By Emma Berry
A perfect storm of some spunky new long-term investors, an array of exciting first-season stallions and a lone Dubawi weanling who just happened to be a half-sister to a Classic winner led to a frenetic day during what has already been a week of lively trade at Tattersalls.
The continued demand for foals ensured a new record average was set at 101,107gns, which was up 12% on last year, though the median remained static at 65,000gns and the clearance rate dropped from 84% to 80%. Despite 17 fewer horses being sold than on the equivalent day last year, the session's turnover improved slightly, by 1%, to 16, 986,000gns.
Carson A Classic Act
Classic-winning jockey Willie Carson is used to playing a starring role on the racecourse but more recently his exploits as a Classic-winning breeder mean that he's now in the spotlight in the sales ring too. His half-sister to G1 Irish Derby winner Jack Hobbs (GB) (Halling) (lot 992), bred with wife Elaine at their Minster Stud in Gloucestershire, had the benefit of being the sole Dubawi foal in the December catalogue and, like so many Dubawis before her and indeed her half-brother, she will join Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin operation after being knocked down to Jack Hobbs's former trainer John Gosden at 750,000gns.
“Elaine rang Tattersalls and asked how many Dubawi foals there were in the catalogue and when they said none, she replied, 'Well you have one now',” said Carson.
“We're getting too old to do the yearlings now so we've sold foals for the last three years. This filly was a little poppet but she had some character.”
The filly's dam Swain's Gold (Swain {Ire}) is now in foal to Golden Horn (GB), who led home her dual Group 1-winning son Jack Hobbs in the Derby, and another of her offspring produced a decent sales result for the Carsons with the preceding lot in the ring, 991. The Muhaarar (GB) colt out of Swain's Gold's treble-winning daughter Mrs Greeley (Mr Greeley) sold to Timmy Hyde through Blandford Bloodstock for 220,000gns.
“The colt has been improving all the time and really started to do well in the last three weeks,” Carson said, adding that he is intending to send one of his 18 flat mares to be covered by Jack Hobbs at his new home at nearby Overbury Stud.
Just Capital For Ringfort Filly
The Capital Bloodstock buying team of Neil Gilchrist and Peter Vaughan has been busy throughout the last fortnight and spent €1.15 million on four weanlings at Goffs before continuing the spree at Tattersalls.
The ten foals purchased in Newmarket included Ringfort Stud's daughter of Dark Angel (Ire) (lot 927), bought for 600,000gns.
“I'm a little overwhelmed,” said Ringfort owner and vet Derek Veitch, who bred the filly in partnership with Paul Hancock from the Sir Percy (GB) mare Indigo Lady (GB). The 7-year-old mare was placed in the G3 Prix d'Aumale when trained by Peter Chapple-Hyam and later won a Listed race in Ireland for Willie McCreery.
“Paul raced the mare initially and then I bought into her privately,” Veitch continued. “She won a Listed race at he Curragh after I got involved and then we twice tried to sell her here and didn't. Someone up there must have been looking out for us.”
Indigo Lady's first foal, Expensive Liaison (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), who was runner-up recently on her second start, was bought from last year's October Book 1 for 155,000gns by Tim Gredley, who races the Hugo Palmer-trained filly with his father Bill.
“Paul's not very well as he's just had his appendix out but he's been watching the sale on the web feed. I'd just like to thank everyone at home who worked so hard to get them all here and everyone who bid on the filly. It's the best result we've had and probably the best result we'll ever have but the filly had loads of vets–I don't think I've ever had such interest in a horse before.”
The Ringfort filly wasn't the only expensive Dark Angel foal on the Capital Bloodstock list as Gilchrist later signed for Knocktoran Stud's colt out of dual group 3 winner Bikini Babe (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) (lot 956) at 325,000gns as part of a total outlay of 2,205,000gns.
“All the foals have been bought to race for an established English owner,” explained Vaughan. “Obviously we're looking for good individuals with nice pedigrees and the Dark Angel filly is a lovely long-term prospect as a broodmare.”
