January 8, 2016Value Deluxe….
Thoroughbred Daily News
Thursday, January 7, 2016 | Back to: Shared News
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By Kelsey Riley
The Gold Coast sale offers buyers annually the first glance at the progeny of first-season sires in a sales ring, and one can always count on some sure things as well as some pleasant surprises. Emerging as something of a wildcard through the first two days of selling was Delago Deluxe (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}), who stands at the Kelly family’s Newhaven Park for A$11,000. Delago Deluxe’s average after the first two days is A$162,857 for seven sold from eight offered. He has a total of 17 catalogued over the week.
Delago Deluxe was himself a A$550,000 purchase from the Gold Coast yearling sale in 2010 by South African trainer Charles Laird on behalf of owner Markus Jooste. He was crowned South Africa’s champion 2-year-old after an undefeated juvenile campaign that was capped in the G1 Gold Medallion S.–South Africa’s version of the Golden Slipper–and he went on to win the G1 Casino Sprint as a 3-year-old.
Newhaven Park’s John Kelly explained Magic Millions Managing Director Vin Cox planted the seed for Newhaven to stand Delago Deluxe.
“It occurred through Vin Cox,” he said. “Markus [Jooste] was looking for somewhere to stand him, and he ended up at Newhaven Park. I met Marcus on one of his trips to Sydney and we did a deal and now he’s here.”
Delago Deluxe has marked a return to the stallion business for Newhaven, which has been owned by the Kelly family since the 1920s. Newhaven stood leading sires like Luskin Star, Marauding and Zeditave in the 70s and 80s, but later exited that side of the industry to focus on its broodmare band.
“We stood two or three champion Australian stallions, but then 15 years ago we made a conscious decision to get out of standing stallions and keep a broodmare band, but we thought [Delago Deluxe] was a special opportunity,” Kelly explained. “We thought he had a few things that gave him a great opportunity to make a great stallion.”
Kelly said Newhaven has supported its lone stallion heavily with its own mares, and noted Delago Deluxe has covered more than 100 mares each year.
“There’s hardly been a person who has used him once who hasn’t used him again,” he noted. “They have been so far, but let’s hope by the end of the sale all the breeders get well rewarded.”
Shadwell racing manager Angus Gold signed for lot 324, a colt by Delago Deluxe from Newhaven Park, for A$250,000 yesterday, and he admitted the sire was going better than he expected.
“He’s surprised me. I thought people would say, ‘we don’t know much about him,’ and I thought I’d get this horse for a maximum A$200,000,” Gold said, noting the colt would go into training with David Hayes in Australia. “It’s great for the Kelly family and Newhaven Park; good for them for taking a punt on the horse. To be fair I’ve seen four or five and he seems to be really stamping them.”
Gold spent A$500,000 at Inglis Easter last year on a Snitzel colt out of Lot 324’s second dam, Appear (Aus) (Danzero {Aus}), and he said the ability displayed by that colt also encouraged him to keep bidding on the Delago Deluxe.
“We have what I hope is a good 2-year-old out of the granddam that we bought last year who goes very nicely at home, so it’s a running family and he just looked a hard-knocking little runner, the sort of horse I think does well here,” Gold said.