Woburn Farm’s successful Premier bodes well ahead of Karaka

Adrian Stanley was on the road on Tuesday morning, one eye on his 25 yearlings trucking to Karaka, and another on his sole remaining lot catalogued to sell on Day 3 of the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale.

The Kiwi vendor, who runs Woburn Farm, a property that sits snug between Cambridge and Ohaupo, was one of a number of New Zealand farms at Oaklands Junction this week. They included Henley Park and Monovale Farm, along with the big guns Cambridge Stud and Waikato Stud, the latter selling under the Stonehouse Thoroughbreds banner - one of several kiwi farms selling under Australian vendors.

For Stanley, it wasn’t ideal that he didn’t travel to Melbourne.

Up until this week, New Zealand required seven days of isolation upon return from Australia, and if the studmaster had followed his draft of seven yearlings to the Inglis Premier Sale, he wouldn’t have made it out of isolation in time for next Monday’s New Zealand Bloodstock National Sale Series.

“It’s been pretty difficult not being there, and it’s been pretty frustrating how our government has shut us down for this long,” Stanley said. “It’s made it very hard to do business, but we’ve done well considering.

“I’m rapt with my team at the farm who prepped those horses for Melbourne, and the team handling them for us over there has been amazing.”

The Woburn Farm draft has been looked after at Oaklands by Dave Morrissey of the Scone-based Cannon Hayes Stud.

“The Sale has gone great,” Stanley said. “Dave has been running the draft for me under the Woburn Farm banner, and he’s been brilliant, giving me all the information that I need to pass along to the owners. But I won’t lie, it’s not been easy to not be there.”

In the end, Stanley could have gone to Melbourne and still made it home for Karaka next week. The New Zealand government this week lifted its quarantine requirements for Kiwi citizens returning from Australia, but hindsight doesn't do much good.

“I had it in the back of my head that that could have been the case,” he said. “But it’s been a big job with 25 horses here going to Karaka, and a big job with staff at this time of year here in New Zealand. We’re not getting any overseas staff in, so I had to stay home and I was very comfortable with Dave running the ship in Australia.”

Hong Kong delight

Woburn Farm had a complete clearance on its seven yearlings at Oaklands Junction this week. They grossed $1.31 million.

The best-selling was Lot 455, an Iffraaj (GB) colt from the Darci Brahma (NZ) mare Darting (NZ), which sold to the Osher Group and Gelagotis Racing for $360,000.

But even that result couldn’t eclipse the farm’s delight in the wake of Lot 387, a Rubick colt from Black Tulip (Lonhro) that sold to Hong Kong Bloodstock and Andrew Williams Bloodstock (FBAA) for $300,000.

“He was a lovely colt,” Stanley said. “His half-brother, Galaxy Witness, is trained by David Hayes up there in Hong Kong and he’s won two from two, so that really helped him catch the eye of the Hong Kong guys.

“I’d had a few phone calls from Hong Kong which was good, so it was a good result for Ben Mills up there at Bird Rock Farm, who bred that colt.”

Stanley wasn’t expecting that level of money for Lot 387. The colt was on the market at $150,000.

“To double that was amazing,” he said. “We like to be realistic with our reserves and get the horses on the market. You make them buyable, you can get them out to the good trainers. That’s my goal.”

Woburn tops the Kiwi board

The Woburn draft at the Inglis Premier Sale was a neat collection of horses that Stanley saw fit for the Sale, as opposed to sending them along to Karaka with his other 25 yearlings.

“Travelling horses to Australia is good branding for us,” Stanley said. “It’s an opportunity to get our product out there among the buyers, and also to meet new buyers that might be emerging. This year was a bit different of course because the initial plan was that I’d get there, and at the last minute that was all changed.”

Karaka shifting from its late-January berth to early March meant the two sales were too close to each other for Stanley’s liking.

“It changed everything,” he said. “The whole business plan went out the door a bit, so we had to change tack and figure out how we were going to do it. But I’m still happy that we sent these horses over and put them in front of the buying bench, and we got great results for my clients.”

Despite the logistical challenge, Stanley said it was still worth it.

“We have a lovely Karaka draft, 22 in Book 1 and three in Book 2, but these Melbourne horses were selected because I thought they’d suit that Sale particularly well,” Stanley said. “Inglis have always supported me in bringing over pinhook horses, and they look after us Kiwis very well.”

Woburn’s Iffraaj colt, Lot 455, proved the highest-selling of all the New Zealand vendors at Oaklands, with Cambridge Stud’s Lot 169 by Almanzor (Fr) selling next best at $330,000 to Tony Pike Racing. Cambridge Stud sold all eight of its draft to a raft of buyers, including John Foote (FBAA), Mark Kavanagh and Trilogy Racing.

Monovale Farm, meanwhile, sold its pair of yearlings, the best of which was a Sacred Falls (NZ) filly (Lot 138) that went to Andrew Bobbin for $150,000. And, via Stonehouse Thoroughbreds, Waikato Stud sold all six of its Premier yearlings.

The best-selling of the Waikato stock was Lot 239, a Savabeel colt from the O’Reilly (NZ) mare Smart Thinking (NZ), which sold to John Foote for $260,000. This horse is from the same family as Queensland Oaks winner Provocative (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}), and he proved the highest-priced of the Stonehouse draft all up.

