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As a leading racehorse breeder, buyer, owner and bloodstock consultant David Ellis knows his yearlings especially, when the horses are New Zealand bred elites and the sale is Karaka 2021. Ellis purchased Darci Brahma, 17 years ago at the Karaka Premier Sale.
The multiple Group One-winner went on to become the Champion 2YO, Champion 3YO and the Champion 4YO. After being retired to stud, Darci Brahma has become a hugely successful sire, with his progeny winning major races in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong.
He has won several premierships in different countries. Here the self-made multi-millionaire and the CEO of Te Akau Racing with horses the ilk of multiple Group One winning Avantage, Probabeel, Te Akau Shark and Melody Belle shares his yearling buying plans for Karaka 2021, predicts which sires he expects to do well this season, and much more:
Q: How many horses have you planned to purchase at Karaka in 2021?
A: I plan to be a very active purchaser at Karaka - rather than focus on numbers, I always focus on quality.
Q: What are the key sire lines that you would traditionally focus on and will you be continuing that tradition given the fact that you are raising the bar of your purchases from 2021 to achieve even greater successes?
A: There are a number of new sire lines that interest me at the sales this year. For example, there are a number of yearlings by a very exciting sire Almanzor, who of course is by Wootton Bassett. We haven’t seen much of this sire line in New Zealand but it is certainly one that I am very interested in and I believe he could be very successful.
Q: What are the nicks/ pedigree-lines that you feel work extremely well in NZ and Australia?
A: I tend to be forgiving with pedigree nicks and pedigree lines as I am more interested in the athlete that I am looking at. Although I do love the Savabeel cross with the O’Reilly's and Pins' stallions from Waikato Stud’s stallions. They seem to be a proven match.
Q: And finally, please tell us more about your plans the Darci Brahma colt that you purchased for NZ$ 700,000, which you have called ‘the best Darci Brahma colt that I’ve seen’. Has he been settled into Darci Brahma’s stable as you had outlined in our last interview? If yes, can we get a picture of him in Darci Brahma's stable?
A: The Darci Brahma colt out of Granadilla has settled in beautifully in his new home. (The picture of him outside his stable attached). He is a very exciting young individual and we hope to have him ready to trial in February with the aim to potentially see him make his race day debut in early March.