Honor Lap tops Bloomsbury Stud dispersal

Australian Group 1 winner HONOR LAP (Honor Grades) achieved a New Zealand

record price of NZ$825,000 when she topped the dispersal of Henrietta, Duchess

of Bedford's Bloomsbury Stud, on Monday at New Zealand Bloodstock's sale complex

in Karaka. Going through the ring as Lot No. 36, the eight-year-old chestnut, in

foal to Hussonet, was purchased by Don Ha.

"I thought, she got a million dollars back from her two foals at the sales,

so at half a million she would be a good investment," Ha said. "I spent a bit

more than that, but you don't get many opportunities to buy these sorts of

mares, so I thought I'd go for it."

Honor Lap will now be boarded at Cambridge Stud. Her first foal, a colt by

Hussonet, sold for A$500,000 at the 2006 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale. Her

second, a Zabeel colt, went for A$525,000 at this year's Easter auction.

The highest-priced weanling at the Bloomsbury dispersal was Lot 22, a Zabeel

filly out of Twentyfirstcentury (Sadler's Wells), who was purchased for

NZ$500,000 by Michael Otto. Ha also purchased the second-highest priced

weanling, a Zabeel colt out of Myself (Nashwan) for NZ$400,000.

The duchess was pleased with the results.

"Some of the mares whose pedigrees were really exciting to me made fantastic

prices and have gone to wonderful homes which, I suppose, was the part I minded

about the most," she said after the sale. "I am thrilled Twentyfirstcentury is

going to the Schick family. Mr. Ha buying the Honor Lap and Zabeel colt is

fantastic, (and) the owners of Ticklish bought her mother which is wonderful --

so many good things to come out of the day.

"The thing that was most amazing about this sale was the tremendous support

the industry gave me -- all the studs that helped our purple army -- and I would

like to thank New Zealand Bloodstock for the last 10 years of selling our

horses, culminating today," she added.

In all, the 31 broodmares grossed NZ$3,197,000 for an average of NZ$103,145.

The 22 weanlings sold for an aggregate of NZ$1,401,000 and an average of

NZ$63,682.