Zabeel colt tops third day

The third and final day of the New Zealand Premier Sale at Karaka finished

strongly on Wednesday, with a colt by Zabeel attracting a NZ$1.6 million bid

from Graeme Rogerson.

Expectations were high as Lot 461 stepped into the ring, with many believing

the Cambridge Stud consignee would become the second horse in the sale to bring

seven figures following Tuesday's NZ$2.2-million Stravinsky topper. A packed

auditorium wasn't disappointed when Rogerson locked horns with Australian

trainer John O'Shea, the former eventually landing the bay, who is from the

family of two-time Australian Horse of the Year Might and Power and Hong Kong

champion miler Lucky Owners, with the session-topping bid.

"I believe he was one of the nicest colts in the sale," Rogerson explained.

"While I didn't expect to have to spend that much money on him, I back my

judgment and I guess we'll see in two years time whether I was right."

New Zealand Bloodstock officials were cautious prior to the Premier Sale, but

were more than satisfied with the results.

"Leading into the sale, we knew that the absence of Danehill, and the reduced

number of yearlings by Zabeel that we had to sell, would likely prevent the

final statistics from reaching the record-breaking heights of last year, which

saw the sale average up 23 percent on the previous year," Bloodstock Marketing

and Public Relations Manager Petrea Vela said. "The catalog wasn't as strong

this year overall, so what we hoped for was to see an increase from 2004. We are

therefore very pleased to achieve the results we have over the past three days."

The National Yearling Sales Series continue with the Select Sale on Thursday

at Karaka. For results and online webcast, visit www.nzb.co.nz.