Australasian buyers expected to descend on Tattersalls December Mare Sale
The Tattersalls December Mare Sale gets underway at Park Paddocks in Newmarket on Monday and as has always been the case for a number of years, buyers from Australasia are expected to descend on the breeding stock auction in 2023.
The 2022 edition of the sale saw buyers from Australia and New Zealand dramatically up their spend from previous years and the sale as a whole finished with record-breaking figures. Having spent approximately 1.8 million guineas in 2021, Australasian interests (not including Yulong) purchased 19 lots in 2022 and their total spend soared to an extraordinary 4.1 million guineas.
Overall, last year’s four-day sale aggregate reached 80,831,200gns, an increase of 30 per cent on the total recorded in 2021 and that figure signalled a 16 per cent rise than the previous record set in 2007.
In the past, the December sale has become synonymous with the Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m), and Without A Fight’s (Teofilo) win in the race last month only strengthened the record further. The Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained gelding’s dam, Khor Sheed (Dubawi) was bought at the sale for 26,000gns in 2019.
The son of Teofilo (Galileo) joins other Cup winners Twilight Payment (Teofilo), Rekindling (High Chaparral), Protectionist (Monsun), Green Moon (Montjeu) and Makybe Diva (Desert King), a three-time winner of the Melbourne showpiece, whose dams have all been sourced at the sale.
“It’s quite a remarkable stat that the last 20 Melbourne Cups, eight of them are out of mares’ sourced at the Tattersalls December Sale,” Tattersalls’ marketing manager Jason Singh told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“Australian and New Zealand breeders coming to Europe to source stock is not a new thing, they have been coming specifically to the Tattersalls December Mares Sale for decades.
“The great Star Kingdom was imported from Europe and if you go back 30 plus years, Eight Carat, she came through the December mares sale when she was bought by the great Sir Patrick Hogan and the legacy she left there had a massive impact. Benediction, the dam of Might And Power, was bought at this sale.”
However, it is by no means a one dimensional sale with staying prowess at the forefront. Rekindled Applause (Royal Applause) – dam of dual Group 1 winner and 2022 The Everest (1200m) hero Giga Kick (Scissor Kick), was a graduate of the auction, having been snapped up for 57,000gns in 2004.
Meanwhile, Amerindia (Dubawi) was bought by Dean Hawthorne on behalf of Jonathan Munz in 2017 and she has gone on to produce three-time Group 1 winner Militarize (Dundeel).
“There is obviously a Melbourne Cup connection that is very immediate, but also the dams of Giga Kick and Militarize were also bought at the December Mares Sale as well, so it’s not all about stayers and the Melbourne Cup,” said Singh.
“European blood has always been the most sought after. The racing and bloodlines in Europe are arguably the best in the world, so anyone just looking to upgrade the quality of their stock and also introduce different bloodlines to what they have maybe got used to in Australia and New Zealand, it is a good reason to come and look at the December Mares catalogue.”
With another catalogue brimming with some of the best mares the northern hemisphere has to offer, it has all the makings of another exciting four days of trade and Singh expects there to be a big turn out from domestic and international buyers.
“This year’s catalogue looks to be as good a catalogue as we’ve had in a long time, with six Group 1-winning fillies entered,” said Singh.
The sextet of fillies will all be offered during the Sceptre Session, a new initiative introduced by Tattersalls last year and after 71 of the mares offered during this new slot generated 45,907,000gns, more than half of the total aggregate, it is no surprise to see the auction house employ the same tactic again this year.
“To be honest, there is no reason for there not to be a high level of interest, because with the Spectre sessions, now in its second year, which was just a way for us to highlight elite fillies and broodmare in an easily identifiable way,” said Singh. “There are 82 catalogued for the two Spectre sessions this year and there are some really outstanding lots up for offer.”
Among the ‘outstanding’ entries for the Sceptre Sessions is 2022 English 1,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m) winner Cachet (Aclaim), the first winner of the Classic to be offered in training at public auction since 1988, Pretty Polly Stakes (Gr 1, 1m 2f) winner Via Sistina (Fastnet Rock), who was last seen being narrowly denied victory in the Champion Stakes (Gr 1, 1m 2f).
The Ralph Beckett–trained duo of Lezoo (Zoustar) and Prosperous Voyage (Zoffany), triumphant in the Cheveley Park Stakes (Gr 1, 6f) and the Falmouth Stakes (Gr 1, 1m) respectively are also up for grabs and they will be joined by Poptronic (Nathaniel), whose value has skyrocketed since the catalogue went to press after she landed the Champions Fillies and Mares Stakes (Gr 1, 1m 3.5f) at Ascot in October.
The six elite-level-winning race fillies are completed by outstanding South African performer Vernichey (Vercingetorix) and French top-flight winner Teona (Sea The Stars), who will go under the hammer carrying her first foal by Juddmonte’s superstar stallion, Frankel (Galileo).
To add even more allure to the already quality packed catalogue there have been some high–profile wildcards added to the lots set to be offered, including Listed winner Kensea (Kendargent), the dam of French Champion Two-Year-Old Colt Sealiway (Galiway) and his Group 1-winning brother Sunway, the latter of which ended his juvenile season with victory in the Criterium International (Gr 1, 1600m) at Saint-Cloud in October.
