TOM Magnier was in the driving seat for the purchase of Cayenne Pepper, and that was an hour after his brother M.V. spent 1,800,000gns to acquire the much heralded Sunday Times, in foal to Lope De Vega, one of a pair of lots consigned to the sale by Goldford Stud.

Sunday Times, a daughter of Holy Roman Emperor, is the dam of Newspaperofrecord, dual Grade 1 winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and the Just A Game Stakes. Bidding opened at 400,000gns and the US breeder Greg Goodman was involved in the early action, but the battle came down to a head-to-head between Magnier and David Redvers, the latter sitting with owner-breeder David Howden. They joined the proceedings at 1,400,000gns.

“She is an absolute cracker,” Magnier said. “She has bred a champion and hopefully she is carrying a full-sister to her. She is a very nice mare, she has done it before and Newspaperofrecord was incredible with what she did in the Breeders’ Cup that day. She will be for Wootton Bassett.”

Sunday Times was sold by Allan Belshaw, whose bloodstock interests come under the banner Times Of Wigan, named after Belshaw’s engineering company. He said: “I am satisfied, happy about it. Slightly disappointed as I have had her since a baby, but there comes a time when she had to move on. I have plenty of babies from the family so it is like starting again with a young family.

No bid

“She was not sold as a yearling for 10,000gns. I brought her here to Book 2; Holy Roman Emperor was just starting his career. I don’t know if there was even a bid. I was hoping to get 30,000gns for her, but she turned into a good racehorse and an even better broodmare, and the big moment, of course, was with her daughter in the Breeders’ Cup.

“Someone bid me for Sunday Times when I was in Kentucky, and I thought that I could not sell her then. Since then we have had two fillies, another by Lope De Vega [2020], who is with Roger Varian, and a Kingman filly this year. We also have half a dozen half-sisters, so we are in a good place.”

Sunday Times won the Group 3 Sceptre Stakes and ran second in the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes. Her first foal was the listed winner Classical Times, by Lawman, and she is the dam of three winners with her first four foals. Her only non-winner is her only son!

Question Times, a stakes-placed Shamardal half-sister to Sunday Times, is the dam of the Group 1 Irish Derby winner Latrobe and the Group 1 Oaks runner-up Pink Dogwood.

Goldford Stud

All of Belshaw’s mares board at Goldford Stud in Cheshire, where Richard Aston helps him with the mating plans. Less than an hour after selling Sunday Times, her winning Gleneagles daughter Daily Times, also carrying to Lope De Vega, sold for 800,000gns to James Wigan’s London Thoroughbred Services, acting for the Pennsylvanian-based Erdenheim Farm.

Daily Times was bought back at this sale 12 months ago for 600,000gns, Wigan being the underbidder on that occasion. This time, with an attractive covering and after delivering a Blue Point filly foal, she proved to be more valuable. Daily Times will eventually head stateside, but not before delivering her 2022 foal and being covered by Kingman.