The opening session of the 2024 National Standardbred Yearling Sale saw 126 lots go under the auction hammer at the Karaka Sales Centre on Sunday.

Following a mixed day of selling, it was Champion sire Captaintreacherous that was popular in the Karaka auditorium and topping the tables by average.

Lot 64, the filly by Captaintreachearous out of Champion mare Princess Tiffany took top honours when Canterbury trainer Mark Jones outlaid $270,000 for her from the Breckon Farms draft.

“You don’t often get a chance to buy into a family like this,” commented Jones.

“She has a quality filly page and being by a champion sire like Captaintreacherous out of a champion mare, hopefully she’ll do a good job and head to the broodmare band for the owners.

“It’s a good sign when Mark Purdon is the underbidder, so we’re delighted.”

Leading vendors by aggegrate and average were Breckon Farms, selling the top four lots of the day.

Of those was Lot 49, a filly by emerging sire Tactical Landing out of Group One-producing mare Love Ya Doosie, secured by Stonewall Stud for $180,000.

Leading buyers Stonewall Stud are known for their purchase of pacers but were delighted to secure the top trotting yearling of the Sale.

“I enjoy training them,” commented co-trainer Steve Telfer.

“We dipped our toes into the trotting ranks a while ago, and we’ve had good success on a small scale. Hopefully we can get some bigger results now.

“We liked this filly from the moment we saw her. She’s got plenty of residual value too.”

NZB’s Director of Operations James Jennings reflected on the first day of selling.

“It was disappointing to see a 25% decrease in domestic spend today compared to this session last year, and a slight downturn across the key statistics.”

“However, our international buying bench made their presence felt and it was very heartening to see the Australian spend up 30% and the clearance in line with last year’s Sale.

“We had the buying bench here, but they certainly knew what they wanted and that showed in the middle market.”

The Christchurch session of the Sale commences on Tuesday 20 February, with Lot 127 to 260 selling from 11am (NZT). Yearlings will be available to inspect from Monday morning at the Canterbury Agricultural Park.

The Christchurch session will be beamed to viewers on Freeview channel 200, with coverage streamed live at nzbstandardbred.co.nz and on NZB Standardbred’s Facebook page. Presenter Greg O’Connor will bring key sale highlights and interviews throughout the day and will host a Preview Show prior to the Sale of Trotters beginning tomorrow at 10:30am (NZT).

All yearlings purchased at the 2024 National Standardbred Yearling Sale are eligible for the lucrative $1million dollar Harness Million Sale Race Series.

To make enquiries about any Passed Lots, contact NZB Standardbred’s Cam Bray at +64 21 737 199 or email cam.bray@nzb.co.nz, or James Jennings on James.Jennings@nzb.co.nz or call +64 27 233 3333.

View the Auckland session results click here.

View the Auckland session highlights and lot-by-lot footage click here.