The strong word for the first crop of jumps foals by the repatriated Derby winner Authorized translated into an insatiable demand for his stock at this week’s Tattersalls Ireland November National Hunt Sale. Four of his sons were among the 10 best prices, his 15 lots sold averaged €52,133, and every good judge bought or attempted to buy one of his stock.
On Wednesday, consigned by John Dwan’s Ballyreddin Stud and bred by Louis Vambeck, an impeccably-bred, January-foaled grey by Authorized out of the unraced Kayf Tara mare Izzy Du Berlais strode purposefully into the ring, catching the attention of a packed auditorium.
A half-brother to one of the best young hurdlers in France, Harzand’s Grade 2 winner and Grade 1-placed son Six Figures, he was soon the subject of a bidding duel, ultimately between Joey Logan, and Capital Stud’s Darragh McCarthy, on either side of the balcony.
Ashen-faced afterwards, it was McCarthy who held his nerve, and the gavel fell in his favour at €170,000, the joint second-best price paid for a National Hunt foal at Tattersalls Ireland. The purchaser was acting for a group who have an audacious plan, and one that could well be a blueprint for the future, and help change the face of National Hunt breeding.
Stallion prospect
Following on from Coolmore’s stated intention to stand a son of their National Hunt flagbearer Walk In The Park, now Ger O’Neill’s Capital Stud hope to do the same with a son of Authorized.
McCarthy explained: “We have seen that Santiago foals are in high demand, Bande is going very well in France, and Leon Du Berlais was very well received this year, and so we thought this was our best chance to get a stallion prospect.
“We didn’t think we would have to give that type of money, or anything near it, and I’m shocked. It is the ‘Berlais’ family, a top-class French pedigree. When we were coming here, we thought we cannot leave without him. The physical is hard to fault; he’s a beautiful walker and is the whole package. He is a serious individual.”
McCarthy revealed that Authorized’s book next year, when he turns 22, will be kept tight. Izzy Du Berlais is already booked in.
“We thought he’d make six figures,” Vambeck said. “I have had a fabulous sale, and it is all down to John Dwan. I bought the mare privately as a foal - I fell in love with her there and then. She is a star and is in foal to Authorized.”
Hillman and Frisby
Timmy Hillman, and the father and son team of Richard and J.J. Frisby are clearly others who believe in Authorized. Castledillon Stud owner Hillman spent €92,000 for a son of the sire, from Ballincurrig House Stud, the property of Cathal Ennis’s Quill Farm.
Ennis brought a fine group of foals to the sale, and this was his best of the week. Hillman purchased in partnership with Tally-Ho Stud’s Roger O’Callaghan, and their colt is out of an unraced half-sister to For Non Stop, winner of the Grade 1 Scilly Isle Novices’ Chase and Aintree’s Grade 2 Old Roan Chase. He said: “He is a really athletic sort, comes back to me and will be resold. He has been very well produced and he is an exciting, imposing foal.”
“He has been well looked after up here, because he is a big boy and takes a bit of handling,” said Ennis. “He is probably the nicest foal I have had in a couple of years. He is a massive, loose-moving, gorgeous colt. The colour, size and scope he has is amazing. Authorized is a fabulous sire. He can get an Irish Derby winner, a Grand National winner, and everything in between. He can do anything.”
Two sons of Authorized each sold for €70,000. Dick and J.J. Frisby gave that for a colt bred by Seamus McKeogh, and one of two colts in the sale from Ballycorrigan Stud. He is the second foal out of the Grade 3-placed chaser Gardiala, herself a daughter of Kapgarde. “It is the first by the sire we have had,” JJ said. “This is a good pedigree; he is an athletic foal and will be for resale.” McKeogh added: “We bought the mare in France. He has been a great foal since he hit the ground, and he has been showing himself off well since being here.”
Last foal sold
The very last foal in the sale was Coolmara’s February-foaled son of Authorized, and the third foal of the unraced Zinga Girl (Jack Hobbs).
That mare is a half-sister to the three-time Grade 1 winner L’Ami Serge (King’s Theatre), Grade 2 hurdle and chase winner Sizing Codelco (Flemensfirth) and French listed hurdle winner Pollexfen (Yeats).
Brian Kiely signed for the colt in the name of his wife Yvonne, and made a bold opening bid of €50,000. Two others took him on, but he secured him at €70,000. He said: “The plan is to come back and resell. I am trying to get a better-quality horse. We had to wait a long time!”
