Third time’s a charm for Auckland vendor Lilywhites Lodge

Image courtesy of New Zealand Bloodstock

The New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale will kick off this Wednesday into Thursday, and for third-time vendor Lilywhites Lodge, which is just south of Karaka in Papakura, it will be a first 'virtual' experience.

Run by Irishman Derek Nolan and his partner Sophia Örting, Lilywhites Lodge is a breaking and pre-training facility, and its background at this Sale is as recent as 2019. That year, it emerged as a significant consignor when it sold a Tavistock (NZ) filly to Cambridge Stud for NZ$210,000, one of seven in its own draft that first year.

Last year, the outfit went one better.

Its highest-seller was a Darci Brahma (NZ) colt that went to Te Akau Racing for NZ$350,000, while its draft had climbed to 14. It’s been a quick, upward trajectory for the Nolan team, which will this week present 16 horses under its own banner.

“Originally, I’d started breaking in for Haunui Farm, and things were going good there so Mark (Chitty) had guided us into selling a few of his clients’ horses at the Ready to Run Sale,” Nolan said. “As the years have gone past, we’ve set up a really good client-base with all the studs around, including Westbury and Haunui, and it’s really gone from there.”

This week, Nolan has prepped an additional six horses for the Westbury Stud draft, bringing his association to this year’s Sale to 22, give or take withdrawals.

The headliner

The Lilywhites Lodge draft is looking as good as its previous two, and headlining the consignment is Lot 247, a Tarzino (NZ) filly from the multiple Group-winning mare Postmans Daughter (NZ) (Postponed {USA}).

Nolan has a history with this family, piloting Postmans Daughter during his riding career to her G3 Taranaki Breeders’ S. win in 2013, and the mare was additionally second in the G1 Easter H. that same year.

“This filly (Lot 247) has been the most popular one we’ve got,” Nolan said. “She breezed up nicely and she’s a big, beautiful filly. Tarzino is starting to get a few. He’s got one nice 3-year-old over here, and I think most of them are going to be 3-year-olds, but he’s starting to get some runners behind him.”

Lot 247 breezed up in 10.96s, which was a very respectable effort. Nolan said the interest in her has been largely from a physical perspective.

“She’s an unbelievable-looking filly,” he said. “She looks like a 3-year-old already, and she stands out. As soon as she comes out of the box, she’s got that presence about her. Since her breeze up, she’s just developed more and more, so everything ticks the boxes with this one.”

Nolan has been buoyed by the level of interest in Lot 247. He’s had a stream of people checking out the x-rays and making enquiries, so he’s hopeful of a good result with her. The filly is the fourth foal from Postmans Daughter, whose only other result at this Sale came in 2018 when her Reliable Man (GB) son, Precision Dream (NZ), sold from Phoenix Park to Best Equine for NZ$100,000.

Lightning can strike twice

In Lot 138, Nolan has a Choisir colt from the Encosta De Lago mare Granadilla (NZ), a family with which Lilywhites Lodge enjoyed a sizeable celebration last year.

Lot 138 is a half-brother to the Darci Brahma (NZ) colt that Nolan sold to Te Akau last year for NZ$350,000, and this colt, just the mare’s second, is handsomely aligned to do similar.

It’s the family of Damson (Ire) (Entrepreneur {GB}), who was Champion 2-Year-Old Filly in Ireland in 2004, and joint winner of the same title that year in Britain. From this line has come the topical gelding Dubai Honour (Ire) (Pride Of Dubai), who was a very recent second in the G1 Champion S. at Ascot last month, and a winner of two Group races on the trot before that at Longchamp and Deauville.

“This colt’s half-brother was one who put us on the map last year,” Nolan said. “That was a great result for the original owner, because he bought that mare (Granadilla) for NZ$24,000 in foal to Darci Brahma. This particular colt (Lot 138) isn’t as big as that fella, but he’s a real nice-moving colt, and I think Choisir will push him even more than the Darci Brahma, so we can only hope.”

Of the others

Of the others, Nolan mentions Lot 215, by Savabeel, as being of particular interest.

