Westbury Stud will offer sizeable Book 1 and 2 drafts at Karaka later this month, showcasing their own stallion roster and with variety added by choice offerings of leading Australian-based sires.
The Gerry Harvey-owned operation is always strongly represented at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale and the 2025 consignment will continue that trend with quality and quantity.
“There’ll be a few withdrawals, as there always are, but we’ll end up with 70-odd or more so it’s a big draft and a lot of work that goes into it,” Westbury General Manager Russell Warwick said.
“There are any number of quality horses there and a mixture of our own stallions and some from Australia, which always brings a lot of interest and flavour to the draft.”
Lot 51 is sure to be hugely popular as a daughter of I Am Invincible’s multiple Group One-winning sprinter Home Affairs.
“She is one who will attract an enormous amount of interest off the back of what they sold for in Australia,” Warwick said.
“Home Affairs had a A$3.2 million yearling and a number of other extremely high-priced youngsters at Magic Millions and our one is a really nice type.
“She will absolutely run, there’s no doubt about that and is out of a More Than Ready mare so it’s good Australian two-year-old form and looks like a Karaka Millions horse in waiting.”
Her dam Kylie’s Fame was successful on four occasions up to 1400m and is a half-sister to the Wyong Magic Millions 2YO Classic (1100m) and Listed Maribyrnong Trial Stakes (1000m) winner Madeenaty.
“Another Australian flavoured one Is Lot 21, the Ole Kirk filly out of Isabella Of Aragon,” Warwick said.
“I think Ole Kirk had a 100 percent clearance at the Magic Millions and sold up to A$700,000 so he’s hit the ground running and has had five runners for two stakes winners already in his first crop in Australia.”
The filly’s dam is by Swiss Ace and from the family of the Gr.1 Australian Oaks (2400m) winner Royal Descent.
“There’s also a Tarzino colt who is a half-brother to Hypnos and is a particularly nice horse,” Warwick said.
Lot 229 is out of the unraced Elusive Quality mare Quality Dream and her son Hypnos won the Gr.2 Coupland’s Bakeries Mile (1600m), was successful twice at Group Three level and finished runner-up in the Gr.1 Levin Classic (1600m).
“There’s a very good Reliable Man colt, Lot 389, and he’s a half-brother to two black type horses,” Warwick said.
The colt’s dam is the Mossman mare Villa De Madrid, who has produced Press Link and Vamos Raffa-Perfect Maryknoll (HK).
In the Book 2 draft, Lot 1060 is a colt by El Roca out of the winning Swiss Ace mare Gagliardi who enjoyed a major pedigree update when three-quarter brother Navigator finished third in the Gr.1 Telegraph (1200m).
“Lesley and I bred Navigator and we’ve still got 10 percent of him so we’re enjoying the ride,” Warwick said.
Navigator had won four of his previous 12 starts before placing in the feature weight-for-age sprint at Trentham.
“There’s also a very nice El Roca filly out of Petrachor, a handy race mare for Pam Gerard who won five and this is her first foal,” Warwick said.
“She’s bred on the El Roca-Redwood cross so very much a homebred in every respect.”
To be offered as Lot 770, her pedigree page also features the Gr.1 Australian Oaks (2400m) winner Sofia Rosa.
