Photo: Trish Dunell
The first progeny of Windsor Park Stud stallion Profondo made a favourable impression during the NZB National Weanling Sale at Karaka on Thursday.
The son of Japanese super-sire Deep Impact was himself a A$1.9 million yearling and won the Gr.1 Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) in Sydney as a three-year-old. He commenced his stud career at Windsor Park in 2023 and has served books of 177 and 173 mares in his first two seasons.
Thursday’s catalogue featured four weanlings from Profondo’s first crop. They all sold for a total of $250,000, averaging $62,500. They were bred from a $17,500 service fee.
Windsor Park Stud sold a Profondo colt out of Shamani for $85,000, while Seaton Park’s colt out of the Lord Kanaloa mare Auntie Condor fetched the same price. Mana Park’s filly out of the Align mare Dwandaofu sold for $70,000.
“We’re really happy with how the first Profondo weanlings have gone today,” Windsor Park Stud’s nominations manager Nick Hewson said. “He’s off to a great start.
“The colt that we offered ourselves, who was out of a Shamexpress mare, was an outstanding type and attracted plenty of interest leading into the sale.
“The exciting thing is that his progeny are only going to get better and better with age, so we’ve got a lot more to look forward to. We’ve been around the grounds and had a good look at all of his progeny that were in this sale, and they’re all great-looking individuals with so much scope. Profondo is a great physical specimen himself and is passing those attributes on to his progeny.”
Those sentiments are shared by Paul Pertab, who bought Windsor Park’s colt out of Shamani.
“I really liked Profondo’s credentials from the moment he came into the country,” Pertab said. “I went and had a look at him at the stud when he first arrived, and I was very impressed. I thought this colt, albeit at the higher end of the scale for this sale today, was pretty good value at $85,000.”
Cambridge Stud’s Sword Of State played a starring role with his first yearlings at Karaka earlier in the year, and he carried on in a similar vein with strong demand for his second-season weanlings on Thursday. Nine of his progeny were sold for a total of $438,500, averaging $48,722 on a $15,000 service fee.
