ORCHID Bouquet set a new record price for the Tattersalls July Sale when fetching 550,000gns on Wednesday, but that figure was knocked out of the park at Thursday’s final session, when Blandford Bloodstock’s Richard Brown stretched to 775,000gns for Royal Ascot winner Quai de Bethune.

After seeing off an online bidder and Dr Khaled Salami, Brown, unsurprisingly, confirmed that Andrew Balding’s colt was bought on behalf of Wathnan Racing. “The horse won at Royal Ascot, didn't have the smoothest passage in the race but still found a way to win,” Brown continued.