Ra Ora Stud will seek listing

Press, 30 June 1983, Page 23

Ra Ora Stud will seek listing

p A Auckland The racing establishment, Ra Ora Stud, will be floated as a public company and listing sought on the New Zealand Stock Exchange. A new company, Ra Ora Stud, Ltd, will be formed.

The move is being made by the trustees of the estate of Sir Woolf Fisher. They believe significant opportunities are offering in the international bloodstock markets and that these opportunities will continue to grow.

To place themselves to take full advantage of these opportunities the trustees say they have decided to change the present concept of Ra Ora significantly and to develop the stud as “a major commercial enterprise.”

The trustees say they recognise that the estate would not be in a position to inject the amount of capital that would be required to buy top-class stallions, and broodmares which rank internationally.

Details of the size of the float are expected to be available in about 10 days. The issue will be underwritten.

The assets of the stud are believed to be worth about SSM. As well as its three leading sires and 30 mares, Ra Ora has significant property investment. With the recent addition of an adjoining property, formerly held by the Bremner family and then Neil Housing, Ra Ora now has 142 hectares of prime land at East Tamaki, between Pakuranga and Otara and bounded by the East Tamaki estuary. The directors of the new company will be Mr Warren J. Sandman (chairman), Mr :Glyn Jenkins (managing director), Mr Anthony J. Agar, Mr Patrick Hogan, Mr R. L. Morris, Mr Noel Robinson, and Mr David Ross.

This will be the second float from the racing and trotting industry after the announcement earlier this month of the National Bloodstock Corporation, Ltd, $2.5M issue for development in the standardbred business. National Bloodstock will have Sir Wallace Rowling as its chairman. The Ra Ora Stud, developed by the late Sir Woolf Fisher after the Second

World War, has long been regarded as one of New Zealand’s foremost thoroughbred studs; it has an international reputation. The stud finished second on aggregate to Cambridge Stud at the National Yearling Sale at Trentham in January. Its 17 offerings yielded $541,000 with an average of $31,823 and a top price of $70,000. Four years ago Ra Ora topped the Trentham sales on aggregate, its 15 yearlings bringing in $298,500 at an average of $19,900 and a top price of $50,000. The stud has stood many successful sires, among them Underwood, Gabador, Stunning, El Khobar and Sovereign Edition. Sovereign Edition, which died on New Year’s Day, had more than one toppriced youngster in the National Sale during its reign and this year enjoyed a further distinction. Records were set for the sale of both a filly ($700,000) and colt ($420,0(M)), and in each case the yearling was out of a Sovereign Edition mare. The stallion’s stock have realised $5.8 million at Trentham.

Ra Ora stands Imposing

and Aythorpe and will soon be joined by First Mint, a son of Sovereign Edition. The Australian-bred Imposing was an excellent galloper. His stock will make their appearance next ,season. Aythorpe is an Irish horse

who oldest progeny are three years. He has been represented by a number of winners in New Zealand and Australia. First Mint was bred in New Zealand to Northern Hemisphere time and did his racing in England for

Robert Sangster, one of the world's leading owners, in partnership with Mr Hogan and another New Zealander, Don Dick. He was successful four times. He is out of La Douce, a sister to the Melbourne Cup winner Light Fingers.