Photo: Trish Dunell
Curraghmore is one of the foremost names among vendors at the New Zealand Bloodstock National Weanling Sale every year and again their 2024 crop of weanlings catalogued for Karaka on Thursday is right up to the respected nursery's usual high standard.
Gordon Cunningham’s Curraghmore has collected more than a dozen leading vendor titles at Karaka’s weanling sales, and past graduates include Group One winner Sousa, Group Three winner Kinane and other stakes performers such as What Choux Want, Blue On Black, Global Thinking, Ruettiger and He Kin Fly.
Cunningham will consign a select draft of 10 weanlings on Thursday, which includes progeny of leading sires Savabeel and Proisir as well as newcomers Sword Of State, Noverre and St Mark’s Basilica.
“We’ve come up here with a good draft – a very good, genuine draft,” Cunningham said at Karaka on Wednesday.
“They’ve presented really, really well and I’m very encouraged by the inspection levels so far. There’s been strong interest, and I feel that a lot of people are honing in on a number of horses and would be up there to buy them if they were going through the ring now.
“Right across the board, from one to 10, this could be a yearling draft in its own right, and the fact that they’re all eligible for the Karaka Millions Series and the races that are being promoted so strongly has definitely impacted on the level of interest that we’re seeing here.”
Cunningham finds it difficult to single out individual lots among the 10 Curraghmore weanlings.
“It’s really hard to narrow them down,” he said. “We’ve got a good colt by Proisir (Lot 36) and a colt by our champion sire Savabeel (Lot 56) that is another definite prospect.
“Our Super Seth colt (Lot 3) is one of quite a small number of Super Seths in this particular crop, but he’s done an amazing job so far with seven individual two-year-old winners in his first season, five stakes performers and very good early success in Australia, so we know his progeny are going to be well sought after.”
Cunningham has also been taken with the progeny of rookie stallions Sword Of State and Noverre.
“There’s been definite interest in our three Sword Of States (Lots 18, 112 and 134), as well as a very good colt by Noverre (Lot 125),” he said. “They tick a lot of boxes physically. They’re sharp horses, well-conformed and I can see them being well sought after in the ring.” -NZ Racing Desk
