By Aisling Crowe
The four-day Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale kicked off on Tuesday with figures largely on par with the 2015 opening session. The first of two Part 1 sessions saw 210 yearlings–of 251 offered–change hands for €5,510,500. On this day a year ago, 206 yearlings were sold for €410,000 less, €5,100,500. Tuesday's average was up 5.9% to €26,240, while the median remained unchanged at €20,000. The buyback rate was a respectable 16.3%–it was a remarkable 5.5% for this session last year. Tuesday's top price of €150,000 for a filly by first-season sire Epaulette (Aus) (Commands {Aus}) eclipsed last year's top price of €130,000, while five lots reached six figures compared to four last year.
Amanda Skiffington and Hugo Palmer have two Classic winners sourced at this sale adorning the covers of the catalogue so it was no surprise that the team behind Galileo Gold (GB) (Paco Boy {Ire}) and Hawksmoor (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}) were looking to unearth more talent at Fairyhouse.
They had to go considerably higher than either of their 2016 Classic winners cost them with the hammer finally dropping at €150,000 on lot 222, a daughter of first-crop sire Epaulette (Aus) (Commands {Aus}), a half-brother to this year's successful first-season sire Helmet (Aus) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}).
The Rathasker Stud-bred filly became the new sale-topper when selling to Skiffington on behalf of Chris Humber, the original owner of Hawksmoor. A February-born filly, she is the second foal of her dam Onomatomania (Ire) (Mr. Greeley), who has already had a winner with her first foal, Miss Cogent (Ire) (Clodovil {Ire}).
“We had to wait a while but we eventually found one,” remarked Skiffington. “She is a lovely, lovely mover and with fabulous depth to her. I liked the Epaulettes as foals and this filly comes from a very good farm. She will come back to my farm for some Nottingham shire grass before going to Hugo to be trained.”
For Humber, who sold Hawksmoor before her victory in the G2 German 1000 Guineas, he is hoping that lightning can strike twice but that this time the filly on the back cover of the sales catalogue will be carrying his colours.
“We have enjoyed success with horses bought at this sale before so we thought we would come back to the well one more time. Amanda and Hugo are a great combination and it has worked before so I thought it would be a good idea to carry on.”
The filly became the fifth lot to surpass €100,000 on the opening day of the sale, one more than in the entire Part One of 2015. She was the third yearling from the first-crop of the Darley stallion to go through the ring at Tattersalls Ireland and she made many multiples of the €7,500 covering fee Epaulette stood for when his first crop was conceived in 2014.
Madeline Burns of vendors Rathasker Stud said she was delighted with the filly's sale.
“She is a lovely filly and I hope she is very lucky for her new connections.”
Prendergast Secures Dream Colt…
Legendary trainer Kevin Prendergast has shaped the careers of some of the greatest stars to grace the racetrack, and the octogenarian's view of a horse is renowned, so when he saw lot 77, he said he thought the colt had prospects. So convinced was he by the son of Oasis Dream (GB) that he went to €140,000 to secure the only yearling by his sire catalogued in this sale. The first foal of the listed-placed Nayef mare Harmonic Note (GB) became the first yearling to break the six-figure barrier on the day.
“I bought him on spec but I'll find an owner for him,” smiled Prendergast, who conditions this year's G1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas victor Awtaad (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}). “He is a very nice horse and he looked like a proper racehorse. We will bring him home to Friarstown and break him in ourselves.”
The colt shares his page with Mensa (GB) (Rudimentary), a champion in Hong Kong during the 1999-2000 season whose victories include the G1 Audemars Piquet Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin.
Dark Angel In Demand…
Dark Angel's progeny have been selling like hotcakes as his crops on the track continue to soar, and lot 170 did not disappoint when he hit €140,000 when selling to SackvilleDonald. Bidding began briskly in the packed ring on the colt, the third foal of Manuelita Rose, whose first foal, a gelding by Arcano, has won as a 3-year-old this year. The pace of selling slowed as the price crept into six figures, and Joseph O'Brien briefly looked as if he was going to prevail in the battle for the bay colt, but Ed Sackville was cajoled into going one more time and his final bid secured him.
The final price of €140,000 matched that fetched by the sole Oasis Dream yearling catalogued in the sale, Lot 77, earlier in the day. The bay was the second Dark Angel yearling to make six-figures on the first day of the sale, following Lot 137, a filly out of Lady Duxyana (GB) (Most Welcome {GB}) who was sold for €120,000.
Sackville said, “He is by a great stallion, who continues to excel. Dark Angel had the first two home in the G2 Dubai Duty Free Mill Reef S. last Saturday [Harry Angel and Perfect Angel]. I thought he was the nicest colt in the sale today; he's a lovely mover and very good-looking. He is a really imposing sort and hopefully he can translate that onto the track. He will probably go to Tom Dascombe.”
