“BRADSELL looked a very fast horse from day one.” That’s true from an onlooker’s perspective – he bolted up by nine lengths on debut and followed up in the Coventry Stakes - but Mark Grant is referring to the very first day he lunged the Tasleet colt as a yearling.

“As soon as I got him in the ring on the first day to lunge him, he just looked like he could go,” said Grant, who runs a breaking and pre-training operation in Lambourn, as well as prepping horses for the breeze-up sales. Bradsell had come to Grant to be broken, sent by Harry Dunlop who bought the bay with Highflyer’s Anthony Bromley for just 12,000gns at the Tattersalls Somerville Sale.

Massive stride

So impressed was Grant that day, that he asked Dunlop if he could buy him to breeze, and the pair ended up splitting the horse 50:50. I’m amazed that Grant, a former jockey, could see Bradsell’s ability at such an early stage, to which he replies: “He just had a massive stride. As a yearling when he arrived, he wasn’t very big, but he covered some ground. He had a good, big hip on him, and he was strong for a small fella.”

Unfortunately for Grant, what he saw in the horses didn’t transpire in the ring at the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale, where he sold to Blandford Bloodstock’s Tom Biggs for £47,000. “The reason that he didn’t really make what he should have is that his x-rays weren’t very good,” Grant explains. “But we always knew he was quick; his work was very good.”

Grant’s belief, and Biggs’ judgement, has since been vindicated by three Group 1 wins for Archie Watson and Victorious Racing. Once again, it proves that consignors’ judgement is one of the most important things to consider when buying at the breeze-up sales. So much can go wrong on the day, but consignors’ opinion of a horse is based on months of preparation.

So, what says Grant on the four fillies he brings to the Goffs UK this week? The draft kicks off with Lot 16, a Showcasing filly prepped and consigned on behalf of a client. “She goes well,” Grant says. “She’s a very straightforward filly and I could see her doing very well. Her work is good and she could do a good time.”

The next offering, Lot 64, is also owned by a client. “The Ardad filly out of a Frankel mare goes very well,” Grant reports. “She looks early and sharp; she could clock well too. She’s an elegant filly with a bit of quality about her.”

Up next is an Oasis Dream filly that Grant bought at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale for £34,000. “She just looks all speed, she looks very quick,” Grant says. “From the day I bought her, she just puts her head down and does it.

“She’s very professional, she didn’t take any teaching, she just knows how to gallop. She’s the one I’m looking forward to most next week; I think she’s a smart filly.”

Completing the quartet is a client’s Palace Pier filly, whose half-sister was offered by Grant at the sale’s 2024 renewal. “The Kingman half-sister breezed quite well – I think she was 18th fastest in the times. This filly has potential too; she’s quite quick, she goes well and she’s a good-looking filly.”