THE week at Tattersalls Ireland drew to a low key close with Part II of the September Sale which indicates that it could again be quite a challenging autumn for the lower end of the yearling market.
The positive to emerge from this sale was the clearance rate which jumped from 66% to a very respectable 74% but this figure is possibly representative of yearling vendors taking a pragmatic approach in the face of a challenging market.
Indeed the majority of those that came under the hammer during Part II would have struggled to recoup their production costs as evidenced by the average and median figures for the sale.
At its conclusion this one-day sale posted an average of €6,200, which was 14% down on 2018, the median dropped from €5,000 to €4,500 and an aggregate of just under €1.1 million was a 12% decrease on last year.
When looked at in isolation these figures aren’t all that far off last year’s but they do lie some way adrift of those from 2015 and 2017. Rather than focusing on the level of trade on this particular day though the concern for the yearling market as a whole is how demand in this sector has diminished over the last couple of years and how can it be revived.
THE pick of the yearlings on offer through Part II of the sale was undoubtedly a fine son of the top-class middle-distance runner Al Kazeem from The Castlebridge Consignment who cost Dubai-based owner Nasir Askar €42,000.
Askar bought five horses over the course of the week and he has the useful dual winner Sky Seven with Michael Halford who will train this colt.
Interestingly, the sub fertile Al Kazeem produced only 22 foals from his first crop yet he still managed to sire a Group 1 winner in last Sunday’s German victor Aspetar and the sire’s capabilities clearly weren’t lost on those in attendance at this sale. The session-topping colt is also a half-brother to the French Group 2 winner Treat Gently.
IT had earlier looked as though top billing might go to a daughter of Dandy Man for whom agent Frederico Barberini paid €27,000. This filly, who was sold by Ballygowan Stud on behalf of Brian Miller, enjoyed a timely update when her two-year-old own-sister Elegant Erin won a Salisbury maiden last month.
David Evans spent €20,000 on a Dandy Man colt whose two-year-old half-brother has won three times in France this year.
ONCE again English-based purchasers made a very notable contribution to the final day of the sale with Shaun Keightley spending €26,000 on an Epaulette half-brother to the Lingfield Derby Trial third Cavaleiro.
A €24,000 Sir Prancealot colt from Woodtown House Stud will join Brian Ellison after being snapped up by Alex Elliott who had the distinction 12 months ago of purchasing the subsequent Tattersalls Ireland Super Auction Sale Stakes winner Stone Circle.
A FINE colt from the well received first crop of the top-class Monsun horse Vadamos, whose yearlings this week fetched up to €60,000, cost Hamish Maculey €23,000. Maculey indicated that his purchase could be reoffered as a three-year-old store.
The only Showcasing on offer through Part II was a well-related filly from Castledillon Stud and she looks set to head to the breeze-up sales after falling to Hyde Park Stud for €21,000.
Next year’s round of auction races beckons for an €18,000 son of Elzaam whom John Cullinan bought on behalf of Ger Lyons and Gaelic Bloodstock.
OVER the course of the three days the Czech agent Tomas Janda made a very notable contribution to proceedings as he picked up 14 yearlings whose prices ranged from €1,000 to €42,000.
Janda’s most significant Part II purchase came when he spent €15,000 on a filly from the first crop of Twilight Son.
Among the others destined to begin their careers in Europe was a €20,000 Camelot filly who was knocked down to Nicolo Simondi.
This Al Eile Stud offering is out of an own-sister to the Coronation Cup scorer Pether’s Moon.