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Phill Cataldo, one of the most recognized names in the New Zealand and Australia racing industry was one of the top buyers at the recently concluded Karaka Ready To Run Sale. The legendary bloodstock agent with 21 Group One individual winner under his belt, purchased eight horses for NZ$615,000 which included two high-value purchases – a Pins colt out of Nostalgic (for NZ$125,000) and a Shocking colt out of Suad for NZ150,000.
The Impact spoke to Cataldo about his choices and the inspiration behind those purchases and more. Here are the excerpts from that conversation:
Q: Could you tell us more about the Shocking and Pins colts you purchased recently. What made them special?
A: Starting with the Pins colt. I had my sights on him for an owner in Hong Kong, where Pins was the champion sire on two occasions and produced the dual Horse of the Year Ambitious Dragon and the champion sprinter Aerovelocity. The sire Pins died unfortunately a couple of seasons ago. So this is the last crop to be sold. He is very typical of Pins colt. He is a really good mover and a very strongly made individual. He is ideal for Hong Kong. I don’t know at this stage which trainer he will be going to.
As for the Shocking colt, I had a specific order to try and buy a horse, which could be a Melbourne Cup horse in the future. Obviously, Shocking is a very good sire of stayers and he is (of course) a Melbourne Cup winner himself. I also like the fact that he is out of an O'Reilly mare as well as the fact that his second dam is by Grosvenor.
And it was quite ironic that after I bought the horse, almost within minutes, I had three top New Zealand trainers messaging me asking me if they could train him. So there are obviously some good judges on him and we were lucky enough to secure him. He was a really nice horse and is a great mover. He will be trained along the lines of getting him to a Melbourne Cup as a 4YO but probably more realistically as a 5YO so we are going to have to be very patient with him.
Q: What did you think about the NZB 2YO sale this year?
A: After the way that the 2YO sale went last week I am really optimistic about the future again. Everybody has come out of it with a positive attitude. The vibe at Karaka last week was fantastic and the way that the horses sold in the last hour and a half of the sale were quite amazing really. There were some real horses (at the sale) and then they made their money. New Zealand horses have been performing worldwide like they normally do and these sales gave New Zealand a bit of a buoyant boost.
Q: What are your plans for the yearling sales?
A: I will be concentrating on the NZB National Yearling sale in January, first as it's a lot of work leading into a sale with 900 horses. next have been approached by some New Zealand buyers to go to Classic and Melbourne sales. So I'm considering doing that through February and March, although it is a very busy time with the racing calendar as well. There's a good chance. I will go to Sydney as well (for the Inglis Easter sale). I was supposed to go to Sydney last year as well, but with the COVID restrictions, my plans changed.
Q: And what are your plans from the time the catalouges come out to the actual sale day?
A: As soon as the catalouge arrives in the mail I like reading through it and making all my notes on pedigrees and families that I like. Then when you get to the farm, you've done a little bit of that research before you actually see the horses. So that works out well!