The popularity of our young stallion Sword Of State went to another level during the closing session of New Zealand Bloodstock’s Book 1 National Yearling Sale centenary auction.

The son of Snitzel’s progeny were in keen demand at Karaka but it was Lot 513 the heavy hitters were waiting for, and the colt left the ring with the heftiest of price tags.

The stunning half-brother to star performer Ceolwulf broke the seven-figure mark to top the sale when he was sold to Ciaron Maher Bloodstock and Sanxiong Gao for $1,100,000.

He also helped us to the coveted title of leading Book 1 vendor by aggregate with 50 lots sold for $10,640,000 at an average of $212,800.

Maher’s Head of Bloodstock Will Bourne was on site to win a tense bidding duel against Te Akau’s David Ellis for the sale-topping Sword Of State colt, who more than lived up to all the pre-sale hype.

“David Ellis is a hard guy to beat, especially here on his home deck, but this is a lovely horse. We got some great support from a new client, Mr Gao, and we’re thrilled to have him on board,” Bourne said.

“We knew he wasn’t going to be cheap. He has a lot of power behind the saddle, to be fair he wasn’t hard to find as he’s got a great pedigree.

“For a young stallion to start the way he has is a credit to Cambridge Stud. We’re happy to support them. They do such a good job and are so supportive of the industry here and the community.

“Ciaron’s thrilled and there’s a lot of appetite from our clients for to buy New Zealand-bred horses.”

The youngster’s dam is the English-bred Shamardal mare Las Brisas, whose pedigree page also features the international top-flight winners Moonstone (Irish Oaks), Cerulean Sky (Prix Saint-Alary) and Wellington HKJC Chairman’s Sprint Prize-twice).

Sword Of State’s previous highest-priced yearling was a son of Fuld’s Bet who sold last year to Mulberry Racing for $540,000 and his sister, Lot 438, realised $475,000 when claimed by Victoria’s Cameron Cooke Bloodstock and trainer Scott Cameron.

They are out of the stakes winning I Am Invincible mare Fuld’s Bet, whose three foals to race have all been successful and includes our two-time winner I’m All In.

“Karaka’s been awesome and we really liked her from the first time we saw her,” Cameron said.

“She’s by a very good stallion so we had to be strong to get her.”

An attractive daughter of Sword Of State with a pedigree to match will be joining the powerful Cambridge stable of Stephen Marsh after he signed the ticket at $420,000 for Lot 325 with Dyland Johnson.

The filly is a half-sister to multiple winner Moschino, who was successful on Karaka Millions night, with her dam the Stravinsky mare Botanic.

She was twice successful and is a half-sister to South African stakes winner Diamond King and the family of Australasian Group winners Love Affair (Eagle Technology Stakes) and Somepin Anypin (Hawkesbury Gold Cup).

Meanwhile, an athletic daughter of Spirit Of Boom had an abundance of admirers and it was Matamata trainer Graham Richardson and high-profile cricketing identity Brendon McCullum who had the last laugh on Lot 461.

The grey filly was sold for $325,000 and is out of the Redoute’s Choice mare Gracious Grey, whose three foals to race have all been successful and includes the G3 Belle of the Turf winner Kind Words.

Gracious Grey is also a half-sister to the multiple stakes winner Positive Peace with G3 Blue Diamond Preview winner Limestone also on the pedigree page.

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Lux Libertas underlined her quality with a commanding victory at Trentham to open her black type account in the G2 Manawatu Challenge Stakes.

Trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrews Scott had the Almanzor mare in prime order to resume off a six-month break and she proved far superior to her opposition in the 1400 metre feature.

Lux Libertas raced in behind the leading group to the turn and let down strongly for rider Bruno Queiroz to win going away.

“She had been building toward this for a good while and it’s great that she’s a stakes-winning mare,” Scott said.

“Bruno gave her a sweet trip and she deserved it. We’ll look at some nice fillies and mares’ races through the summer.”

Lux Libertas was bred by Lib Petagna’s JML Bloodstock with Graham and Helen-Gaye Bax, whose daughter Kylie’s Goldeye Trust races the mare with Peter Sain.

