Three Year Old's and the NZB Sale!

Needless to say, the next two months are chaos. Between racing and the national yearling sales, it’s all guns blazing.

Firstly, let’s take a look at the racing. The racing is fueled by group and listed races and now it’s time for the three-year-olds to shine with the upcoming 3YO New Zealand Vodafone Derby and the 3YO Al Basti Equiworld New Zealand Oaks for the fillies.

The Vodafone Derby is enriched in history with some hugely notable winners. Held on the first Saturday of March, the race is 2400 meters and set weights with a prize of $1,000,000. The New Zealand Derby is an amalgamation of two races. Originally, the New Zealand Derby was run in Riccarton, Christchurch from 1860, and the Great Northern Derby began in 1875 at Ellerslie. Nearly a century later from the beginning of the Great Northern Derby, they combined the two Derby’s to create the one we know now. For compensation, Riccarton was awarded two 1600 meter races in the place of their Derby. These races are the New Zealand 1000 guineas and 2000 guineas.

Some of New Zealand’s most famous racehorses feature on the New Zealand Derby winners list. These include:

- Nightmarch

- Kindergarten

- Desert Gold (Filly!)

- Bonecrusher

- Xcellent

- Jimmy Choux

- Mongolian Khan

And the rare feat a filly won the race is worth noting.

- Tidal Light

- Popsy

- Silent Achiever

- Habibi

A fortnight later, the three-year-old fillies take their turn in the spotlight at the Trentham racecourse in Wellington. The race is also run over 2400 meters and set weights. This is a hugely competitive race for the New Zealand fillies and arguably our peak distance that our kiwi-bred horses succeed in. The fillies start to surface around December and chip away at races to get the vital win and prizemoney to qualify them for the race and get them up the order of entry. Some notable winners are

- Bonneval

- Glamour Bay

- La Mer

- Legs

- Princess Coup

- Savvy Coup

- Solveig

- Tycoon Lil

This race is truly the best showcase of our talented fillies that have the potential to be competitive in Australia and as 4-year-olds.

In amongst the racing, the national yearling sale will be held the week of the 7th March. Book One (the premier horses) is held Monday-Wednesday and Book two is Thursday-Saturday. Another New Zealand racing tradition fueled by history and success has provided some of the best New Zealand bred horses that have gone on to compete globally at the top level. In the last season, some of the Karaka sales graduates include Explosive Jack, Kukeracha, Probabeel, Melody Belle, Lions Roar, Kolding, Avantage, and Beauty Generation.

Karaka 2022 will host eight New Zealand-based first-season sires. These are Ace High, Androssan, Embellish, Eminent, Jon Snow, Ocean Emperor, Staphanos, and U S Navy Flag.

It will certainly be another top year at the sales with some striking horses sure to be going through. If permitted it’s certainly not something to miss, if you can, I highly recommend going to Karaka to have a look!