Lezoo in particular presents buyers with a rare opportunity. From the first northern hemisphere-bred crop of Widden Stud’s leading stallion Zoustar (Northern Meteor), the three-year-old is the only Group 1-winning juvenile produced globally by the stallion and is sure to garner significant attention from all areas of the buying bench.
“There are some great opportunities there to buy something that doesn’t come on the market very often,” said Singh.
Set to be offered by Beckett’s Kimpton Down Stables next week, Lezoo was initially bought for 77,000gns at Book 3 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale in 2021, before making €110,000 when snapped up by Atlas Bloodstock at the Arqana May Breeze-Up Sale the following year.
This is the second year in succession that a winner of the Cheveley Park has been up for grabs at the December mare sale, with Alcohol Free (No Nay Never), who won the six-furlong contest in 2020, having topped last year’s sale when she sold to Yulong for an eye-watering 5.4 million guineas, after which she joined the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott stable.
Singh said winners of the Newmarket Group 1 have been well sought after when offered at the mare sale, with 2014 winner Tiggy Wiggy (Kodiac) selling to MV Magnier in 2015 for 2.1 million guineas, while in 2013 Stephen Hillen Bloodstock also forked out 2.1 million guineas to secure the 2012 triumphant Rosdhu Queen (Invincible Spirit).
In 2007, Indian Ink (Indian Ridge), winner of the race the year before, was secured by Shadwell Stud for 2 million guineas, while 2005 winner, Donna Blini (Bertolini) – the subsequent dam of Japanese Champion Gentildonna (Deep Impact) – was snapped up by Katsumi Yoshida at the sale for 500,000 guineas in 2006.
That same year, the 2004 winner of the Group 1, Magical Romance (Barathea), grabbed headlines when James Wigan of London Thoroughbred Services snapped her up for 4.6 million guineas.
As well as the Cheveley Park, Lezoo landed a pair of Listed races, and a Group 3, and was only beaten once in five starts as a juvenile, when finishing second behind subsequent English 1,000 Guineas winner Mawj (Exceed And Excel) in the Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes (Gr 2, 6f).
Given her track record, Singh expects Lezoo to be well received by the buying bench next week.
“She was an outstanding two-year-old filly and the Cheveley Park is a time-honoured race and the winners of that race have always been highly sought after in the sales ring,” said Singh.
“Lezoo is a good quality filly and those Group 1-winning race fillies are always in demand, so it will be interesting to see if Australian buyers make a strong play for her or not.”
In the past, the sale has been used as a brilliant source of fresh blood for any broodmare band in the southern hemisphere, however in more recent times the sale has proved a successful hunting ground for buyers looking to purchase racing prospects to plunder the wealth of riches now on offer in Australia, and also improve their pedigree before retiring to the breeding barn.
This strategy has been bolstered by the success stories from the sale, including Promise Of Success (Dansili), who was purchased by David Redvers and Rosemont Stud for 27,000gns at the 2020 edition.
She then added four wins to her record, including victories in the Emancipation Stakes (Gr 2, 1500m), and last year’s $1 million The Invitation (1400m), before being re-sold to Yulong at the 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale for $1.35 million.
“People can take a slightly longer term view of some of these by racing these fillies in Australia,” said Singh. “The prize–money is so great in Australia and some of the prize pots are so large, so it sometimes makes sense to keep some of these fillies in training.
“The prize–money is there and when you are buying fillies that already have Group 1 victories to their names, you’re probably not risking a lot by having a go at some of those races. Whatever they decide to do with Alcohol Free, she’ll always be a very rare and valuable broodmare prospect.”
Last season’s JJ Atkins Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) winner King Colorado (Kingman) is a further example of another strategy that can be employed following a purchase at the Tattersalls December Mare Sale.
King Colorado’s dam More Aspen (More Than Ready) was bought by Adrian and Philippa O’Brien’s Hazelwood Bloodstock for 75,000gns at the mare sale in 2018. She was then covered by Juddmonte’s Kingman (Invincible Spirit) on southern hemisphere time, before being imported into Australia carrying the Group 1 winner in utero.
With some of the world’s best stallions, including Kingman’s all-conquering barnmate Frankel, Siyouni (Pivotal), Lope De Vega (Shamardal) and Lane’s End’s Gun Runner (Candy Ride) to name a small few, all available to cover on southern hemisphere time, it leaves options open for buyers to get mares sourced at the sale covered to some the world’s best stallions, before bringing them back to Australia.
“Getting mares covered on southern hemisphere time has certainly become a very popular thing to do in the last three or four years, especially when a horse like Frankel comes along,” said Singh.
“Juddmonte haven’t recently shuttled any stallions, so to actually get access to stallions like them [Frankel and Kingman] is a remarkable opportunity for Australian breeders. They do limit how many mares they cover, so it’s not an option for everyone, but it is definitely something that has become more popular recently and is certainly an angle that people can look at.
“With a lot of those superstar stallions, once they get to a level in Europe, a lot of their owners are not willing to take the risk of shuttling them. If you want access to some of those bloodlines, it’s the only way to do it now.”
The Tattersalls December Mare Sale gets underway on Monday, with the first lot due through the ring at 9.30am GMT (8.30pm AEDT). The sale will continue through to December 7, with the Sceptre Sessions taking place during the opening two days of action.