Strong Catalog Assembled for 100th Karaka Yearling Sale

Full siblings to Pennyweka (NZ), Kovalica (NZ), and Prowess (NZ), and half siblings to Ceolwulf (NZ), Mr Brightside (NZ), and Gringotts (NZ) are among the star lots in a quality-packed catalog for next year's New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale. Marking 100 years of the National Yearling Sale in the country, a total of 1,009 yearlings have been assembled for the sale from Jan. 25-29, including 567 in Book 1, deliberately reduced from last year, which had 661. Highlights include Ardsley Park's Lot 192, a sister to Pennyweka, dual elite winner of the New Zealand Oaks (G1) and the Australian Oaks (G1). Lot 222 is Curraghmore's brother to Kovalica, winner of the Queensland Derby (G1) plus three other group races, while Lot 387 is Hallmark Stud's sister to Prowess, the dual top-tier heroine of the New Zealand Stakes (G1) and ATC Vinery Stud Stakes (G1). Meanwhile, Cambridge Stud presents Lot 513, a half-brother from the second crop of its young stallion Sword of State (AUS) to Ceolwulf, the star gelding bred by the farm who's won four group 1s so far. Surging sire Satono Aladdin (JPN) has three star lots who are half-siblings to stars of the New Zealand and Australian turf: Wentwood Grange presents Lot 521, a half-brother to 10-time group 1 winner Mr Brightside, Phoenix Park's Lot 549 is a colt from the same dam as AU$5.5 million earner Gringotts, and Lot 553 is HGT Bloodstock's half sister to Belclare (NZ), dual winner of New Zealand's Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes (G1). The Book 1 catalog of 567 yearlings represents a drop of 94 from 661 last year and will be offered over two days—the Sunday and Monday—as opposed to three days in the past. While 2025's sale cataloged 426 lots in Book 2, next year's 442 secondary selections will be split into two divisions. The Book 2 sale will take place on Tuesday, with 281 lots offered, before the reintroduced Karaka Summer Sale on Thursday, in which 161 lots will go under the hammer. New Zealand Bloodstock managing director Andrew Seabrook said the company was delighted with the quality of Book 1 after its decision to scale back. With 820 boxes at the complex, reducing Book 1 to 567 lots will likely, after withdrawals, allow for all Book 1 and Book 2 yearlings to be housed on-site at the same time. "We're thrilled with the quality," Seabrook told ANZ News. "Given it's our 100th year anniversary, we wanted to present the best possible catalog we could so we refined it by 100 lots, and they'll be sold over two days, not three. "We'd been thinking about it for a while, and we thought it made sense to try it in our 100th year sale. Now every horse in Book 1 and Book 2 will be on the scene from the start, and they'll all have the opportunity to be seen by the international buying bench. "With the desire these days from international people to be away from home for less time, we think a condensed sale is the way to go. "I absolutely feel a smaller Book 1 has really hit the mark, quality-wise, and I'm sure people will see that when they go through the catalog." Karaka 2025 was slightly flat compared to previous editions, with the market wary early in the year due mainly to wider economic concerns. Book 1 averaged NZ$165,000, down from NZ$168,000 in 2024, both off a 78% clearance rate. Seabrook said he was confident about achieving more robust results in 2026. "I'd be disappointed if we didn't increase the statistics from our last sale," he said. "We're thrilled with the quality of the stallions we have, and again we've had another very good 12 months on the track. In 2024-25, New Zealand-breds won 21% of the group 1 races held in Australia, despite making up only 7.7 % of the horse population there."