Confidence expressed in national yearling sale

Press, 18 December 1985, Page 49

Confidence expressed in national yearling sale

Mr Paul Davies, standardbred manager of Wrightson Bloodstock, expressed confidence in the fortysecond New Zealand National Yearling Sale to be held in February, at a presale promotion at Mona Vale in Christchurch yesterday. r ‘l will be visiting Victoria, '■ Perth, Brisbane and New South Wales in January to promote our sale to the Australians,” said Mr Davies, feeling justifiably proud of the 330 yearlings entered for the February sale.

With the-recent drop in the exchange rate, this should again heighten interest in the sale, while statistics show that New Zealand imports to Australia in the last 10 years

amount to 2.75 per cent of the Australian standardbred population, with New Zea-land-breds winning a remarkable 23 per cent of feature races there last season.

Mr Davies also intends to strongly promote the formation of syndicates in New Zealand over the next few months to buy quality yearlings at the sale to race in New Zealand. “It is hard for the average person to be able to afford to race a horse on his or her own, and this means of racing horses should be encouraged,” he said.

For the first time, due to the large entry, next year’s yearling sale will be spread over two days. Fifty-six per cent of the

entries are out of either race-winning or winner producing mares. Top performers to have gone through the sale ring at Addington have been Lord Module, Brad Adios, Mighty Me, Smooth Dave, Tempo Cavallo, and last season’s leading two-year-old colt and filly, Trident and Smooth Excuse, to name a few.

Next year’s consignment of 200 colts and 130 fillies will represent the stock of 61 stallions, including El Patron (nine colts, seven fillies), Game Pride (two colts, two fillies), Lordship (14 colts, eight fillies), Lumber Dream (15 colts, five fillies), Majestic Chance (seven colts, three fillies), Mark Lobell (11 colts, three fillies), Noodlum (15 colts,

eight fillies) and Smooth Fella (23 colts, 12 fillies).

Paraded at the function at Mona Vale yesterday were last season’s Two-Year-Old Pacer of the Year, Trident, sold at the 1984 sales for $9500 and now the winner .of $98,455 in stakes, and also two yearlings from two of New Zealand’s leading sires destined for the sale ring in February. They were Justin Ferrari (Smooth Fella—Mary Snow colt), which is from a halfsister to the Inter-Dominion champion, Preux Chevalier (Imin 54.35, 41 wins and $79,331 to date); and Czarina Module (Lordship-Module filly), a sister to the champion pacer, Lord Module (Imin 54.95, 28 wins and $261,750) and to Baron Module (Imin 56.85).