Windsor Park Stud has drawn on a diverse range of sires from across Australasia to make up its Karaka 2025 yearling draft, but a week out from the sale, all eyes will be on one of their own stallions.
Shamexpress has had a remarkable resurgence, headed by his champion Hong Kong sprinter Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress). The freakish four-year-old has won all of his last eight starts culminating in last month’s Gr.1 Hong Kong Sprint (1200m), and he makes an eagerly anticipated return to raceday action in this evening’s Gr.1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m).
“Having him in a Group One race on Sunday is an exciting way to lead into the sale, and especially since we’re offering the only Shamexpress colt in Book 1 at Karaka,” Windsor Park’s nominations manager Nick Hewson said.
This will be the first Book 1 appearance since 2022 for Shamexpress, who had progeny sell for $280,000 and $260,000 during the Ready to Run Sale at Karaka in November.
“It’s been amazing to see what has happened with the profile of Shamexpress in recent times,” Hewson said. “He had some strong results in the Ready to Run Sale, and now he’s back in Book 1 for the first time in a few years. It’s absolutely deserved and he’s a commercial stallion now.
“He’s had a great year. Lim’s Saltoro became only the second horse to win the four-year-old Triple Crown in Singapore, Grinzinger Belle has won a Group Two and two Group Threes in Melbourne, Blue Sky At Night took out the Waikato Cup (Gr.3, 2400m), and that’s all without mentioning the world’s fastest horse, Ka Ying Rising in Hong Kong. Hopefully his progeny will be well received at Karaka.”
Windsor Park Stud’s Shamexpress colt in Book 1 is Lot 68, from the family of Group One winners Sixty Seconds, Legs, Guyno and Xtravagant.
The Shamexpress colt is one of 35 yearlings catalogued in Book 1 for Windsor Park Stud, backed up by another 20 in Book 2. The draft is made up of the progeny of 20 different stallions, including first-season sire Armory, who is owned by Windsor Park in partnership with Mapperley Stud.
“We’re very excited about Armory,” Hewson said. “His first crop of yearlings are nice, strong horses and we’ve had great feedback about them so far. People have been very impressed with the types that he’s leaving.
“He was a very precocious horse himself. He was a top two-year-old who won three times from just seven starts, and then he went on to perform at a high level at three and four. That included placings in the Cox Plate (Gr.1, 2040m), Irish Champion Stakes (Gr.1, 2000m) and the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (Gr.1, 2000m). We think he has a great profile for our part of the world, and we really like the Armory yearlings we’re selling in our draft.”
Other stallions represented in the draft include Windsor Park’s own Circus Maximus, Vanbrugh and Turn Me Loose, along with big names from elsewhere in the Australasian scene like Pierro, So You Think, Satono Aladdin, Contributer and Ocean Park. At the other end of the scale, Windsor Park will be selling first-crop progeny by exciting newcomers Sword Of State, Noverre, St Mark’s Basilica, Pinatubo, Captivant and Wild Ruler.
“We’ve got a lot of first-season sires represented, which I think is a real highlight of our draft,” Hewson said. “We’re selling some cracking yearlings by Sword Of State (Lots 446 and 447).
“We’ve also got some very nice yearlings from the second crop of Circus Maximus. We’re getting some great reports from trainers about his first two-year-olds this season, and it sounds like they’re only going to get better once they turn three.
“There’s a lovely Circus Maximus filly out of Risque Business (Lot 246). Risque Business has been a great producing mare, and this filly is a half to the Group performer It’s Business Time.
“Another one I really like is the colt out of Greatest Joy (Lot 642). The dam is a full-sister to the great racemare More Joyous, and this colt is an outstanding type of horse. There’s also a stunning colt by So You Think (Lot 175).
“Across the board, it’s a really good, diverse draft. I think the variety of stallions is a real drawcard.”
