BIDDING reached 500,000gns relatively early on Friday, but the sales ring was comparatively quiet by bloodstock’s high standards until West Blagdon Stud’s Frankel colt entered the building after 4pm.
That might be hard to explain to those unfamiliar with the sales, given that 12 foals sold for between 200,000gns and 280,000gns in the interim, but they wouldn’t have made the top 20 in 2024.
Perhaps Frankel’s fee of £350,000 would justify his stock’s price to industry outsiders, or their potential resale value - his 2025 yearling sold for an average of £721,740, not that it concerns M.V. Magnier, who bought West Blagdon Stud’s colt for 1,150,000gns.
After outbidding Juddmonte’s Simon Mockridge, with Ed Sackville also among the underbidders, Magnier commented: “It is a great result for James Wigan, he is one of the best breeders there is, it is a great farm and produced a lot of good horses.
“Frankel is a very good stallion and this is a very nice horse. We will take him home, we will review plans after the summer, but in all likelihood, he will go to Ballydoyle. It is a lot of money for him, but when you breed a horse like that the Wigans deserve to get it.”
Wigan himself bought the colt’s granddam, In The Mist, for 110,000gns at this sale in 2006.
She rewarded him with two stakes winners, including this colt’s dam, Group 3 winner Cloudy Dawn. The Kodiac mare’s first foal, a Sea The Stars colt, has been named Windbreaker and is in training with William Haggas. Her second produce, a Baaeed filly, fetched 260,000gns 12 months ago.
Perfect match
On his expectations for her latest foal, Wigan replied: “I didn’t have any sort of figure in my head. I thought he was a very nice horse and deserved to make a good price.
“Frankel gets great bone, great substance. He suits a mare with speed and she was fast, and they worked together on conformation. This foal has always been a very nice horse and has a very nice character. You don’t expect to sell a horse for that sort of price. I am delighted that M.V. got him and he has gone to the best possible home – with Coolmore and Juddmonte battling for him, he is going to get the best home whichever! It is just what you want for the mare.”
At the time of writing at 5.30pm, the Frankel colt held top lot status, with 46 lots left to go through the ring. Four lots had gone unsold for between 200,000gns and 780,000gns, compared to none 12 months ago, suggesting that the top of the market was not as strong as at last year’s record-breaking renewal.
Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing topped the buyers’ table last year with a spend of 4,675,000gns, but had yet to appear in the results at the time of this publication going to print.
A Frankel filly offered by The Castlebridge Consignment lit up the ring close to print deadline, bringing 850,000gns from Henry Lascelles. The bay is the first foal out of Tropbeau, who won three group races for Lady Bamford and Andre Fabre. The daughter of Showcasing also placed in the Prix Maurice de Gheest and Cheveley Park Stakes.
OVERBURY Stud enjoyed a memorable 20 minutes or so when selling three foals for a total of 700,000gns at Tattersalls on Friday morning. A large chunk of that change was given for the Native Trail half-brother to Gewan, winner of the Dewhurst Stakes since the catalogue was printed.
The Night Of Thunder juvenile sold to Zhang Yuesheng after winning the Acomb Stakes and it was Yuesheng’s Ace Stud that secured Friday’s offering, seeing off Ed Sackville with a bid of 500,000gns.
“Surprised, thrilled, very excited,” Overbury Stud manager Simon Sweeting said after confirming that it was the farm’s best ever price for a foal. Comparing the thrill of the sale to Gewan’s Group 1 win, he reflected: “You could watch the Dewhurst and enjoy it, but this was a blur! It won’t sink in for a while – it might never happen again, we will enjoy this!”
Both the 500,000gns foal and Gewan were bred by Overbury Stallions and Dukes Stud out of the blacktype Lethal Force mare Grey Mystere, who was bought for €100,000 in 2021. “It is wonderful, we have been very lucky indeed,” Sweeting continued.