CHAMPION sire Walk In The Park headed the sire list at the end of the sale, and had three of the top 10 lots on offer. They included two of the four lots to bring a six-figure sum, Oliver Loughlin’s son of Posh Trish for €145,000, and Ballyreddin’s son of En Vedette, on behalf of Louis Vambeck, at €130,000.
There was no surprise when Gerry Aherne was named as the purchaser of the more expensive of that pair. Having bred and sold her for just €1,200 as a foal, Cork-based Oliver Loughlin reacquired Posh Trish for the equivalent of €118,000 during Covid times, and she has had three sons by Walk In The Park since. Joey Logan topped the Derby Sale this year with the now three-year-old gelding at €285,000, having paid €85,000 for him as a foal.
The second foal, now a two-year-old, was purchased for €100,000 as a foal by Gerry Aherne with Charles Shanahan [topped the sale in 2023], but this time Aherne had to go €45,000 more to buy Posh Trish’s third. The mare won three listed races, a bumper and two hurdle races.
Aherne said: “From the minute I saw him I thought he was an exceptional animal, by an exceptional sire, from an exceptional breeder and out of a really good mare. This fellow will, I think, go down the French route. Delighted for Ollie [Loughlin] and his family – they are great people and supporters of us. When you produce something like that you deserve to get paid.
“The French system has worked well for us so far – we have a runner in a Grade 1 next week with our first attempt, so fingers crossed. Walk In The Park is a remarkable stallion at his age and let’s hope we can keep him going for a year or two yet. Standing one of his sons is the dream.”
Frisby’s best buy
Twelve months ago, Richard and J.J. Frisby topped the buyers’ list at Fairyhouse, and did so again. Their best a year ago was the €92,000 son of Walk In The Park out of the Auteuil three-year-old listed hurdle winner En Vedette. This time, En Vedette’s Walk In The Park colt foal came up for sale less than 24 hours after his Dan Skelton-trained full-sister Lune Brillante was a smart bumper winner on her debut. The Frisby duo saw off Ian Ferguson at €130,000.
J.J. was relieved. “We were determined to get him. We have the full-brother and he is a smasher.
“This fellow is a smasher as well and is one of the best foals in the sale, I think. We knew he would make a six-figure sum, but he went on a bit further than I thought.” The foal was bred by Louis Vambeck, and consigned by John Dwan’s Ballyreddin Stud. Vambeck said: “I am delighted. We knew we were coming here with the real article. He was born on a wet February night, and he stood up half an hour later. I said ‘wow’, we have something special. The dam is seven for seven after yesterday – and I believe the best is yet to come.”
THE three-day sale saw a quartet of foals realise six-figure prices.
While no one will deny that the market is a two-tier, if not three-tier one, the sale returns posted increases across the board.
A shift in buying practices is seeing more end-users buying foals rather than waiting until the store sales.
A large number of the higher-priced lots traded over the three days are being kept to race, purchasers believing that they are better value as foals rather than at three. These lots were selling for a premium.
Lower reaches
Somewhere in the middle, breeders were washing their face with sales, while at the lower reaches many breeders felt the cold wind of rejection, with a third of the foals offered failing to find buyers.
Simon Kerins acknowledged as much in his post-sale commentary.
“Prior to this year’s sale we were hopeful of a good solid few days, what with a small reduction in numbers catalogued [down 12%] compared with last year. However, this week’s trade was significantly better than we had ever imagined.
“The joint second-highest price ever paid for a foal, combined with record figures for one-day trade on day two, were some of the highlights.
Top price
“The top price of €170,000 represents the highest paid for a foal at the November National Hunt Sale since 2007. The turnover surpassed last year, with both the average and the median showing strong gains. This is a hugely encouraging outcome, and fitting to see the year out after a record-breaking Derby Sale.
“While we had a more compressed catalogue this year, the focus on quality was rewarded with a notably higher clearance rate, demonstrating the depth of demand for the right horses.
Buyers
“The National Hunt market has undoubtedly become more selective, as we witnessed on occasions this week.
“It was encouraging to see 11 different sires represented among the top 20 lots, giving breeders confidence that buyers are willing to look beyond the obvious and reward quality across a broad spectrum.