Waikato Stud’s Champion Sire does little wrong, but this gelding is from the Dubawi (Ire) mare Moochi Me, making him a full brother to Slave To Love (NZ). Co-trained by Peter and Dawn Williams, the filly Slave To Love was second to Amarelinha (NZ) (Savabeel) in the G2 Sir Tristram Fillies Classic.

“This is a really nice horse,” Nolan said of Lot 215. “Savabeel doesn’t need any pushing as a sire, and we’ve also got another colt in the draft from a Dubawi mare.”

Gallery: Some of the Lilywhites Lodge draft

That horse is Lot 26, by Tarzino from Viva Espana (NZ) (Dubawi {Ire}). He breezed in 11.88s, which Nolan said was on account of him being “a little bit green”.

Additionally, Nolan mentioned Lot 281, a Per Incanto (USA) gelding from the Australian mare Satin Queen (Lonhro).

“Per Incanto is just flying at the moment,” Nolan said. “This little horse is developing really well after being a bit behind in the breaking process. He’s really developed since the breeze up, and he’s been really popular too because of the way Per Incanto is going at the moment.”

Standing at Little Avondale Stud, Per Incanto hit further headlines last weekend when his son, Lost And Running (NZ), won the $1 million The Hunter at Newcastle. Through the winter, his prolific Group 1-winning daughter Bonham was sold to Sheamus Mills (FBAA) from the draft of Willow Park Stud for $1.6 million at the Magic Millions National Sale, while he was also the leading sire in Hong Kong last season and is also leading the way this season.

COVID challenges

Nolan has enjoyed watching his draft develop since their respective breeze ups at Te Rapa on October 11 and 12, but he admitted that the five weeks passing has changed a few of the horses for the better.

In particular, this can have an effect on the merit of the breeze-up gallop, with some of the young horses running green, as in the case of the Tarzino colt, Lot 26. Were these horses to breeze now, it’s likely they would turn in better times.

“It’s a long time between the Sale and the breeze ups, nearly five-and-a-half weeks, which can drag on,” Nolan said.

Nevertheless, he’s not one to make excuses for any of his horses, even if he’s had significant challenges this year owing to COVID-19 and the regional lockdowns across New Zealand.

“There’s been no difference in the quality of horses we’ve got this year to other years, but everything’s been against us here in Auckland,” Nolan said. “I was unable to get my horses onto a grass gallop, and I’ve been unable to get them out and about, unlike those in the Waikato. As a result, mine breezed up a little bit greener than my previous years, but that couldn’t be helped.”

Nolan’s drafts would normally head south for a look-around and, geographically, they are a minority in the catalogue. The question is, will buyers consider these details when it comes to bidding online this week?

“I hope they will,” Nolan said. “I’d like to hope that the pages of each of my horses says it all, and people will take what they can from that. The videos have a 600 metre gallop, so people can see the horses’ action and how they’re behaving, and normal horsemen would be able to spot improvement. Let’s hope they can.”

Equally, Nolan is nervous about the virtual format of this week’s Sale, and he said his clients are too. The physical presence of inspections and parades can often fill the void if a horse’s breeze is only average, but that has been missing this year.

“The guide for us has been the number of hits on the x-rays,” Nolan said. “You can see how many people are looking at them, and we’ve been guided by that. We hosted a parade here for our horses, and a number of local trainers and owners came, along with a few New Zealand Bloodstock agents, but it does make you worry when you see how many people attended those in the Waikato.”

Nolan’s concerns are legitimate in a COVID environment. He had to form a whole new team to take care of those horses he sent down to breeze at Te Rapa because his own staff couldn’t leave Auckland, and the COVID headaches have been significant.

However, they’re not enough to prompt him to leave his surrounds at South Auckland which, in any other year, are ideal.

“I’ve got a huge client base up here,” Nolan said. “I broke in close to 170 horses last year, and I’m probably the only main breaker up here. So any other time, it’s really good for business being here. It’s just one of those things right now.”

Lilywhites Lodge is also on the cusp of taking over the facility of trainer Steven McKee, who announced his shock retirement in August this year.

“They asked us to take it over, and it’s where I have my horses now, so we’re about to do that next month,” Nolan said.