Poser provides special start to big week for Pertab

[Wandering Eyes]

With his second Ready to Run Sale draft about to go through the Karaka sale ring, Matamata horseman Kurtis Pertab could hardly have hoped for a better start to one of his most important weeks of the year.

Pertab celebrated his second career success as a trainer on Saturday at Tauranga, saddling Poser (NZ) (Ocean Park) for an impressive victory by two and a half lengths. But the circumstances surrounding the Ocean Park mare’s big win made this result particularly memorable.

“That was a special result considering what she’s been through,” Pertab said. “She was bred and raced by Mary Chittick, and we broke her in as a yearling and gave her four trials and her first race.

“After that, the plan was always that she would go to Graham Richardson and Rogan Norvall – that’s where Mary usually sends her horses. She raced fairly for that stable, but then ended up being leased down to Andrew Carston in the South Island and never showed anything down there.

“They sacked her and put her up on Gavelhouse, and I was able to buy her back for $500.

“That was her first start for me, 260 days after she last raced, and it’s two years since she originally left our stable. So that was really satisfying. It’s always good when things come together like that.”

The son of respected horseman Paul Pertab, Kurtis had his first winner with Stuff Of Dreams (NZ) (Tavistock) in late September.

“I have about 25 horses in work right now,” he said. “We do a lot of breaking in and pre-training, and we also trial and sell about a dozen horses a year. But then it’s nice to have a couple of others alongside them that we can race and have a bit of fun with.”

Pertab offered his first Ready to Run Sale draft in November of last year, selling six of the nine two-year-olds he offered. He netted a total of $405,000 and average of $67,500, with a top price of $150,000 for a son of Sacred Falls.

Matamata horseman Kurtis Pertab at Tauranga on Saturday
Photo: Trish Dunell

“I was pretty happy to come away with six out of nine sold from my first draft,” Pertab said. “Obviously we couldn’t get to Karaka for the sale last year, so I’m really looking forward to that this time around. I’m actually driving up that way right now (on Sunday afternoon). It’s something I can’t wait to experience.”

Pertab will offer a six-strong draft this year and is pleased with the depth and variety on offer. Among them is Lot 211, a Sacred Falls colt who is closely related to Darci Brahma and Burgundy and was bought by Pertab for $32,500 from Book 1 of Karaka 2022 in March.

“I’m stoked with how this year’s draft is shaping up,” Pertab said. “The whole lot of them breezed up in under 10.7 seconds, so I couldn’t be happier with that result.

“There’s some exciting sires represented, with Astern kicking goals in Australia at the moment, Sweynesse getting some good winners in Hong Kong, and Sacred Falls obviously needs no introduction. I think it’s a nice, balanced draft that will hopefully appeal to a few buyers.”

The 2022 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale will be held at Karaka on Wednesday and Thursday, with selling kicking off at 11am each day.

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