INTRICATELY was the outstanding offering on the first day of the 2017 Tattersalls December Sale and she lived up to expectations, commanding a value of 1,700,000gns when the hammer fell in favour of John and Jake Warren.

The three-year-old daughter of Fastnet Rock provided trainer Joseph O’Brien with his first Group 1 success in last year’s Moyglare Stud Stakes, and this year ran fourth in the Irish 1000 Guineas.

“She was the star of the show,” said Jake Warren.

“We rated her highly and she is an absolutely beautiful Group 1-winning two-year-old. She also comes from a fantastic female family and we felt she was faultless in every way.

“She will be a wonderful foundation broodmare for a client who is getting started with a bloodstock interest and looking to build a band of high-class horses. She will be coming to Highclere and will be knocking on a number of doors regarding nominations.”

Intricately was part of The Castlebridge Consignment and is out of a Galileo half-sister to the seven-time Group 1 winner Rock Of Gibraltar. She raced for her owners John Murrell and his wife Chantal Regalado-Gonzalez.

The price paid for Intricately eclipsed the 1,600,000gns the same owners received two years ago for the Oaks winner Qualify, also a daughter of Fastnet Rock.

One other lot on the opening day sold for more than half a million guineas. The five-year-old Showcasing mare Prize Exhibit raced with great honour in the USA, winning the Grade 2 San Clemente Handicap and Monrovia Stakes, while also placing in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks. The best of seven winners from her stakes-placed dam, she was the choice of Barronstown Stud owners David and Diane Nagle and cost them 775,000gns.

A slightly reduced catalogue on the opening day nonetheless produced a 35% rise in turnover to 15,474,700gns, while the average was up 44% to 80,180gns. The median fell by 10%.