‘Dreams do come true!’ – Sea The Stars colt brings 800,000gns at Book 2 opener
A new week but a familiar story as day one of Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale saw a slew of punchy prices spent at Park Paddocks on Monday.
It took all of 17 lots for last year’s high mark to be bested as Anthony Stroud and Coolmore’s MV Magnier clashed over the Sea The Stars (Cape Cross) colt out of Kitcarina (Shamardal) from Fiona Marner’s Windmill Farm, with the former party winning out when a bid of 800,000gns (approx. AU$1,410,650) was delivered from behind the partition.
The youngster is the first foal out of the winning daughter of Shamardal (Giant’s Causeway), whose siblings include her full-sister Kitcara, dam of this colt’s close relation Al Aasy, a three-time Group 3 winner also by Sea The Stars, and the French Listed scorer Kapour (Toylsome).
“Dreams do come true and this was a breeder’s dream!” said an emotional Marner, who was toasting her best ever sale with her sole yearling on offer this year. “It’s beyond all our expectations and it’s so wonderful for the team. He’s been a saint all the way through from the day he was born.
“I’ve got a lot to thank John Clarke (racing manager to the Tsui family) for because he very kindly said they would take this mare, whose page has improved incredibly, to Sea The Stars. He’s a lovely individual and an outstanding first foal and the mare is back in foal to Sea The Stars and carrying a colt.
“I have two partners who are both superstars, they’re so loyal and have been a great support to me. One is Derek James, who’s in America, and the second is Peter Wollaston, who’s been a huge supporter for many years and is absolutely over the moon.”
Kitcarina came into Marner’s ownership when she was bought through Axel Donnerstag at €90,000 as a horse in training at the Arqana December Sale in 2018. She won a Kempton handicap on her debut for Andrew Balding and Windmill Racing.
Stroud, whose role with Godolphin saw him sign for 25,355,000gns worth of yearlings during last week’s Book 1, said of the colt: “He’s a very good-looking horse with a good pedigree. The nick works quite well with the Shamardal mare, and also you have Al Aasy, by Sea The Stars, in the family too. He’ll be trained by John Gosden for a long-established client.”
Not only did the colt better last year’s top price of 525,000gns, given by Juddmonte for the Kingman (Invincible Spirit) colt out of Australian-bred mare Reem (Galileo), but he becomes the fourth most expensive lot in Book 2 history. The biggest price at Book 2 was brought by the useful three-time winner Tarhib (Dark Angel), who cost Shadwell 1,050,000gns in 2019.
Online action for BBA Ireland
As evening wore on an online bid of 700,000gns (approx. AU$1,234,319) from BBA Ireland secured the Frankel (Galileo) colt out of Qaws (Dubawi) bred by Rabbah Bloodstock and offered by Michael Swinburn’s Genesis Green Stud. Will Douglass was consigned to the role of frustrated underbidder.
“The colt is by the sire of the moment,” said Donohoe. “Frankel is doing everything on the racetrack and in the sale ring. The two hottest sires are top and bottom of the pedigree as he’s out of a Dubawi mare. He’s a great individual and wouldn’t have looked out of place in Book 1. We’re surprised by the price we had to give, it was our last bid, but we are delighted to have got him.”
The youngster, a sibling to one winner and out of a half-sister to Listed scorer Hadaatha (Sea The Stars), is bred on the same cross as Group 1 winners Adayar, Dream Castle and Homeless Songs.
Swinburn said: “He was originally in Book 1 as he’s got a nice page and it’s a helluva cross. He just toed in a tad, nothing extravagant, but when we had to make our mind up about which sale to put him in, the owners decided to go with Book 2.
“He was always a big horse, tall and narrow, and during prep he hasn’t grown at all, but he’s got stronger and turned into a Dubawi basically but with a Frankel walk. He’s just a beautiful horse to deal with, as most Frankels are. We thought he’d fetch a decent price but that was very pleasing.”
Brant back for more
Peter Brant of White Birch Farm was another responsible for fuelling record trade during Book 1 last week, with 16 lots bought for a combined 11,545,000gns (approx. AU$20,357,447). Fourteen of those were sourced with Coolmore’s MV Magnier, while the remaining pair were signed for individually.
