THE Italian racing and breeding sectors have been in the doldrums for some years. However a spark of hope was provided at the recent SGA Select Yearling Sale staged in Milan.

A satisfactory clearance rate of 74% from a much smaller catalogue meant that fewer yearlings were sold than last year, but the quality of the stock led to a 60% improvement in turnover, a 75% growth in average and a doubling of the median figure. Four yearlings made six-figure sums.

Italian trainer Bruno Grizzetti signed for the top lots at the sale, a daughter of Sea The Stars out of the unraced Tale Of The Cat mare Snowfield.

The dam has already had four winning offspring, headed by the Group 3 winning duo of Voice Of Love and Time Chant. Bloodstock agent Toby Jones was the underbidder for the filly who sold for €90,000 as a foal at Goffs last November.

The best-priced colt was a son of Australia out of a winning daughter of Holy Moon. That stakes-winning daughter of Hernando is dam of three Group 1 winners, Charity Line, Final Score and the ill-fated Sea Of Class, while another of her daughters, Cherry Collect, won the Italian Oaks after it lost its Group 1 status. The colt sold for €130,000 to Felice Villa’s Scuderia EffeVi and will join Alduino Botti. Villa raced most of the family’s best runners.

One of the first lots into the ring was a colt by Deep Impact’s son Danon Ballade and this first foal of the stakes-placed Excellent Art mare Epica was knocked down to Irish trainer Takashi Kodama for €120,000. The colt will join the Curragh handler, though his future is likely to be in Japan where he will race for Big Red Farm.

Antonio Somma’s Scuderia Bivans won an intense battle to secure an Acclamation half-sister to last year’s Group 3 winning juvenile Atom Hearth Mother for €116,000. The filly is the fourth offspring of the King’s Best mare Altezza Reale and all three previous progeny have run and won.