TUESDAY at Tattersalls saw 201 fillies and mares sell for a whopping 57,695,415gns, making it the highest-grossing day in European auction history. The packed nature of the sales ring added to the drama as Porta Fortuna brought 4,500,000gns, and was later overtaken by fellow Irish filly Barnavara at 4,800,000gns.
Sales like these are a pleasure to watch, attention switching between bidders like the swift returns of tennis, but the increased popularity of online bidding somewhat dulls the entertainment factor. It might be one of the reasons why neither of the star fillies provided my favourite moment of the night.
Instead, what will last in my memory is the standing ovation received by John O’Kelly after the auctioneer sold the final Sceptre Sessions offering of his 33-year career at Tattersalls. Due to company policy, both he and Tattersalls chairman Edmund O’Mahony will no longer auctioneer at Park Paddocks.
While no one expects this to push O’Mahony elsewhere, O’Kelly has greater freedom to travel with his gavel. Many hope to see him at another European auction, as his elegant style has an incomparable flair, often dipping into French with ease, through musical crescendos that should inspire any aspiring auctioneer.
It was sad to witness O’Kelly’s final star performance, but I’m glad that Porta Fortuna made for a fitting finale. O’Kelly rose to the occasion, beginning with a quote from Mary Poppins - “She’s practically perfect in every way” - before bidding opened at 1,000,000gns. The final price earned her the title of the highest-priced filly in training in the world this year, though Barnavara later stole her thunder.
Star mating
Only out of the first three on one occasion, Porta Fortuna, meaning ‘lucky charm’, has certainly been the horse of a lifetime for all involved.
The price paid 4,500,000gns by MV Magnier was the perfect ending to the amazing journey Donnacha O’Brien’s four-time Group 1 winner has taken her US owners on.
In his press debrief, Magnier began by complimenting the filly’s young trainer, saying: “In fairness to Donnacha, he’s done an incredible job with her and well done to him. She was a very, very good filly, she was very talented.”
On future plans for the bay, Magnier surprised many with his reply. “We’ve been putting a good bit of thought into it and there’s a good chance that she might go to Starspangledbanner. He’s such an under-rated stallion, it’s unbelievable.”
Bred by Aidan and Anne Marie O’Brien’s Whisperview Trading, Porta Fortuna was purchased privately by Mark McStay while unraced but in training with the youngest O’Brien. Medallion Racing, Steve Weston, Reeves Thoroughbreds and Barry Fowler enjoyed a priceless Royal Ascot winner when the daughter of Caravaggio extended her unbeaten record to three in the Albany Stakes.
After two Group 1 placings, she gained a top-level win in the Cheveley Park Stakes and gained her second in the Coronation Stakes, before following up in the Falmouth Stakes and the Matron Stakes.
Medallion’s Philip Shelton put it perfectly after the filly’s sale, saying: “This is why everyone tries to be in the game to have horses like this. For our partnership, and for me personally, she has taken us to a stratosphere we could never have dreamed about; it is a huge honour and privilege to be a part of the journey.
“She has unbelievable presence and an unbelievable mind and I think that was part of the reason she was so successful on the track. She has been a queen every step of the way. Horses are just amazing, they can take you to places and experiences that you can never dream about, when you look back you realise how fortunate you are.”
WHILE Porta Fortuna’s four Group 1 wins were her main appeal, it was the potential for future success that set Jessica Harrington’s Prix de l’Opera winner Barnavara apart.
Bidding opened at 1,000,000gns for Alpha Racing’s three-year-old, but the atmosphere deflated a degree or two when bidding stalled at 1,500,000gns.
It soon gathered pace, with Henry Lascelles taking on an online bidder and it was the faceless party who had the final say for the Baroda Stud-consigned filly. After what seemed like a long wait, the buyer’s name appeared as Sugar Whiskey Trading, widely believed to be Ace Stud.
“What a buzz!” an elated Harrington said, surrounded by well-wishers and members of Alpha Racing. “Jeepers, I promise you, that was more than my wildest dreams, it really was. We all get excited, and thought she might make three [million], but this is amazing.”
With many suspecting the mysterious online bidder to be Ace Stud, she continued: “I better try to keep her! There’s a lot in the tank; we thought she was only just growing into herself, she just kept improving all year. She’s a very big filly, but she’s an amazing filly, she really is.
“You’ve seen how big she is, but she actually won her maiden in May. And then we ran her in listed and group races and she kept getting placed.
