Sceptre Sessions
During a hot run for sire Fastnet Rock at Tattersalls this week, Via Sistina (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}--Nigh {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) reeled in 2.7 million guineas from Evergreen Equine during Tuesday's second session of the Sceptre Sessions at Tattersalls. Consigned by Grove Stud, the 5-year-old mare, offered as Lot 1788, recorded her most important career victory in the G1 Pretty Polly S. at the Curragh. The winner of this season's G2 Dahlia S., the bay also finished runner-up in the G1 Prix Jean Romanet and third in the G1...
The Castlebridge Consignment's Primo Bacio (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire}) (lot 1771) became the first seven-figure lot of the Tattersalls December Mare Sale on Tuesday, when bringing 1.1 million gns in foal to Frankel (GB). Hillwood Bloodstock's Charlie Vigors signed the ticket for the listed-winning mare, who was third in the G2 Duke Of Cambridge S. This is the family of multiple group winner Bocca Baciata (Ire) (Big Bad Bob {Ire}), who was second in the G1 Pretty Polly S. Bred by Kildaragh Stud, she was picked up for just 100,000gns by...
A significant addition to the Tattersalls December Mares Catalogue is the wild-card entry of Kensea (Fr), the 13-year-old daughter of Kendargent (Fr) who has the rare distinction of being the dam of two Group 1 winners. That notable duo consists of the full-brothers Sealiway (Fr) and Sunway (Fr). One of the sons of Galiway (GB) was the busiest stallion in France this year during his first season at Haras de Beaumont, while the latter is a serious Classic prospect for 2024 on either side of the Channel. Guy Pariente, who...
"The full package." That's how consignor Tom Blain of Barton Sales describes Teona (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and it is hard to disagree that the five-year-old has everything a breeder would look for when attempting to buy a first-class breeding prospect. A winner of one of the key middle-distance tests for top-class fillies in the G1 Prix Vermeille, she is also out of a Group 1 winner, the Pretty Polly S. victrix Ambivalent (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}), with mother and daughter both being by outstanding Derby winners. The cherry on...
As the darkness draws in on the Monday and Tuesday afternoons of the Tattersalls December Mares Sale, it is a signal for the those around Park Paddocks to head ring-wards for the bloodstock world's version of captivating theatre. Who present, shoulder to shoulder in the packed auditorium over recent years, can forget moments such as the sale of Marsha (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) for 6 million gns? Even her trainer Sir Mark Prescott, always ready with a witticism, was for once lost for words in the drama of it all. A...
Kensea (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}), the dam of G1 Criterium International-winning Galiway (GB) full-brothers Sealiway (Fr) and Sunway (Fr), has been added to the Tattersalls December Mares Sale as a wildcard, the sales company announced on Wednesday. Offered by James Hanly's Ballyhimikin Stud during the second day of the Sceptre Sessions on Tuesday, Dec. 5 as lot 1825, the 13-year-old mare is owned and bred by Guy Pariente. She is in foal to rising French sire Zarak (Fr). A listed winner herself, Kensea's four foals to make the racecourse have all...
A fantastic year for Karl Burke's stable was crowned by victory on QIPCO British Champions Day for Poptronic (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in the G1 Champion Fillies and Mares S. at Ascot. What made the win extra special is that the four-year-old was bred by her owners David and Yvonne Blunt, who keep three broodmares and were enjoying their first win at the highest level. Poptronic, a daughter of the Dream Ahead mare Alpine Dream (Ire), is one of three classy fillies to be heading to the Tattersalls December Mares' Sale...
With the benefit of glorious hindsight it seems scarcely believable that Via Sistina (GB) could have been sold at the December Yearling Sale four years ago for just 5,000gns by her breeder Laundry Cottage Stud. One thing is certain: when the Group 1 winner returns to Tattersalls in a few weeks among the elite Sceptre Sessions of the December Mares' Sale, her price will have many more zeroes on the end. A big, scopey mare who took some time to fill her statuesque frame, the five-year-old daughter of Fastnet Rock...
Connections of Cachet (Ire) (Aclaim {Ire}) have described it as "a no-brainer" to offer the 1,000 Guineas heroine for sale at the Sceptre Sessions as part of the December Mares Sale at Tattersalls given how strong trade was at the corresponding sale 12 months ago. Not only did Cachet provide Highclere Racing and trainer George Boughey with a breakthrough domestic Classic success when storming to 1,000 Guineas glory at Newmarket last year, but she also followed up on that effort by running out a gutsy second to Mangoustine (Fr) (Dark...
A quintet of Group 1-winning race fillies anchor the 1,062-strong Tattersalls December Mares Sale from Dec. 4-7, headlined by the Sceptre Sessions on Monday, Dec. 4 and Tuesday, Dec. 5. Inaugurated last year, the Sceptre Sessions feature 1000 Guineas heroine Cachet (Ire) (Aclaim {Ire}) (1433); Pretty Polly S. victress Via Sistina (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) (lot 1788); top-level winners Lezoo (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}) (lot 1776) and Prosperous Voyage (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) (lot 1811), both trained by Ralph Beckett; and South African Grade 1 winner Vernichey (SAf) (Vercingetorix {SAf}) (lot 1802)....
By Emma Berry and Brian Sheerin NEWMARKET, UK--Widely tipped for the top, Jeff Smith's Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never) duly shone brightest in a galaxy of stars on display at Park Paddocks, bringing the second-highest price ever recorded at a European auction when the hammer fell at 5.4 million gns. Yuesheng Zhang of Yulong Investments, acting through BBA Ireland's Michael Donohoe, has flexed some serious fiscal muscle at the breeding stock sales this season and that reached a new high at Tattersalls on Tuesday when Donohoe outlasted Coolmore's MV...
Representatives of Lordship Stud were extended to 2 million guineas for the 4-year-old filly Ville de Grace (GB) (Le Havre {Ire}) as Tuesday's Sceptre Session continued to toss up major results. Bred and raced by Hunscote Stud and Chris Humber, Ville de Grace was being offered by Norris Bloodstock to dissolve that partnership. Hunscote went to 800,000gns for the filly's dam Archangel Gabriel (Arch) to top Monday's Sceptre Session. Trained for the partnership by Sir Michael Stoute, Ville de Grace--who was retained after failing to meet her reserve on a...