$700,000 for Savabeel colt

WELLINGTON: A colt by Savabeel out of the O’Reilly mare Miss Opulence, a halfsister to group 1 winners Sir Slick and Puccini, stole the limelight as the curtain came down on the national ready to run thoroughbred sale at Karaka yesterday.

The colt, bought by Te Akau Racing, topped the sale at $700,000.

He was presented by Sam and Hana Beatson, whose Riversley Park operation finished as leading vendor for the fourth year in succession.

Te Akau trainer Jamie Richards signed for the colt and said he thought he was ‘‘the colt of the sale’’.

He was ‘‘very athletic, moved really well and I couldn’t fault his attitude every time that we looked at him up here [Karaka],’’ Richards said.

Richards was left in the unfamiliar role of bidder, as Te Akau principal David Ellis had to dash away before the prized lot went under the hammer.

‘‘We were getting towards the end of it, so it was great to get him for $700,000 and hopefully we can develop him into a stallion that the New Zealand industry can be proud of.’’

The Te Akau team bought nine horses from the sale.

‘‘All of the horses from the first day of the sale are syndicated already and I am sure it won’t take long to get these ones done. The effort that goes into it is just unbelievable,’’ Richards said. — NZ Racing Desk