Racing: End of era at Karaka Sales

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Trainers and breeders will be scrutinising Zabeel's last commercial crop to enter the ring.

It really hurts that last November's Melbourne Cup was run without a New Zealand-bred entry - the first time in close to 60 years.

So at the Karaka yearly sales today, an increasing number of investors will be seeking a possible New Zealand contender for Australasia's premiere race, as well as a horse for the next Karaka Million, the 2014 edition of which was staged last night.

Even in Australia, there is a call for more stayers and staying races, ironically mainly from the queen of speed herself, Gai Waterhouse.

As recently as Saturday afternoon, Waterhouse was bemoaning the fact Australia has so few 3200m races, and she is considering sending Saturday's A$100,000 Australia Day Cup Randwick winner, Travolta, back to his home country for March's Auckland Cup.

Even one of New Zealand's most prolific yearling buyers, the leviathan Te Akau Thoroughbreds and its principal, David Ellis, wouldn't mind sliding into a horse that might be an ultimate distance staying type.

That is an organisation that is principally interested in acquiring potential stallions, where the real money is to be made.

Te Akau bought, raced, then syndicated to stud outstanding racehorse Darci Brahma, who is sweeping everything before him as a stallion.

Darci Brahma's accelerating record lately is phenomenal.

Last weekend, he sired both Trentham's group one winners: Telegraph winner Irish Fling, a race Darci Brahma himself won, and Recite who won the $240,000 Levin Classic.

This Saturday at Trentham Darci Brahma's daughter Silver Eclipse beat highly touted Cauthen in the 3-year-old race and Julinsky Prince wound up the carnival with a excellent win in the last race.

Darci Brahma's overall fame is confirming a principle David Ellis has been advocating for several years.

"The New Zealand breeding industry cannot afford to pay the likes of $40 million for a stallion like Pierro or $60 million for So You Think, nor can it tie itself into a shuttle stallion because once they make their mark they're taken away to more lucrative countries, which is why we lost So You Think's sire High Chaparral.

"The answer is to buy well-pedigreed yearlings and prove them on the racetrack. We did that with Darci Brahma and King's Chapel and, more recently, with Rock 'N' Pop, Tell A Tale and Burgundy.

"We'll be doing exactly the same at this sale."

Zabeel has rock star appeal and with his last full draft going through the Karaka ring from today he will make the headlines as usual.

The champion stallion has just five live foals which become yearlings next August.

When Sir Patrick Hogan made the official announcement of Zabeel's retirement at Cambridge Stud, just before Christmas, he paraded two Zabeel colts, one from Oaks-winning mare Ekstreme and the other from high-class mare Katy Keen, who numbered the Rotorua Cup and New Zealand St Leger among her 10 wins.

The Katy Keen goes through the ring early today and the Ekstreme is 10 lots from the end of the catalogue tomorrow. Both will be well sought.

The beautiful-walking Ekstreme colt has a lot of his father in him and the Katy Keen, slightly lighter in the frame, more of his mother.

The 20 Zabeel colts in the sale include a half-brother to Sir Slick and Puccini, half brother to Singapore Horse of the Year and now sire Super Easy and the 12 fillies include the first foal of Oaks winner Jungle Pocket, the second foal of group one mare Veloce Bella and the daughter of Queensland Oaks winner Vitesse Dream.

Important statistics: New Zealand horses represented 5.6 per cent of the horses raced in Australia last season and they won 20 per cent of the group one races.

Five of the past seven AJC Derby winners were New Zealand bred.