‘Crazy’ trade continues at Tattersalls October as Godolphin buy top four

Cover image courtesy of Tattersalls

Godolphin’s big day out on Wednesday

If Tuesday was Amo day, Wednesday was the day of Godolphin as Sheikh Mohammed's team, so often the dominant force at Book 1, hit top gear in signing for the top four lots and four of the five seven-figure horses of the second session.

Amo Racing did not leave Park Paddocks on Wednesday empty-handed. Indeed, Kia Joorabchian added another seven yearlings to his eye-popping haul on the opening day, and his stated intention to recruit the best possible bloodlines in order to compete with the top owner-breeder operations meant that he also played a significant role in driving the market when underbidder on the day's two most-expensive horses.

The best way to describe the continued demand for horses during the second day of Book 1 was relentless. David Cox, whose Baroda Stud provided a late highlight when selling the penultimate lot of the day, a colt by Dubawi (Ire), for 1.5 million gns (AU$3.06 million), struck a note of reality when saying, “With all the things going on in the world, here we are and the only thing we are worried about is whether it's going to rain.”

The atmosphere has been pretty surreal at Park Paddocks over the last two days, and there were plenty of wizened sales veterans shaking their heads and admitting that they'd never seen anything quite like this before.

Australian purchases of note

Yulong purchased the fifth seven-figure yearling, spending 1.1 million gns (AU$2.25 million) for the Dubawi (Ire) colt out of Group 1 winner Loving Dream (GB) (Gleneagles {Ire}). Yulong also purchased a filly by their shuttle sire Lucky Vega (Ire) for 180,000gns (AU$367,000) who is a half-sister to Listed winner Watch My Tracer (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}).

The Hong Kong Jockey Club purchased two yearlings; Lot 180 for 170,00gns (AU$346,000) a Starspangledbanner half-brother to Listed placed winner Kitteridge (GB) (Camelot {Ire}) and Lot 182 for 400,000gns (AU$817,000), a Havana Gray (GB) colt out of Freckles (GB) (Arakan {USA}) who is a half-sister to Group 3 winner Enforcer (GB) (Efisio {GB}).

Gallery: Purchases of Australian interest, images courtesy of Tattersalls

Grangemore's Queen

Guy O'Callaghan, the breeder of champion miler-elect Charyn (Ire), hailed his dam Futoon (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) as “the mare of a lifetime” after selling a full sister to the dual Group 1 winner for 2.9 million gns (AU$5.9 million) to Godolphin.

Hinting that we might see a repeat performance of Tuesday's recruitment of smart fillies, Alex Elliott, standing alongside Kia Joorabchian, took the bidding into seven figures, and when the tussle between Amo Racing, Godolphin, Oliver St Lawrence, Watership Down Stud and Sumbe reached 1,800,000gns (AU$3.67 million), O'Callaghan reached out in the gangway to squeeze his wife Serena's arm as if to say, “We've got this.” They had, but they got much more besides, as bidders fell away leaving only Joorabchian to push Anthony Stroud to the final sale price – the best of the day.

“A special mare,” said O'Callaghan, who bought the 11-year-old Futoon for 100,000gns seven years ago. Boy, how she has repaid that faith. Through repeated matings with the O'Callaghan family's beloved stallion Dark Angel, she has produced first the G2 Mill Reef S. winner Wings Of War (Ire) followed by Charyn.

O'Callaghan continued of Lot 183, “The stars aligned. Charyn is going to be champion miler this year, and she was a special filly. It all came together. I'm doing cartwheels inside. It's been a team effort, everyone at home, my wife Serena, my head lad Jack. She's been so straightforward, she's never been a problem. Every day she's just been simple, she's come here and behaved and operated and just been an absolute queen.

“She's been showing hard since Saturday and never did a bad show. It's a great sign of her mind and Charyn was the same. They have that phenomenal mindset and they just take it. The good ones can take it and she's a good one.”

Of the strength of trade, he said, “It's just a vibrant market. It's crazy. It's unbelievably strong. Kia and Godolphin locked on and took each other on. That's just a dream for any breeder.

“(Futoon) has been a great mare to me and she's got another Dark Angel on the ground and is in foal to Blue Point. She's the mare of a lifetime. When Charyn won the Group 1 and got the breakthrough I knew I was sitting on some hot property.”

Asked if he would be sending a mare or two to France next year to visit Charyn when he retires to Sumbe, O'Callaghan replied, “Definitely. Without a doubt.”

Anthony Stroud, in company most of the day with Sheikh Mohammed, David Loder and Charlie Appleby, said of the day's topper, “Her pedigree speaks for itself and she was a very nice individual. The brother has done fantastically well this year. It was probably more than we anticipated but there seems to be a premium on these fillies and she was a filly that we all liked a lot.”