She is a daughter of the Makfi mare Miss Fi, a two-year-old winner and runner-up in the Listed Castletown Stakes.

The dam is a half-sister to dual stakes winner Peaceful and all three of her foals to race have been successful.

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Hear from our CEO, Henry Plumptre, who saw first-hand how popular the first weanlings by Chaldean were at last week’s Tattersalls December Foal Sale in England.

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Chaldean’s weanlings sold for a total of 2,686,00gns, placing him second overall by aggregate, just 14,000gns behind his sire, Frankel. Our dual Gr.1 winner had a total of 25 lots sell at a 93% clearance rate and average of 107,440gns (NZ$260,000) with top prices of 240,000gns (NZ$580,000), 205,000gns (NZ$495,000), 200,000gns (NZ$485,000), 185,000gns (NZ$450,000) etc.

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Qali Al Farrasha ended a run of feature race placings when the Almanzor five-year-old strode to an emphatic victory in the G2 Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes at Pukekohe Park.

The Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson-trained mare had been given a let-up following unplaced runs in the first two legs of the Group 1 Triple Crown Series and returned with a bounce in her step to coast home over 1400 metres.

“It’s fantastic to see her back and we weren’t quite happy with her before the Livamol, so we freshened her up,” Bergerson said.

“Hopefully, she is in for an exciting summer and the Cal Isuzu Stakes is probably the next logical step.

Qali Al Farrasha was a deserved winner after bagging three previous Group 1 placings, finishing runner-up in both the Otaki Maori WFA Classic and Thorndon Mile and was also third in the New Zealand Oaks during her Classic campaign.

At Pukekohe, she lobbed along in sixth spot under rider Wiremu Pinn before hitting the front 250 metres from home and surged clear to win impressively with our own Jaarffi doing her best work late from the back for third.

“I thought the 1400 metres would have been too short, but she proved me wrong and it was a very good training effort by Mark and Sam,” Pinn said. “The further she goes, the better she’ll be.”

Raced by co-breeders Te Akau Stud and Westonlea Bloodstock, Qali Al Farrasha is a sister to stakes winner Nucleozor.

Their dam is the Burgundy mare Nucleonic and she is a half-sister to the G2 Bill Stutt Stakes winner Tijuana, their mother being the champion Singapore two and three-year-old Mexican Rose.

Nucleonic’s colt by Hello Youmzain sold to Hong Kong’s Tartan Meadow Bloodstock for $375,000 at the 2025 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale.

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Almanzor has made another memorable impact at the highest international level after his daughter Gezora doubled her Group 1 tally with victory in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Del Mar.

She was bred in France where our stallion son of the ill-fated Wootton Bassett stood at Haras d’Etreham before we secured full breeding rights in 2024 following six seasons of shuttle duty.

The G1 French Oaks heroine had finished out of the frame at her previous start in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and bounced back in dazzling style in California for trainer Francis Graffard and rider Mickael Barzalona.

It was a first Breeders’ Cup success for the Chantilly-based horseman and a second for Barzalona.

“What a perfect run and what a filly she is. She’s small but has the biggest heart of any I’ve ever trained. She’s amazing and gives us so much emotion,” Graffard told the Racing Post.

"It's a meeting I absolutely admire, and I really want to be competitive here. We'll keep trying, it's done now and we'll look for the next one."

It was also a landmark moment for Graffard, who recorded his 13th top-level win of the season, equalling the record for a French trainer set by Andre Fabre in 1992.

Barzalona had ridden stablemate Daryz to victory in the Arc and was reunited with Gezora at Del Mar after winning the G2 Prix Saint Alary on the three-year-old and finishing runner-up in the G1 Prix Vermeille.

“She’s a top-class filly. We got a good spot in the race, it never slowed down, and I had to ask her to go early, but she was very good to catch the one in front,” he said.

Gezora has been an outstanding international flagbearer for Almanzor with five wins from 10 appearances and was raced by Haras d’Etreham before she was purchased by Peter Brandt’s White Birch Farm after she had won two of her first four starts.

She is a daughter of the Silver Hawk mare Germance, who won five races including the Saint-Alary when it carried Group 1 status and also finished runner-up in the French Oaks.

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