First Season Sires to the Fore at NZB National Weanling Sale

New Zealand-based Sires

ACE HIGH 

Standing at Rich Hill Stud for a service fee of $10,000, Ace High (AUS) is by High Chaparral out of an unraced Redoute’s Choice mare who is a three-quarter or half-sister to stakes performers Winner’s Way (Starcraft), That’s a Good Idea (Flying Spur), Kneeling (Encosta de Lago) and Rezyana (Redoute’s Choice).

Ace High was an outstanding staying three-year-old in Australia, completing the interstate spring double of the Group One Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) and Group One Victoria Derby (2500m). He later placed in the Group One Australian Derby (2400m), and his performances as an older horse included a defeat of Group One star It’s Somewhat (Dynaformer) in the Group Two Hill Stakes (2000m).

There are seven weanlings by Ace High in the catalogue for the National Weanling Sale, including:

• Offered by Cambria Park, Lot 50 is a half-brother to Group Three winner Bel Sorriso (NZ) (Keeper).
• Lot 52, is from the Curraghmore draft. This filly is out of the stakes-placed Bankside Belle (NZ) (Volksraad), who is the dam of Group One performer Belle du Nord (NZ) (Reliable Man) and stakes-placed What Choux Want (NZ) (Jimmy Choux).
• Ace High’s own Rich Hill Stud offers Lot 84, out of a sister to Group One performers Chenille (NZ) (Pentire) and Chintz (NZ) (Savabeel). This Lot is from the same family as the 2021 Rosehill Guineas winner Mo’unga (NZ) (Savabeel).
• Also offered by Rich Hill Stud, Lot 93 is out of a three-quarter-sister to the recent Group Two Awapuni Gold Cup (2000m) and Group Three Canterbury Cold Cup (2000m) winner Beauden (NZ) (Bullbars). The granddam of this colt is New Zealand’s champion two-year-old of 2000-01, Flying Babe (Flying Spur).

 

EMBELLISH 

Blue-blooded Embellish (NZ) was himself a $775,000 yearling purchase at Karaka 2016 by Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis. He stands at Cambridge Stud for a service fee of $4,000.

Embellish is the first Group One-winning son of six-time champion New Zealand sire Savabeel to stand at stud.

His dam, the O’Reilly mare Bling (NZ), has produced four stakes performers including the Group One-winning full-siblings Embellish and Diademe (NZ) (Savabeel).

Diademe is now a successful broodmare in her own right, producing the stakes performers Unition (Fastnet Rock) and Conqueror (Fastnet Rock).

Embellish won three races in his three-year-old season, headed by the Group One New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton. Beaten runners in that field included two of his stablemates who subsequently starred at Group One level – Age of Fire (Fastnet Rock) and Te Akau Shark (NZ) (Rip Van Winkle).

Embellish later finished second in the $1m Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m).

Six weanlings by Embellish will go under the hammer during the National Weanling Sale, including:

• Lot 6, consigned by Leanach Lodge, is a close relative of the champion American mare Close Hatches (First Defence), who won five times at Grade One level. She is also the dam of Tacitus (Tapit), who won the Group Two Wood Memorial (1800m) and placed in the Group One Kentucky Derby (2000m), Belmont Stakes (2400m) and Travers Stakes (2000m). Another notable member of this family is the Group One Phoenix Stakes (1200m) and Irish 2000 Guineas (1600m) winner Siskin (First Defence).
• Offered by Brighthill Farm, Lot 113, a half-brother to one of New Zealand’s most talented three-year-olds of this season, Montre Moi (NZ) (Showcasing). Trained by Johno Benner and Hollie Wynyard, he produced a big performance for a close third in the $1m Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m).

 

EMINENT 

Eminent(IRE) brings a distinct European flavour to this batch of new sires, being an Irish-bred son of the legendary British racehorse and top sire Frankel.

Standing at Weowna Park in Matamata for $6,000, Ocean Emperor (NZ) is by the champion sire and sire of sires Zabeel (NZ), whose stallion sons include Savabeel, Octagonal (NZ) and Zed (NZ).

The dam of Ocean Emperor is Tootsie (NZ) (Pins), who herself won the Group Three Mannerism Stakes (1200m) in Melbourne and is a close relative of Group One winners Probabeel (NZ) (Savabeel) and Savvy Coup (NZ) (Savabeel), plus Group Two winner Legless Veuve (NZ) (Pins).

Ocean Emperor won nine races, headed by the Group Two Japan-New Zealand International Trophy (1600m) and two editions of the Group Two Tauranga Stakes (1600m).

Ocean Emperor has four weanlings in the catalogue, including:

• Consigned by Ralph Thoroughbreds, Lot 53 is out of a full-sister to the champion Australian two-year-old Dance Hero (Danzero).
• Also offered by Ralph Thoroughbreds, Lot 74 is out of a three-quarter-sister to the Group One winner Danestorm (Danehill). The family features a number of current black-type performers, including the Hong Kong star Furore (NZ) (Pierro) and She’s Ideel (Dundeel) who ran a brave second in this year’s ATC Tancred Stakes. (2400m).

 

STAPHANOS 

Staphanos  (JPN) stands at Novara Park for a service fee of $7,000. He is by the all-time great Japanese sire Deep Impact, and his dam is a full-sister to the stakes performer Golden Hind (Kurofune). This is also the family of Poet’s Voice (Dubawi), who won the Group One Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (1600m) at Ascot and has become a successful sire.

(USA) has attracted a strong following at Valachi Downs, where his 2020 service fee was $17,500.

He is by the champion international sire War Front, who has sired 96 individual stakes winners including the Group/Grade One stars Roly Poly, Omaha Beach, Air Force Blue, Homesman, The Factor and Declaration of War. The latter has proven to be an influential sire in his own right, siring the likes of Melbourne Cup (3200m) hero Vow and Declare and Victoria Derby (2500m) winner Warning in this part of the world.

The dam of U S Navy Flag is Misty for Me (Galileo), who won the Group One Irish 1000 Guineas (1600m), Prix Marcel Boussac (1600m), Moyglare Stud Stakes (1400m) and Pretty Polly Stakes (2000m). She placed on another two occasions at the elite level, and is a full-sister to Group One winner Ballydoyle (Galileo).

Misty for Me is the dam of four winners, headed by the Group One pair of U S Navy Flag and Roly Poly.

U S Navy Flag was a champion two-year-old, winning the Group One Middle Park Stakes (1200m) and Dewhurst Stakes (1400m). He beat some of Europe’s best sprinters in the Group One July Cup (1200m) as a three-year-old, and also placed in the Group One Irish 2000 Guineas (1600m).

There are three progeny of U S Navy Flag in the National Weanling Sale catalogue, including:

• Lot 48, offered by Woburn Farm, is out of an unraced full-sister to Group One performer Sensible (Sadler’s Wells).
• Consigned by Curraghmore, Lot 58, a colt out of the unraced Breizh (Pour Moi), who is a half-sister to the stakes winners Holy Moly (Holy Roman Emperor) and Indarra (Stravinsky).