel.
He had four lots sell for an average price of $NZ280,000, ahead of Fastnet Rock, New Zealand’s champion sire Savabeel and the sale’s leading first season sire All Too Hard. As in 2014 & 2015, five of the top ten sires are based in Australia.
Snitzel’s top-priced lot was the $NZ500,000 colt from Malibu Road (by Malibu Moon), a US-bred mare descended from Best In Show, also the ancestress of Snitzel’s champion sire Redoute’s Choice. Offered by Gordon Cunningham’s Curraghmore Stud, he was bought by Te Akau Racing’s David Ellis and is Snitzel’s all-time top-priced yearling sold in New Zealand.
The other three yearlings by Snitzel also sold for healthy multiples of the $45,000 fee on which this crop of yearlings was conceived. China Horse Club signed for Pencarrow Stud’s Dance My Dance colt at $180,000, and David Ellis added Hallmark Stud’s $200,000 colt from My My Maree to his purchases.
Sydney agent James Harron, who bought two Snitzel colts for $1.525 million at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale earlier this month, paid $240,000 for Highview’s colt out of My Amazing Dream. This is the family of European champion filly Midway Lady and her Oaks-winning daughter Eswarah.
Snitzel, the sire of six Group 1 winners, continues to supply excellent reasons for his commercial popularity, notching up his 33rd stakeswinner, Sun Jewellery, in Hong Kong on Sunday evening.
Snitzel averaged almost $225,000 for 126 yearlings across all Australasian sales in 2015, but with two major sales completed this year, he has already broken through the $300,000 mark for 55 lots sold on the Gold Coast and at Karaka.
The next opportunities to buy his yearlings will be offered by Inglis over the next three months, at their Classic, Melbourne Premier & Easter Sales, including five lots consigned by Arrowfield.