“She just wasn’t quite finishing out her races and she probably went through a little bit of a weak stage. Her first run this year wasn’t good, it just didn’t happen, and then it all came together. It was extraordinary from then on.”
Fun, fun, fun
On the subject of Barnavara’s owners, Harrington continued: “They’re amazing. Alpha Racing was set up by my son-in-law [Richie Galway], Patrick Cooper and Legs Lawlor, with the plan to buy yearlings, race them, have fun and sell them, and hopefully, wash our face every year. It’s been incredibly lucky.”
Adding to the enjoyment of Barnavara’s sale was that the filly was sold by Harrington’s close friends, Tamso Doyle and David Cox of Baroda Stud. On Tuesday evening, Cox commented: “It is great for the syndicate. I have two friends in it myself - they love racing.
“Dad had not been too well and so I told them to get involved and have some fun - they have had the time of their lives and they can’t believe it.
“The win in France that is number one for them, and they are delighted with tonight. Everyone has got a big kick out of it – Patrick [Cooper] and Richie [Galway] buying her, Adrian at home who rides her out, it is a big team.”
Bred by Andriy Milovanov and Victor Tymoshenko, the daughter of Calyx was bought by BBA Ireland’s Patrick Cooper from Castlehyde Stud at the Goffs Orby Sale for €70,000.
She went on to win five of her 13 starts, including wins at listed, Group 3, Group 2 and Group 1 level.
MV Magnier topped the buyers’ table with an outlay of 11,100,000gns on four lots, one of which was bought by Stephen Hillen with Michael Tabor. If Sugar Whiskey Trading is, indeed, Ace Stud, then that operation spent a total of 7,832,000gns, which also includes a confirmed purchase under the name Western Harbour International.
Runner-up to Porta Fortuna in Magnier’s priciest purchases was Tamfana, his bid of 2,600,000gns providing a huge return on the €20,000 Jeremy Brummitt paid for her at BBAG as a yearling.
David Menuisier, who trained the bargain buy to win the Sun Chariot Stakes, said: “You have to be delighted as it is a Cinderella story. You buy horses at that level to have a bit of fun; you don’t expect to have a return, you don’t expect to try and win the Guineas, which she could have done. She has taken us on a magical journey. We can only be proud of what she has done.”
Tamfana announced herself as an exciting prospect when bolting up by nine and a half lengths in a Kempton maiden in October of her two-year-old career. The daughter of Soldier Hollow won a Chantilly Group 3 next time and got within a length of classic glory when finishing fourth in the 1000 Guineas.
Beaten three-parts of a length next time in the Prix de Diane, she returned to winning ways in a Group 3 at Sandown before conquering the highest level at Newmarket. Third in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on her season finale, her best effort as a four-year-old was a second at Group 2 level.
Her accomplishments have earned her a date with Justify, according to MV Magnier, who added: “She’s a very good filly. We bought her mother in Deauville last year [for €1,400,000]. David Menuisier did a very good job with her.”
Hillen takes the reins
MV Magnier employed Stephen Hillen, buyer of Via Sistina and a reknowned form expert, to unearth a filly with a bright future and the agent selected Saqqara Sands. Hillen’s opening bid of 1,000,000gns signalled his intentions and eventually brought the hammer down at 2,100,000gns, before signing alongside Magnier and Michael Tabor.
“I really liked her runs at Goodwood,” Hillen said of the Ralph Beckett-trained three-year-old, who was offered by her owner/breeders’ Oakgrove Stud. “She’ll go to America. I think she’ll be good on a turning track and there’s plenty of races for her there.
“She’s run to a Timeform rating of 110; that’s usually good enough to win Grade 1s in America. There’s lots of money there and she’s still young.”
As to whether a trainer had been selected for the dual stakes winner, Hillen transferred decision-making responsibilities to Magnier and Tabor. “They’ll make training plans, but I’m very lucky to be able to buy her. It was plenty of money for her, but she’s got a good shot.”
Plans undetermined
At 1,900,000gns, the multiple Group 1-placed Survie was the ‘cheapest’ of MV Magnier’s buys, and the daughter of Churchill may add to her value, with new connections debating keeping her in training as a five-year-old.
“She’s a very good filly and Nicolas Clement has done a great job with her,” Magnier said of the Group 2 winner, who was offered by her trainers Clement and Frauke Hermans. “We’re going to talk to Michael and Doreen [Tabor] and see what they want to do, but she might stay in training. We’ll make a plan in the next couple of days.”
