20-year-old Brooke Hawthorne and her partner Ryan Stacey enjoyed a successful first pinhooking venture when their handsome Impending colt out of Prudence Perfecto was snapped up for $115,000 during the Book 2 Sale of New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale.

Presented through Wentwood Grange, the well-admired colt eventually went to the bid of Upper Bloodstock in partnership with Regal Farm, with the price representing a significant profit on the A$20,000 outlaid for the colt as a weanling.

Despite their youth, the pair have significant experience in the thoroughbred industry, with Hawthorne the daughter of respected bloodstock agent Dean Hawthorne and Stacey a graduate of the Irish National Stud Course, when on the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association’s Keith and Faith Taylor Family Trust Scholarship, with both having previously worked for a number of leading farms.

“I have been in and around horses my whole life,” Hawthorne said. “I have been at Lindsay Park for the last six months and before that I was at Wentwood Grange for four and a half years

 “Having worked with thoroughbreds for so long and working so many yearling sales and seeing the results and the joy it brings people, we thought we would give it a go.

“We both love the sport, love the industry and just want to have a go.

“Ryan worked for Brighthill for two years and went on the Irish National Stud course.

“We both worked the sale for Wentwood and we cannot thank them enough. They do an amazing job.”

The Karaka Book 2 Sale proved the perfect sales avenue for the colt, with Impending enjoying good recent New Zealand success via his Group Two winning daughter Impendabelle, while Happy For All was a strong winner for the sire last weekend in Hong Kong.

“We bought him from the Great Southern Sale,” Hawthorne said. “He was just a beautiful mover. We loved his walk. He was a nice type without many faults and one we thought would slip under the radar a bit, which he did.”

Hawthorne admitted that the pair have had butterflies all week as the colt had been well-inspected.

“We would have been happy with $50,000 or $60,000 so to get that price has absolutely blown us away,” she said. 

The talented duo said pinhooking was an opportunity for younger industry participants to make their mark.

“I think it is an amazing way for young people to get their foot in the door. It is hard sometimes for the younger people in the industry who don’t have a lot of money to get into it and this is a great entry-level investment,” Hawthorne said,

“We’re just two battlers having a go.”