Pacers Sale deemed successful

Just under one hundred harness racing pacers went under the hammer at the Canterbury Agricultural Park in Christchurch today. 

At the close of selling 71 lots sold for an aggregate of $3,643,000. The average and median closed at $51,310 and $36,000 respectively, and the clearance rate settled at 74%.

NZB Standardbred Manager Cam Bray was pleased with the results at the conclusion of selling.

“We are heartened by the results today, which saw momentum from the Auckland session flow into the first day of the Christchurch Sale of pacers,” he said.

The top lot was a Bettor’s Delight colt out of Hartofdixie (American Ideal) offered by John and Katrina Price of Price Bloodstock. He sold for $240,000 with Barry Purdon and Scott Phelan being the successful bidders.

“When any horse sells for that amount of money you have to be pleased. He had a lovely temperament and pedigree page. He was the real deal,” Katrina Price said.

Price says Hartofdixie resides at Woodlands Stud and the Prices first saw the colt in the flesh when he arrived in Southland after he was weaned.

“He doesn’t look too much different to what he looks today. He was just a smaller version. He hasn’t been a hard horse to prepare.”

Purdon had some inside knowledge of the colt’s pedigree having trained Hartofdixie to win six races.

“She was a pretty nice mare and this horse was a typical Bettor’s Delight colt. We waited all day to have a go at him,” he said.

Purdon says because of the horse’s type and pedigree he expected there’d be strong competition to get the colt. 

“I mentally prepared myself (laughter).”

He said he has owners for half of the horse and thinks it won’t be hard selling the remaining shares.

“He looks like a two year old type but he’ll let us know.”

The second highest selling lot was a Bettor’s Delight – Christian Dreamer filly prepared by Shard Farm for Vin and Daphne Devery which sold for $190,000. She was a sister to outstanding race mare Amazing Dream.

“We were very happy to get her. She was one of the star fillies in the Sale. She’s not very big but Amazing Dream wasn’t either,” said Peter Lagan who purchased her on behalf of West Australian clients Jim and Willie Giumelli.

The same buyers also purchased a Captaintreacherous colt out of Gibson Girl (Bettor’s Delight) prepared by Dunvegan Lodge for $150,000.

“The mother was a lovely mare, she only had eight starts. Steve Telfer trained her. I liked her page (pedigree page) and the horse was a lovely individual,” Lagan said.

The colt and the Bettor’s Delight filly will be trained by Mike Reed. 

“A friend of mine said Gibson Girl was a very good horse. She hurt herself (and) that ended her racing career early. The Captaintreacherouses are going good and early, and that’s where the money is,” he said. 

Their third buy was an Art Major colt out of Bettor’s Delight mare Georgiana which they purchased for $90,000. He was offered by Mark and Pauline O’Connor of Denario Breeding.

“I sold Mark the mare empty and he put her in foal to Art Major and this is the resulting colt,” Lagan said.

“He’s a lovely colt and I liked the way he walked and presented himself. We just liked him,” added Reed. 

He said the Giumelli’s have only been in the game for five years and came along just as he was planning to retire.

“They’re the only clients I have now. I was going to retire and they only wanted two or three horses but now they’ve got twenty. He (Jim) made a blue one night and asked Willie if she wanted to go to the trots. She then informed him that she would like to buy a horse. They went to the sales and bought Caveman (Somebeachsomewhere). They’ve just bought a property over home and are setting up their own training establishment.”

Other top sellers today were an Art Major colt out of Agree With Me (Bettor’s Delight) prepared by Spreydon Lodge which was sold to Dean Shannon of Montana Park for $160,000 and a Captaintreacherous colt out of Arden’s Choice (Panspacificflight) sold by John and Judy Stiven from Arden Lodge for $140,000. He was bought by Stonewall Stud.

“This is the mare’s second foal and Captaintreacherous is the flavour of the month. We liked this foal so much that we’ve put her back in foal to Captaintreacherous. She currently has a Tall Dark Stranger foal at foot,” Stiven said.

Arden Lodge has had a tough year in the breeding barn. From nineteen mares they got fourteen in foal, resulting in just six live foals with only four going to this year’s Sale so it was a nice outcome for the West Otago breeding operation.

The leading purchaser by aggregate during the first pacing session was Stonewall Stud. The successful stable continued its dominance in the sale ring, securing 11 yearlings for a total spend of $803,500.

The result was another excellent one for Southern Bred Southern Reared horses with three of the top five lots selling under the SBSR brand. The Price’s top selling yearling sale price was the third time SBSR have led the first day of the Sale.  A Bettor’s Delight colt out of Fight For Glory offered by Dianne Cournane sold for $260,000 last year and Tuapeka Lodge sold a Bettor’s Delight – Bonnie Joan colt the year before for $240,000.

The second day of the pacing section of the Sale starts tomorrow at 1pm.

“We’re looking forward to the final session and we are expecting the activity to flow through to tomorrow,” Bray said.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink