IN spite of a new record price being obtained for a yearling in Book 3, trade at this level was weaker than a year ago, resulting in a drop of 18% in turnover and 16% in both the average and median figures on the first of two day’s selling on Thursday.
The two sessions are catalogued alphabetically each day, with the better lots being catalogued on Thursday.
The new record price was paid for a filly by Medicean out of a winning daughter of Kyllachy and she was consigned by Redgate Bloodstock which is based in Newmarket.
The principals Damian Flynn and Emma Foley bought the filly at last year’s December Sale for 18,000gns and this time her value soared to 115,000gns. Jono Mills made the winning bid for Rabbah Bloodstock and revealed that she would be trained by James Tate.
A half-sister to two winners, the Medicean is out of Plucky, a half-sister to seven winners of which the Group 2 Flying Childers Stakes winner Wunders Dream and the Group 3 Ridgewood Pearl Stakes winner Grecian Dancer are the most notable. Their dam Pizzicato is a half-sister to two outstanding runners in Hong Kong, including the champion Mensa.
The second-best lot of the opening session was another filly, this time a Trickledown Stud-consigned daughter of Showcasing and Tremelo Pointe, a winning daughter of Trempolino. The dam’s siblings are headed by the stakes-winner Dream Eater who was third in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes. Henry Candy, who made a bold play for the session-topper, signed for her at 75,000gns.
Emma Thompson has been busy trying to buy colts for her and husband David’s Highfield Farm and they got one they wanted when paying 70,000gns for a son of Dark Angel out of Nashira, a two-year-old winner who has already bred a stakes winner in Perfect Polly.
RABBAH SPENDING
Rabbah Bloodstock bought no less than 17 horses on Thursday and another of their purchases was Sherbourne Lodge’s son of Sir Percy and the Rahy mare Pilcomayo. Ger Kennedy’s grandson of the Grade 1 winner Link River was a 7,000gns foal buy and he left plenty of profit when selling this time for 62,000gns.
Two further significant sales on the first day to Rabbah were a Kyllachy colt from Ballyphilip Stud for 52,000gns and a Famous Name colt from Michael Downey for 50,000gns.
The McCartan’s Kyllachy is the second produce of the Invincible Spirit mare Starfly and the pedigree got a boost when the mare’s two-year-old Harry Speed won since the catalogue was printed. Michael Downey’s offering is a grandson of the dual Group 3 winner Right Key.
The popularity of Dark Angel has been a key feature of the autumn sales season and another of his offspring to sell well was the second foal out the juvenile winner Attracted To You.
The colt was sold by the Morrin’s Pier House Stud to Peter and Ross Doyle Bloodstock for 55,000gns.
Heading for the breeze-ups next spring is the Dutch Art colt out of Celeste which was sold by Kirtlington Stud to Abbey Farm for 52,000gns. Adrian Costello was attracted by the yearling’s looks and pedigree.
A half-brother to a stakes winner in Canada, his Green Desert dam is a half-sister to leading American racemare and dual Grade 1 winner Megahertz.
Thomond O’Mara’s Glentree Stud sold a Casamento half-brother to two winners out of the stakes winner Lafite for 50,000gns to Matt Houldsworth for Roseen Bloodstock. The dam is a half-sister to Group 1 winner and sire Imperial Dancer.
The same price was obtained by Ballyhimikin Stud for its Arcano half-brother to Surbett who earned black type when placed in a listed race in Italy as a two-year-old this year. The grandam of the colt is Ask For The Moon, winner of the Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary. Bobby O’Ryan was acting for Rebel Racing in the purchase.
Charlie Gordon-Watson was another to spend 50,000gns on a lot when he bid that amount for a filly by Nathaniel. This half-sister to nine winners numbers the Irish 2000 Guineas winner Cockney Rebel among her siblings and was bought for Tom Wilson.
All of the top lots traded, at the time of going to press, were sold on Thursday.