Seven-figure colt in New Zealand

The booming upper market for select yearlings continued in the Southern Hemisphere Tuesday when a Stravinsky colt brought a seven-figure price at New Zealand Bloodstock's premier yearling sale in Karaka, New Zealand.

The colt sold for $2.2 million in New Zealand funds, or about $1,508,319 U.S., making him the second-most-expensive colt ever sold at the auction. The record is $3.6 million (New Zealand) for the Zabeel son Don Eduardo at the sale's 2000 edition.

David Ellis of Te Akau Stud bought the colt from Pencarrow Stud. The colt is out of Group 1 winner Grand Echezeaux, making him a half-brother to Darci Brahma, New Zealand's champion juvenile last season. Ellis also owns Darci Brahma, whom he bought for seven figures at this auction two years ago.

The colt's sale helped lift the Tuesday session, second of three, to a record average price of about $102,684 U.S. Through its first two days, the auction had sold 266 head for an average price of about $90,447 and a median of about $58,284.