Tuesday at Tattersalls marked the highest-grossing session ever seen at Book 2, a sale already regarded by most consignors as their preferred venue to its strength.

Only six more yearlings graced the ring compared to 12 months ago, yet turnover climbed by a whopping 27% to 27,380,000gns, driving the median price up by a quarter to 87,500gns and the average price by 22% to 123,333gns.

The clearance rate came in at an impressive 90%, showing that vendors largely accepted the market’s valuation of their stock, but the general opinion appears to be that consignors are not exactly celebrating their gains and instead trying to cover their losses with their few wins.

Rising production costs, stallion fees and foal prices have regularly been mentioned as breeders and pinhookers explain the challenges faced, but with prize money remaining stagnant they’re on par with the challenges of the end user – battling increased bills across the board and paying record prices for their stock.

David O’Callaghan of Yeomanstown Stud shared a similar view after the family farm sold Tuesday’s top lot for 650,000gns - the highest-priced yearling of the week so far. The homebred Lope De Vega colt was one of seven lots sold by the operation, from an offering of 10 on Tuesday, with other highlights being a Starspangledbanner filly pinhooked for 135,000gns and resold for 325,000gns, as well as a homebred Chaldean colt sold to Blandford Bloodstock for 250,000gns.

Conflicting experiences

On their experience over the past two weeks, O’Callaghan commented: “We’ve actually done okay. It’s been a little bit thinner in spots than I would have liked. It’s still happening, just perhaps not as good as it has been other years. I had a very good line-up of horses here and it felt tricky in spots.”

On the fact that the sales statistics have been largely positive, he said: “It doesn’t feel like that. The cost of production and getting them here is higher than ever; whether you bred them or bought them, to produce these animals costs a lot.

“You need really good animals here because the competition is fierce and if to get them is expensive. I’ve sold some really good horses here the last two days at a loss. That’s the game, I guess – you win some, you lose some.”

The story of Yeomanstown’s broodmare Silk Bow has, thankfully, been completely positive as the Lope De Vega colt became a fifth six-figure yearling out of the 50,000gns buy. On the mare, whose previous top price was a 360,000gns Dark Angel colt, O’Callaghan said: “She’s an absolute beauty. Built like a tank, great walk. If you’re going to produce good-looking yearlings, you need good-looking mares, and she keeps producing good-looking horses.”

Tuesday’s price exceeded expectations, the consignor added. “I thought he’d sell very well but I didn’t think he’d hit those heights.

“He was an exceptional horse and the mare has done very well; she’s produced a number of highly-rated horses and the two-year-old looks very smart. Everyone liked him and for a Lope De Vega, he looked forward, mature. I won’t say precocious, but he looked a two-year-old.”

Next generation

Silk Bow’s record was an obvious draw for the Lope De Vega colt, along with his sire, but it was the physical specimen that pushed Richard Brown to 650,000gns, judging by his later comments to the press.

“I thought he was an outstanding individual, walking around the outside ring,” the agent relayed. “My 11-year-old son has just came from school, and when we leant on the rail I said, 'That's the one we're going to try and buy,' and he said to me, 'That is an amazing horse!’.

“Hopefully he's a good judge. But you love seeing them up here in the outside ring, and you see how they act and if they look like the complete professional up here.

“The mare has done it over and over again, year after year. He comes from a very good nursery at Yeomanstown and hopefully he is the sort of colt who will be running this time next year or a little bit earlier and then make into a smart three-year-old.”

Racehorses wanted

Ghaiyyath, the sire of Yeomanstown’s €200,000 to 1,300,000gns pinhook in Book 1, has proven popular throughout the 2026 yearling sales, with a quintent of six-figure sales at Goffs, while other Book 1 yearlings sold for 900,000gns, 425,000gns, 400,000gns and 380,000gns.

Elwick Stud was the latest breeder to be repaid handsomely for paying a covering fee of €25,000 when their Harry Dutfield-consigned colt brought 400,000gns from Richard Brown.

“I’m a big fan of the stallion, I think he’s going to go from strength to strength,” the Blandford agent commented. “This was a smashing colt; a big, scopey horse with a proper pedigree as well.”

