The youthful theme among Seaton Park’s line-up during the Book 1 session of New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale is also all inclusive of the stallions represented. The draft is dominated by young New Zealand-based stallions Ace High, Preferment, Tarzino and Tivaci.
“We’ve got a few by Ace High as we are a share-holder in him and so are a lot of our clients,” Seaton Park principal Scott Eagleton said. “We’re excited to present a selection of his first-crop and we believe all the sires in our draft are up and coming young sires.” The farm is coming off a busy and successful 2021 with the purchase of a new property to better complement our existing farm. “It’s been a massive year for us, we bought the new place and built it up from scratch,” Eagleton said.
“It’s literally three minutes from the home farm so we’ve now got another 100 acres and 220 in total. We took that over in early March and started building on May 3 and had to have it ready for the season in August. We did have a property in Matamata and it just became too arduous with the travelling from the home farm, it was about a 20-minute drive so we had been looking for some time for a new property.”
At Karaka in 2022, the first cab off the Seaton rank is Tarzino’s son, Lot 99, who is from a current family with his half-sister Art De Triomphe successful in the Canterbury Belle Stakes-Listed and runner-up in the John Grigg Stakes-G3 while half-brother Arctic Shock is a multiple winner and placed in the Alexandra Stakes-G3.
“Art De Triomphe has kicked a few goals for him and it’s Jim Mark’s very good family. This colt is a lovely, big and strong individual and we sold his brother last year,” Eagleton said. “From all accounts, they are very happy with him.”
We’re excited to present a selection of his first-crop and we believe all the sires in our draft are up and coming young sires.
Seaton Park principal Scott Eagleton on their 2022 draft
Their dam is the Captain Rio mare Art Beat, who claimed an edition of the Winter Cup-G3 and two Listed events. She is a half-sister to Perfect Start, the dual Group 3 winner of the Manawatu Cup and Trentham Stakes. The pedigree page also features the Goodwood Handicap-G1 hero Savotoxl and from the same family as the son of Tarzino is the Preferment colt, Lot 588, whose stakes-performed dam Smartly is a half-sister to Art Beat. “Obviously, the pedigrees of both horses have been upgraded by Art De Triomphe. They are two very different types, one stands over a lot of ground while the Preferment is short-coupled and running sort,” Eagleton said.
The Ace High colts will be presented as Lots 109 and 259 with the former a half-brother to the Thompson Handicap-G3 winner Bel Sorriso. They are out of the Zabeel mare Balbeel, who is a daughter of the Wellington Cup-G1 winner Smiling Like.
“The colt was purchased by a client of ours as a weanling and he is a horse that will take a bit of time, but he is a really nice individual,” Eagleton said. “I think there is a lot of upside to him.”
It is a potent family that also includes Group 1-winning half-siblings Sirstaci and Nimue. Another major selling point on the page is the presence of the multiple Group winner and dual Group 1 placegetter Coventina Bay.
The second son of Ace High is the first foal of the winning Showcasing mare Foiling, a half-sister to the Marton Metric Mile-G3 winner Gypsy Fair. “He is a stunning horse, absolutely mouth-watering,” Eagleton said. The third dam Round The World triumphed in an edition of the Queensland Oaks-G1 with the Herbie Dyke Stakes-G1 winner Valley Girl also an acclaimed member of this family.
Ace High’s daughter in the Seaton Park line-up is Lot 193 and is also a first foal with her mother the winning Iffraaj mare Dancilla, whose half-sister Decorah was a dual Group 3 winner. The headline act in this pedigree is the multiple Group 1 winner and two-time New Zealand Horse of the Year Rough Habit.
“She is a lovely, big and scopey filly and very typical of the Ace Highs. She is a very athletic type and we own her, we’re pretty excited to offer her – she’s got a fair bit of quality,” Eagleton said.
Lot 231 is a half-brother by Tivaci to the gifted, but sadly injury-prone New Zealand 2000 Guineas-G1 winner Catalyst. Their dam Evana is a three-time winner by Entrepreneur and this is a successful family both in New Zealand and Australia.
“He isn’t a big horse, but stands over ground and Catalyst was obviously a pretty special horse for New Zealand,” Eagleton said. “We’re thrilled to have the half-brother.”
The pedigree features the Otaki Maori WFA Stakes-G1 winner Devise, whose half-sister Zurella was a dual Group 2 winner. The second dam Miss Trump is a half-sister by Last Tycoon to the 11-time Group 1 winner, Australian Horse of the Year and successful stallion Lonhro.
The draft is completed by Lot 611, another son of Tivaci who is out of the well-performed Guillotine mare Steel Rose. She won the Wakefield Challenge Stakes-G2 and the Star Way Stakes-Listed and her only foal to race to date is the two-year-old winner American Princess.
“Steel Rose was a very good race mare and we sold a Belardo colt out of her last year for $380,000 to Hong Kong. This colt is a big, strong and tough individual – a cracking individual,” Eagleton said.
Seaton Park’s Book 2 draft represents a fine cross-section of stallions including Sweynesse, Mongolian Khan, Darci Brahma, Iffraaj, Proisir, Rip Van Winkle, Staphanos, Belardo, Vadamos, Contributor, Satono Aladdin, Shocking and Wrote. It is a son of the last mentioned, Lot 939, that is a favourite for Eagleton. “He is out of Misspro O’Reilly and is a lovely individual. He will catch everybody’s eye on type,” he said.
The dam has produced four winners, including Chic who won five races and her half-brother by Savabeel named He’s On Form recently opened his account in Victoria. The family has also received major pedigree updates from dual Group 2 winner and Karaka Million-Listed runner-up Wolverine and the Matriarch Stakes-G2 and Ballarat Cup-Listed winner Zayydani.
2022 Karaka Draft
| 99 | C | 20/10/2020 | Tarzino (NZ) | Art Beat (NZ) |
| 109 | C | 10/10/2020 | Ace High (AUS) | Balbeel (NZ) |
| 193 | F | 19/10/2020 | Ace High (AUS) | Dancilla (NZ) |
| 231 | C | 20/10/2020 | Tivaci (AUS) | Evana (NZ) |
| 259 | C | 24/10/2020 | Ace High (AUS) | Foiling (NZ) |
| 588 | C | 12/10/2020 | Preferment (NZ) | Smartly (NZ) |
| 611 | C | 28/10/2020 | Tivaci (AUS) | Steel Rose (NZ) |