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Strong competition for two-year-olds at Ready-To-Run Sale.
Buyers to the Asian market were to the fore early on Day 1 of the 2022 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready-To-Run Sale at Karaka, but the two highest-priced lots of the session will end up either side of the Tasman.
Star local trainer Andrew Forsman paid $575,000 for colt by Savabeel, while emerging Victorian horseman Liam Howley went to $520,000 for a colt by No Nay Never.
They were among four horses who sold for at least $500,000 with colts by Turn Me Loose and Exceed And Excel selling to Hong Kong buyers for that amount.
Forsman's buy is out of the O'Reilly mare Maxmara, who is a half-sister to Hawkesbury Cup winner Somepin Anypin and well-performed Hong Kong galloper Evergreen.
The Ohukia Lodge-prepared colt, who went through as the fourth-last lot of the day, breezed up in 10.80 seconds.
"He was a quality colt and I was determined to get him," Forsman said.
"I wasn't expecting to pay that much for him but given his pedigree, and the type he was, I thought it was good buying."
Howley's big buy, which was part of the Riverrock Farm draft, also went through late in the day and ran a significantly faster 10.24secs at the breeze-up stage.
He is from the Bernardini mare La Ciccolina, who is out of a Listed-winning daughter of Danehill who has 10 to race for nine winners, including G2 Villiers Stakes winner Crack Me Up and Group-performed Kiwi galloper Hoofit.
"We came to the sale to buy some nice colts of that sharper two-year-old style," Howley said.
"We really liked this colt as a yearling and we let him go. But he came back to New Zealand, his breeze up was really good and they presented him in outstanding order."
Caspar Fownes was the buyer of the Turn Me Loose colt, who is out of the Fusaichi Pegasus mare Aypebe, who boasts former champion German 3YO Zazou on his page and breezed-up in 10.58secs.
Magnus Equine was the purchaser of the other $500,000 lot, a colt by Exceed And Excel out of the More Than Ready mare Epitomise, who is a half-sister to VRC Oaks winner Personal and clocked 10.30secs at the breeze-up stage.
The two $500,000 buys were both sold by Riversley Park.
Hong Kong buyers snapped up seven of the next eight highest-priced lots of the sale, which rounded out the day's $250,000-plus lots.
Among them were a $375,000 Iffraaj gelding and a colt by Heroic Valour who sold for $350,000.
Day 1 produced a gross of $11,329,500, which was up $1 million on last year, with two-year-olds sold at an average of $124,500 with a median of $80,000 and a clearance rate of 65%.