Being by Ghaiyyath out of a Mastercraftsman mare, this half-brother to is expected to have greater stamina than some of the agent’s high-profile buys at the breeze-up sales earlier in the year.

On the sort of horse he’s seeking at the moment, he said: “Racehorses. A range of horses for a range clients, for an array of distances, early and backward and all the rest. This horse is going to be running over a mile to a mile and a quarter, as a three-year-old and beyond.”

Blue Point’s yearlings bred off the back of his impressive first crop continued to make waves on Tuesday, as a filly from Croom House Stud sold for 600,000gns, matching Monday’s top price for a colt by the same Kildangan Stud sire.

The son of Shamardal’s popularity has spread to the US, where Tuesday’s highest-priced filly will be trained by Cherie DeVaux for Matt Dorman’s Determined Stud.

“We love the stallion, we got a couple by him last year, and he just keeps performing, keeps delivering. She has a great physical too, so she really checked all the boxes,” Dorman reported, after David Ingordo entrusted his client with press duties.

Dorman and Ingordo bought five yearlings last week, with the busy owner making a trip back to the US before returning for Book 2.

“The plan was always to stay on for Book 2, this is the first we’ve got,” Dorman explained. “It was actually my wedding anniversary on Friday so I flew back home for that, then came back here for this horse and a couple of others!

“This week has been very strong for the yearlings with good pages and good physicals, some of these might’ve been Book 1 horses. We were hoping to get a bit more value, but if you want a good-quality horse, you’ve got to step.”

US comparisons

While the European sales statistics have generally been positive, they’re nothing compared to the booming market in the US. When asked whether they’ve found it easier to buy in Tattersalls, Dorman replied: “I don’t know if it’s easy, but unfortunately you still have the split between the really good horses and the ones that don’t fit the bill.

“It doesn’t seem like the drop off here is as great. We were outbid on five or six already this week. You’ve got to be disciplined, and we were real happy with what we got last week.

“We’re big fans of turf racing in the US. We also have a farm and we’re commercial breeders too. Touch wood, these horses will run really well. But if they don’t, then they can join the broodmares on the farm long term.”

As with Croom House Stud’s 3,800,000gns Wootton Bassett colt at Book 1, the Blue Point filly is out of a homebred mare who was retained at the yearling sales and went on to gain blacktype. This mare, a daughter of So You Think named Shapes, finished third to Alpha Centauri at listed level but didn’t manage to break her maiden.

Another daughter of Blue Point became Cheveley Park Stud’s third purchase of the week after the Thompson family’s operation outbid Emmet Mullins at 375,000gns. It continues the upturn in fortune for the mare Tezzaray, herself a 16,000gns foal, 22,000gns yearling, Grade 3 winner and Grade 1 third.

Close to 9pm, well after Alastair Pim reminded bidders ‘we all have homes to go to,’ and few lined the outside ring, the press bench groaned as bidding passed 300,000gns. Emmet Mullins was the subject of our death stares at that stage, trading blows with Rabbah Bloodstock’s Liam O’Rourke and Jono Mills, who proved most determined overall, relegating Amo Racing to the role of underbidder at 525,000gns.

Trevor Stewart, who bred the Ballyhimikin Stud-consigned son of Lope De Vega, was in a far more jovial mood than those rejigging sales reports. All smiles, he said: “I was very nervous. There were a few people I thought were on him but I couldn’t see them. That’s a wonderful price.”

When asked what went through his head as bidding exceeded expectations, he replied with a laugh: “Do I smile or do I not smile?”

Rabbah Bloodstock’s purchase is a half-brother to Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Victoria Road, out of the dual Group 3 winner Tickled Pink, herself out of Stewart’s homebred Royal Ascot heroine Cassandra Go.

Another one of her daughters produced last week’s 1,300,000gns Blue Point filly. On the never-ending success of the family, the breeder commented: “There are no words to describe it; it just goes on and on. Long may it live!”

Online bidding takes away from the drama of the sales ring, giving us one less poker face to scrutinise as we look back and forth between bidders, but when bidding enters six figures, there’s a strong chance that Paddy Twomey is clicking the mouse.

