Callisto Star topped day one of the Tattersalls December Mares Sale when selling for 675,000gns.

Dam of the Grade 1 American Oaks winner Rhea Moon, Callisto Star was knocked down to Grant and Tom Pritchard-Gordon of Badgers Bloodstock.

Consigned by Ballybin Stud, the daughter of Fastnet Rock was offered in foal to Starspangledbanner, carrying a full sibling to both Rhea Moon and her second foal There's The Door, who was placed in the Listed Cheshire Oaks.

“She’s to stay here in Europe,” said Tom Pritchard-Gordon, whose purchase was made on behalf of an existing client. “She’s a beautiful mare and has already produced a Grade 1 winner with her first foal. She’s carrying a full-sibling to that Grade 1 winner inside her too.

“Fastnet Rock is as good a broodmare sire as there is and her dam is by Galileo so it’s all the bloodlines you want. She’s the whole package. I haven’t decided who she’ll be covered by next year but Starspangledbanner is an obvious target. Fastnet mares work with so many different bloodlines that she could go anywhere.”

Callisto Star was bred and owned by Kevin Molloy, who was at Tattersalls to watch his mare sell.

“We bred Mohican Princess, her grandmother," said Molloy. "Callisto Star was injured and so did not race, we always liked her as an individual, she has a lovely head, very compact and very strong. We wanted to get her a faster horse and so we used Starspangledbanner. Rhea Moon was amazing - last St Stephen's night the whole family watched the American Oaks. She had this incredible speed and has gone to Japan. It was a big decision to sell today, but we have a lot of the family - we still have the mother and she is in foal to Starspangledbanner, and we have a half-sister by Zoffany.”

Mauiewowie sold to Japan

The Night Of Thunder filly Mauiewowie is set to head to Japan after being purchased by Lake Villa Farm for 625,000gns.

Trained by Ger Lyons and consigned by Norris Bloodstock, the filly caught the attention of Lanes End Farm’s Will Farish and underbidder Steve McCann of Kia Ora Stud but it was Yoshihisa Iwasaki, farm manager for Lake Villa Farm, who prevailed. The stud has a broodmare band of 50 and is based in Hokkaido.

"She is going to Japan and to stud. She is a strong mare, we love her conformation and we love her attitude," said Iwasaki. "We have not made covering plans yet, but she will go to one of the very best stallions in Japan."

Mauiewowiw, who won the Listed Curragh Stakes as a two-year-old, is out of the Holy Roman Emperor mare La Chapelle, a half-sister to the champion older horse Ghaiyyath, the winner of nine races including the Group 1 Juddmonte International, the Group 1 Eclipse Stakes and the Group 1 Coronation Cup, and to Zhukova, winner of the Grade 1 Man O’War Stakes.

Their dam Nightime won the Irish 1000 Guineas whilst Mauiewowie's third dam Caumshinaun was champion older mare in Ireland in 2001.

Consignor Jenny Norris said: "She came to me through Katie Walsh, who recommended us to owner Eleanora Kennedy who is in the US. It is great to have mares of that calibre, and to have mares in the Sceptre Session and for a small consignor.

"She has behaved like an absolute dream and it did not take much imagination to think what she will look like when she lets down as a mare. She has some different markings, and her Japanese buyers loved her markings and were very keen and were determined to get her.

"She had a lot of lookers, 87 shows on the first day and every time she just came out and marched up and down. It was great to see all the connections who have been involved with her through her career to date and will be interesting to see how she gets on in the breeding shed.

Daughter of Aquarelliste

A few lots earlier, the Tamayuz mare Authoritaire became the first of the ‘Sceptre’ lots to break the half million guineas mark when selling for 525,000gns to agent Charlie Gordon-Watson after he saw off Haras de la Perelle’s William Rimaud and locally based owner-breeder Stuart Stuckey. Consigned by the Castlebridge Consignment, Authoritaire was offered in foal to Dubawi’s 2000 Guineas winning son Night Of Thunder.

A four-year-old mare by Tamayuz, Authoritaire is a daughter of the champion older mare Aquarelliste, winner of the Group 1 Prix de Diane and dam of two blacktype winners including the Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet runner up Ame Bleue.

Her second dam is the Group 3 Prix de Psyché winner and dual French Classic placed mare Agathe, the dam of Artiste Royale, winner of the Grade 1 Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap and the Grade 1 Clement L Hirsch Memorial Turf Championship.

"It is one of the great families, she is in foal to Night of Thunder and she is a mare who will suit him, and it all makes good sense," said Gordon Watson. "She will be going to Ireland."

The sale continues on Tuesday, with the second part of the ‘Sceptre Sessions’ set to take place in the evening.