WITH an hour’s selling still ahead of the auctioneers at yesterday’s morning session of the July Sale, the Tattersalls’ tills had racked up more than 10 million guineas worth of trade, behind last year’s turnover but with an evening session yet to be staged.
A much reduced participation from Godolphin compared to their support over the last two years had a noticeable effect on the aggregate, but buyers found that they were still paying a premium for the better quality lots.
The Castlebridge Consignment completely dominated the opening session of the sale, supplying eight of the 11 lots to realise six-figure sums. Indeed they were responsible for the best six prices.
Heading the day’s and the week’s trade was Award Winning, a three-year-old daughter of Dubawi. The half-sister to a trio of group winners in Royal Bench, Mayhem and Memphis Tennessee fell to the winning bid of Blandford Bloodstock’s Tom Goff at 350,000gns after he saw off the determined challenge of his agency colleague Richard Brown who was with Bertrand Le Metayer.
“She is for an Irish client, who has been talking about buying a Dubawi filly for a long time” said Goff. “She has a fantastic page and a great outcross pedigree. We have followed this filly for a while; she is a winner, rated 80 and we are delighted to get her.”
Goff was also the purchaser, minutes earlier, of the Galileo three-year-old filly C’Est La for 320,000gns, this time defeating the challenge of BBA Ireland’s Eamonn Reilly for the choice lot. The daughter of A Z Warrior is a full-sister to the listed winning filly Key To My Heart.
Goff said: “She is for an established US client. You just have to look at her page to see what she is - her dam won the Grade 1 Frizette Stakes. She is a very nice filly and she will be heading back to the US. It has been a great opportunity to buy into these families - as we saw at the December Sale there is a great appetite for potential broodmares.”
Three of the six Galileo yearling fillies catalogued were offered and all there sold for six-figure sums. They, along with the sale topper and others, were owned in partnerships involving Markus Jooste. Best of the trio of yearlings was an own-sister to the Group 3 winner and Group 2 Park Hill Stakes runner-up Pretty Perfect and they are daughters of the Group 3 winning Danehill mare Milanova who was placed in the Group 1 Australasian Oaks. The filly was knocked down to German agent Ronald Rauscher for 300,000gns.
Rauscher commented: “She is for a European-based owner. She is a lovely filly – she handled well this morning and vetted well, and she is just a May foal. It is a great family, and one I know well from my time spent at Windfields - there are lots of top performers in the family who have not made it onto the page such as Night Shift and Encosta De Lago.”
Both of the other Galileo fillies were knocked down to Federico Barberini on behalf of Apple Tree Stud, owned by Paul Dunkley and managed by Robert ‘Choc’ Thornton. The filly out of Timbuktu, from the wonderful Meon Valley Stud family descending from Reprocolor, realised 220,000gns, while the filly out of Luas Line, a Grade 1 winning daughter of Danehill, cost 150,000gns.
The Castlebridge Consignment also sold the Group 3 Park Express Stakes winner Czabo who was knocked down to Ross Doyle for 220,000gns. The former Mick Channon-trained daughter of Sixties Icon was sold in foal to Lope De Vega. Completing the sextet of top lots from the same vendor was the Invincible Spirit three-year-old Baby Pink, daughter of a Grade 3 winning daughter of Galileo who was placed since the catalogue was printed. Blandford Bloodstock signed for her at 160,000gns.
The remaining lot from The Castlebridge Consignment to feature among the six-figure sales was Salve Sicilia, a winning daughter of Soldier Hollow and sold with her first cover by Mastercraftsman. From the family of Schiaparelli and Sea The Moon, she cost Bertrand Le Metayer 110,000gns. The mare’s half-brother Salve Del Rio was fourth in this year’s German Derby.
Coolmore consultant Michael Kirwan, acting through Howson and Houldsworth Bloodstock, bought the stakes-winning Teofilo mare Crystal Diamond, in foal to Pivotal, for 150,000gns. The mare’s Group 2 winning half-sister Diamond Tango is the dam of the leading stayer Desert Skyline. She was one of a pair of six-figure sales from the Godolphin draft, the other being the 10-year-old Pivotal mare Shepherdia, sold in foal to Territories. The dam of the stakes-placed Shepherd Market cost Rabbah Bloodstock 140,000gns. Godolphin had a significantly smaller draft for sale this year, almost a third of the number it offered two years ago.
