Stud master Mark Chitty expected a busy first day at the Karaka Yearling Sales in Auckland with 14 yearlings from his Haunui Farm going through the ring.
Stud master Mark Chitty expected a busy first day at the Karaka Yearling Sales in Auckland with 14 yearlings from his Haunui Farm going through the ring.
But in addition to the workload in getting a team of young horses and staff prepared for the rigours of selling, Chitty spent a lot of his time on Monday thanking supporters and colleagues for their congratulations following Sunday night's Listed Karaka Million at Ellerslie.
Reason for the back-slapping was the win of Xiong Feng, a two-year-old son of Darley shuttle stallion Iffraaj, who notched a courageous all-the-way win in the rich two-year-old sales race, over 1,200m.
Iffraaj stands at Haunui, and is currently enjoying a highly successful season Down Under, with Turn Me Loose winning the G1 Emirates Stakes on the final day of the Melbourne Spring Carnival, and now a young star two-year-old destined to head to Sydney to try his luck against the best juveniles in Australia.
Chitty was overjoyed by the recent results. "Turn Me Loose was the one who got the monkey off the back in Australia. Iffraaj can get a wonderful horse, as seen with Xiong Feng, who is unbeaten in three starts.
"His progeny have sold well here in New Zealand off the back of his success in his first season in Europe. He has been well supported by a loyal group of breeders, but you always need those good horses to come along," he pointed out.
Iffraaj served his seventh book of mares in the Southern Hemisphere late last year. He covered 93 mares, compared to 70 the previous year. The stallion has since returned to Dalham Hall Stud in England, where the Northern Hemisphere breeding season commences in mid-February.
Chitty welcomes the Darley connection. "We have enjoyed a fantastic relationship with Darley over the years. And as long as they are happy with the arrangement, shuttling Iffraaj down here to New Zealand every season when he is finished in Europe, then we are," he said.
Iffraaj is a powerful individual, who became a brilliant racehorse under the guidance of the late Michael Jarvis in the UK. He had the speed to win top sprints, but could last that extra furlong to excel over seven furlongs (1,400m), just the attributes needed for racing Down Under.