Cooke's Choice Is Invincible
On two consecutive days in April, two daughters of Invincible Spirit arrived at Bernard and Kathy Cooke's Bryanstown House Stud in Kilcock. The breeders would have been entitled to feel optimistic for their future sales prospects as the Irish National Stud stallion has been kind to them in the past, with three foals by him out of their homebred mare Liscune (Ire) (King's Best) bringing a total of 540,000gns in the ring in previous years. This year's foal out of the 15-year-old mare surpassed that tally for the trio when bringing a deal-clinching bid of 600,000gns from agent Charlie Gordon-Watson. Lot 965 was foaled on April 18, the day after her stablemate by the same stallion out of another of the Cookes' five mares, Pretty Face (GB) (Rainbow Quest), who followed her into the ring as lot 966. She added another 185,000gns to the kitty when bought by Hubert Honoré of Cheval Invest.
“She was a lovely filly from a lovely family we've known for a while having bought her grandam here some years ago,” said Cooke of Liscune's foal, a full-sister to G3 Sceptre S. winner Music Box (Ire) as well as Listed winner and G2 Dante S. runner-up Ektihaam (Ire).
He continued, “Liscune is a good mare who gets good-looking stock and I've been very lucky with Invincible Spirit. We keep just five mares as I only have one man and we do it all ourselves. It's hard to get the foals right but I've been lucky to get them right in time for the sales.”
Charlie Gordon-Watson, who bought Liscune's filly for a British client new to racing, added, “She will board at Watership Down Stud and will be a future broodmare prospect. The client was going to originally buy two, but we decided to buy a queen rather than two princesses.”
Horn Blowing Hot
Tom Goff warned us in the TDN earlier this week that “we haven't got stuck into Golden Horn yet” and if he was referring to his association with the buying team of Godolphin then Friday was the day that they dug deep to take home several members of the Derby and Arc winner's first crop.
Top of the crop was lot 925, a colt from the Fagan family's Deepark Stud, who sold to Anthony Stroud on Godolphin's behalf for 325,000gns. The near-black weanling is the second son of the Shamardal mare Elegant Shadow, whose firstborn by Sea The Stars (Ire) sold for 1 million gns in the same ring not two months ago to Phoenix Thoroughbreds.
Despite two outstanding sales-ring hits from the mare's first two offspring, there's a sting in the tale for the Fagans, who lost Elegant Shadow to colic in July.
“In the short time she was with us she did more for the stud and for us than some mares will do in a lifetime,” said Peter Fagan, who aids his father John in the running of the County Meath farm.
“We sent her to Sea The Stars and she produced such a star that we decided to keep going with the same cross and use Golden Horn.”
Godolphin also bought Old Buckenham Stud's Golden Horn colt (lot 963) for 300,000gns. The son of the dual Italian Listed winner Mia Diletta (GB) (Selkirk) is a half-brother to the G3 Premio Parioli (Italian 2000 Guineas) winner Poeta Diletto (GB) (Poet's Voice {GB}) and was bred by Isabella and Guido Bezzera of Scuderia Blueberry.
The highlight of the first-time draft from Alex and Olivia Frost's Ladyswood Stud also proved to be a Golden Horn colt (lot 989), this one a son of the Listed winner and Group 3-placed Damaniyat Girl (Elusive Quality) who sold for 210,000gns.
In total, Golden Horn's six foals to sell returned an average price of 203,333gns, making him the leading freshman sire at Tattersalls.
Lone Frankel For Japan
The sole weanling by Frankel (GB) for sale this week will be heading to the country where Juddmonte's champion recorded his first Grade 1 winner after the colt out of the G2 Oaks d'Italia winner Contredanse (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) sold to owner Kanji Yagura for 375,000gns.
“I particularly like the fact that he is by Frankel but he is also a great individual and was my pick of the day,” said Yagura, who buys under the name Le Mare and has so far bought three foals at Tattersalls this week.
