Sir Patrick Hogan says his face won't portray what's in his heart as he leads the last Zabeel to be sold at auction into the Karaka sale ring on Monday.
This is a watershed moment - the last horse produced by New Zealand's greatest ever thoroughbred stallion being led into the famous Karaka ring by New Zealand's greatest ever thoroughbred breeder.
Sir Patrick hasn't officially declared he will lead in Lot 102, the Zabeel-Organdy colt, to what clearly will be a rousing reception, but you can bet it will happen.
The last horse he led into a sale ring was back in the 1980s when the final horse sold at auction by Zabeel's great sire, Sir Tristram, was offered at the William Inglis Sydney Easter sale.
"That was by invitation," he said yesterday at the Karaka sales complex as he showed Cambridge Stud's impressive draft to prospective buyers.
As infertility issues hit Zabeel, only five live foals were produced in the draft that includes the only colt and sole filly in the Karaka catalogue.
Cambridge Stud, Little Avondale and Rich Hill have retained the remaining three fillies.
Sir Patrick believes he led his first yearling into the old Trentham sale ring during the 1955-56 season.
There was no false modesty on his part when asked if he believed his outstanding horsemanship and sale-ring charisma led to more dollars in his pockets through the years.
"Oh, no doubt about it. I was competitive and always have been. When I went into that ring I saw it as a performance - I was on stage.
"I tried to create as much glamour as I could around leading a horse in and particularly during the heady days of the sharemarket boom in the 1980s I know I pulled a lot more dollars out of pockets with the way I went about doing what I did."
One of Sir Patrick's most memorable Sir Laurence Olivier-like moments involved Queensland's Minister-For-Everything, the late Russ Hinze.
"It was at the Trentham sale and I could see that Russ was bidding up on this horse and the underbidder was across the other side of the ring. Each time Russ would bid I'd take the horse across and lean it over the rail and into the face of the underbidder, then when he'd bid I'd go back and do the same thing to Russ.
"We got up to a pretty good price and finally Russ put his hands in the air and cried 'enough'. His wife was sitting with him and said: 'Oh, go on Russ, give poor Patrick one more bid.'" He did and got the horse. "I was very good at that and I just loved it."
When asked why he gave up leading in his yearlings in the 1980s as a still highly capable horseman, he said: "By keeping going myself and not letting my terrific staff have a run, I was saying to them, 'You're not good enough'. And that wasn't fair."
He missed it terribly. "I still do."
The fact the half brother to big winner Time Keeper will be the last Zabeel ever auctioned is certain to put a premium on his value. And an Oscar-worthy performance from Sir Patrick Hogan is just as certain to extract a few more dollars.