THE opening session of the Tattersalls December Mare Sale, with the much-anticipated Sceptre Sessions not getting underway until close to 7pm. The first two headline prices of 600,000gns and 650,000gns came from an online buyer, their identity a mystery until it’s confirmed on the Tattersalls website, which takes away from the entertainment factor in a packed ring, although it obviously has its advantages for bidders.

Then came three buybacks at 200,000gns, 250,000gns and 250,000gns, but once bidding reached 750,000gns, it was immediately matched and then followed by an 800,000gns sale. Expensive horses come like buses, even if they run considerably faster than them.

The press pack was far slower when chasing Ace Stud’s Paul Curran for a quote once he and his colleagues left their perch in the sales ring after spending 2,522,000gns on seven mares, though their bidding was done online.

The most expensive of their loot was Caliyza, a half-sister to racing’s favourite gelding, Calandagan. Consigned by Overbury Stud, the daughter of Le Havre was offered in foal to Gleneagles, the sire of her four-time Group 1-winning brother.

“She’s got a three-parts sibling in the belly, and it made a lot of sense after the weekend as well” Curran commented. “It’s a phenomenal, phenomenal pedigree. Delighted to get her.

“We have no immediate plans. We’ll digest everything and sit down and discuss it all with everyone, especially the boss, and talk through everything.”

It marked a fine return on the 155,000gns that Blandford Bloodstock have for Caliyza 12 months ago, when she was offered by John McConnell’s Rockview Stables. Twice a winner in her native France for Francis-Henri Graffard and the Aga Khan Studs, Caliyza joined McConnell for €100,000 and finished fifth in the Old Borough Cup on her sole start for him.

All bases covered

Earlier in the Sceptre Session, Ace Stud bought back-to-back lots of different profiles for 600,000gns and 650,000gns. The lower of the two prices was paid for Henry de Bromhead’s 99-rated sprinter Town And Country, who won a listed sprint in Sandown and placed in another in Cork this season.

The daughter of Earthlight was bought to visit Ace Stud stallion Shaquille, as will the team’s 32,000gns purchase Cockeyed Optimist.

They have a very different plan in mind for their stamina-laden buys, with Seo Linn and bought to continue their racing careers in Australia. On Paddy Twomey’s Grade 2 bumper winner, Seo Linn, Curran explained: “Having seen what the likes of Ethical Diamond has done this year, and looking at the National Hunt horses, especially her – she stayed to win a Grade 2 over two miles and one furlong, and she came back to win over a mile and three furlongs this year.

“We’re going to explore the option to send her to Australia. I’m not sure what we’ll target exactly, but she obviously looks a very nice filly for some of the staying races down there.”

Whether buying as Yulong, Ace Stud or Willingham, Zhang Yuesheng has enjoyed great success buying race mares from Tattersalls and racing them Down Under, most notably with Via Sistina. The operation signed as Oakley Creek when buying River Of Stars at this sale 12 months ago and their 1,650,000gns purchase has gone some was to repaying them with a third in the Caulfield Cup and fourths in the Melbourne Cup and Sydney Cup.

That success encouraged them to spend 650,000gns on her full-sister Amazonian on Monday. On the four-year-old, who won her sole start for Ralph Beckett in January, Curran said: “She’s from a family that we know very well. River Of Stars has done very well this year; she ran very well in the Melbourne Cup. We wanted to buy into the family again.”

Rage Of Bamby is another mare with a long journey ahead after the Group 3-winning Saxon Warrior filly was knocked down to Katsumi Yoshida for 750,000gns. Fourth at Group 1 level and rated 109 at her peak for Eve Johnson Houghton, the now five-year-old carried the colours of Hot To Trot Racing on the track, who leased her from the Kavanagh family of Kildaragh Stud.

Explaining how he came across Rage Of Bamby, who cost €35,000 at the SGA September Yearling Sale, Peter Kavanagh said: “I just saw her on a video from Italy. In fairness, Marco Bozzi was the man who proposed her to me. I just liked her outlook and her attitude.”

The filly had pedigree on her side too, with East Of The Moon appearing as her fourth dam, as Kavanagh continued: “We’ve a lot of respect for the Niarchos blood, and East Of The Moon was a sister to Miesque. We were there in the glory days of the Niarchos stable and those families and those performances make an impact on you, so when you see them on a page, you have that extra bit of respect for them.”

On whether he regularly shops in Italy, the Kildaragh Stud boss said: “I always watch any sale I can; I buy fillies in Germany, too. So many good families came from Italy back in the day. It hasn’t had the same amount of investment since, no more than Germany, but those bottom lines are to be respected.

“I think it’s grand to be commercial, but I think we’ve got to develop families and look at the bigger picture of where the whole industry is going, and what stock we’re going to be left with. If we keep breeding purely commercially, rather than for class and the ability to race, we’re going to have a very short term in this industry.

“You’ve got to respect that they were breeding for the racecourse, they weren’t concerned with what was happening in the sales ring. And they were wealthy people who could afford to do that, but then when you inject a bit of class back into those pedigrees, with a miler, or a horse who has won three or four Group 1s, you can get anything. I think you need that baseline to be successful, sound and durable, and if you do that, you can achieve a lot and breed good horses.”

The above comments might lead readers to believe that Kavanagh is a serious man, but when asked how he celebrates, he replied: “Intensely.”

THE Sangsters know a thing or two about pedigrees, and their famous silks returned to Group 1 glory this season when Diego Valazquez captured the Prix Jacques le Marois. Since retired to the National Stud, the son of Frankel will be supported with quality mares, including Sam Sangster’s 750,000gns purchase Miss Justice.

“She’s been bought by the partners,” Sangster said of the listed winner, who was consigned by Barton Sales. “She will stay in training and go to Brian Meehan. We’ll continue with her and cover her in training.

“She’s lightly-raced, she’s a gorgeous filly, by Justify, and got a lovely pedigree. So there’s a lot to look forward to, really. She shows the kind of quality we wanted to support Diego Valazquez with.”

On whether they had a specific race programme in mind for the four-year-old daughter of Justify, Sangster replied: “We’ll regroup with Brian but there’s a couple of listed races coming up in December, we might target her at those, or we might think further afield.

“She’s a fast ground filly so we can see if there’s something for her in Dubai and then bring her back. When Diego Valazquez gets going, hopefully he’ll fancy her!”

Trained by John and Thady Gosden for Wardley Bloodstock and partners, Miss Justice proved progressive this season, having raced just once as a three-year-old. Off the mark in July, she won a listed race over 10 furlongs next time out and was beaten just a head in a Group 3 last time out.

Bought by Blandford Bloodstock as a yearling for €120,000, the Al Shahania Stud-bred bay is out of a full-sister to Falmouth Stakes heroine Timepiece and shares her page with Time Test, Twice Over and Passage Of Time.

Session statistics

The highest profile mares are catalogued to sell on Tuesday, so Monday’s figures don’t necessarily predict what the sale’s final figures will be, nor outline the whole picture. However, the opening session did post decreases in turnover, median and average.

Turnover of 21,451,000gns was 7% down on last year, while the average price fell by the same degree to 96,193gns. The median price fell by 6% to 47,000gns. The clearance rate of 85% was on par with last year’s corresponding session.