“God he made lockdown a lot more interesting!”
Connections react as English King breaks another record
As an almost unprecedented offering at public auction, there had been much speculation as to what price English King (Camelot) would fetch when he was offered at Tattersalls on Wednesday.
The answer, after a lengthy round of bidding, was 925,000gns (approx. AUD$1.79 million) as agent Armando Duarte saw off a determined Ted Voute.
As with so many of the choice lots from the Autumn Horses in Training Sale, the three-year-old colt will now head to Australia to continue his racing career, with Duarte’s winning bid struck on the instruction of Paul Moroney and Ballymore Thoroughbreds, the training operation of Moroney’s brother, Mike.
The Park Paddocks ring was about as packed as social distancing measures would allow as Voute, sat to the right of John O’Kelly’s rostrum, and Alastair Donald, by the partition next to the exit, set the record-breaking lot on his way.
At the 750,000gns mark O’Kelly turned to Voute and looked for a 25,000gns increase. When the eventual underbidder signalled a raise of just 10,000gns, O’Kelly quipped: “You are tight!”
However, by this point Duarte, stationed outside beyond the entrance to the ring, was well into his stride and continued to meet Voute’s every move. As the bid board showed 875,000gns there was some uncertainty over whether Voute, taking instructions via FaceTime, had thrown in the towel or was suffering a communication breakdown with his client.
He gestured to O’Kelly that he was awaiting instruction, but no sooner had he appeared to try and buy himself some time than he indicated a raise to 900,000gns. “You’ll find out?” said the auctioneer. “You did find out!”
However, despite O’Kelly’s efforts to coax a final effort from the underbidder, Voute had no further response when Duarte signalled a play of 925,000gns.
English King won two races for Ed Walker and owner Bjorn Nielsen, including the Lingfield Derby Trial (Listed, 1m 3.5f), a performance that propelled him to the head of the betting for the Epsom Classic (Gr 1, 1m 4f) itself. Although pleased with the price English King made, Walker described seeing the colt sell as a “bittersweet” experience.
“I’d have far rather won that money on the track or won the Derby with him,” said a sanguine Walker. “But it’s just been the perfect storm with him; in a normal year Bjorn may have sold more yearlings or been up for competing internationally with him from home.
“But when I tried to persuade Bjorn to keep him and aim for these big races in Australia and Hong Kong, quite rightly he was worried about whether we would be able to go to the races – or will racing even be happening. Unfortunately, it was the perfect storm for me trying to hang on to him. It’s a great result in the ring though, and as Bjorn puts so much into the game it’s great to get a result like that for him. It’s crap for me as a young-ish trainer though!”
English King broke a 30-year-old track record when winning the Lingfield Derby Trial and was far from disgraced in fifth in the Classic itself having been caught back in the ruck in behind runaway winner Serpentine (Galileo). Although Walker’s disappointment was clear, he said he hoped the colt would fulfil the potential he is adamant he possesses, even if it is for new connections.
“We’ve had a great journey with him, God he made lockdown a lot more interesting!” said Walker. “It didn’t end how we hoped it would but things just played against him. I still believe he’ll be a very good horse though and I’m very grateful to the guys who’ve bought him. He’s tailor made for the Melbourne Cup and I’d be thrilled if he could go and win the Cup for his new owners.”
The three-year-old was making his second appearance at public auction, having been bought by Jeremy Brummitt for €210,000 at the Arqana October Yearling Sale in 2018.
Ballymore back in action
Prior to securing English King, Duarte struck a winning bid of 350,000gns (approx. AUD$677,400), for Emissary (Kingman) a half-brother to Derby hero Workforce also secured on behalf of Ballymore Thoroughbreds.
“Hopefully he’ll be a nice type for next year as he’s improving all the time and is by a proper sire in Kingman,” said Duarte. “He had to tick all the boxes; pedigree, sire, the form, the trainer.
“But being from Juddmonte, we know he has a good background and a proper pedigree, which is very important for my guys. He passed the vet too, which is very hard to do. This kind of horse doesn’t come on the market very often so we decided to have a crack. If he’d have sold last year he’d have cost more but as he’s here we decided it was time to buy.”
The three-year-old colt ran five times for Hugo Palmer and Khalid Abdullah, winning a Wolverhampton novice stakes on debut and a Yarmouth handicap from an official rating of 97 on his most recent start.
Ferguson follows up
John Ferguson secured a trio of eyecatching recruits for Chris Waller during day two of the Autumn Horses in Training Sale, and was back in action on Wednesday when going to 370,000gns (approx. AUD$715,000) for the smart three-year-old Bullfinch (Kodiac).
Offered by The Castlebridge Consignment as part of the Rothschilds’ Waddesdon Stud dispersal, Bullfinch won three of his five starts while under the care of Roger Charlton, with victory in a Chelmsford novice stakes at two followed by a brace of successes at Kempton, the latter of which earned the colt a Racing Post Rating (RPR) of 106.
As well as an upwardly mobile race record, Bullfinch boasts a strong pedigree as he is the second foal out of Thistle Bird (Selkirk) who peaked at the age of six when winning the Pretty Polly Stakes (Gr 1, 1m 2f).
“He’s got undoubted ability, he’s been beautifully trained and he’s progressive,” said Ferguson. “And the mare went on to be a champion older mare, she was wonderful too.
“Kodiac has also had a winner of the Caulfield Cup with Best Solution, who we bought here a few years ago, so from an Australian point of view, there are a lot of reasons to think he could be a lot of fun down there.”
The purchase of Bullfinch took Waller’s Tattersalls haul to five, bought for receipts totalling 912,000gns (approx. AUD$1.76 million).
Smith lands Vadamos colt
JS Bloodstock and Matt Smith Racing purchased the Ralph Beckett-trained two-year-old maiden winner Desert Empire (Vadamos) for 22,000gns (approx. AUS$42,300) on the final day of Newmarket’s Tattersalls Horses in Training Sale.
Desert Empire, bought by Billy Jackson-Stops on behalf of Sydney trainer Smith, won on debut at Lingfield earlier this month by half a length under Tom Marquand, before finishing down the field at Chelmsford on his only other appearance to date.
“I have been the underbidder on a few through the week,” said Jackson-Stops. “This is a nice sort and heading to Australia as a two-year-old gives him plenty of options. Hopefully he will make up into a nice stayer.”
Desert Empire is from the first-crop of Tally-Ho Stud’s Prix du Moulin (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Vadamos (Monsun), who has sired ten winners so far.