Banks 'so proud' of Lady Bowthorpe

There had been plenty of talk about the first foal of the G1 Nassau S. winner Lady Bowthorpe (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) and the chestnut son of Dubawi did not disappoint when eliciting a final bid of 2,000,000gns (AU$4.08 million) from Godolphin.

Again this was a battle between Stroud and Joorabchian, whose now trademark tell for when he is about to bid on a horse is to turn his back to the auctioneer.

“Send all the corporals away and you come to me, sir,” implored the auctioneer after the bid of two million went to Stroud outside the ring. This time the man from Amo was not for turning, and it was to Sheikh Mohammed that breeder Emma Banks and Luca and Sara Cumani of Fittocks Stud went to bid their thanks.

“That's the way the day has gone,” said Stroud on being pushed hard on a number of horses. “It's so competitive and these horses are selling so well. It's such an international market and there are so many principals from different parts of the world. It's been an incredibly strong sale.”

He continued, “(Emma Banks) raced Lady Bowthorpe and she was brave enough to go to Dubawi. Fittocks do an excellent job and the remarkable thing is he'll be going to be trained about a mile from where he was born: from Fittocks to Moulton Paddocks.”

Stroud added of Sheikh Mohammed's presence at Tattersalls, “Needless to say, he's key. There was definitely a broad section of horses at the top end that we were happy to show him. (By) horses like Too Darn Hot, who is an emerging stallion and standing at Dalham Hall. It's good that he's doing so well as well, hence we bought the colt from Croom House.”

Banks said of Lot 242, “I love his Mum and I love him, and I will follow him and I am very happy he has gone to a great owner and a great establishment.

“I am just so proud of Lady Bowthorpe, and everyone who is involved with her – she was bred at Fittocks and has gone back there, and she is loving her life as a broodmare and the fact that she has had such a gorgeous, attractive and well put-together horse makes me so proud.

“Martin and all the Fittocks staff have done such a beautiful job of looking after him. He has just been a superstar since the day he was born, but I am very biased.”

The aforementioned Too Darn Hot (GB) colt (Lot 236) from last week's leading Goffs Orby vendor, Denis Brosnan's Croom House Stud, was secured for 1.5 million gns (AU$3.06 million). His dam, the Galileo (Ire) mare Knocknagree (Ire), is a half-sister to another star graduate of Croom House, the Group 1 winner and late sire Zoffany (Ire).

Stroud's last strike of the day came for Lot 297, Qatar Racing's Dubawi half-brother to the G2 Prix Corrida winner Morgan Le Faye (GB) (Shamardal) and Listed winner Emotion (GB) (Frankel {GB}). The colt was signed on their behalf by David Cox of Baroda Stud.

He said, “I am delighted, fair play to Tweenhills for using us to consign him, he is a lovely horse.

“Trade has been very strong. We've had two millionaires this week, we have homebreds off the farm selling very well for clients – everyone is very happy. I was not expecting trade to be as strong as this, it's been a bonzana really, hasn't it?”

Blandford Bloodstock busy

The Blandford Bloodstock agency has signed for 16 yearlings so far over the last two days for 8,130,000gns (AU$16.6 million), a good number of those going the way of Richard Brown, who acts on behalf of a number of clients, including Wathnan Racing and Saeed Suhail. The latter, who has won the Derby twice, with Kris Kin (USA) and Desert Crown (GB), is now the new owner of Lot 265, a colt by first-season sire St Mark's Basilica (Fr), who was knocked down to Brown at 950,000gns. Amo Racing once again played the role of underbidder. Consigned by Newsells Park Stud on behalf of breeder Al Shahania Stud, he is a son of the Group 2-winning Monsun (Ger) mare Longina (Ger), who is already the dam of G3 Prix de Royaumont winner Ottery (GB), who was bought at this sale three years ago by Juddmonte for 800,000gns (AU$1.63 million).

“I thought he was an absolutely gorgeous colt,” Brown said. “It's a lovely back page, too. Obviously I was very keen on him, then Saeed Suhail saw him out here, and he was much braver than I would've been.

“There aren't many owners out there who've owned two Derby winners, obviously he had Kris Kin and we bought Desert Crown here a few years ago now in Book 2. He likes mile-plus horses, and this is certainly a horse who'll need a bit of time. He looks like he's going to be a mile-and-a-quarter or mile-and-a-half horse, but he's a patient owner.”

Suhail's Derby winners were both trained by Sir Michael Stoute, who recently announced that he would be retiring at the end of the season.

Brown added, “He had a tremendous relationship with Sir Michael over a number of years, they had two Derby winners together and a Guineas winner. There's going to have to be a little bit of a restructure, which has already been discussed. At the moment he has horses in training with William Haggas and Andrew Balding, so it'll be up to Saeed. We'll have a chat at the end of the sales and work it out, but I'm sure any trainer would be happy to have this colt. I'm liking what I'm seeing from St Mark's Basilica, who was an exceptional racehorse.”

