Cliffs Tops Strong Premier Session

CLIFFS TOPS STRONG PREMIER SESSION 
By Emma Berry 
While nothing could surpass the top price of £230,000 from Tuesday’s opening session of the DBS Premier Yearling Sales, a £180,000 first-crop daughter of Canford Cliffs (Ire) led the second and final day’s trade, which included 12 six-figure transactions. 
The sustained demand for yearlings at this auction “built on the individual,” according to DBS Managing Director Henry Beeby, and renowned for producing smart, sharp juveniles, the sale saw another high clearance rate–87% for the day and 88% overall–with the total Premier Sales aggregate of £15,512,500 up by 17% on last year’s tally. The average surged to £37,111, a rise of 14%, while the median also improved, by 8%, to £27,000. 
The second session alone cleared £7,689,500 (+20%) for 210 horses from the 241 offered at an average of £36,617 (+10%) and median of £27,000 (+8%). 
“With seven individual stakes winners from last year’s sale alone and a catalogue that we felt had taken another step up, the scene was set for the 2014 renewal of our flagship DBS sale to return some strong figures, and the two days have not disappointed,” said Beeby. “Every statistic has advanced over 2013, which returned figures that rose by a quarter on the previous edition. This was a sale of real strength and depth, a sentiment that is only reinforced by a very solid clearance rate of 88%.” 

Freshmen in Demand Again… 
The team of Saleh Al Homaizi, Imad Al Sagar and Tony Nerses proclaimed their liking for the stock of first-crop sires on Tuesday when buying a son of Dream Ahead for £130,000, and during Wednesday’s session they added two yearlings by Coolmore freshman Canford Cliffs (Ire) to their list of purchases at £180,000 and £140,000, respectively. The more expensive of the two–and the top filly of the sale–was lot 334, a massive pinhooking triumph for Luke Barry of Ireland’s Manister House Stud, who bought her for 23,000gns at Tattersalls last December. The good-looking first foal of the dual-winning Danehill Dancer (Ire) mare Decorative (Ire) also caught the attention of Amanda Skiffington, but she had to settle for second best as Al Homaizi placed the final bid from just outside the ring. 
Roger Varian, who trains recent G1 Prix Jean Romanet runner-up Princess Loulou (Ire) (Pivtotal {GB}) for the partners, will also take charge of this newly acquired filly. 
“The pedigree is actually a lot stronger than it looks,” said Barry of the January-foaled relative of Group 3-winning stayer Forgotten Voice (Ire) and champion miler and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Arcangues. 
“The mare was highly rated and this was a terrific filly. I love pinhooking fillies–we’ve had a lot of luck with them in the past–and this one was good all the way through.” 
The team’s second Canford Cliffs yearling was lot 301, a half-brother to the GII San Capistrano H. and GII San Luis Rey S. winner Juniper Pass (Lemon Drop Kid), who provided a significant milestone for his breeder and vendor Biddestone Stud, which consigned eight yearlings at the sale. 
Tim Bostwick, who owns the Wiltshire-based farm with his wife Gill, said, “I’m glad it’s over–I feel emotionally exhausted! Gill and I got involved with Biddestone Stud two years ago with the aim to, slowly but surely, improve the quality of the mares and the young stock we produce. This fellow has been special from day one and he’s our first six-figure lot, so we’re absolutely delighted. He’s going to a great home.” 
Seven of the stud’s octet at the sale were bred at the farm where this son of the Coronado’s Quest mare Child Bride was foaled. His dam, who was unraced but has produced four winners from her six runners, currently has a filly foal by Henrythenavigator and is in foal to Sea The Stars (Ire). 

Signal’s Sister to Chasemore… 
Just five lots from the end of play, a half-sister to this year’s leading 2-year-old in Europe The Wow Signal (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), by popular freshman sire Zoffany (Ire), breathed life into the closing stages of the sale when bought for £150,000 by Paul Coombe of Chasemore Farm on behalf of his boss, the Betfair co-founder Andrew Black. The solid filly (lot 497), who is the second foal of her unraced dam Muravka (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}), drew interest from Geoffrey Howson and under-bidder Joe Foley, but Coombe’s sole bid was enough to seal the deal and bring the sale to a pleasing end for her vendor, The Premier Consignment. 
The County Tipperary trio of Peter Collier, Jim Carey and Philip Blake are the men behind The Premier Consignment, which this year will offer 46 yearlings for sale. Coombe said, “To me she was a great specimen, good-bodied and a great mover, and of course she has a pedigree. Obviously we hope to see The Wow Signal go on next year but he’s already done enough to become a stallion.” 

Shadwell Stocking Up… 
Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum has enjoyed a terrific season on the track in Europe, headlined by G1 Investec Oaks and G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. winner Taghrooda (Ire), and his bloodstock advisor Angus Gold was kept busy at Doncaster, signing for 17 lots across the two days for a total of £1,420,000. Top of the second-session purchases was a son of Big Bad Bob (lot 326) from the Hollyhill Stud draft, who was finally knocked down for £150,000. 
While young stallions are a feature of this sale, so are young mares and this colt was just the second foal of Lady O’Reilly’s winning Dansili (GB) mare Dance Hall Girl (Ire), whose Acclamation colt Kasbah (Ire) was a £160,000 purchase at DBS last year and has been placed in a maiden this season for trainer Johnny Murtagh. Plenty of good juveniles have emanated from the family, including dual Classic winner Bachir (Ire), who took the G2 Richmond S. at two, and his half-brother Elliots World (Ire). 
It’s no surprise that Fast Company, whose debutantes include the G2 Norfolk S. winner Baitha Alga (Ire), is increasingly popular in the sales ring, and Gold went to £140,000 for his chestnut first foal of the Pivotal (GB) mare Brigantia (GB) (lot 278), an unraced half-sister to the Group 3-placed dual winner Britannic (GB) (Rainbow Quest {GB}). 
As usual at this particular auction, Peter and Ross Doyle were the busiest buyers with 28 yearlings secured for an array of clients. Sheikh Fahad Al Thani’s buying team of David Redvers, Hannah Wall and Peter Molony also had plenty on their list and ended the sale with 13 yearlings for an outlay of £838,000 to add to the Qatar Racing ranks for next season. For the second year running, Tony O’Callaghan’s Tally-Ho Stud topped the vendors’ list with 20 yearlings sold for £874,000. 

ZZ Tops for Skiffington… 
Amanda Skiffington found herself outgunned on the day’s top lot but struck for two of the more expensive offerings on Wednesday, including Weir View stud’s Zebedee (Ire) colt out of Kiva (GB) (Indian Ridge {GB}) (lot 439) at £140,000. 
Fiona Jennings is the new owner of another Skiffington purchase, a Zoffany colt (lot 293) out of Chameleon (GB) (Green Desert) who became his sire’s top-selling yearling of the sale when exiting the ring to a bid of £120,000. 
“I liked the Zoffany foals and this is a lovely colt,” said the agent of the Pier House Stud consignee. “Twice I was at the opposite end of the yard from where he was and he kept catching my eye. He’s such a lovely mover.” 
Lilbourne Lad (Ire) is yet another freshman sire to have been well received at Doncaster, with Ross Doyle having signed for his top-priced colt at £130,000. Pinhooked by Jimmy Murphy, who splashed out €55,000 for him as a foal, lot 320brought about a decent profit for the Redpender Stud operation and helped his sire’s average for the sale to £38,219 for 16 sold. 
There are another two yearlings by Rathbarry Stud’s Lilbourne Lad included in the catalogue for the one-day DBS Silver Sales, which begins at 10 a.m. local time today.