TRADE burst into life on Wednesday, the second session of the restructured Tattersalls December Foal Sale, after a quiet opening day.

Thursday was a viewing day, allowing buyers plenty of time to inspect the better quality lots catalogued for Friday.

While the overall totals on the day were down a little from last year, the clearance rate was the same as that recorded 12 months earlier, while the median saw only a minor downward adjustment, from 32,000gns to 31,000gns.

Twelve lots sold for in excess of 100,000gns, headed by a son of Whitsbury Manor Stud’s Havana Grey at 250,000gns. It is clear that purchasers cannot get enough of the stallion’s stock, while breeders who used him last year for £6,000 are being remarkably well rewarded, and the stallion will cost £55,000 in the spring.

Déjà vu

Ed Harper’s Whitsbury Manor Stud itself benefitted when an opening bid of 100,000gns indicated a strong level of interest in their well-related colt, and eventually translated into a sale for 250,000gns to Rumstar Bloodstock, bidding online, with bloodstock agent Alex Elliott the underbidder.

The reason for the buyer’s interest can be understood as the April-foaled colt is an own-brother to the Group 3 Cornwallis Stakes winner Rumstar, himself the first foal of the Sakhee’s Secret mare Stellarta. That mare is a daughter of Group 2 Cherry Hinton Stakes winner and twice Group 1 runner-up Torgau.

It was a case of déjà vu as the corresponding session of the sale last year was topped by Whitsbury Manor Stud with another son of Havana Grey, and that son of Arcamist proved a profitable purchase by Stauffenberg Bloodstock Services, who sold him to Godolphin for 600,000gns in Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

Havana Grey had a second representative among Wednesday’s six-figure lots when Arwel Bloodstock sold the first foal of Outcast, a winning daughter of Outstrip of JC Bloodstock for 105,000gns.

NEWSELLS Park Stud received 200,000gns from Nick Bell, director of Baron Edouard de Rothschild’s Haras de Meautry, for a son of Kingman on Wednesday.

Bred by Gestut Hof Ittlingen, the January-born colt is the first produce of the dual Group 3 winner Liberty London, a daughter of Maxios from a German family packed with champions and Group 1 winners.

Bell said: “He will be kept to go into training, and hopefully will go to André Fabre in two years’ time: that’s the plan. We always buy a couple of foals every year. It is a thing we do every year so we can compare them to the foals we have at home, and we think we get a bit better value as a foal than buying as a yearling.

“He is a nice, good-looking, good-walking foal and out of a good racemare. She won from three to five and she ran in good company all the time; that was a big thing for us. She was obviously tough. That was the sort of price we had in mind. I told Edouard he would cost between 150,000 and 200,000gns.”

The first in the ring from Wednesday evening’s Newsells Park Stud draft, a filly by Blue Point and out of the South African Grade 2 winner Nafaayesm by Exceed And Excel, made 110,000gns and was signed for by Paul McCartan of Ballyphilip Stud.

He said: “I have tried on a couple earlier this evening and got beaten, so I am really pleased to get her. It has not surprised me that [Blue Point] has done as well as he has, judging by the progeny he is getting. They look like racehorses and they have very good temperaments. He is a very exciting stallion and you couldn’t get enough of them!”

McCartan has had previous significant results with the progeny of Blue Point – at this year’s Book 1 Sale he sold three yearlings by the sire for an aggregate of 1,980,000gns, with a top price of 1.5 million given by Godolphin for the half-brother to Baattash and The Antarctic.

THE dispersal of the late Sir Robert Ogden’s stock has formed a part of several Tattersalls sales, and a Too Darn Hot colt consigned by New England Stud on behalf of Lady Ogden proved to be one of the highlights of the second day when selling for 185,000gns to Guy O’Callaghan’s Grangemore Stud.

Bidding developed into an O’Callaghan family duel with Tally Ho Stud’s Tony and Roger O’Callaghan, making a determined effort to secure the January-born colt, but it was Robert O’Callaghan who had the final say on behalf of his brother Guy’s Grangemore Stud.

The colt is out of the Oasis Dream mare Canonbury, a winning daughter of Ballymacoll’s exceptional dual champion Islington. The colt’s two-year-old half-brother Tchaikovsky posted a stylish maiden win since the catalogue was published.

New England’s Peter Stanley commented: “Obviously the Ogdens have enjoyed their racing for so many years and things are changing, so it was lovely to end up with a really nice one by Too Darn Hot, and there has been a couple of updates recently. It is the most wonderful family with Islington, and with the class of Too Darn Hot who is looking very exciting and I can only think will be even better next year with his thee-year-olds.”

Canonbury will be sold this coming week, from New England Stud.

Grangemore Stud struck again a few lots later at 170,000gns for a colt by Blue Point, and he, like his Darley stud-mate Too Darn Hot, has really impressed with his first crop of runners this year. The colt was consigned by Hawes Stud.

Hawes Stud’s Michael Gaffney, whose star alumnae as a breeder include the four-time Group 1 winner Alcohol Free who topped last year’s Tattersalls December Mares Sale at 5,400,000gns, was emotional after the sale, commenting: “It is absolutely fantastic. Glowing Star [the dam] is from a very, very fast family. We went to Blue Point whom we thought was a rocket, and we loved him when we saw him. We put two rockets together and we got a superstar of a horse, so we are thrilled!

“This is one of the better prices that my wife and I have sold under the Hawes Stud banner. We had been with my brother Tom of Churchtown House Stud, and now we have sold for a couple of years under Hawes Stud.

“We are diverging but staying together.” Glowing Star is a half-sister to the Group 2 Ridgewood Pearl Stakes winner and Group 1 Irish 1000 Guineas third Devonshire, and this is the family of Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes winner Winter Power.

ANOTHER Blue Point who hit six figures on Wednesday was a filly sold by McCracken Farms to Good Will Bloodstock for 165,000gns, the third-best price the farm achieved at Tattersalls.

Craig McCracken was all smiles afterwards as he recalled buying the filly’s dam Roseau City, by Cityscape, for just 4,000gns.

“The filly is by the sire of the moment in Blue Point, she was very well received, a lovely walker, and great to work with. We are very happy,” said McCracken.

“We bought the mare here at the February Sales, she came from David Elsworth’s. It has worked out very well for us. She is back in foal to Sioux Nation. Her Cotai Glory colt Pockett Rockett was a very good horse and the mare has already done well for us, but this has taken it to a new level.”

The Co Antrim farm enjoyed further success two hours later with the sale off a colt by Sioux Nation and out of the Shamardal mare Thraya Queen for 155,000gns, Tony O’Callaghan’s Tally Ho Stud winning the bidding duel.

Roseau City was bought at the Tattersalls February Sale in 2018, while Thraya Queen was purchased at the same sale two years before for even less, signed for by Cecil McCracken at 1,700gns!

She was bought out of Richard Fahey’s Musley Bank Stables and has had one winner from one runner, Panic Alarm who won twice at two for Jessica Harrington and has since finished second in the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap for trainer John Sadler. Thraya was covered by Space Blues this spring.

Another Irish farm in the headlines on Wednesday was Kellsgrange Stud who sold their daughter of New Bay and the Oasis Dream mare Freedom March for 110,000gns to Blandford Bloodstock. The filly is a half-sister to this year’s useful juvenile Spanish Phoenix, beaten only a length by his stablemate Array when fourth in the Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes.