Tattersalls Kicks Off July Week

Newmarket’s ‘July Week’ gets properly underway Wednesday with the start of Tattersalls’ three-day July Sale, which includes a mixture of mares in foal, broodmare prospects and horses in training.

With 803 lots catalogued, the sale has risen in size from last year, which saw turnover of 8,342,700gns and an average price of 16,685gns, though only around 600 of those in the book are set to come under the hammer after a significant number of pre-sale withdrawals. Those remaining, however, have drawn the ever-varied gathering of international shoppers to Newmarket, with plenty patrolling Park Paddocks on Tuesday in search of horses to go to Australia, Qatar and beyond. They included the Qatari champion trainer Jassim Al Ghazali, a now-familiar face at Tattersalls who signed for 21 horses at this sale 12 months ago.

A visitor in his relatively new role as a trainer is Archie Alexander, the British-born handler who is based at Ballarat in Victoria. Timing his visit back home as the Australian season draws to a close, Alexander said, “It’s great to be back for a while. I’m here for my sister’s wedding and I’m also hoping I can pick up a horse at the sale this week.”

He will be perusing the boxes at Park Paddocks for another inmate of the calibre of Renew (Ire) (Dansili {GB}). The 5-year-old gave the young trainer a high-level introduction to his new career when lining up for the G1 Caulfield Cup last October as only the eighth starter for Alexander before becoming his first black-type winner in the Sandown Cup in November. Renew is owned by OTI Racing, whose principal Terry Henderson was also at Park Paddocks yesterday along with OTI’s European representative Francesca Cumani.

Australian buyers looking for staying prospects regularly have to do battle with the strong contingent of British and Irish jumps trainers who flock to the July Sale in search of talented stamina-laden flat performers to convert to the winter game, and last year’s top lot, New Street (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), is a case in point. Sold to Bobby O’Ryan for 185,000gns, the 4-year-old has made just one start since last year’s star turn in the ring when winning a juvenile hurdle in March for trainer Jim Best.

Wednesday’s session begins with more than 100 mares in foal, including lot 187, the dual listed winner and Group 3-placed Along Came Casey (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire}). The 7-year-old is offered carrying her first foal by one of Europe’s most exciting young sires, last year’s freshman champion Lope De Vega (Ire). She enters the ring directly after Pernica (GB) (Sir Percy {GB}), a half-sister to German Group 1 winner Neatico (Ger) (Medicean {GB}) who was sold at Tattersalls in December for 85,000gns. Since then, the 10-furlong maiden winner has been covered by another Ballylinch Stud resident, Dream Ahead, who has been represented by six first-crop winners to date this year. Both mares are included within a 30-strong draft from the Anglo-Irish Castlebridge Consignment, which annually provides one of the social highlights of July week by throwing a lively party in the town on Thursday night.

Another from the Castlebridge Consignment is lot 135, Emily Yeats (GB) (Yeats {Ire}), who offers breeders a chance to buy into the family of this year’s G1 Epsom Derby and G1 Coral-Eclipse winner Golden Horn (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) The 4-year-old half-sister to listed winner Goldoni (Ire) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}) has raced five times for owner Lady Wellesley and can boast Golden Horn’s grandam Nurayana (GB) as her third dam.

Every vendor prays for valuable last-minute updates ahead of major sales, and for Kate and Andrew Brooks those prayers were answered when Sea Calisi (Fr) became a first group winner for her young sire Youmzain (Ire) when landing the G2 Prix de Malleret at Saint-Cloud on June 28. The couple offers her half-sister, Sea Claria (Fr)–by Youmzain’s sire Sinndar (Ire)–in foal to Coolmore’s So You Think (NZ) as lot 48.

The July Sale may vie for attention this week, not just with three days of first-class action on the nearby July Course but also with numerous social functions, including the Darley stallion parade, but Tattersalls’ Marketing Director Jimmy George is nevertheless confident of another bold showing from the company’s midsummer highlight. He said, “It’s a really good catalogue with a real cross-section of fillies and mares as well as plenty of good horses-in-training and that’s why it attracts such a variety of buyers from all over the world. The diversity of the catalogue is one of the key elements and this year it is particularly strong. There’s plenty of quality in the fillies and mares on offer–as ever we’ve had great support from some of the biggest owner-breeders from all over Europe.”

They of course include Juddmonte, whose summer and autumn drafts at Tattersalls never fail to arouse interest from trainers and breeders alike. Among the operation’s young colts on offer on Thursday is an Oasis Dream (GB) half-brother to multiple Group 1 winner Twice Over (GB) (Observatory) named Crisscrossed (GB) (lot 491); and Kisumi (GB) (High Chaparral {Ire}) (lot 493), a brother to GI Northern Dancer Turf S. winner Redwood (GB).

The Juddmonte fillies take their turn on Friday morning, with Tarried (GB) (Observatory), a 2-year-old grand-daughter of the great matriarch Bahamian (GB), among those who are likely to come under close scrutiny.

Today’s session starts at 9:30 a.m. local time and continues throughout the day, while trade on Thursday and Friday is split into pre- and post-racing sessions starting at 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m., respectively.