January 12, 2006Newhaven Sells $900k Redoute’s Colt
Nathan Excelby – www.racingandsports.com.au
Cups King Bart Cummings lit up the first session of today’s Magic Millions on the Gold Coast when he bid $900,000 for a Redoute’s Choice colt offered by Newhaven Park Stud.
The colt is from the Luskin Star mare Click, who is a sister to Epsom Handicap (G1) winner Nick’s Joy.
For Newhaven Park, it was a case of lightning striking twice.
The stud took a ‘punt’ on Redoute’s Choice in his second and third seasons at stud and have been rewarded handsomely.
At last year’s Australian Easter Yearling Sale, Newhaven sold a Redoute’s Choice colt from the Marauding mare Saucy Nell for $1.8million.
Marauding, like Luskin Star, was an ultra successful stallion for Newhaven Park before his death in 2002.
Newhaven’s Tom Kelly said he was “ecstatic” with the $900,000 paid by Cummings for the colt.
“He was for sale at $400,000, so to get that was fantastic,” he said.
“We bought Click as a tried horse, but Redoute’s Choice works very well with these colonial mares, so that adds to his appeal.
“We sent a few mares to Redoute’s Choice in his first and second years and liked the look of the progeny, so we decided to take a punt on him in his third year.
“We were confident he was going to be successful, but it’s still a bit of a risk going to a sire in his third year.”
The punt paid off handsomely, because Redoute’s Choice stood for a fee of $44,000 in those years, before hiking to $220,000 last year on the back of his extraordinary 2004-05 two-year-old crop.
Part of the appeal of the Click colt purchased by Cummings, is that he is bred on the same Redoute’s Choice-Luskin Star cross as last year’s Golden Slipper winner Stratum.
Click has since produced a colt by General Nediym and is in foal to that stallion again.
The Saucy Nell colt from Easter last year has since been named Dubai’s Choice and is in the stables of Tim Martin in Sydney.
He is expected to trial in the next couple of weeks.