NZ Broodmare Sale May Get Permanent Spot on Calendar

New Zealand Bloodstock has hinted that the National Broodmare and Stallion Share Sale could hold a permanent place on the calendar and return as a live auction at Karaka in 2023, as this year's online sale got underway July 17 on Gavelhouse Plus. 

The 81-lot catalog, which includes stallion shares offered in Reliable Man  and Shocking , was open for bidding Sunday at 7 p.m. ET and will count down July 20. 

However, the positive response from vendors in consigning a high-quality group of race fillies and mares—and the opening up of international borders following the COVID-19 pandemic—has prompted thoughts of having buyers and sellers meet at a physical auction in Auckland, with the broodmares sold alongside the National Weanling Sale, which was also held online this year in April.

New Zealand Bloodstock last held a combined weanling and broodmare sale in 2019 at the Karaka May Sale, an auction that attracted a collection of 62 broodmares, selling to a high of NZ$55,000 (US$33,870). 

"With the numbers we've got, and depending on how the sale pans out over the next week, we may look to go back to a physical type of sale at Karaka in conjunction with the weanlings, because that sale was really good as well," New Zealand Bloodstock's director of business development, Mike Kneebone, told ANZ Bloodstock News. 

"Going by the quality that's been put forward for the sale, there's clearly room for us to look at going back to a physical sale for it."

New Zealand Bloodstock is happy to once again put its confidence in online sales platform Gavelhouse to deliver strong results. The operation sparked a frenzy of one-off online auctions for mares, with the sale of Spanish Whisper for NZ$1,202,500 (US$740,524) breaking records in October 2020, then in September last year, nine-time group 1 winner Avantage topped that by selling for NZ$4.1 million (US$2,524,862) to Coolmore. 

The recent Valachi Downs dispersal auction, held online on Gavelhouse Plus, also produced strong results, with the NZ$1.75 million (US$1,077,685) sale of Tofane dam Baggy Green to Yulong. 



"Our online system has probably been tested more than anyone else's, and we're really confident with it and we want to make it an integral part of our sales," Kneebone said.

"We just thought with the numbers this year we'd go online. Even though New Zealand has now opened up, it's been a fairly slowly run affair. There's still a lot of resistance to travel, including from Australia, and I think that will continue to be the case right the way through to the Ready to Run sale in November. The logical way to go was for an online broodmare sale this year."

New Zealand Bloodstock last year held a 37-lot Autumn Broodmare Sale on Gavelhouse Plus, which, despite seeing group 2 winner Yearn realize NZ$195,000 (US$120,085), had 20 of the lots on offer pass in. 

However, Kneebone is confident that with the higher-quality selection of mares on offer and a strong on-ground presence at the farms from agents, a powerful and international buying bench will be assembled to engage in a dynamic bidding war.