Written by Brian Sheerin
Cover image courtesy of Darley
The best dishes were worth waiting for late on Wednesday night at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale with Anthony Stroud going to 625,000gns (AU$1.2 million) apiece for back-to-back lots (198 and 199) by young sires Havana Grey (GB) and Blue Point (Ire).
The Havana Grey colt was consigned by Roderic Kavanagh’s Glending Stables, while the colt by Blue Point hailed from Norman Williamson’s Oak Tree Farm and the latter will chart the same path as Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) in joining Charlie Appleby for Godolphin.
Williamson said, “There were a lot of people telling me all spring that these Blue Points could fly and I kept my powder dry because I knew I had one that really can fly. I bought him as a yearling off Tradewinds Stud privately and absolutely loved him. He obviously breezed really well but he’s also a very good-looking horse. Blue Point is flying and this lad has size and scope and a good pedigree. Fingers crossed.”
Asked if he could envisage the colt rocking into the money that he did, Williamson responded, “Of course you hope that they will make something that you don’t expect but, no, we’re absolutely thrilled. This is what we do it for. We’ve had bad days in the past but we’ve had a great week here. It’s been outstanding. We’re delighted. The team at home does a great job.”
Norman Williamson | Image courtesy of Tattersalls
That sale ensured Williamson cleared 1,185,000gns (AU$2.3 million) in total sales across the two days after selling a Mehmas (Ire) colt (Lot 2) for 220,000gns (AU$428,000) and a No Nay Never (USA) colt (Lot 118) for 340,000gns (AU$662,000).
Roderic Kavanagh of Glending Stables enjoyed a similarly productive sale and was visibly delighted after his Havana Grey, who was sourced for 42,000gns (AU$82,000) as a yearling, capped a memorable two days.
He said, “We hoped he’d do something like that because his homework had been great. The stars aligned with Havana Grey having the winner (Mammas Girl) of the Nell Gwyn today–and an impressive one at that. It's unbelievable. A great thrill. There were some great judges on him and I think Richard Brown was the underbidder.”
There were 23 lots sold for 150,000gns (AU$292,000) or more across the two days and the strong trade on Wednesday, along with the 24 per cent increase in lots offered, contributed in the average rising by five per cent and the aggregate by 29 per cent to 15,357,500gns (AU$30 million).
