The anticipated sale of unbeaten three-year-old Te Toki is off the table after negotiations with an Australian party fell through.

The Tarzino gelding passed the full battery of pre-sale tests, only for negotiations to break down at a crucial stage. 

Te Toki, the impressive winner of his only two starts in recent weeks, had been entered for the Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) but is now in the spelling paddock.

“We had an offer that was in the too good to refuse category and he came through all the required examinations, but then the person at the end of the chain failed to come through,” said Katrina Alexander, who trains Te Toki in partnership with her husband Simon. 

The Matamata couple are also part-owners of the $45,000 Karaka Book 2 yearling purchase. 

“Time was always going to be his friend and we had already made the decision to not proceed down the Guineas path,” she said.

“We kept him ticking over while we were going through the sale process, and now we’re very comfortable with giving him a break ahead of making plans for later in the season.”