Amo Racing still full of running

The most expensive of Amo Racing's seven new recruits on Wednesday, including some bought in partnership, was Lot 234, a Sea The Stars (Ire) colt out of the winning Shamardal (USA) mare Kitcara (GB), making him a full brother to Al Aasy (Ire) whose nine wins include six Group 3 contests.

He was offered by the Castlebridge Consignment and achieved a sum of 800,000gns (AU$1.63 million) which will be split between the Amo Racing team and those of Al Shaqab and Valmont.

“Last year Nicolas de Watrigant and I bought a Wootton Bassett in France and he went to Ralph Beckett,” bloodstock agent Alex Elliott said of how the partnership between Amo Racing and Al Shaqab started. “The guys have stayed in touch and they have a very similar mindset. What's the point in trying to beat each other when you can join up? It limits your risk, when you're racing for peanuts. There's silks to consider and that sort of thing, but if everyone's on the same page it can work out.”

Elliott, who is also heavily involved in the Valmont team which enjoyed Classic success this year with Irish Oaks heroine You Got To Me (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), confirmed that the Sea The Stars colt will follow Tuesday's top lot, the Frankel (GB) filly who fetched 4.4million gns (AU$8.9million), in going into training with Ralph Beckett.

He added, “It (the partnership) suits everybody and he's going to the same trainer in Ralph. We see it happen a lot in the States more than here, people teaming up to buy big-money colts. Hopefully, if you buy enough, one of them pays for the lot. This colt is a hell of a horse–he's huge. He has a temperament to die for, vetted perfectly, and is very light on his feet. Now, let's just hope he wins the Derby!”

High Days for Hobby Breeders

It's been quite the few days for Jeff and Phoebe Hobby and their Brightwalton Stud, both on the racecourse and in the sales ring. It all started on Sunday when the husband-and-wife team enjoyed the biggest success of their sporting lives at Longchamp, courtesy of their homebred Makarova (GB) (Acclamation {GB}), the 5-year-old mare who signed off from racing in the best possible fashion with a first Group 1 win in the Prix de l'Abbaye. She was then followed into the winner's enclosure on Monday by the 2-year-old Fernando (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}), a close relative of Makarova who provided another thrill when gaining the first victory of his career, albeit in the rather less glamorous surroundings of Yarmouth.

As for events at Park Paddocks, it was the turn of their homebred Lope De Vega (Ire) colt to star on Wednesday when he went through the ring as Lot 218. Consigned by Barton Stud on behalf of the Hobbys, he is out of the Listed-placed Galileo (Ire) mare Isabella (Ire), already the dam of two winners, including Maltese Falcon (Ire) (Caravaggio), a Grade 3 scorer in the US. This colt was one of Godolphin's nine purchases on the day when fetching 750,000gns (AU$1.5 million).

“I've always been a fan of Lope De Vega and we bought the mare (for 225,000gns) at the Robert Ogden dispersal,” Hobby said afterwards. “He's the most lovely specimen and he's been a dream all the way through. He's one of those yearlings who has never gone through the ugly duckling stage. When we brought him in to start yearling prep, I just looked at him and thought he could go through the sales ring now. He's always looked the part.

“It's terrifying, utterly terrifying,” he said of his emotions when watching his pride and joy go through the ring, before taking a moment to reflect on Makarova's Longchamp triumph.

He added, “I haven't really come down from that and we backed it up with her sister's first foal winning at Yarmouth, which was also pretty exciting in its way. But Longchamp was amazing. For a homebred from our little stud farm to win a Group 1, out of a mare I bought for 65,000gns here at the July Sale - it's what dreams are made of really.”

Kingman filly proves popular

Ed Walker was the man who masterminded the career of Makarova, saddling her to win five of her 28 starts, and the Lambourn trainer was also celebrating on Wednesday after it was confirmed that he'll be the lucky recipient of Lot 246, a Kingman (GB) filly from the Mahon family's Mountain View Stud draft. She is out of the Dubawi (Ire) mare Lady Macbeth (Ire), an unraced full sister to this year's Oaks runner-up Dance Sequence (GB).

Dance Sequence will be in action at Newmarket on Friday when she lines up in the G3 Pride S., and so too will Ten Bob Tony (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Walker's runner in the G2 Challenge S.

Beaten a little over a length when finishing fourth in the G2 German 2,000 Guineas in May, Ten Bob Tony has been the flagbearer this year for ownership group Tbt Racing, and Ed Sackville reported that this filly is set to represent similar connections after he struck the winning bid at 750,000gns (AU$1.5 million).

“She's a very strong filly by a stallion who has had a great year at stud, particularly with his fillies,” Sackville summed up. “Ed (Walker) trains Celandine who is by Kingman. This filly is a very different type – she's bigger, stronger and more imposing. She has a lovely female family and is from a brilliant nursery.”

He added “I think when they're at that level, you're never expecting to get them – you're just praying.”