The Waikato horses netted $1.115 million, settling a healthy appetite for the New Zealand product in Melbourne.

“Nice horses sold well,” Stanley said. “I would have bidded on about 20 horses, and I had a crack at trying to personally buy some pinhookers and Ready to Run types myself. I went in on about 10 horses up to $160,000 and they all made over $200,000, so the nice colts were strong. The fillies seemed a little bit tougher.”

The best of the Premier results had only two fillies within the top 10 of sales overall – an I Am Invincible daughter for Silverdale Farm that sold to Legend Racing of Hong Kong for $550,000 (Lot 497), and a Snitzel filly for Segenhoe that went to Clinton McDonald for $475,000 (Lot 353).

The best of Woburn’s fillies proved Lot 250, a Tavistock (NZ) daughter who is a half-sister to the New Zealand Group 1 winner Stolen Dance (NZ) (Alamosa {NZ}). Lot 250 sold to Zhongli Thoroughbreds for $150,000.

Hopeful for Karaka

With the Premier Sale wrapped up, Woburn Farm is already on the road to Karaka. Its 25 yearlings set off on Tuesday morning, and Stanley is hopeful of a good sale without being bullish.

“I think I’ve got a lovely, balanced draft,” the studmaster said. “I’m confident of selling all of these fillies and colts, but we’ll have to see what the market’s like. In a normal market, I’d be going to Karaka with these horses confident of getting them to the buying bench at the right price.”

Stanley is cautious about being too confident though. There are a few unknowns about the National Sale Series this year, like the absence at this stage of Australian buyers, plus the Sale’s shifting to its March slot for the first time.

“I’m not a negative person,” he said. “I try to look for the positives in most situations, so I’ll say that I’m hopeful. I’m sure New Zealand Bloodstock is doing its hardest behind the scenes to find these buyers and get them in with flights and accommodation.

“This latest announcement will hopefully mean more seats filled on planes coming in because it would be good to get our New Zealand agents back in to market these horses to Australia.”

The picks of the draft

Of Woburn Farm’s 25 yearlings in Book 1 next week, there are 16 sires represented, from U S Navy Flag (USA) to Rip Van Winkle (Ire), Savabeel and Almanzor.

But there are also two respectively by the freshman sire The Autumn Sun and first-season sire Russian Revolution.

The Autumn Sun colt, Lot 554, is a pale bay from the Stravinsky (USA) mare Sara Ann (NZ), making him a half-brother to the G1 Australian Derby winner Tavago (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}).

He’s also a half-brother to the Mark Newnham filly Sanstoc (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}), who won at Kembla Grange last month and is pointed at the G1 Australian Oaks during the autumn.

“This fellow (Lot 554) has really blossomed in the last two weeks,” the studmaster said. “He’s a Guineas-Derby type of horse with good action. These Autumn Suns, I just love them. I’ve tried to buy one but I can’t get near them, so hopefully this guy is going to be as high in the market.”

Stanley first clapped eyes on The Autumn Sun’s weanlings during a visit to the Hunter Valley. He’s tried to get his hands on a few ever since, but he hasn’t been able to get any.

“I don’t have as much money as those Australians,” he said in jest. “But they’re a lovely style of horse that seem to me more like a New Zealand horse. I think they’re miler or Derby types, to be honest.”

Additionally, he flagged Lot 408 by Russian Revolution, a filly from another Strategic mare in Meiji. This is the same family as stakes winners Aichi (Strategic {USA}) and Kinshachi (Commands) and, further along, Detours (Ad Valorem).

“This is an athletic filly,” Stanley said. “She’s going to get up early. She’s a horse that will appeal to the Australian buyers but with a chance of bringing her back to win the Karaka Million. She is very light on her feet with a real good action on her, and she gives me a good feel.”

Lot 408 is a pinhook for Woburn Farm.

She was picked up from the draft of Yarraman Park at the 2021 Inglis Sydney Weanling Sale, costing just $15,000. She’s one of seven yearlings by Russian Revolution in next week’s Book 1.

“Russian Revolution was very unlucky in the Blue Diamond last week with his horse, Revolutionary Miss,” Stanley said. “He’s tracking on very well, and it looks like he’ll have three or four in the Golden Slipper, so hopefully one of them can win that. Newgate has done a good job with him, he’s looking to be a great stallion for them.”

Finally, the studmaster has a good opinion of each of his five U S Navy Flag yearlings.

In particular, Stanley likes Lot 614, a colt from the Snitzel mare Stolen Gem. Stolen Gem is a daughter of the G2 Challenge S. winner De Lightning Ridge (Tale Of The Cat {USA}).

“I’m very confident that all five of these U S Navy Flags will get to the racetrack and that they’ll all win races,” Stanley said. “I’ve got a very big opinion of the stallion. I’ve supported him well with mares and I’ve got clients who have gone to him as well. They just look like proper racehorses with good temperaments and good brains, and they’re very good-walking horses too.”

Lot 614 was bred by Sir Patrick Hogan, and Stanley said there’s a lot of Snitzel about him.

“He looks like he’s ready to get up and going now. Wherever he ends up, be it in Hong Kong, Singapore or Australia, he could get off the plane and be ready to go. He’s a real 2-year-old type, this fellow.”