The 2024 National Weanling Sale at Karaka features the first Pencarrow Stud weanling draft since 2016, and the bloodlines being offered by the internationally respected nursery are well worth the long wait.

The Pencarrow draft is made up of three fillies and two colts. Their sires are a diverse range of stallions from across Australasia, while the dams represent many of the top-class families that have underpinned Pencarrow’s decades of racetrack and sale-ring success.

Lot 33 is a bay filly by Doubtland out of Kintsugi Belle (NZ) (Reliable Man).

Emerging sire Doubtland stands at Widden Stud in Victoria for a 2024 service fee of A$13,200. He is by the exceptional Not A Single Doubt, whose influence is being carried into the next generation by his freakish sire son Extreme Choice. The dam of Doubtland is the Group One performer Miss Sharapova (NZ) (Ustinov).

Doubtland won three of his eight starts, romping home in the Group Three Kindergarten Stakes (1100m) at Randwick as a two-year-old and adding the Group Two Danehill Stakes (1200m) at Flemington the following spring. He also finished fourth in the Group One Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m). His oldest progeny will be two-year-olds next season, and his yearlings have sold for up to A$220,000.

Lot 33 is the first foal out of Kintsugi Belle

(NZ) (Reliable Man), a half-sister to the stakes performer Equinox (NZ) (Exceed and Excel). Their dam Our Ella Belle (NZ) (Encosta De Lago) won four times up to Group Three level and ran a luckless third in the Group One New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m).

Other close relatives in this quality family include Australian Group One performers Plucky Belle (Mossman), Rawnaq (Redoute’s Choice) and Light Brigade (Redoute’s Choice), plus their dam Winning Belle (NZ) (Zabeel).

Lot 50 is a bay filly by Shocking out of Maison Roxanne (NZ) (Snitzel).

Melbourne Cup winner Shocking needs little introduction as a stallion, siring 24 stakes winners including I’m Thunderstruck (NZ), Defibrillate (NZ), Fanatic (NZ) and El Vencedor (NZ) at the elite level.

This filly is the first foal out of Maison Roxanne (NZ) (Snitzel), who carried the Pencarrow colours to five impressive victories over 1200 metres. She was ridden to the first of those wins – a maiden sprint at Te Aroha in January of 2019 – by one of the world’s greatest jockeys, James McDonald, who described her as “a beautiful filly with substance and a lot of ability”.

Maison Roxanne had a total of 30 starts for five wins, 13 placings and more than $87,000 in stakes.

The dam of Maison Roxanne is Madame Echezeaux (NZ) (Montjeu), an unraced half-sister to five-time Group One winner and sire Darci Brahma (NZ), as well as five-time stakes winner, Group One placegetter and sire Burgundy (NZ).

Third dam Grand Echezeaux (NZ) (Zabeel) was a Group One winner and full-sister to the multiple black-type producer Our Echezeaux (NZ) (Zabeel). Another three-quarter-sister, the multiple stakes winner Romanee Conti (NZ) (Sir Tristram), is best known as dam of the legendary Ethereal (NZ) (Rhythm).

The final filly in the Pencarrow draft is Lot 67, a bay daughter of Circus Maximus and Opito Bay (Bahamian Bounty).

Circus Maximus is a son of the legendary Galileo, whose own record-breaking deeds as a stallion are being followed up by sire sons such as Frankel, Teofilo and New Approach.

Circus Maximus was a five-time winner on the racetrack, including superb Group One triumphs in Royal Ascot’s St James’s Palace Stakes (1600m) and Queen Anne Stakes (1600m), along with the Prix du Moulin (1600m) at Longchamp. His oldest New Zealand progeny will be two-year-olds next season, and his yearlings sold for up to $200,000 at Karaka earlier this year.

The dam of this filly is the Irish-bred Opito Bay (Bahamian Bounty), who placed on the racetrack and is a half-sister to the Group Three winner and multiple Group One placegetter Nova Hawk (Hawk Wing). This outstanding pedigree page also features the third dam Magic Of Life (Seattle Slew), who won the Group One Coronation Stakes (1600m) at Royal Ascot, while multiple elite-level winners Inara (Trippi) and Joshua Tree (Montjeu) are also close relatives.

Opito Bay is the dam of two winners from two foals to race. Opito Ballerina (NZ) (Darci Brahma) has been a three-time winner in Australia between 1100 and 1200 metres, while Doves Bay (NZ) (Exosphere) was a maiden winner over 970 metres at Cambridge.

The first colt in the Pencarrow draft is Lot 72, by Nicconi out of Persuasive (NZ) (Darci Brahma).

Nicconi has been a prolific source of winners in his long stud career in Australia, siring 596 winners from 819 runners including 29 individual stakes winners. The highest-profile of those is undeniably the two-time Australian Horse of the Year Nature Strip, whose 22 wins included nine Group Ones. He earned more than $20m, and flew the flag for Australasian racing with his triumph in the King’s Stand Stakes (1000m) at Royal Ascot for the expat Kiwi trainer-jockey team of Chris Waller and James McDonald.

Nicconi has also been represented by 11 winners from only 15 runners in New Zealand, including stakes performers Miss Nico Belle, Caesour’s Dream (NZ) and Lycomedes.

The dam of Lot 72 is Persuasive (NZ) (Darci Brahma), who was a five-time winner from 26 starts in the Pencarrow colours. She is a three-quarter-sister to the stakes-placed Darci Charmer (NZ) (Darci Brahma).

This colt’s third dam Sarwatch (NZ) (Jetball) was NZB Filly of the Year in 2000. She won the Group Two Royal Stakes (2000m) and Group Three Gold Trail Stakes (1200m), and she finished fourth in the Rosehill Group One feature now known as the Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m). She is a half-sister to the Group Two winner and black-type producer Paolino (NZ) (Housebuster).

Sarwatch is the dam of four winners, and her progeny include the dams of stakes performers Kazalark (NZ) (Vadamos) and Darci Charmer.

Fourth dam Riverina Charm (NZ) (Sir Tristram) was a four-time Group One winner.

Persuasive’s only foal to race so far is Sweet Talking (NZ) (Dream Ahead), who was a dual placegetter in a short career.

Rounding out the Pencarrow consignment is Lot 148, a colt by King Of Comedy out of Clear Skies (NZ) (Sacred Falls).

This colt’s sire King Of Comedy is the only son of the sensational Kingman at stud in New Zealand. Kingman was a racehorse of the highest quality, winning seven of his eight starts including four Group Ones in his all-conquering three-year-old season. The son of Invincible Spirit has carried on in a similar vein at stud, already racking up 11 individual Group One winners including the superstar Palace Pier and Australian elite winners Zardozi and King Colorado. His daughter Elmalka recently won the English 1000 Guineas (1600m).

In his own racetrack career, King Of Comedy won three times including the Listed Heron Stakes (1600m). He was also a strong-finishing second placegetter in the Group One St James’s Palace Stakes (1600m) at Royal Ascot.

King Of Comedy’s oldest progeny will be two-year-olds next season.

This colt comes from the same family as Lot 72 – his dam, the unraced Clear Skies (NZ) (Sacred Falls), is a daughter of the previously-mentioned Sarwatch. This colt is the first live foal out of Clear Skies.

All weanlings offered in the National Weanling Sale are eligible to be nominated for NZB’s lucrative Karaka Millions Series. Graduates can compete in the $1m TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m), followed by the $1.5m TAB Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m), as well as the new $1m Mega Maiden Series comprising of 40 non-Saturday maiden races located throughout New Zealand.

Selling is set to take place at the Karaka Sales Centre from 11am (NZT) on Thursday 20 June.