The well-known Arod, winner of the Group 2 Summer Mile, runner-up in the Group 1 Sussex Stakes and fourth in the 2014 Derby at Epsom was sold by Jamie Railton to Blandford Bloodstock for 145,000gns. The seven-year-old son of Teofilo has amassed winnings of some £610,000 and will return to trainer David Simcock in new ownership.
THURSDAY
Day two of the July Sale was split into a pair of sessions, either side of the opening day of the local summer racemeeting. While 11 lots reached the six-figure total during the all-day opening session, just two at the post-race sale made it to that landmark, both selling for 100,000gns.
A Group 3 winner on his most recent start, earning him a wild card entry, Degas was the first to achieve that price. The German-trained five-year-old was knocked down to Jamie Railton acting for owner Eckhard Sauren and could make a quick reappearance this weekend in the Group 2 Meilen Trophy at Cologne. The son of Exceed And Excel landed the Group 3 Grosser Preis der Wirtschaft at Dortmund for trainer Markus Klug and owners Gestut Rottgen. “He will be going back to Germany, I don’t know training plans,” said Railton.
The price was matched later in the evening when Olympic Odyssey was purchased by Stephen Hillen Bloodstock. The George Scott-trained three-year-old gelding won his maiden impressively at Nottingham last month, and this well-bred son of Camelot is out of the Group 1 Prix de la Foret winner Field Of Hope.
Hillen said: “He is for a new client and will be going jumping. He is a gorgeous horse, and by Camelot who has such a good stint of things of late. He’ll have an easy month now and then go to his new base and he stays in England.”
The top-price realised during the morning session on Thursday was 95,000gns for the three-year-old gelding De Medici who was knocked down to BBA Ireland’s Michael Donohoe on behalf of Yulong Investments’ Zhang Yuesheng. The son of Makfi boosted his sale prospects with victory at Sandown five days earlier for owners Al Asayl Bloodstock. He was consigned by The Castlebridge Consignment on behalf of trainer Archie Watson.
“This horse might head to Singapore or Australia,” said Donohoe. “Yulong is building up quite a big string in Singapore now. This horse is a good-looking type, vetted well and came recommended by Archie Watson. It is the beauty of buying internationally - a horse might find his or her niche in a different jurisdiction.”
Qatari trainer Jassim Ghazali signed the purchase slip for Volatile, a four-year-old son of Poet’s Voice who was consigned by trainer Jamie Osborne and knocked down for 85,000gns. The sale was a great result for Melbourne Ten Racing who purchased him for 32,000gns through John Ferguson in the same ring at last year’s Autumn Horses in Training Sale.
The 85,000gns price tag was also achieved by Shadwell Estates’ Manzil who won a Down Royal maiden on his most recent start for Dermot Weld. The three-year-old son of Bated Breath was sold to agent Bobby O’Ryan who said: “He came highly recommended. He is a nice horse and is for Mick Easterby.”
A splendid clearance rate of 96%, matching that of day two a year ago, meant that only seven of the 178 lots on show failed to trade.
FRIDAY
Thursday’s Newmarket winner Midsummer Knight lit up proceedings yesterday morning when he was bought by Jassim Ghazali for 90,000gns. This was the 20th lot of the week purchased by Qatar’s champion handler and he was back in the bidders’ area soon afterwards and adding to his extensive shopping list. “It is slightly more than the last few years,” he admitted.
“I have followed this horse for a time, and yesterday’s victory made it certain that I would like to buy him. We came particularly for this horse - he will suit Qatar and I like his sire Dream Ahead,” said Ghazali after signing the purchase slip.
Midsummer Knight won the five-furlong Saeed Suhail Saeed Handicap by a length off a mark of 80, a career-best performance for the three-year-old who is now a winner of two races.
Final results and summary will be published next week.