Ambitious plans for Duchess of Bedford as Tavistock colt bound for Britain

The breeder of the late Cambridge Stud sire Tavistock, Henrietta, the Dowager Duchess of Bedford, was determined to ensure she could achieve the dream of racing one of his sons in Britain before the opportunity passed.

To ensure that goal potentially becomes a reality, the Duchess’ representative Berri Schroder was entrusted with the role of bidding on lot 487 and it took a bid of NZ$440,000 (£232,000/€262,000) to land him as the curtain came down at Book 1 of the NZB Karaka Yearling Sale on Tuesday.

"It has been Henrietta’s dream to buy a Tavistock from Sir Patrick [Hogan] that could go to England to race to complete the circle for her,” Schroder said.

"If the planes are going, he will be sent over to the northern hemisphere in either June or July.

"While he will be six months older than his competition he will race in open races as a maiden two-year-old in the autumn. We looked at every Tavistock in the catalogue this year as we wanted to select the one that would be best suited to that plan and this one fits the bill.

“It was a great battle in the ring and I wasn’t confident we had him until the gavel went down. We had heard that there were at least four people on him and I think it was Roger James who was the underbidder."

Tavistock was bred by the Duchess at Bloomsbury Stud in 2005 before he was sold at the Karaka sale in 2007. He won twice at Group 1 level in New Zealand before he was sold to Sir Patrick Hogan, who was principal of Cambridge Stud at the time.

The colt, offered by Woburn Farm on behalf of his breeder Sir Patrick, is the second foal out of La Belle Beel, a half-sister to the Singapore Listed winner Intercept. Further back is New Zealand’s champion stayer of 1999-2000, dual Group 1 winner Second Coming, who is out of the colt’s third dam Superior Miss.

Woburn Farm’s Adrian Stanley, who placed an NZ$120,000 reserve on the yearling, did not have enough plaudits for the star colt.

"I have worked with quite a few Tavistocks in my time and he qualifies as my pick of them all. He just kept improving and developing into a standout since we got him in September. He will be something at three," Stanley said.

On Sunday, Woburn Farm also sold a Written Tycoon colt for NZ$625,000 to Te Akau Racing on behalf of Sir Patrick.

Domestic buyers stand tall in face of adversity

New Zealand Bloodstock managing director Andrew Seabrook’s immediate emotion was an overwhelming sense of relief, with the event staged without international buyers at the sales complex in almost a century.

Faced with immense uncertainty for more than six months with the country shut off from the rest of the world, NZB pushed ahead with its traditional January format amid agitation from some circles to delay the auction until April in the hope of a more favourable travel environment.

However, at the conclusion of Book 1, 74 of the 414 yearlings traded had sold for NZ$200,000 or more, including a Savabeel colt who fetched NZ$720,000 during the third session to be the second highest-priced yearling of the sale behind a Zoustar filly who made NZ$800,000 on Sunday.

"For the past six months we’ve been building for these three days and we didn’t really have any idea how it would go," Seabrook told ANZ Bloodstock News.

"I was confident that the New Zealanders would spend more given the economy here, and the confidence in the domestic racing industry, and they would step up, but probably not to the level they did. It was quite amazing.

"The big unknown, of course, was to what level the internationals would use the online system and bidding over the phone. Even I bid for ten or 12 Australians and I had to come off the bench just to do that."

The Book 1 aggregate was NZ$50.998 million (£26.91m/€30.35m) at an average of NZ$123,184 (£64,987/€73,330) and a median of NZ$95,000 (£50,113/€56,532), the latter two measures down by 11 and 12 per cent respectively compared to 2020. A clearance rate of 81 per cent was up two per cent year-on-year.

The two decreased year-on-year metrics were in contrast to what was experienced at the recent record Magic Millions Gold Coast auction, but Seabrook suggested the New Zealand industry banded together to do its best to ensure a competitive marketplace in unprecedented conditions.

“The New Zealand agents and the NZB agents here really stepped up in terms of engaging with the overseas people, but their spend was always going to be down,” he reasoned.

“Was Australia going to spend the same amount as last year? Of course not given they couldn't be here, but it was encouraging that the online system and the bidding over the phone was embraced.

"I am relieved and I am also very happy to be able to check an 81 per cent clearance. I would take that all day."

NZB still has a two-day Book 2 offering and an online Book 3 catalogue to complete the National Yearling Sale.

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