By Garrick Knight
Trent Yesberg celebrated his recent nuptials by taking home the highest-priced pacing weanling from Monday’s NZB Standardbred All Aged Sale at Karaka.
The North Canterbury horseman went to $67,500 to secure the standout Art Major weanling colt, a full brother to open class pacer Alta Maestro, from the dispersal of leading South Auckland breeder Tony Dickinson’s bloodstock portfolio.
“It took a bit of arm-twisting to get the wife to let me buy him,” joked Yesberg after the sale.
“But, to me, he looks a $100,000 yearling at minimum and you know every serious buyer is going to look at him.
“He’s not perfect, but he’s close to it.”
Yesberg will collaborate with regular investment partner, Victorian Harvey Kaplan, and has pin-hooked the colt with an eye to next year’s yearling sales.
“I came and looked at him two weeks ago and loved him and nothing’s changed. I’m very happy with the purchase.
“We probably paid a little more than we wanted to, but we missed out on a few others and weren’t going to miss out on him.”
Yesberg tied the knot with photographer Sarah Clements on Saturday.
Dickinson, who has sold his property and broodmares as a result of failing health, put six weanlings through the ring and sold five, a Sunshine Beach half-brother to Alta Orlando the next best result at $24,000.
The top-priced lot at the sale was a filly by leading Canadian trotting sire Kadabra out of the family of Glenferrie Typhoon, which sold for $80,000 to Sydney’s Emilio and Mary Rosati.
She was offered by Alabar Stud, who’s head, Graeme Henley, said it was, to point out the obvious, a very pleasing result.
“Emilio rung me this morning and asked me to save him the trouble of looking and everything and tell him what I thought were our two best weanlings.
“I told him the Cougar Bromac colt was out best Always B Mikki and that he had to look at the Kadabra filly.
“He ended up buying both of them so he must have liked what he saw.”
Henley said the stud came to use frozen Kadabra semen that had been kept on site at their Waiau Pa stud for over a decade.
“The guy that owned it had died so we got approval to use it and ended up serving 17 mares that season.
“It’s all gone now but this makes it a worthwhile exercise.”
The Rosatis were one of many Australian buyers at the sale, who collectively spent $442,500 on 22 weanlings, others included Dean Shannon (Montana Park), Jim Connelly (KPC Racing), Kath McIntosh, Scott Whitten (Tumby Park) and John Farrugia.
McIntosh, a vet from Victoria and new buyer on the New Zealand scene, signed for seven lots with a total spend of $79,000.
Farrugia, from Sydney, was underbidder on Yesberg’s colt and ended up going to $48,000 later in the day to secure an American Ideal colt from the famed Scuse Me family.
Among the local buyers, Philippa Hanley, in the company of her trainer Stephen Boyd, went to $42,000 for a Sweet Lou colt out of Arden Banner, while Rob Lawson, Tony Barron, Cran Dalgety, Trevor Beaton, Peter Bult and Murray Matthews were among those to shell out at least $20,000 for one lot.
Overall it was a pleasing result with weanlings selling well across the board, and all data showing an increase on last year’s weanling yield in the same sale ring.
The sale grossed $1,325,350 for an average of $11,045 and a median price of $6,000.
As at 5pm on Tuesday, 110 of the 115 weanlings had been sold, contributing to an overall sale clearance rate of 94%.
“We initially had six not sell in the ring but by the time I got back to the stables, I had sold all but one of them,” said Henley.
One of the five buy backs, a Bettor’s Delight weanling colt offered by Georgia Brooke Lodge, got as high as $46,000, too.
There was plenty of optimism out of the sale for auction house NZB Standardbred, who were holding their first standardbred all aged sale.
“The Sale showed great strength and depth with key indicators surpassing previous results,” said NZB Director James Jennings.
“Alabar and Woodlands Stud have played a leading role in this lucrative market with their weanling drafts contributing significantly to the outcome.”
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