“A big thank you to our partners in Irish Thoroughbred Marketing who work alongside us in promoting the sale and are a constant support for our visitors prior to and whilst at the sale.”
THE Glenview/Rathbarry stallion Jeu St Eloi [pronounced ‘zhuh sant el-wah’] might have a name that is difficult to say for many Irish people, but the sire of Kargese was well-represented at the sale this week, and 40 of his foals sold.
Among them was the best filly of the three days, a wonderfully-bred sibling to a pair of geldings who won the same Grade 1 contest. This was the €85,000 paid by Ed Bailey for the John Yarr-bred who sold from Meadowlands Stud in Co Down. Bidding opened at €50,000.
She is a half-sister to A Wave Of The Sea and Hello Neighbour, both successful in the Grade 1 Spring Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown. Other siblings include Duvet Day, who was a Grade 3 winner on the flat in the USA. “She has a lovely pedigree, is the pick of the fillies here, and a great athlete,” Bailey commented. “The sire does well with fillies and the pedigree could take you around the world really. She has been bought for OLBG.” Within an hour, it was the turn of a son of Jeu St Eloi to sell well. Offered from Ashwood Stud for Marilyn Syme, he was bought by Michael Fitzpatrick’s J.C. Bloodstock, and is out of a half-sister to The Game Changer and Johns Spirit, both graded winners over jumps.
MICHAEL Moore’s Ballincurrig House Stud was again the leading vendor, with Yellowford and Drumlin (Frank Motherway and Conor Cashman) second again, but the gap closed appreciably this year. Ballincurrig sold 24 foals for €648,000. Motherway and Cashman sold 22 for €619,000.
Motherway and his son-in-law Cashman’s best of the week was the sale of a Crystal Ocean colt for €135,000. He was bought by unspecified clients of Charles Shanahan and Ian Ferguson.
The colt is out of an unraced Walk In The Park full-sister to Grade 2 winner and Grade 1-placed Jetara. His third dam La Noire bred five blacktype winners, featuring three Grade 1 stars – the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham winner Jezki, Punchestown Champion Novice Hurdle winner Jered, and Jetson.
“Myself and Ian came to an agreement that we both loved the horse, so it made sense to partner up on behalf of our existing, separate clients,” Shanahan revealed. “The pedigree speaks for itself, and the stallion is having a lot of four-year-old winners. We think highly of him, and I will be surprised if he does not make it, and I really think he will. We weren’t expecting to have to give that, though he is a special horse.”
SMALL selections of yearlings and mares started and ended the sale, and less than half of those offered in both sold. As ever though, both had their highlight moments.
Sixteen of the 38 yearlings offered on Monday morning sold, and the best of these was the third lot into the ring, a son of Doctor Dino consigned by Clonbonny Stud as part of the dispersal of Coral Racing Club. He sold to Timmy Hillman for €40,000 and is the first produce of the smart racemare Annie Mc.
That daughter of Mahler was trained by Jonjo O’Neill and won a Grade 2 mares’ hurdle at Newbury by eight lengths, while two of her five chase wins were in listed company. Her grandam bred the Grade 1 Cheltenham Stayers’ Hurdle winner Princeful.
There was an even weaker demand for mares and potential broodmares. Last year, the overall sale was topped by the Saint Des Saints mare Instit, a blacktype winner in foal to Walk In The Park, bought by Peel Bloodstock for €125,000.
The second mare in the ring on this occasion, sold as a potential broodmare, realised €30,000, purchased by Caroline Berry. She had sold a number of foals during the week for more than €100,000 as Berry Farms Bloodstock.
The mare in question was last year’s Grade 2 Midland Grand National winner Hurricane Georgie. A daughter of Court Cave, she was trained by Gordon Elliott for Pioneer Racing, and comes from a Russellstown Stud female family developed over many years by Peter Downes.
There was an even better price for a mare when the well hidden Kevin Hassett never hesitated with his bidding and paid €50,000 to buy the eight-year-old Authorized mare Harrisburg. She was a winner in France, and was sold in foal to Luxembourg.
Harrisburg is a full-sister to the three-time Grade 2 winner and Grade 1 runner-up Goshen, and a half-sister to the Cheltenham Grade 2 chase winner Elimay who sold to J.P. McManus as a three-year-old for €310,000.
Harrisburg was sold to dissolve a partnership between Cmj Sports, Tim Dineen and Patrick Blake.