Cover image courtesy of Newhaven park
An exciting opportunity awaits breeders in the upcoming Magic Millions Virtual Sale, taking place next Tuesday on August 5, to buy into Cool Aza Beel (NZ), one of this season’s breakout stars among the first season sires. Two individual stallion shares will be on offer in the sale for the Newhaven Park-based sire of G1 JJ Atkins Plate winner Cool Archie, R. Listed Inglis Nursery runner-up Cobra Club, and four-time winner Cool Aza Rene.
The best is yet to come
An electric juvenile himself who won the G1 Diamond Stakes for Te Akau Racing en route to claiming the New Zealand Champion 2-year-old title, Cool Aza Beel is one of the best sons of Waikato Stud’s soon-to-be 10-time New Zealand Champion Sire Savabeel out of a daughter of Testa Rossa. A Danehill (USA) free pedigree with very little Northern Dancer (Can) present makes him an excellent outcross to the Australian mare population.
“Cool Aza Beel’s pedigree and the types he threw in his first year all point to his first crop only getting better as 3-year-olds,” said Magic Millions Bloodstock Manager Dane Robinson.
“Cool Archie is the North Star, but the sire’s momentum looks to be timely heading into spring, and when you consider the modest fee he stands for, especially compared to his peers with similar first season results, it only reinforces that his value is set to rise from here.”
Dane Robinson | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Each share on offer includes a bonus nomination for the 2025 breeding season, and under the Cool Aza Beel Stallion Syndicate Deed, each shareholder is entitled to either use or sell that nomination (with written notice to Newhaven Park) while still taking advantage of standard live foal and free return terms. This additional nomination offers immediate commercial utility to shareholders, who will have multiple ways to cash in on their purchase.
Knockout first season
Newhaven Park’s John Kelly has been delighted with Cool Aza Beel’s first season at stud, where he has produced five individual winners to date and secured fourth spot on the first season sires’ premiership.
“He’s arguably got the Champion 2-year-old in Cool Archie, I would have thought,” Kelly told TTR. “He’s won two Group 2s and a Group 1, and shown so much improvement from his spring to his autumn, which is what you are hoping to see. Since he was such a good juvenile himself, we were hopeful he would get a good one - he got a really good one.
“He’s had a lot of horses that have been racing in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as Queensland’s strongest jurisdiction, and he’s had Cool Aza Rene in New Zealand, who has won four out of five starts. We think he’s had a very encouraging start.”
Gallery: Cool Aza Beel's exciting first juveniles
The expectation is that Cool Aza Beel’s stock will follow in the footsteps of Savabeel’s progeny, who improved leaps and bounds into their 3-year-old season and beyond. Aside from the aforementioned, his progressive juveniles being aimed at black-type races next season include speedy Doomben winner Kahlua Girl and Ipswich winner Don’t Tellyafather, and metropolitan placegetters Sequel and Cool Moon.
“There are a lot of trainers who have Cool Aza Beels who have given them a little extra time,” Kelly said. “There are some horses who have had only the one start so far, and they've got some fairly lofty aspirations for them for next season.”
“There’s genuine momentum building here, when you’ve got a Group 1 juvenile, potentially Champion 2-year-old of the season, with strong sale results, and a wave of 3-year-olds returning with black-type targets,” Robinson added. “In a changing landscape of Australian sires, Cool Aza Beel looks like a young, commercial stallion that represents great potential upside at his current fee.”
“In a changing landscape of Australian sires, Cool Aza Beel looks like a young, commercial stallion that represents great potential.” - Dane Robinson
Breeding in the right direction
“They’ve got speed, and I think he’s going to get horses who can get over a bit of ground. He’s going to get sprinter-milers, and I think they will probably get out to the Classic distances, so we are really encouraged with what he’s been doing.”
Cool Aza Beel’s versatility in his progeny extends to the types of mares that suit him, with Kelly indicating that the stallion suited and was visited by a wide range of types.
John Kelly | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
“He’s a very easy horse to mate to, because he’s very solid, he’s got plenty of substance, but he’s neither a big horse nor a small horse. He’s beautifully sized at just a touch over 16.1 hands. Being free of Danehill as well, those were the main reasons that we were so keen to acquire him in the beginning.”
“He’s beautifully sized at just a touch over 16.1 hands. Being free of Danehill as well, those were the main reasons that we were so keen to acquire him in the beginning.” - John Kelly
Cool Aza Beel’s fee has remained unchanged in four seasons at stud; he stands for $16,500 (inc GST) in 2025 and his books have already been filled; this may well be the last opportunity to get mares into him for this breeding season.
He will also stand for the lowest fee from the top five first season sires, and is the only one who will not incur a fee rise this season, with Newhaven Park opting to reward breeders with the opportunity to produce good results on both the track and in the ring.
Buyers are keen to reinvest
“We put him at a fee where we thought that he would build a following, and where the breeders could do well,” Kelly said. “Because we want everyone to have a good opportunity to get their mares covered and in foal, he’s capped at 140 mares.”
In his first crop, Cool Aza Beel yearlings sold for up to $240,000 (colts) and $280,000 (fillies) in the ring, with an average price of $56,428, which is over 3.7 times his service fee (minus GST). His second crop of yearlings were also well received this year, selling for up to $140,000 and seeing many repeat buyers, including North Bloodstock’s Mick Malone, who secured Cool Archie for clients the year before, Darby Racing, Te Akau Racing’s David Ellis CNZM (BAFNZ), and Race With Lizzie.
Cool Aza Beel (NZ) | Standing at Newhaven Park
“(The stallion syndicate) is very encouraged by how he’s performing,” Kelly said. “The people who went in him are all genuine breeders, so they're all very excited at the moment.”
The Magic Millions Virtual Sale will kick off at 2pm next Tuesday, and will be conducted in a similar manner to Magic Millions’ in-person auctions, with one lot going under the hammer at a time.
The catalogue also features a breeding right in Newgate Farm’s Extreme Choice, a share in Vinery Stud’s All Too Hard, and sprinting talent Olentia (Zoustar).
