Another Via Sistina?
Yulong go to 1.8 million to secure dual stakes-winning filly Caught U Looking at Tattersalls December Mares Sale
Yulong are dreaming of their next Via Sistina (Fastnet Rock) after they made a big splash at Monday’s opening session of the Tattersalls December Mares Sale when going to 1.8 million guineas (approx. AU$3.69 million) to acquire promising filly Caught U Looking (Harzand) .
The filly was offered during the first part of the sale’s showcase Sceptre Sessions and, signing as Willingham as well as bidding both in person and online, Yulong purchased Lot 1466 out of Tally-Ho Stud.
Caught U Looking was last seen slamming a total of 15 rivals in the Bluebell Stakes (Listed, 1m 4f) at Naas on October 13 for her trainer Noel Meade, beating her closest rival by four lengths.
That was not the filly’s first stakes success however, as she also landed the Weld Park Stakes (Gr 3, 7f) as a juvenile in September last year.
Vin Cox, Yulong’s general manager, felt the final purchase price was around the mark he believed the filly would make.
“There was lots of competition and bids coming from all corners of the auditorium, which is always a good sign,” Cox told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“You love to see competition but you hate to be the only one out of it. [The price] was around where I thought we might end up, not that I’m any great judge, but she’s a Group-winning three-year-old filly that we think has got a pretty good profile to race on with.”
With a continued career on the racetrack the current plan, Cox confirmed the goal was to take Caught U Looking over to Australia at some stage in the near-future.
“The ambition at this stage is probably to take her to Australia,” he said. “We’re not suggesting she’s going to turn into another Via Sistina, we’d love her to, but look you’ve got to get your feet on the ground first and hopefully she can win some nice races for us.
“It’s no secret that staying horses from this part of the world [Europe] perform exceptionally well in Australia. She’s already a stakes winner so she’ll be retired to a stallion regardless of what happens in Australia but hopefully we can add to her CV.”
Caught U Looking is now likely to head to the care of Newmarket-based trainer James Ferguson, a move that also worked a treat with Yulong’s Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m)-winning mare Via Sistina (Fastnet Rock), whom they purchased for 2.7 million guineas at last year’s corresponding sale.
“James Ferguson did a great job with Via Sistina last year so we’ll probably send her to James and he can look after her for the short-term and then we’ll plan from there,” Cox added.
“There are a lot of really nice races in Australia that you hope that you can win, last year we bought Via Sistina and not in our wildest dreams did we think we’d win a Cox Plate, so there are lots of races that could be suitable for this filly.”
On Via Sistina, who was last seen running out a comfortable winner of the Champions Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) at Flemington on November 9, her third-consecutive Group 1 win, Cox said: “She’s having a little holiday and she’ll probably be back in the autumn towards the end of February where we will look to go through the Sydney programme.”
On a potential trip to Royal Ascot with the southern hemisphere seven-year-old, Cox said: “It’s highly unlikely, there’s not no chance, but you’d have to say highly unlikely.”
Bred by Kelly Equine Services, Caught U Looking was originally bought by her trainer and Peter Nolan for just €27,000 at the 2022 Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale and was raced by Tony O’Callaghan and Sabina Kelly.
The latter is the wife of Kelly Equine Services’ Peter Kelly, and the husband-and-wife combination were on hand to witness the sale.
“I bred her and I always wanted to stay in her, Noel Meade wanted to buy her and so when he bought her I stayed in for a half,” Kelly said.
“Tony [O’Callaghan] was then interested in her and so he bought in, I was so chuffed that he wanted part of a horse I had bred. He has been a wonderful partner the whole way.
“Coming here, I knew she was going to go better than I had hoped as she had 12 or 13 vets, and the right people were on her.”
A visibly emotional Sabrina Kelly said: “Oh my gosh! It was incredible, she has always been a pet, we have always loved her. I am in shock, it is amazing! We weren’t expecting that.
“She is a superb filly, and it is sad to see her go, but she has been brilliant and we have had a great season.”
Yulong also made a brace of purchases earlier in the session, firstly taking home the Group-placed winning mare Zoinnocent (Zoffany) as they went to 330,000gns (approx. AU$678,360) to secure the Avenue Sales-consigned four-year-old.
Again signing under the name of Willingham, the racing powerhouse made the winning bid online.
A sister to Group 3 scorer Hannibal Barca and from the family of 2023 Cox Plate hero Romantic Warrior (Acclamation), the mare was sold in-foal to Australia’s reigning champion first-season sire Too Darn Hot (Dubawi) on a southern hemisphere covering of October 25.
Just a few lots prior to acquiring Zoinnocent, Willingham had purchased Lot 1451, Tango, for 280,000gns (approx. AU$574,590), a Listed-winning mare that was also sold in foal to sire sensation Too Darn Hot.
M V Magnier purchases stakes-placed filly for date with Derby heroes
Coolmore’s M V Magnier was also a big player during the first part of the Sceptre Session at Monday’s opening day of the Tattersalls December Mares Sale, purchasing the Group 3-placed filly Unbreak My Heart (Showcasing) from Whitsbury Manor Stud for 625,000gns (approx. AU$1.28 million).
The three-year-old daughter of Showcasing (Oasis Dream) was also bred by her consignor, and is also a novice winner over five furlongs on top of her Group placing, leaving her with an official BHA rating of 90.
Out of the Listed-winning Compton Place (Indian Ridge) mare Place In My Heart, Unbreak My Heart is a sister to the Listed-placed winner Heartwarming and a half-sister to winners that include Queen Mary Stakes (Gr 2, 5f) and Flying Childers Stakes (Gr 2, 5f) heroine Heartache (Kyllachy).
Heartache was also purchased by Magnier for 1.3 million guineas at the 2018 edition of the mares’ sale, and has since produced Group 3 winner Exactly (Frankel) and the stakes scorer Salt Lake City (Galileo).
“It’s a family we know very well as we have her Group 2-winning half-sister Heartache, who has produced Salt Lake City and Exactly for us,” Magnier said.
“Exactly is an exciting two-year-old by Frankel who has been third in a couple of Group 1s this season and we are excited about her for next year.
“In fairness to Ed Harper [Whitsbury Manor’s stud director] and his father they have been very good breeders for a long time now and this is a great family that has produced black-type horses in every generation.”
Following the purchase of Unbreak My Heart, Magnier confirmed to ANZ Bloodstock News that the filly would visit either this year’s Epsom Derby (Gr 1, 1m 4f) winner City Of Troy (Justify), or Auguste Rodin (Deep Impact), who landed the 2023 edition of the sire-making Classic.
“She will go to either City Of Troy or Auguste Rodin,” the Coolmore supremo said.
Meanwhile, Mick Price Racing and Breeding also got on the scoreboard during the opening session of the sale, going to 170,000gns (approx. AU$348,860) to purchase the Group-placed juvenile filly Ring True (Belardo) out of the Juddmonte consignment.
Having been trained in France by Henri-Francois Devin, the daughter of Belardo (Lope De Vega) has won one of her six starts to date, and has also been placed at Listed level as well as in Group company.