IT was a solid start to Book 2 of the October Yearling Sale with five lots topping the 200,000 guineas mark on the opening session of the three-day sale, and 37 yearlings sold for 100,000 guineas or more. The opening session saw a total of 200 lots sell for 12,565,500 guineas at an average of 62,828 guineas and a median of 50,000 guineas.

The sale-topping lot on the opening day of Book 2 of the October Yearling Sale was the chesnut colt by Shamardal out of the King's Best mare Dehbanu. Consigned by Barry Mahon’s Mountain View Stud, the colt was knocked down to Shadwell Estates’ Angus Gold for 250,000 guineas after a lengthy bidding battle with BBA Ireland’s Patrick Cooper.

"We bought the mare here on her first covering here in-foal to Lope De Vega," said Mahon. "This colt has always been a lovely type, a good walker and a real two-year-old."

That first Lope De Vega foal was named Barbarous, is the winner of two races in Italy and rated is 104, while the three-quarters relation to this colt, Dubai Prince, is a dual Group 3 winner. It is also the family of triple-Group 1 winner Storming Home.

Newmarket trainer Roger Varian was one of the leading buyers at Book 1 of the October Yearling Sale, signing for 13 yearlings for more than 4m guineas, and he continued where he left off buying a further seven yearlings on Book 2’s opening session. This was led by the 210,000 guineas colt by Iffraaj from Michael Fitzpatrick’s Kilminfoyle House Stud.

The colt, a full-brother to the stakes-placed Musharakaat, and is out the Gilded Time mare Gift Of Spring, a half-sister to the good racemare and broodmare Witch Of Fife, dam of the group/listed winners Drumfire, Cabaret and Ho Choi.

"He has been bought for Sheikh Mohammed Obaid," reported Varian. "He is a well related and a really nice colt. He should make up into a summer two-year-old, but looks to have the scope to train on."

The sale represented a pinhooking triumph for his owners, having purchased him as a foal for €55,000.

Varian also signed for the top-priced filly on the opening day when he went to 200,000 guineas to secure the Nathaniel daughter of the listed-placed Danehill Dancer mare Elas Diamond. Varian secured the filly after seeing off the determined efforts of Andrew Balding, Anthony Stroud and David Redvers.

Elas Diamond is a daughter of the top-class racemare Ela Athena, who won the Group 3 Lancashire Oaks as well as being placed in five Group 1s for the late Michael Jarvis, to whom Varian was assistant trainer for a decade. She is also a sister to the Group 2 Doncaster Cup winner Pallasator.

Whilse purchasers, sires and vendors often feature more than once in the list of top lots for the day, it is rarer to find broodmares doing so, especially when that mare, Try To Catch Me, is 32 years old. The Shareef Dancer mare is the great-grandam of the aforementioned Shamardal colt, who topped the days trade, as well as being the grandam of the Society Rock colt who realised 200,000 guineas.

The son of the Whipper mare Its In The Air was knocked down to Shadwell Estates’ Angus Gold after he fought off the efforts of Anthony Stroud, who was sitting with James Fanshawe, trainer of the ill-fated dual Group 1 sprint winner Society Rock. The sale was a stunning result for her consignors Pat and Breda Donworth’s Torard House Stud, having purchased him last February for €26,000.

The colt's breeder was Philip Hore of Mount Eaton Stud.

"I still have the colt's grandam at home - Try To Catch Me. She was the dam of Storming Home. She is 32 and has been retired for 10 years! Its In The Air was her last foal. I am really pleased to see this colt go on to do that - I am glad to see him looking like a racehorse and bought by Shadwell. Its In The Air is a young mare, she has a colt foal by Society Rock and is in foal to Ivawood."

Angus Gold said: “He just looked a real tough, hardy, trainer's horse. I saw him three times and every time I looked at him he seemed to have a good attitude, very down to earth, he just got on with the job. I was very surprised we had to pay so much, but quite a few of the trainers liked him. I’ve been very impressed by the sire’s stock. He looks like he could be a loss.”

Late in the evening, the Cheveley Park Stud consigned colt by Acclamation out of the listed-winning Oasis Dream mare Ladyship was knocked down to Angus Gold for 200,000 guineas. Ladyship is a daughter of Cheveley Park’s dual-Group 1 winner Peeress, whose Frankel colt realised 1,300,000 guineas at Book 1 of the October Yearling Sale last week.

Gold’s purchase took the haul for Sheikh Hamdan’s Shadwell Estates to 18 yearlings, for more than 2 million guineas, after the opening day.

The Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Book 2 continues at 10am on Tuesday, October 10, with 258 lots catalogued.

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