Colt smashes Sales record

A new New Zealand Standardbred record for a harness racing yearling was set at the NZB Standardbred Sales in Christchurch today.

No More Dreaming, a colt by Bettor’s Delight out of Start Dreaming prepared by Studholme Stud and owned by Brian West of the stud and Mike Jefferies, was knocked down to the TAB Club for an astonishing $340,000 in one of the quickest sales of the day.

The successful bidding was handled by Dean Shannon of Entain, and the colt will race for the TAB Club which is being set up by Entain.

“It’s a relief and now I can finally retire. My wife was wanting the mortgage paid off before I kept on reinvesting in the horses,” Jefferies said.

He added he’s pleased the colt will go to the Barry Purdon and Scott Phelan stable.

“Barry trained Start Dreaming and did such a lovely job with her. He was the underbidder on Don’t Stop Dreaming (the colt’s full brother sold in 2021).”

The bidding started at $200,000 which blew a few potential buyers out of the arena.

“That was a surprise. We had a reserve of $150,000. Peter Lagan said to me that the colt was a $200,000 horse and he ended up being the underbidder.”

Jefferies and West have known each other since high school.

“We played football together, he was my best man, and I was a part of his wedding party.”

Many prominent horsemen were saying prior to the sale that this colt and War Party, offered by Price Bloodstock, would likely be the sales toppers and they were right.

“I was surprised at the amount we got. In my view he was the best horse we had, and I was hearing similar comments from people who were looking at him. I was thinking $200,000 or $250,000 at a push but to get $340,000 is just a dream,” West said.

West has been in the breeding game for a long time. He bred his first horse when he was twenty three.

“I took her to the yearling sales in Christchurch not knowing what I was doing I can tell you. She was passed in at $1,200.”

Although today’s result was a highlight in his long career as a breeder it’s not at the top of the list.

“That result is in terms of a price yes, but the biggest thrill I ever got was when Lazarus won his first New Zealand Cup even though I’d sold him. I was just standing in awe of what I was watching.”

The previous record for a yearling offered by Studholme was two years ago when they sold Don’t Stop Dreaming, a full brother to today’s record breaker, to Mark Purdon.

West says the interest in this year’s colt began before his yearling draft was brought in to be prepared for sale.

“We got some private viewings in November. It wasn’t over the top this year which surprised me. I thought I would have had a lot more people coming to look at him. We did have a lot of vets coming to check out certain horses. We had sixty people turn up on our parade day which was a good sign. I’m just grateful to all the people we deal with in this business. It’s a fantastic business to be in. It’s been a great journey. It’s been fantastic.”

And Jefferies says he’s excited about the horse racing for the TAB Club.

The purpose of the TAB Club is to encourage a greater number of people into harness racing ownership, making it much more accessible to be part of the ownership of a horse while avoiding the normal costs involved.

“I think as a consequence we should get a bit more interest in ownership. I can see a group of punters getting together and taking the next step and buying a horse because they’ve enjoyed our quasi ownership experience,” Dean Shannon CEO of Entain told me in a previous interview.

The TAB Club purchased four yearlings at the Christchurch sale and is currently going through the process of allocating their new trainers.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink