There was plenty of interest in lot 375, the Shamus Award colt out of stakes-placed mare Exchanges, on the second day of New Zealand Bloodstock's Ready To Run sale of two-year-olds, but when the dust settled it was Andrew Williams who came out on top.
The Sydney-based bloodstock agent wentto $550,000 to secure the colt he highlighted as the pick of the sale, fending off several underbidders which included Caulfield trainer Lloyd Kennewell.
"I have bought him for an international client, with a view of him initially heading to Lindsay Park Racing [in Victoria] on the way to Hong Kong," he said.
"We thought it was the best breeze of the sale and physically we thought he was the best horse of the sale.
"He is just a very good individual and he is just head and shoulders above anything else we saw this week. He is a special horse to add to the programme."
There was plenty of interest in the colt, who was sold through the draft of Woburn Farm, and as a result Williams was prepared to go a little bit further than he planned to secure him.
At the close of the two day sale, 257 lots were sold for an aggregate of $23.6 million and a clearance rate of 74 per cent, up from 68 per cent last year.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong bloodstock agent Willie Leung hoped he uncovered a stallion prospect after going to $440,000 to secure lot 407, the Savabeel half-brother to four-time group one winner and Waikato Stud stallion Sacred Falls.
