By Daithi Harvey
Bloodstock professionals will have no shortage of reading material this week with the release of the catalogue for Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. The catalogue, which contains 502 lots can be accessed here and the sale will take place over three days on Oct. 3-5. The sale has grown exponentially since 2010, reaching an all time high last year when posting an aggregate of just over 88,000,000 gns and if the pedigrees on offer this year are anything to go by, it would seem Tattersalls is in for another stellar auction. A further popular feature of the sale is the £25,000 Tattersalls October Book 1 Bonus scheme, for which every lot is eligible.
Commenting on the catalogue release, Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony said, “We felt that last year's October Book 1 was a bit special, but the 2017 renewal looks to have raised the bar again. There are a huge number of own or half-brothers and sisters to group and listed winners in the catalogue, but equally impressive is that nearly 150 of the 502 yearlings are out of group and listed winning mares, including many of the truly outstanding racemares of our time, and a further 64 are out of group and listed placed mares.”
He continued, “An extra dimension is also added by the five beautifully bred yearlings which are part of the once-in-a-generation Ballymacoll Dispersal at Tattersalls, and of course the enormously popular £25,000 Tattersalls October Book 1 Bonus will again ensure that buyers have the chance of winning unprecedented prize money by purchasing at Europe's premier yearling sale.”
As alluded to above, it is impossible to focus on just a few of the choice lots given the proliferation of some of the finest pedigrees in the stud book. From a sires point of view, there are 30 offerings by Dubawi (Ire), 21 by Galileo (Ire) and 14 by Frankel (GB). Picking one of each sire's progeny among many others that are worthy of mention, lot 451, Dubawi's Highclere Stud-consigned son of Ever Rigg (GB) (Dubai Destination) who is a full-brother to a champion in Postponed (Ire) but also a half-brother to recent Group 3 winner God Given (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}); lot 502 from Camas Park Stud is a Galileo full-brother to the top-class international Ballydoyle runners Highland Reel (Ire) and Idaho (Ire); and lot 424, a Frankel filly offered by Highclere Stud out of Debonnaire (GB) (Anabaa), making her a half-sister to Hartnell (GB) (Authorized {Ire}), a multiple Group 1 winner of over £2,000,000 in Australia.
The first yearlings will also be offered from several great race-mares from recent years including: lot 222, a Dubawi colt out of G1 1000 Guineas and G1 Coronation S. winner Sky Lantern (Ire) (Red Clubs {Ire}) consigned by Highclere Stud; The Castlebridge Consignment's lot 332, a colt out of Ambivalent (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}) who won the G1 Pretty Polly S. for Roger Varian by Dubawi; lot 251, from the 2016 co-sale topping Norris Bloodstock team, a colt by Dansili (GB) out of G1 Nassau S. winner Sultanina (GB) (New Approach {Ire}); while 2013 GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Dank (GB) (Dansili {GB}) is represented by lot 418, a Galileo filly, already named Gloam (GB), who is also offered by Norris Bloodstock.
In total, the catalogue features own or half-brothers and sisters to 41 Group 1 and Classic winners and 273 group/listed winners. All the leading sires are well represented with Dark Angel (Ire) and Sea The Stars (Ire) having 29 apiece, Kodiac (GB) and Invincible Spirit (Ire) with 21 and 20, respectively, Iffraaj (GB) has 17 catalogued, while Acclamation (GB), Nathaniel (Ire) and Pour Moi (Ire), sire of Derby winner Wings Of Eagles (Fr), have three, four and one, respectively.
Further interest will be provided by the progeny of some interesting first-crop sires with 11 freshmen represented by a total of 93 yearlings led by the champion duo of Coolmore's dual Derby winner Australia (GB) (20) and Juddmonte's brilliant miler Kingman (GB) (25). Toronado (Ire), who will return to his owner's Haras de Bouquetot for 2018, has 10 from his first crop, while Darley's multiple Group 1-winning sprinter Slade Power (GB) is represented by nine yearlings.
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