Raptors Thoroughbred make their mark at weanling sale

[Wandering Eyes]

The emergence of syndicators and traders Raptors Thoroughbred continued at Karaka on Thursday with the title of leading buyers at the 2024 New Zealand Bloodstock National Weanling Sale.

Raptors Thoroughbred has had a growing presence on the buyers’ bench since debuting at the 2022 National Yearling Sale, and their handful of yearling purchases in that short space of time have included the winners Raptylight, Incredible and Dajieda. Raptylight also finished fourth in the Listed NZB Airfreight Stakes (1400m) at Wingatui in March.

Thursday marked a big increase in Raptors Thoroughbreds’ sale-ring impact. They bought five weanlings for a total of $390,000, averaging $78,000.

Raptors Thoroughbred saved the biggest of those purchases for last, paying $130,000 for a filly by star Rich Hill Stud stallion Proisir. The Seaton Park filly was catalogued as Lot 146 and is a half-sister to the Australian black-type winner Pudding.

Raptors Thoroughbred also paid $100,000 for a colt by first-season Waikato Stud stallion Noverre out of Group Two winner Alagant Satin, plus $75,000 and $50,000 for a pair of colts by Cambridge Stud newcomer Sword Of State, and $35,000 for a son of Per Incanto.

“We’re very happy with the five horses that we bought today,” Raptors Thoroughbred’s Jessica Yang commented. “Those were the weanlings that we came here wanting to buy, so we got everything that we had on our list.

“We haven’t decided yet which ones we will pinhook and take to the two-year-old sale, and which ones we might keep to race ourselves.

“We bought a very nice filly by Proisir for $130,000 just before the end of the sale, and we were also happy to go up to $100,000 to buy a son of Noverre. That horse was highly recommended by our bloodstock team, so we had no problem with taking that risk on a first-season sire.”

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