Any future accomplishments by Survie would also benefit her Coolmore Stud sire Churchill, on whom Magnier commented: “Churchill has had another great year. He’s a good stallion and is probably the most value horse we have at home now.”
CHOISYA, the first of four top-flight winners catalogued on Tuesday, had exceeded expectations on the track and did the same in the sales ring, bringing 2,000,000gns from Anthony Stroud.
Stroud left it late to enter the fray with a bid of 1,700,000gns, with Billy Jackson-Stops having set the early pace, and Mark McStay looking the likely buyer for some way. After the gavel fell in his favour, Stroud revealed he had purchased Simon and Ed Crisford’s Grade 1 winner on behalf of an overseas client, but not Godolphin.
A stud career beckons for the daughter of Night Of Thunder, who gained her first blacktype placing in the spring of her four-year-old campaign and progressed to win a listed race that August. Back-to-back Group 2s followed in Meydan this year and the Rabbah Racing home-bred followed up in the Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland, where she was last seen finishing third in the Grade 1 First Lady Stakes.
The nature of her career adds to the satisfaction, Ed Crisford later said. “I was talking about it earlier; it is nice to see them come through the ranks like that. Even as a four-year-old, she won a listed race and came out the back in a Group 3, but she just wasn’t quite there yet.
“When we took her out to Dubai and to that American style of racing, she just loved it, it was the key to her. The quick ground and the turns and the bends. That was the spark that pulled her forward.”
Reflecting on Tuesday’s sale, Crisford added: “She was a lovely race mare and her owner, Mr Nabouda was delighted with her career and felt that now was the time to sell her. We’re delighted with the result.”
Resolute returns
John Stewart’s Resolute Bloodstock was a major force at last year’s sale and at rival auctions, but has quietened since, going as far as to switch to the role of seller at US sales this autumn/winter.
It therefore came as a surprise when Resolute Bloodstock appeared on the docket alongside David Redvers for two lots, including exciting juvenile Pintara, for whom Redvers outbid Michel Zerolo at 1,800,000gns.
Trained by Ralph Beckett for breeder Ballylinch Stud and partners, the chesnut was added as a wildcard by Alex Elliott’s Imperium Sales after making it two from two with a three-and-a-half-length listed win at Newmarket a month ago. Her debut performance at Salisbury in August was equally smart in a race won last year by fellow Pinatubo filly Qilin Queen, who went on to win a Group 2.
Arrowfield on target
Arrowfield Stud was another welcome addition to the buying bench, with bloodstock manager Jon Freyer securing beautifully-bred four-year-old Chere Darmoiselle for 1,300,000gns. Accompanied in the ring by John and Jake Warren, Freyer reported: “We will leave her here to foal and we will bring her home in the autumn, or what is the spring at home [in Australia].
“She has been bought for Autumn Sun, who we stand. We are big fans of Too Darn Hot; we are sending him half a dozen mares this year. We love that family and the opportunity to buy a filly out of the family was too good to resist.
“We were hoping to buy her a fraction less than that, but the ones with those sort of pedigrees you really have to stretch for and I am pleased that we did.”
Consigned by breeder Watership Down Stud, Chere Darmoiselle was offered in foal to Zarak. The unraced daughter of Kingman is a half-sister to Too Darn Hot and Lah Ti Dar, out of multiple Group 1 winner Dar Re Mi. Her granddam is a half-sister to Darshaan and herself won the Prix Vermeille before producing four Group 1 winners.
Rising figures
Later in the session, Watership Down Stud sold Group 3 winner Lady Boba, carrying her first foal by Night Of Thunder, to Ecurie des Monceaux for 1,300,000gns. Time, and a first cover by that same sire, saw Azure Blue’s value rise considerably in the space of 12 months.
Bought back for 600,000gns at last year’s sale, Michael Dods’ Group 2 winner brought 1,100,000gns from First Bloodstock on Tuesday. Consigned by Barton Sales, Dods’ 47,000gns yearling buy hails from the family of Prince Arch.
Eleven seven-figure sales on the night matched the previous high and, while there was a reality check at the final session of the week, the final figures were hugely positive. A final average price of 140,661gns was some way clear of the previous record of 124,539gns, while the median rose by 7% to an all-time high of 40,500gns.
Turnover dropped by 2%, which was positive considering that 10% fewer lots went under the hammer. The clearance rate did, however, drop three points to 81%.