“He is a late foal and we did consider selling as a yearling, and if we had to take him home today, we would have done. We entered him before the Dewhurst, and when myself, Charlie and Richard [Brown, Blandford Bloodstock] chatted we decided that if we could get him away to an end user now, we would do and we are thrilled that he has been bought by Ace Stud.”
No brainer
Ace Stud’s Harris Li delivered the final bid, while press duties were deferred to Paul Curran. “It was a bit of no-brainer really, with Gewan, and this is a family we love and keep buying into and she is a nice young mare,” the Co Waterford native commented.
“The foal is a little immature and a bit backward, but he is a May 10th foal and he will have all the time he needs. He is one who I can see improving with time and he is going to race in our colours.”
On Kildangan Stud’s champion two-year-old Native Trail, Paul Curran commented: “We have seen a lot by the sire and we like them. They look like himself and there is no doubt a lot should be as good as him, judging by their physicals.”
The half-brother to Gewan was one of four Native Trail foals to sell for six-figures at Tattersalls. Bred from a debut fee of €17,500, 15 foals sold for an average of 85,833gns.
Value six-figure sire
Gewan was one of five Group 1 winners by Night Of Thunder in 2025, which has driven the Kildangan Stud sire’s fee to €200,000 for the 2026 season. Breeders who used the top miler at €100,000 must be feeling quite smug now, particularly Plantation Stud, who sold a filly by the sire for 400,000gns on Friday.
The half-sister to Group 3 filly Star Music and US stakes winner Unanimous Consent was knocked down to Liam Norris, who said: “I didn’t think that I would be able to get her. She is absolutely beautiful, she has a fantastic shape to her and looks fast. I went to see her about an hour ago and she was still showing like she was three days ago.
“I’m very lucky to buy her for Ben Spiers, who I have bought for the last two years and we have had a nice little touch each time.
“The pressure was off as he said that he will race if she can’t be resold next year.”
FIRST crop sires are always popular with the pinhooking fraternity, with no chance of their statistics dipping or popularity fading, so it was perhaps unsurprising that they dominated Tuesday’s opening session.
A colt by Dragon Symbol and filly by Shaquille shared top lot status, bringing 75,000gns from respected judges. Paul and Marie McCartan’s Ballyphilip Stud signed for the colt by Norris Bloodstock, while Luke Barry’s Manister House Stud came away with the Shaquille filly from Petches Farm.
Shaquille netted another notable result the following day when a colt from Genesis Green Stud sold for 180,000gns to Ace Stud, who now stand the young sire. Michael Swinburn’s farm enjoyed an even better result on Thursday when their Shaquille filly brought 210,000gns from Paca Paca Farm, while Ballyphilip Stud gave 190,000gns for one of the sire’s colts from Plantation Stud.
Shaquille had a strong chance of making a good impression at Tattersalls, with 51 foals catalogued, while fellow first crop sire Paddington had just three. The Coolmore Stud resident made a quiet statement, with prices of 200,000gns, 120,000gns and 40,000gns to Camas Park Stud, Kelly Equine and Tradewinds Stud.
The buyers of Dragon Symbol’s 48 catalogued foals were also noteworthy, including Peter and Ross Doyle, Ballyphilip Stud, Richard Frisby, Aughamore Stud, Apoloo Bloodstock, Grove Stud and Clifton Farm.
Chaldean covered an impressive first book of mares that saw a number of the resulting foals earn a place in Friday’s session and yielded eight sales exceeding 100,000gns. Stringston Farm’s half-sister to Group 2 winner Melo Melo was the highest priced offering, bringing 240,000gns from Sackville Donald.
The Pocock family’s farm also sold a Chaldean colt for 180,000gns to Juddmonte, who also repaid the Whitehead’s Altenbach Bloodstock with 205,000gns for their colt by the sire. Whatcote Farm Stud consigned another of Chaldean’s highlights, a colt bought by Yeomanstown Stud for 185,000gns.