REALTRA was one of the highlights of the Goffs London Sale held on the eve of Royal Ascot. A supplementary entry to the sale, the three-year-old daughter of Dark Angel was purchased for £290,000 by Hidetoshi Yamamoto, on behalf of Yasushi Kubota, who was standing with trainer Roger Varian.

I remember the sale well on two counts. Firstly I was standing directly behind the successful bidders who just a few hours earlier had stepped off a plane from Japan and headed straight to the sale at Kensington Palace. Secondly, I had just left Annette O’Callaghan who was excited about the filly’s potential sale.

Realtra was sold with an entry in the Sandringham Stakes and she was to finish down the field in the race. She made up for that disappointment last weekend when she landed her first stakes win in the Dick Hern Fillies Stakes, a listed mile race at Haydock.

She becomes the latest stakes winner for her sire who was a Group 1 winning son of Acclamation. Dark Angel stands at the O’Callaghan’s Morristown Lattin Stud.

This breakthrough win for Realtra follows a number of stakes-placed efforts and also provides a serious pedigree update for her Elusive Pimpernel half-sister who will be coming under the hammer at Tattersalls Ireland on September 22nd. She is being sold by her breeders, Tom and Geraldine Molan, from their Riversfield Stud in Kilmallock and will be offered just minutes after they have a Helmet filly though the ring.

Realtra is the only winner to date for her dam Devious Diva and that daughter of Dr Devious won as a two-year-old in the colours of Lady O’Reilly. She was most consistent, if a little frustrating, as she also finished second on no less than seven occasions. She was sold, in foal to Verglas, for 38,000gns to Tom Molan nine years ago.

Devious Diva was one of nine winning offspring from the unraced Dawn Chorus, herself a half-sister to seven winners. Dawn Chorus bred a leading winner in Hong Kong named Solid Approach (by Definite Article) and two stakes-placed winners, and her 12th produce is a yearling colt by Canford Cliffs.

Realtra was a bargain purchase when selling for just €10,000 as a yearling at the same venue that her half-sister will visit next month.