The Arc-winning owner also made an eye-catching acquisition on Monday when agent Michel Zerolo of Oceanic Bloodstock went to 410,000gns (approx. AU$722,958) for the Sea The Moon (Sea The Stars) colt out of Pearly Spirit (Invincible Spirit) from Yeomanstown Stud. Karl Burke and Joseph O’Brien were among the underbidders.
The dam is an unraced sibling to five winners, including her Invincible Spirit (Green Desert) sister Pearls Galore, who landed her seventh race in the Matron Stakes (Gr 1, 1m) just last month. Her half-sisters include the Listed winners Lucky Lycra (Olympic Glory) and Pearly Steph (Oasis Dream), while the siblings are out of Pearl Banks, a Group 3-winning daughter of Haras de Saint Pair foundation mare Pearly Shells (Efisio).
“He’ll go to Jean-Claude Rouget for Mr Brant,” said Zerolo, who was seated beside the trainer and directly to the left of the rostrum.
When asked to expand on what appealed about the colt, he said: “Pretty much everything, at least I hope so as he wasn’t cheap! He’s got a fine page and it’s a pedigree we know well in France. He comes from a very good family belonging to Mr Putsch and Sea The Moon is most definitely a serious stallion.”
The colt was bred by Haddenham Stud Farm and rewarded a bold pinhook by Yeomanstown Stud, who signed for the youngster at 110,000gns last December. Yeomanstown’s David O’Callaghan said: “He’s an exceptional colt, as good a yearling as I’ve produced for any sale this year. He was a Book 1 horse in Book 2, but that was part of the plan.
“We always like to put a horse like him into Book 2, he was exceptional, a beautifully balanced horse, bay with black points, a beautiful mover and very correct. I don’t think there was a man or woman on the sales ground who didn’t admire him. He’s gone to a great owner and I hope he does very well with him.”
Varian joins Saxon fan club
Roger Varian got among the action when the trainer went to 300,000gns (approx. AU$528,993) for the Saxon Warrior (Deep Impact) colt out of Pour Deux (Dansili) from Flash Conroy’s Glenvale Stud. The dam is yet to field her first winner but has plenty of pedigree to back her up as she is a Dansili (Danehill) sister to the Listed-placed Galateia, while her other siblings include the Group 3 scorers Ancient Rome and Etoile, both of whom are by War Front (Danzig).
“I’m really pleased as I loved the horse,” said Varian. “I like the stallion too, he’s just getting going. We have three, including a nice colt [Irregular Warfare] who was second on debut and we have a couple of fillies coming through. I’ve been keeping an eye on his stock and bought a filly by him last week and I’m pleased to secure this colt.
“He’s a good individual who vetted very well and has a page. He’s quite mature and doesn’t have a lot of growing left to do, but looking at Saxon Warrior’s stock they seem to be running from July onwards so I wouldn’t expect him to be too early. He’s for one of our existing clients.”
Coolmore’s Saxon Warrior has supplied 15 first-crop winners, while his six stakes performers are headed by Lumiere Rock, who struck in the Silken Glider Stakes (Gr 3, 1m), and Prix de Condé (Gr 3, 1800m) scorer Victoria Road. Jim Bolger’s Gan Teorainn was also runner-up in the Prix Marcel Boussac (Gr 1, 1600m).
When asked how he had found buying in such a strong market, Varian said: “Tough. There’s good trade, which is good because if they’re easy to buy we’re all in trouble. It’s hard work but it’s not supposed to be easy. Racing is racing and it always seems to stand up to outside pressures.”
While there were numerous peaks across the session, trade for the most part tended towards the solid rather than the spectacular, as was the case during last week’s record-busting Book 1.
The number of lots offered dropped by two per cent year-on-year to 243 and turnover for the session followed suit by dropping two points to 18,618,000gns (approx. AU$32,829,358). Some 209 sold for a clearance rate of 86 per cent, which is identical to the corresponding session 12 months ago.
The day-one average was also on a par with 2021 at 89,081gns (approx. AU$157,077), while the median dipped by seven per cent at 65,000gns (approx. AU$114,615) – down from 70,000gns.