A successful global bloodstock agent in his own right, Miller was appointed as New Zealand Bloodstock’s North American representative a little over two years ago and since then he’s had plenty to crow about.
His main mission is to increase awareness in the quality of the Kiwi-bred and the investment opportunities available at Karaka. While the United States is home, it’s not the only market he preaches to.
“I do a lot of bloodstock work all over the world so I travel and promote New Zealand to anyone who is interested, whether they are in America or not,” Miller said.
“One of my good friends who I have done business with for a number of years, Alastair Donald of SackvilleDonald, made his first trip to New Zealand last year and bought quite a few yearlings for clients.
Ed Sackville (left) and Alastair Donald (right)
“He’s one of the most significant buyers to the Hong Kong market and one of his big Hong Kong owners asked him to go to New Zealand and buy some yearlings.
“Jay Kilgore, who advises people on heart scans and data analysis, has been coming for quite a few years and has clients over there that he advises and helps buy horses.
“I would love to get more and more Americans to come down, but really we’re thinking global. It has a lot of appeal to Europeans.
“I would love to get more and more Americans to come down, but really we’re thinking global. It has a lot of appeal to Europeans.” – Joe Miller
“If you look at the results of what New Zealand-breds have done, certainly if you look at Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia, that quadrant of the world, it’s pretty impressive how they stack up especially at the races over a mile plus.”
Miller said the working environment Karaka offered was another major drawcard.
The Karaka sales complex is second to none
“It’s second to none and it’s one of most enjoyable sales to attend. It’s fantastic and Sir Peter Vela and his staff have done an amazing job of building one of the most user friendly sales grounds in the world.
“It’s so easy to get around. The hospitality is great and the grounds are right there with the best of them.”
“It’s so easy to get around. The hospitality is great and the grounds are right there with the best of them.” – Joe Miller
New Zealand Bloodstock has ramped up its presence in the United States in the last few years with good results.
“More recently, Danny Rolston has been making quite a few trips to America. Danny and I have been going around recruiting people and we’re getting new people in,” Miller said.
“It’s a really fun sale and great to be in Auckland in January, as opposed to being in Kentucky. We’ve been able to get a few people to come over and do some pinhooking.”
Danny Rolston
Miller is also keen to build on his own involvement as a purchaser at Karaka with Kip Elser, who operates Kirkwood Stables in South Carolina, and fellow bloodstock agent Justin Casse.
“Kip, Justin and myself have always wanted to come and do a bit more in the New Zealand market and ultimately buy some horses to sell on to Hong Kong,” he said.
“That’s why we originally got into pinhooking over there. We felt that Hong Kong is very strong and if there is any economic downturn it doesn’t really seem to affect that market like a lot of other markets around the world.
”I’ve only been coming out for two years and we bought into one horse the first year with Sam Beatson, a Tavistock colt, and we did well pinhooking him.
The More Than Ready (USA) colt which sold for NZ$280,000
“This past year I did two with Sam and one with Eion Kemp. We did fairly well on those two and Eion bought us a More Than Ready that we bought for NZ$80,000 and got NZ$280,000 and Sam bought us a Savabeel that we partnered up on and got for NZ$200,000 and we got NZ$440,000 for him .
“We’ve had a couple of good results so we’re trying to grow it. It’s a great place to buy a horse and a great place to raise a horse and in a global industry it should be on everyone’s radar.”
“It’s a great place to buy a horse and a great place to raise a horse and in a global industry it should be on everyone’s radar.” – Joe Miller
New Zealand and Australian bloodlines have proved highly compatible with those in the United States and that has provided further encouragement to overseas purchasers.
“We’ve had quite a few of the big farms like Newgate and Kia Ora etc showing up here, not only for broodmare sales but also for yearling sales,” Miller said.
“Obviously, they have all done very well buying mares in American to head back down there for new bloodlines.
Joe hopes there may be a chance to get an American Pharoah (USA) | Standing at Coolmore
“There’s a lot of quality first season sires at Karaka and maybe a chance to get an American Pharoah. There’s been a few Americans come over in the last few years and more and more seem to be interested.”
Miller has also worked for Kern Thoroughbreds for more than a decade, as well as other business interests, and advising clients on matings.
“I work with Lincoln Collins and manage quite a few racing and breeding operations for quite a lot of people and buy a lot of horses internationally to come back to America to race,” he said.
“I’ve got a racing partnership and quite a few pinhooking partnerships going on as well.”
