The Chittick family and youthful vendor Jamie Beatson combined for a highly lucrative run of events at Karaka on Tuesday.

Waikato Stud and Cambridge’s Ohukia Lodge teamed up for four outstanding results and all sired by the Matamata farm’s multiple champion resident Savabeel.

His sons, Lots 84 and 127, topped the opening day of New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready to Run Sale at NZ$500,000 apiece and then Lot 137 made NZ$440,000 while Lot 180 realised NZ$375,000.

“The first one was Gary’s, the second one was mine and the third was the kids,” stud principal Mark Chittick said referring to his children Charlotte, George, Harry and Charlie.

“It’s exceeded all our expectations, just fantastic.”

He was also quick to lavish praise on Beatson and his partner Chanel.

“They have done a wonderful job. They are good, old-fashioned horse people and they have turned the horses out in such wonderful order.”

The first of their Savabeels was purchased by Cambridge agent Stuart Hale, the second went to Magus Equine’s Willie Yeung and the third to David Ellis and will be raced by Te Akau with Aquis Farm and Waikato Stud will also remain involved. Victorian agent Cameron Cooke secured the fourth.

As he often does, Leung made his mark at Karaka when he pushed his buying boundaries for the son of Maxmara (NZ) (O’Reilly {NZ}) from the family of the G1 Goodwood H., winner Centisle (NZ) (Centaine).

“He was bought for Peter Chu, of Hong Kong, who really likes Savabeel,” he said.

“We were determined to get him and he went over expectations. But he’s a lovely horse and we had to get him.”

The colt also got the seal of approval from future trainer Manfred Man.

“He was Manfred’s pick. The horse will stay here for another 12 months and we’ll send him to Hong Kong next year.

“He looks like a miler, but we’re hoping he’ll stay a bit further and the dream would be the Hong Kong Derby.”

“New Zealand breeze-up sales are the best choice for us, we love New Zealand horses,” Leung said.

A son of Holy Roman Emperor (IRE) will also be heading to Hong Kong after Yeung went to NZ$200,000 for Lot 67 from Prima Park.

“Holy Roman Emperor has done so well up there and this horse will have two preparations here and will go to Hong Kong next season,” Leung said.

Another top result

Later in the day, Waikato Stud and Ohukia cashed in again with Savabeel when Cooke signed for Lot 180 at NZ$375,000.

Bred in partnership with Bloomsbury Stud, he is out of the O’Reilly (NZ) mare Pander (NZ), who is a half-sister to the two-time G2 Moonee Valley Gold Cup winner Precedence (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}).

The 2-year-old is a grandson of Kowtow (USA) (Shadeed {USA}), who is a half-sister to the dam of the Group 1 winner and producer Tavistock (NZ).

Bold bidding lands Hale his dream colt

Stuart Hale’s dream became a reality at Karaka on Tuesday when he secured the joint sale-topper.

The Cambridge-based bloodstock agent went to NZ$500,000 for a Savabeel colt bred by Garry Chittick and prepared for New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready to Run Sale by Jamie Beatson’s Ohukia Lodge.

Hale purchased Lot 84 for a Hong Kong-based owner he has enjoyed a long and successful association with.

“He’s the best horse in the sale with the best pedigree and he was jumping over my bed all night,” he said.

“I bought him for Mr Wong’s Regency Stable in Hong Kong. The minute I saw this horse come out of his box I knew this is the one. He is a special horse.

“Mr Wong trusts me 100 per cent to buy the best and he had the looks and vetted beautifully. He’s an exciting horse by Savabeel out of a stakes-winning High Chaparral mare, how can you go wrong?”

Bold bidding

Hale’s confidence was reflected in his sale ring tactics - with the action at NZ$425,000 he immediately trumped that by jumping to NZ$500,000 - “I’m quite an aggressive bidder,” he said.

The colt’s dam Lady Chaparral (NZ) (High Chaparral {IRE}) won the G3 Tauranga S., and she is a half-sister to the G1 New Zealand Oaks winner Bramble Rose (NZ) (Shinko King {IRE}).

The 2-year-old’s grandmother Images (NZ) (Gleam Machine {USA}) is a half-sister to the G1 Air New Zealand S., winner The Filbert (NZ) (Souvran {GB}), who also placed in the G1 Cox Plate and the Japan Cup when it had Listed status.

“His breeze-up might not have been the best, but he was mismatched and they went a bit slow,” Hale said.

“When the jockey let him go he won by four or five lengths. He’s got the right attitude and he’s a real athlete.”

Watch: Lot 84 breeze up

The colt will further his education in New Zealand before he heads to Hong Kong.

“He’s going to Brendon Hawtin’s place and he’ll stay here and have a trial,” Hale said. “I can’t say what trainer he’ll be going to up there at this stage, I’ll talk to Mr Wong about that.”

25-year association

Hale said he had been buying horses for Mr Wong in New Zealand for a quarter of a century.

