Tatts Set for International Raid
TATTS SET FOR INTERNATIONAL RAID
By Emma Berry
In each of the last two years, Tattersalls has seen more than 20 million guineas change hands during the four days of its Horses-in-Training Sale, which begins its run today at 9:30 a.m. local time. Such strength in trade owes plenty to the fact that British- and Irish-bred horses continue to perform with credit on the international stage, with Saturday’s G1 Cox Plate winner Adelaide (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) being just the latest high-profile example.
Taking place as it does in the week between the Cox Plate and the Melbourne Cup during the VRC Spring Carnival, the sale still manages to attract a regular raft of visitors from Australasia, and at last year’s sale a total of 2.5 million guineas–more than 10% of turnover–was spent on horses bound for the Southern Hemisphere. They included dual Derby hero Australia’s half-brother Voodoo Prince (GB) (Kingmambo), who was sold for 80,000gns to Chris Waller and has subsequently won the G3 Easter Cup at Caulfield racing as Our Voodoo Prince.
Sydney-based Waller, who buys through fellow New Zealander Guy Mulcaster, is a trainer who has fared particularly well with his European imports, which also include Foreteller (GB) (Dansili {GB}), a graduate of this sale in 2010 at 100,000gns from the ever-popular Juddmonte draft, which always creates a buzz during Wednesday evening’s trade. Foreteller has won three Group 1 contests since heading south and, still going strong at the age of seven, on Saturday was fifth, beaten only a half-length, in the blanket finish to the Cox Plate.
Gai Waterhouse has recruited Newmarket-based bloodstock agent Johnny McKeever to assist with Tattersalls purchases in recent years, and McKeever’s selections include The Offer (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), who initially raced as Offer for Aidan O’Brien. Bought for 200,000gns in 2012, The Offer won this year’s G1 Sydney Cup and remains a fancied contender for next Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup, a race that is also likely to feature horses-in-training sale graduates Junoob (GB) (Haafhd {GB})–who was bought from the Shadwell draft by Amy Weaver in 2011 for just 3,500gns and has now won three group races in Australia, including last month’s G1 Metropolitan–Mutual Regard (Ire) (Hernando {Fr}) and Royal Diamond (Ire) (King’s Best).
It’s not just Australian buyers who make a beeline for Tattersalls in the autumn, however, as those looking for horses with staying form include the domestic jumping brigade. Last year’s joint-top price of 380,000gns was given for two horses with dramatically different futures ahead of them. The former Luca Cumani-trained Validus (GB) (Zamindar) was bought by Anthony Stroud to race on at the Dubai World Cup Carnival under the direction of Saeed bin Suroor, while Goodwood Mirage (Ire) (Jeremy) joined the powerful jumping stable of Jonjo O’Neill for Lady Bamford–best known as the owner/breeder of Oaks winner Sariska (GB) (Pivotal {GB})–and is now a dual winner over hurdles.
A lesser heralded graduate of last year’s auction–at the time, anyway–is G Force (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}), who was sold to Middleham Park Racing for 25,000gns. His previous owners in the Qatar Racing Syndicate will no doubt have watched the 3-year-old win this year’s G1 Haydock Sprint Cup with some frustration, but manager David Redvers, on duty at Keeneland’s September sale at the time, managed to tweet with wry humor and good grace, “Feeling quite sick at the top of Keeneland’s heartbreak hill. It’s not the altitude it’s the G Force. Many congratulations to connections.”
With whopping drafts from the likes of Shadwell, Qatar Racing and Juddmonte, this time around 1539 lots have been catalogued, though the nature of the sale naturally leads to a high number of withdrawals, which stood at 378 at the time of writing. Among those scheduled to keep their date in the sales ring is the venerable Trumpet Major (Ire) (Arakan {Ire}) who sells tomorrow as lot 454. The 5-year-old has been a stalwart of the Richard Hannon stable since his juvenile days, when he won the G2 Champagne S., and he has subsequently added a brace of Group 3 wins and the G2 Bet365 Mile to his tally of stakes victories.
From this year’s Qatar Racing draft comes the exciting 2-year-old Mind Of Madness (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}) (lot 715), who won on debut at Newmarket’s Craven Meeting and has since won a listed contest and finished runner-up to Baitha Alga (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire}) in the G2 Norfolk S. at Royal Ascot. Another with Royal Ascot form is Baccarat (Ire) a 5-year-old by Dutch Art (GB) who won the Wokingham S. for Richard Fahey and has a rating of 111. He sells later today aslot 236.
As ever, last-minute updates can prove to be valuable come sale time, and the 2014 auction was given another boost when lot 1052, Dikta Del Mar (Spa) (Diktat {GB}), won yesterday’s Listed Criterium de Vitesse at Longchamp. Trained in Spain by Thiago Martins, the juvenile filly is set to head straight to Newmarket from Paris to be sold on Wednesday.
The Tattersalls Autumn Horses-in-Training Sale runs today through Thursday. For the catalogue, results and live streaming, visit www.tattersalls.com.