Chad Ormsby has had a phenomenal 12 months with horses he has retained from New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready to Run Sales, but this week at Karaka he is hoping to go home with an empty truck.
Ormsby operates Riverrock Farm out of Cambridge, where he balances training, educating and preparing horses for the sales. In the training role, Ormsby prepared Pulchritudinous to win this year's Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) in March after she failed to meet her $50,000 reserve in 2022. He achieved a similar feat in the Gr.3 Manawatu Classic (2100m) with Outovstock, who was passed in with a $150,000 reserve in the same year.
"We don't like taking them home, we want these horses to go on and be successful for trainers all around the world," he said.
"One thing I'd really like is a 100 percent clearance rate, so we're getting our product out there and hopefully they can go on and do great things.
"We've been blessed with a good couple of days so far weather-wise, and looking around the grounds, we've been busy and seen a lot of the big buyers. We're always hopeful, and we've got a day or so to go before the sale starts, so hopefully we've got the right horses that people are looking for."
Among Ormsby's nine-horse draft this year is Lot 288, a Churchill colt out of Pierro mare Bagitol. Already a trial winner under the name of Ukinno, Ormsby resisted the temptation to sell him prior to the sale, opting to support his brand with the exciting youngster.
"We started with 12 and have ended up with nine who are all outstanding individuals and have had a great prep," Ormsby said. "Any one of them I would love to be training myself.
"I'm excited for all of them, but the ones that may be at the top end of the sale would be the likes of Lot 288, a Churchill colt out of Bagitol. He's breezed in extremely good style and he's also a trial winner, he won his trial on the first of October.
"Normally when we buy horses, we buy some with a view to trial and sell them after, but with ready-to-runners, we buy them to go to the sale. This horse was always in the sale but he came up extremely well, he's a very athletic type with speed to burn, the ability is endless.
"We put him in a trial a little bit underdone, but he was good enough to win that and then breeze-up in very good style. I didn't have to ask him to extend much at all.
"It was pretty hard not taking the offers for him after that trial, but we're looking to promote our brand and get him to the Ready To Run Sale, which we've done."
An eye-catcher at the breeze-ups was Lot 118, a Proisir filly closely related to recent Australian metropolitan winner Angland.
"Lot 188, a Proisir filly out of Polson has been very popular since we've been up here at the sales and she breezed outstandingly," Ormsby said.
"I could probably start naming four or five of them and carry on for various reasons, there are some nice horses in there."
While busy at Karaka, Ormsby will be keeping close tabs on the Rotorua meeting on Tuesday, with a pair of runners including Mohi Place in the Van Dyks 1560.
The Proisir gelding has finished narrowly into the placings in his first two starts this campaign, and Ormsby is hopeful he can break maidens with Tayla Mitchell claiming one kilogram off his 58.5kg impost.
"They've been good runs and we've just been playing around a bit with gear for him, but he's going to get his turn," Ormsby said.
"He will go through the grades soon enough, it wouldn't surprise me if he was breaking maidens tomorrow."
His other representative will be Loose On Bubbles, a stayer for the future commencing his career in the Sherlock Contracting 1400, wearing the colours of co-breeders Windsor Park Stud.
"He's had the one trial this preparation to prepare, we think he could be a Derby horse so 1400 will be well short of his best, but I think we'll see him run on and put in some sort of showing," he said.