“He said get me one as good as Regency Bobo so I wasn’t going to leave without this horse.”

Hale paid NZ$400,000 in 2015 for Regency Bo Bo (NZ) (Denman), who was offered by Little Avondale Stud. The 5-year-old has won five times so far from Danny Shum’s stable.

Lucrative turnaround

A son of Tavistock (NZ) provided Riversley Park with a tidy piece of pin-hooking business at Karaka on Tuesday.

He was purchased by respected Queensland bloodstock agent John Foote from Sam Beatson’s New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale draft for NZ$400,000.

The colt was originally bought from Curraghmore’s Book 1 yearling sale draft earlier this year for NZ$150,000.

He is out of the Written Tycoon mare Prestigious Miss, who was a winner and G3 placed in the Gold Trail S., and she is a half-sister to the G3 Manawatu Cup winner Cassini (Reset).

They are grand-daughters of the G1 Western Australian Oaks winner True Devotion (Beau Sovereign {NZ}).

Te Akau leads buying charge

Te Akau Racing’s David Ellis was the leading buyer during the opening session of New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready to Run Sale on Tuesday.

He purchased six lots for a total of NZ$1,052,500 with the highest price paid NZ$440,000 for a son of Savabeel.

At the end of Day 1, the turnover closed at NZ$11,980,500 for 115 horses sold, down on last year’s NZ$15,690,500 with the average settling at NZ$104,178, back of 2017’s record-breaking result of NZ$108,210.

The 2018 median was NZ$67,500, up on the NZ$65,000 of 12 months ago.

The clearance rate strengthened in the afternoon to 63 per cent, down from 75 per cent last year.

Kilgravin Lodge’s Eion Jones said the opening session had been patchy.

“There’s been nowhere near as many people here as there has been for the last few years, but we’re selling ours which is the main thing.”

Kilgravin’s top price on day one was NZ$175,000 for a son of Savabeel purchased by Te Akau chief David Ellis.

The colt is out of Marveen (Orientate {USA}), who won three times at Listed level and was a dual Group 2 placegetter.

It is also the family of the G1 Flight S., winner Danglissa (Danzero).

The Te Akau principal went to NZ$152,500 for Lot 45, a three-quarter brother to the G2 Coupland’s Bakeries Mile winner Te Akau Shark (NZ) ({IRE}) he purchased for NZ$230,000 at the auction two years ago.

Offered by Ross McKay’s Leanach Lodge, the colt is a mirror image of his relative who is currently spelling with a G1 Doncaster H., campaign planned for the autumn.

“Apart from the colour, he is an absolutely identical in every other way,” Ellis said.

“He is a lovely colt with a lot of class and from a family going places. He’s developed enormously since he was a yearling, but he isn’t a 2-year-old type, he’s a 2000 Guineas colt.”

Ellis said he was prepared to dig deeper to secure the bay, who was bred by Te Awamutu horseman Darrell Hollinshead.

“It was a really fair price and I would have gone a bit extra. To buy a horse like him, broken in and educated, you’ve got to be happy.”

Premature end

The colt is a son of Half Bak (Churchill Downs), who Hollinshead believed would have been one of the best of the breed had she not suffered a career-ending tendon injury on debut.

She is a daughter of Bak Da Chief (NZ) (Chief Bearhart {USA}), the dam of Te Akau Shark and the family of the G1 Easter H., winner Pondarosa Miss (NZ) (High Chaparral {IRE}) and her multiple stakes winning brother Ecuador.

Watch: Lot 45 breeze up

Meanwhile, Ellis has confirmed the retirement of last season’s G1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas winner Embellish (NZ) (Savabeel) following his unplaced last-start performance at Tauranga.

“He’s gone to Te Akau Stud to let down and he will transfer to Cambridge Stud in February,” he said.

Principals Brendan and Jo Lindsay bought into Embellish before a two-start Victorian campaign earlier this year.

“He got a bad check in Melbourne and chipped a bone in his knee and he’s just not stretching out

“He’s going to make a great sire, he’s one of the best colts we’ve ever had. You won’t see a better example of the thoroughbred and he’s the only horse to have beaten Te Akau Shark.”

Embellish was purchased by Ellis for NZ$775,000 out of Waikato Stud’s 2016 yearling draft and retires with three wins and three placings from 10 appearances.

A brother to the G1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ S., winner Diademe, he is out of the unraced O’Reilly (NZ) (Last Tycoon {IRE}) mare Bling. She is a sister to the dam of the G1 Waikato Sprint and G1 Telegraph H., winner Sacred Star (Flying Spur).

It is also the family of the G1 Spring Champion S., winner Vanbrugh (Encosta de Lago), who now stands at Windsor Park Stud.

Grey Khan's (Dalakhani {Ire}) victory in a Geelong maiden on Sunday was the first in the lilac and navy colours of Hilldene, something Nick Wakim hopes to become common place over the coming years for the farm based on 180 acres outside of Seymour in Victoria.