Consigned by Ballyhimikin Stud, the final figure represented a tidy profit on the €56,000 Stroud Coleman Bloodstock paid for him at last year's Goffs November Foal Sale.
Murphy 'Sea'ing Stars…
Early afternoon brought the second six-figure lot of the day with a son of Sea The Stars (Ire) creating a bidding frenzy in the auction ring. Aiden Murphy eventually secured lot 118, the full-brother to Shraaoh (Ire), a winner for Al Shaqab Racing and Sir Michael Stoute at Newbury this season, for €135,000. His 2-year-old brother Raheen House (Ire) holds an entry in the G1 Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster.
“He has been bought for a syndicate,” said Murphy, “He will come back to me first and we will decide on a trainer for him. He looks like a 2-year-old for the back end of the season or a 3-year-old type. The stallion speaks for himself.”
The March colt is out of a Monsun (Ger) mare, which makes him bred on a similar cross to G1 Deutsches Derby winner Sea The Moon (Ger), a fact that made him popular with buyers.
A delighted Luke Lillingston of Mount Coote Stud, who consigned the colt on behalf of his breeder and that of his sire, Mrs Ling Tsui, was effusive about the colt.
“He is the most improved yearling I have seen in a long time and I have been able to tell people that,” he smiled. “He didn't end up in this sale by accident. Sometimes things go really well and he has improved so much from earlier this year. The team at Mount Coote did a fabulous job with him and it is lovely when something goes right.”
The colt descends from Height Of Fashion (Fr), so with Nayef (Gulch) and Nashwan (Blushing Groom {Fr}) in his pedigree–along with dual Group 1 winner Ghaanati (Giant's Causeway) on the page–added to the successful Sea The Stars/Monsun cross, Lillingston does not believe it is fanciful to see Classics in this yearling's future.
“Both of his full-brothers are proven horses and he comes from a fabulous Classic pedigree. He is a little unusual for this sale but the way he has progressed this year, he could be a possible Derby horse in 2018. I'm delighted to be able to sell him for Mrs Tsui and it has been a real pleasure to see him progress. Horses can disappoint you, frustrate you and break your heart so it is lovely to have one who makes you smile.”
An Angel To Breeze…
The day's second-most expensive filly will be back for next year's breeze-ups after her purchase by Willie Browne. A famed consigner, he was forced to pay €120,000 to see off a number of bidders for lot 137, who is by Dark Angel and out of a full-sister to the dam of Sovereign Debt (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and Puff (Ire) (Ire) (Camacho {GB}).
“She's a lovely filly and looks exactly what you're looking for,” said Browne. “She's nice and racy looking but a bit expensive, although I thought I might have to stretch to that to get her. Dark Angel is flying and outside of Galileo and Dubawi, they are winning everything.”
Earlier in proceedings, Browne bought lot 80, a Kodiac (GB) filly out of Heart's Desire (Ire) (Royal Applause {GB}), for €54,000. The dam has produced stakes winners Heart Of Fire (Ire) (Mujadil) and Unsinkable (Ire) (Verglas {Ire}) amongst her five winning offspring, and Browne said he thinks her Kodiac daughter can add to the family's success.
“I've bought two dear fillies today and the Kodiac filly looks a quick one too,” he said. “That's what we are trying to do, find horses that look like they will be fast racehorse.”
Shrewd Pinhook For Downey…
The first lot through the ring (lot 1) made sure buyers were wide awake from the start of the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale, as the son of Excelebration (Ire) brought the hammer down at €50,000.
The half-brother to I Will Excel (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) and Moral High Ground (Ire) (Elnadim) was a shrewd purchase on the part of vendor Michael Downey. He bought the colt for £15,500 from Whitsbury Manor Stud at last year's Tattersalls December Foal Sale and the good-looking colt forced Ed Sackville to go to £50,000 to secure him for trainer Ed Walker. The bay was the only yearling Downey had in the sale and he admitted having to go first made him a little nervous.
“I was a bit frightened of being first lot but he was a smashing quality colt. A very good judge bought him in Ed Walker and Ed Sackville but I was worried about being first in the ring,” confided Downey. “I think the bottom line is he was a quality yearling and quality will sell but having to go first really was a concern; there was no way to gauge the market.”
Excelebration had a winner on Monday, Tara Celeb (GB) at Leicester, and Walker is responsible for one of the first-season sire's best juveniles in Ultimate Avenue (Ire), who holds an entry in Saturday's G2 Royal Lodge S.
Downey has between 12 and 15 yearlings to sell each year split between homebreds and pinhooks, so he is well placed to comment on the market.
“I think the market is very selective, if you don't have quality then you won't sell well,” he said. “You also need a fashionable sire; they are both vital right now.”
The second of two sessions of Part One of the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale takes place Wednesday.
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