Nakhle bred leading G1 CF Orr S. contender Crosshaven (Smart Missile) with his father Elias and retained an interest in him after he was passed in at the 2019 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale.
While the Haunui Farm youngster left the ring unsold, business was subsequently attended to and Crosshaven has emerged as a strong Group 1 prospect following a pair of Group 3 successes from limited appearances.
“He was passed in at Karaka and he wasn’t the easiest of yearlings, which is why he races around as a gelding. Mark Pilkington and David Hayes took a real shine to him and we struck a deal afterwards and so far so good,” Nakhle said.
Now trained by Tom Dabernig and Ben Hayes, Crosshaven has won five of his seven starts and will kick off a new campaign in the CF Orr.
“There will be a bit of improvement in this horse we think. He’s coming up nicely and looks stronger, but against the older horses is a different kettle of fish. We’re under no illusions about the step-up he’s taking,” Nakhle said.
“He’s coming up nicely and looks stronger, but against the older horses is a different kettle of fish.” – Daniel Nakhle
Crosshaven holds a nomination for the G1 Australian Guineas and Saturday will also tell a story on another front.
“He’s in The All-Star Mile as well so at weight-for-age we are going to know pretty quickly whether he will be competitive if he’s fortunate enough to gain a place in a race like The All-Star. There’s a bit of water to go under the bridge.
“He’s made us extraordinarily proud so far and really flown the flag for New Zealand and it’s great to see our colours going around.”
Crosshaven is a son of Irish Colleen (NZ) (Shinko King {Ire}), a talented race mare who won seven races, including the G2 Concorde H.
“Irish Colleen really puts a lot of heart into her foals, which is fantastic and a great broodmare to have sitting in the paddock,” Nakhle said.
Crosshaven as a yearling
Irish Colleen is one of 23 mares being bred from and resides at Byerley Park, a thoroughbred centre at Karaka established by Nakhle and his father 18 years ago.
“It’s gone very quickly and it continues to go really well. The stables are full and the winners are coming in with some very good horse people out there,” he said.
“The stables are full and the winners are coming in with some very good horse people out there.” – Daniel Nakhle
They include Group 1-winning trainers Peter and Dawn Williams, Jenna Mahoney, Danny Walker, Bruce Wallace and Grant Cooksley, Shaun and Emma Clotworthy.
“All the mares are based at Byerley Park and foal down at Haunui and walk into the various studs. The mares are in the care of Carol Walker, who is the voice of reason for me at any given time, and Irish Colleen is a picture of health now,” Nakhle said.
“We left her empty this current season. As I say, she puts a lot of heart into her foals and that takes a lot out of her so we gave her a year off and will start afresh with her next season.”
Daniel Nakhle
Another representative
Irish Colleen is also the dam of Killarney (NZ) (O’Reilly {NZ}), who on Saturday will attempt to retain his G3 White Robe Lodge title at Wingatui.
“She’s got a yearling colt by Zacinto and a foal at foot by Vadamos. They're both really nice colts and they will head to the Ready to Run Sale and the Yearling Sale respectively,” Nakhle said.
“We’ve also got Gracehill, the first foal out of Irish Colleen and she’s in the broodmare paddock. We sold her and bought her back after she retired off the track.
“We’ve also got Gracehill, the first foal out of Irish Colleen and she’s in the broodmare paddock.” – Daniel Nakhle
“She’s got two lovely Darci Brahmas, a 2-year-old and a yearling and a Zacinto foal at foot. She’s in foal to Pride Of Dubai and is sitting over at Coolmore.”
Aside from Crosshaven, the Nakhles had the three-time Group 2 winner Spanish Whisper (Lope De Vega {Ire}) with Lindsay Park and she visited Snitzel last year. They currently have Buona Sera (Starspangledbanner) there and the filly has won one of her four starts.
“She was passed in as well and we did a deal similar to Crosshaven. We’ve just sent over a Telperion yearling half-sister to Buono Sera as well, we’ve had a lot of luck with Lindsay Park,” Nakhle said.
A current board member at the Auckland Racing Club, he is the is director of the Nakhle Group, which is involved in property development, property investment and management, hospitality, quarrying, early childhood education, equine product retail and accommodation.
