Racing: Sales confidence high because of depth of talent

Trying to get the major players at a yearling sale to agree on anything is about as likely as a lasting peace deal in the Middle East.

Every person armed with a catalogue has his or her opinion on whose is the best yearling or stallion, what constitutes a good buy, how much is too much and just about anything else you care to ask.

At yearling sales time, the only thing there is more of than money and hot air is opinions.

But yesterday the miracle nearly happened. All the big players at Karaka for the standardbred yearling parade agreed for once - today's babies are the strongest group to go under the hammer in New Zealand.

The annual three-day yearling standardbred sales, starting at Karaka today and to be followed by two days in Christchurch, should start with a bang.

The Auckland sale is more select that its southern rival and anything less than an increase in average today will be disappointing.

The tragic loss of the industry's premier yearling buyer John Seaton should be off-set, in the market at least, by the extremely strong catalogue, although lots fetching over $100,000 will be hard to come by.

"I can see this being a sale where a lot of horses go for good money and we have a larger than usual number of horses in the $60,000 to $80,000 range," said auctioneer Paul Davies, who has seen a few yearling sales in his time.

Those comments were echoed by every good judge at Karaka yesterday, with all the leading trainers impressed by the quality of the stock on offer.

The strength of today's sale will be in that mid-range, especially with so many colts by the glamour stallions as well as many by the trusted tried-and-true performers.

And what this sale lacks are the real scrubbers to drag the day down, which has always been a problem for standardbred sales in the past.

"There is no doubt that standard of the breed and the presentation of these horses just keeps getting better and I think we have seen that today," said Davies.

"There is no doubt we are going to have a strong sale."

The changing circumstances, and philosophy, of some leading trainers will restrict the number of colts topping the $100,000 mark, with probably only two or three capable of reaching that mark today.

Yet the overall quality should see the average approach the $23,000-$25,000 mark, up on last season.

Top of the hit parade is almost certain to be the half-brother to champion pacer Elsu by In The Pocket, who has the looks to match his breeding.

He will have a few challengers though, with many yearlings from the industry's most current families up for grabs.

The high quality of the broodmares will be backed by siring sensation Christian Cullen's having 13 yearlings after a small representation last season. That should translate to a rise in the average price.

Of special interest will be the first crop of another former pacing pin-up boy, Courage Under Fire.

He only had two yearlings in today's sale but plenty more at Christchurch and his stock are already getting such big wraps he has covered more than 300 mares this breeding season.

With so many buyers wanting horses who will perform as two-year-olds, Courage Under Fire could be the mid-level star of the week.

The Australian buying bench will be strong in numbers but may lack the top-end firepower of past years, especially as Australian-bred horses have had more success against our pacers this season.

That, coupled with an improvement in the quality of the Australian yearling sales and a strong New Zealand dollar, would suggest most Australian buyers will be staying in the mid-range. The sales start at noon.

Selling up

* The annual Karaka standardbred yearling sales are on today.

* 163 yearlings will go through the ring.

* A strong catalogue should ensure the average sale price is up on last season.

* A half-brother to Elsu is expected to be the top-priced lot.