Waikato Stud draft heads supplementary entries for National Weanling Sale
Richard Edmunds - Raceform • June 6th, 2025 2:00 PM • 3 min read
The catalogue for this month’s NZB National Weanling Sale at Karaka has been boosted with 10 supplementary entries.
Set to be sold immediately after the 134 lots originally catalogued for Thursday June 26, the late additions include seven weanlings from Waikato Stud, two from Riverrock Farm and one from Little Avondale Stud.
“The addition of these weanlings – with some outstanding pedigrees, commercial sires and from genuine drafts – adds another boost to this sale,” NZB's bloodstock sales manager Kane Jones said.
“Having these supplementary lots on top of an already quality catalogue creates further opportunities for those end users and traders.
“The pinhookers will certainly want to take note, as too the trainers looking for a Karaka Millions-eligible horse.”
Waikato Stud, who originally had no entries for the sale, will now offer three weanlings by their freakish young sire Super Seth, two by the recent Hall of Fame inductee Savabeel, and two by the in-form Ardrossan.
“We were a little late getting organised, but what we’re offering at this weanling sale indicates the strength of what we’ve got in store for the Karaka yearling sales,” Waikato Stud’s Mark Chittick said.
“We believe we’ve got our strongest crop of weanlings on the ground, quality and quantity-wise, that we’ve had in a long time, and that will be reflected in our draft for Karaka 2026 as we celebrate 100 years of the National Yearling Sales Series.”
Waikato Stud’s previous weanling offerings at Karaka include the catalogue’s cover boy Jedibeel. Bought for $35,000 in 2020, Jedibeel has won eight of his 22 starts and more than A$917,000 in stakes. The son of Savabeel took out the Gr. 2 Challenge Stakes over 1000 metres at Randwick in March.
Waikato’s three Super Seth weanlings are sure to command attention in the 2025 edition of the sale. Lot 136 is out of a full-sister to Queensland Derby winner Brambles and fellow stakes winners Lincoln Blue and Lopov. Lot 139 is a close relative to Synchronize and Scrutinize and has multiple Group One winner Legs as his third dam. Lot 142 is out of a blood sister to Forgot You and has Group One winner Glamour Puss as the third dam.
The Ardrossan colt catalogued as Lot 138, meanwhile, is a half-brother to the Gr. 1 New Zealand Derby runner-up Andalus. One of Waikato Stud’s Savabeel colts, Lot 141, is a three-quarter-brother to the Gr.1 Champions & Chater Cup and Hong Kong Derby placegetter Victory Magic.
Riverrock Farm is better known as a vendor of Ready to Run two-year-olds, but will offer two weanlings as supplementary entries. Lot 143 is a three-quarter-brother to the Group One winner Lickety Split. Lot 144 is by Circus Maximus and from the family of Group One performers Valencia, Vice Regal, Glammis and Ethiopia.
The other supplementary is Lot 135, a filly being offered by Little Avondale Stud. She is by Tivaci out of the Savabeel mare Lavita Vishvi, who won three races and finished fourth at Listed level. The third dam is the multiple Group One winner Daffodil, who is a full-sister to the dam of the triple Group One winner and A$2.7 million Magic Millions Broodmare Sale purchase Atishu.
The Tivaci filly lifts the Little Avondale draft to 10 weanlings for this year’s sale. The National Weanling Sale has been a successful one for the Wairarapa farm in recent times, with graduates from the last decade including the likes of Rocanto and Karman Line.
Rocanto was bought for $8,500 from Little Avondale’s draft at the 2015 National Weanling Sale. He went on to earn $303,452 from a 57-race career that produced 10 wins, five seconds and nine thirds. He was one of the best two-year-olds of his generation, winning the Listed Matamata Slipper and finishing second in the Gr.1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes and third in the Gr. 1 Sistema Stakes.
Karman Line was a $14,000 purchase from Little Avondale’s 2019 weanling draft. Subsequently sold again for $67,500 in Book 2 of Karaka 2020, she has so far had 26 starts for four wins, six placings and $249,250 in stakes. She finished third in the 2022 Karaka Millions 3YO in only the fourth start of her career, then went on to take out last year’s Gr. 3 Rotorua Stakes.
“We’ve sold a number of good performers through this weanling sale over the years, with Karman Line and the multiple Group One placegetter Rocanto just a couple of them,” Little Avondale principal Sam Williams said.
“We’re really happy with the quality of the draft we’re taking to Karaka this year, which consists of three Ardrossans, an Armory, two Tivacis, a Per Incanto, a Savabeel, a Hello Youmzain and a really nice Time Test.”
Williams made special mention of the Savabeel colt, who will go through the ring as Lot 52.
“I think this colt should be one of the stars of the sale,” Williams said. “He’s a really nice colt from a good family, with that outstanding Savabeel-Pins cross.
“We just recently sold his half-brother, a yearling colt by Per Incanto, for A$200,000 at the Easter Sale in Sydney. The first foal out of the mare is a Shalaa filly called Rosie’s Rendevous, who has shown speed in trials for Pam Gerard.
“The mare’s second foal, a Farnan filly (named Woman In Charge), was sold to Wexford Stables for $220,000 at Karaka last year. She’s placed in trials as a two-year-old this season and Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott have a good opinion of her.”
Little Avondale Stud’s own flagbearer stallion Per Incanto is the sire of Lot 91, a filly out of the Group Three-placed Amazing Lady.
“She was a November foal, but she looks like a late August or early September foal,” Williams said. “She was bred on that very successful O’Reilly-Per Incanto cross. She’s only the fourth foal out of a well-performed racemare.
“Per Incanto is emerging as a high-quality broodmare sire, leaving nine stakes performers from 77 runners including the champion Hong Kong sprinter Ka Ying Rising. Just last week we saw Per Incanto’s multiple Group One-winning daughter Belclare fetch A$700,000 at the Magic Millions Broodmare Sale. So he’s making a name for himself as a broodmare sire, as well as being a wonderful sire of fillies and mares on the racetrack.”