The odds shortened were even shorter when it came to Philipp Stauffenberg’s Sea The Stars filly, as Twomey had trained her full-sister Rosscarbery to win three group races and go close in the Prix Jean Romanet.

John Foote made a strong play for the May-born filly, but eventually admitted defeat at 440,000gns, despite Simon Kerins’ Oliver Twist-esque encouragement of ‘a little bit of courage, sir?’

On whether he had expected the price, Stauffenberg commented: “Obviously, she’s a sister to a very good horse and I think she was a very well-developed filly. I prepped her for the breeders, Gestut Witteskindshof. She was going down very well but you never really know what level you’ll end up at.

“She was specifically put into Book 2 on the wish of the breeders’; they wanted her to stand out here and it seems to have worked out.”

German heritage

The well-related bay was bred by Gestut Wittekindshof, as were her listed-winning dam, Preis der Diana-winning granddam Rosenreihe and three-time stakes-winning great granddam, as well as the likes of Elle Danzig, Pakistan Star and Tiger Hill.

While precocity and speed may have increased in buyers’ priorities over the last two decades, stamina has also regained popularity of late, partly thanks to a strong resale market. As an outsider, I thought that the popularity of German pedigrees might cheer Stauffenberg, but it’s quite the opposite, he said.

“To be honest, it’s a little bit sad that we are selling so many abroad. I wouldn’t say it gave me any additional pleasure. It’s good that it worked out and for me, the main thing is that the horses are successful on the track; the sale is only one step and obviously, if they sell well, life is a little bit easier.”

Paddy Twomey later said he had purchased the filly on behalf of an existing client. Regarding trade, the trainer commented: “I think there is a good standard of horse here and there is good trade for the horses that people want. There is great competition for them.

“Obviously, the foals were expensive last year and some of the vendors are probably finding it difficult. However, when we go in there to buy horses we want, we are fully extended every time.”

A pair of yearlings from the first crop of Little Big Bear led trade for much of the day, representing notable results for the breeders and pinhookers who had put their faith in the champion two-year-old, who debuted at a fee of €27,500.

Moanmore Stud were first to hit the jackpot when their €75,000 pinhook resold to Godolphin for 400,000gns. The May-born colt is the first foal out of the unraced Wootton Bassett mare New Beginnings, herself a half-sister to Group 3 scorer Penja.

“We are over the moon,” said Moanmore’s Paddy Vaughan. "When you're buying and selling horses, that's the people you dream of selling to, Godolphin and the whole team, so I am very grateful. I sold them one horse before and he turned out to be lucky. He was called Devon Island and I had him as a breeze-up horse.”

Regarding Moanmore’s latest success story, Vaughan explained: “Myself and Timmy Hillman, who actually works for Tattersalls Ireland, bought him together. He was just a great moving foal, a very young foal, but still a good strong colt, and he looks like that again today. I think he'll even get better as he goes along.

“It was something to consider that he was a young first foal, but he is out of a Wootton Bassett mare and that carries a lot of quality and so we were quite keen to buy him.”

Big result for small mare

Breeder Max Ervine and consignor AM Thoroughbreds each enjoyed a career-best result when Ervine’s homebred Little Big Bear filly sold for 380,000gns. Hamish Macauley signed the docket after bidding from the Gods, where he was joined by Charles Shanahan.

“I have been breeding for 50 years and I still have around half a dozen mares at home,” Ervine later explained. “Between them and chasing after cattle it keeps me busy, and the results like this make it all worthwhile. Adam [Morgan of AM Thoroughbreds] is great doing at this and he makes me lucky!”

Back in 2011, Ervine gave 160,000gns for the mare Purple Glow after she had been beaten a neck in the Marble Hill Stakes for Jim Bolger. For what she lacked in stature, she made up for in talent, like much of her progeny – her 85-rated son Mini Magna was well-named.

It was the mare’s height that drove Ervine to use Little Big Bear, who has impressed many with his powerful physique, he explained. “I loved him as a racehorse and I thought he'd definitely suit the mare, she is quite small.”