The Frankel colt was bred by Australian Stuart Stuckey and consigned for him by Sara Cumani's Fittocks Stud.
From Ballymacoll To Cheveley Park
The eight foals to be offered through the dispersal of the Ballymacoll Stud stock included an Oasis Dream (GB) daughter of the great racemare Islington (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) (lot 1027). Fittingly, she will pass from the hands of one great owner-breeder establishment to another after Chris Richardson went to 275,000gns to ensure she would soon be in a paddock at Cheveley Park Stud.
The filly was the jewel among seven classy purchases for David and Patricia Thompson at Tattersalls this week, including a Lope De Vega (Ire) filly out of the G3 Chartwell S. winner Lily's Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) offered by the Castlebridge Consignment for Phillistown House and bought for 300,000gns.
Also dipping into the Ballymacoll Stud bloodlines was Peter Brant of White Birch Farm, a major participant at the Wildenstein Stables Dispersal at Goffs last year. Brant is now the owner of lot 1024, a Kodiac filly out of 3-year-old winner Mouradh (Ire), a Fastnet Rock (Aus) grand-daughter of Hellenic, who was bought by Michel Zerolo of Oceanic Bloodstock on his behalf at 130,000gns.
West Blagdon's Select Offerings
Just as night follows day, one thing that's for certain is that the draft from James Wigan's West Blagdon Stud will always cause a stir when appearing at Park Paddocks and this year was no exception. The select group of seven weanlings was led by a Dansili (GB) colt out of the G3 Oh So Sharp S. winner Havant (GB) (Halling) (lot 977), who was one of Capital Bloodstock's selections at 300,000gns.
Cheveley Park Stud also has West Blagdon's foals in their sights and bought lot 982, the Siyouni (Fr) half-sister to Group 3 winner and G1 Prix de la Foret runner-up Karar (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) for 250,000gns.
A terrific day for first-season sire Muhaarar (GB) included the sale of his elegant daughter (lot 983) with a page to match her looks. The May-born filly is a daughter of the unraced Maakrah, a Dubai Destination half-sister to Iffraaj (GB) from a dynasty which includes Cape Cross (Ire) and Diktat (GB).
Angus Gold signed the ticket for Shadwell at 280,000gns, while Capital Bloodstock bought Whitsbury Manor Stud's Muhaarar half-brother to multiple stakes winner and G1 King's Stand S. runner-up Stepper Point (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}) for 290,000gns.
Muhaarar was only narrowly behind Golden Horn in the leading first-season sire table for the sale with six sold for an average of 199,500gns.
Rekindling's Sister To US Investors
Stringston Farm's Gleneagles (Ire) half-sister to G1 Emirates Melbourne Cup winner Rekindling (GB) (lot 886) is now the property of of James and Torie Gladwell's Florida-based Exclusive Equine Investments having been bought on their behalf by Justin Casse for 240,000gns.
Breeder Nick Pocock, who runs a Somerset dairy farm with his father Robert, said, “We're delighted. She's only a May foal and it was a lot to ask of her, but it is a credit to her that she has dealt with it so well. We wouldn't necessarily bring a May foal here, but with the way the pedigree has developed this autumn it was the right move.”
The Pococks bought the filly's dam Sitara (GB) (Salse) for just 10,000gns from Fittocks Stud and, along with rekindling, she has also produced his Group 2-winning full-brother Golden Sword (GB).
“She's been wonderful and an awful lot of money has exchanged hands in this ring due to her,” said Robert Pocock, who added that Sitara is in foal to Toronado (Ire).
Exclusive Equine Investments later bought another Gleneagles filly (lot 905) out of G3 Nell Gwyn S. runner-up Cape Columbine (GB) (Diktat {GB}) for 120,000gns from Norelands Stud, the sale's leading consignor with 19 foals sold for 2,046,000gns.
The final session of the Tattersalls December Foal Sale commences at 10am today.
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