Eagle eyes would have spotted the same colours during the recent Flemington carnival, when highly touted 2-year-old Chicago Bull (Exceed and Excel) ran third in the G3 Maribyrnong Plate on Oaks Day.

Wakim, along with bloodstock manager Peter Ford, made a splash at the 2017 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale, spending $1.85m on six broodmares, including the sister to Sweet Idea and Showtime, Sweet Sister (Snitzel), and the three-quarter sister to Invader, She's Got Power (Redoute's Choice).

"We've always had designs on having a high-end broodmare farm," Wakim told TDN AusNZ. "The focus is on being an owner-breeder, with 10-15 mares but at the upper end."

Wakim and Ford also made an impression at this year's broodmare sales, parting with $750,000 for an imported Frankel mare named Dream In Colour (GB).

"We bought the mare at the Magic Millions Mare sale and we believe she is the first Frankel mare to foal down in Australia. She’s since had an outstanding Exceed and Excel colt and she’s back in foal to the same sire based on that result," he said.

"We're operating at the top end of the market and as you know, the global market is quite strong right now. Prices are expensive and it’s difficult to purchase at value.”

“You need large amounts of capital to play at the top end of the market. Right now, it’s capital intensive for us."

Sharpening focus

That period of strong capital outlay has sharpened Wakim's focus on a clear strategy for his breeding and racing interests.

"We're planning to breed high-end progeny. We will retain and race fillies and mares and then look at maintaining strategic positions with colts that can make future sires," he said.

"All the race fillies will be 100 per cent owned by us. We will buy or retain 25-100 per cent ownership stakes in colts we think will make potential stallions. That's where we want to be."

Chicago Bull, bought in conjunction with Aquis Farm and his breeders Kia Ora Farm, is a good example of that.

Wakim has high hopes for the 2-year-old, who is trained by Peter Gelagotis.

"We have high expectations for him. He's a class colt. We expected him to win the Maribyrnong Plate, but he pulled up with shin soreness so his run had a lot more merit than it showed on paper," he said.

"We'll see how he comes back from his break as we want to target the major autumn 2-year-old races with him."

Similarly, Wakim also holds a major interest in a 2-year-old colt with David Payne by Pierro out of Group 1 winning mare Ofcourseican (Mossman).

The learning process

The strategy seems clear now, but Wakim admits the past 18 months have been somewhat of an education.

The week before buying those six broodmares on the Gold Coast, he and Ford scooped up seven lots at the 2017 National Weanling Sale for a total of over $1 million, with an intention to pinhook them the following year.

"We thought the first year, we’d pinhook some to create some revenue, but that's not really our focus. We've learned over the past 18 months. We’ve tried a few things early doors. Pinhooking, looking at buying a few and trading a few, we even had a commercial draft at Melbourne (Premier Sale) last year," Wakim said.

"As we go through this journey, we won’t be doing those things anymore. We won’t have our own drafts. If we’re going to sell any of the progeny we breed, they'll be placed in specific drafts at specific sales."

"The operation is private and our intention is to be an owner-breeder, but we’ll probably sell a few along the way. That's where our focus is."

A lifelong dream realised

Wakim, a successful business entrepreneur, has had a life-long passion for thoroughbreds and a strong desire to establish his own farm for some time.

"My dad used to take me to the races when I was about nine years old. He owned some horses, but he was a large punter so the horses were a means to an end," Wakim said.

"I used to tag along to the races and my love of thoroughbreds grew from there."

“I was also an avid rider through my teens and focused on show jumping, puissance and cross country riding whilst we lived in the UK.”

"We were also shareholders in (multiple European G1 winner) Dancing Brave, when he was syndicated.”

“I've had a quite a long history with horses, but it’s only recently that I've been able to set-up and carry out my passion."

While he has had horses race with Gai Waterhouse and Chris Waller, it was the Gelagotis trained Grey Khan that gave him the thrill of becoming the first horse to win in the lilac and navy colours, which Wakim selected to compliment the Hilldene livery and logo.

As a promising stayer who is likely to be gelded, Grey Khan doesn't quite fit into the current Hilldene strategy but Wakim is nevertheless excited for his prospects going forward.

"The horse is by Dalakhani out of an Unfuwain (USA) mare (Witwatersrand {Ire}). His half-brother has won up to 3200m and we see him as a young progressive stayer," Wakim said.

"It’s one of our dreams, like so many around the world, to win a major Cups race in Australia,” Wakim said.

Grey Khan is one of around 12 horses in work that Wakim has a shareholding in. Those numbers have been reduced in recent months as he focusses on quality over quantity in both his racing and breeding interests.

"We're content with where we sit at present but this is a work-in-progress. I don’t think as an individual, or as a private group, there are too many people trying to establish a classic or archetypal owner-breeder operation at the upper end in Australia. We know this is an uphill battle but we will give it a red-hot-go," he said.