Hedge and Wheeler make Book 1 buys at record-breaking Tattersalls sale
Records tumbled at this week’s Book 1 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, with the unprecedented demand for horses lighting up the Park Paddocks sale ring on several occasions throughout the three days of trade – as 16 seven-figure lots captivated a vibrant audience.
Yet despite significant increases across all major metrics, Australian buyers were still able to make their presence felt during Thursday’s final session, while the strength of the market produced a perfect result for prominent Victorian-based breeders.
John Wheeler has triumphed at Tattersalls before. The owner of Australian Group 1 winner Russian Camelot (Camelot) – a 120,000gns purchase from the 2018 Book 2 sale – was present at Newmarket for the three days of trade, and went back to the well late in the final session for a daughter of Coolmore sire Wootton Bassett (Iffraaj).
Catalogued as Lot 503, Wheeler’s trusted agent Jeremy Brummit, who also sourced Russian Camelot, did the bidding, as the gavel came down at 400,000gns (approx. AU$729,880) to secure the Lofts Hall Stud-consigned filly.
She is out of the Raven’s Pass (Elusive Quality) mare Gloryette, herself a half-sister to three stakes winners, including the two-year-old Group 1 runner-up Elusive Pimpernel (Elusive Quality).
Earlier on the final day, Chris Waller snapped up a filly by the stallion he trained to two Group 1 wins, while another who played a large part in Zoustar’s (Northern Meteor) career, Suman Hedge, came away with a son of Australia’s leading sire this season on Thursday.
Hedge went to 85,000gns (approx. AU$155,100) to secure the colt out of Evil Spell (Dutch Art), a Listed winner in Italy and dam to the stakes–placed Harmony Rose (Hot Streak).
The mare is also a half-sister to recent Debutante Stakes (Gr 2, 7f) runner-up Olivia Maralda (Kodiac).
The Lot 470-offered colt was consigned by Baroda Stud.
Widden Stud shuttler Zoustar had 11 of his second-crop yearlings sell this week for an aggregate of 1.415 million guineas (approx. AU$2.58 million) at an average of 128,636gns (approx. AU$243,705).
Seymour Bloodstock celebrate sale of Zoustar colt
While those on the buying side grimaced through their teeth in having to go further than expected to secure many of the yearlings on offer at the Tattersalls sale, it was joy for many of those selling, and Australian owner-breeders Seymour Bloodstock collected a noteworthy result on Thursday at Tattersalls through a filly they bred by the in-demand Zoustar.
Catalogued as Lot 442, the half-sister to the stakes-placed Boonie (Brazen Beau) out of the unraced Dice Game (Shamardal) brought 325,000gns (approx. AU$341,250) from the bid of trainer Karl Burke.
She was offered by Chasemore Farm, with whom Seymour Bloodstock race today’s Toorak Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m) contender Uncle Bryn (Sea The Stars).
Dice Game was purchased for 9,000gns in 2018 by Seymour Bloodstock’s Mark Pilkington along with Hubie De Burgh and retained the first foal from the mare, with Boonie running third in the Windsor Castle Stakes (Listed, 5f) at Royal Ascot last year.
The mare was last year covered to southern hemisphere time by champion sire Frankel (Galileo), Book 1s leading sire from this week having sold 25 lots for 18.745 million guineas (approx. AU$34.2 million), and a few weeks ago produced a filly by the record-breaking Juddmonte stallion.
Tattersalls hail ‘extraordinary’ sale
A Book 1 for the ages concluded on Thursday with five more seven-figure lots and a top price of two million guineas as unprecedented trade saw previous overall records in all key market metrics blown clear out of the water.
A staggering 126,671,000gns (approx. AU$220,045,260) was spent across the three sessions, which is not only a 47 per cent year-on-year increase but a 19 per cent gain on the previous best, which was set in 2018 when turnover hit 106,503,000gns.
The average price was up 30 per cent at 298,752gns (approx. AU$518,974), also a new record, while the median was 200,000gns (approx. AU$347,428), a 25 per cent increase compared to 12 months ago and 19 per cent more than the previous high mark of 167,500gns in 2018. The clearance rate was 87 per cent as 424 lots sold from 489 offered.
At the conclusion of three blockbuster days, Tattersalls’ chairman Edmond Mahony said: “This has been an extraordinary yearling sale. When the first two lots through the ring on Tuesday morning made 500,000gns and 1.3 million guineas, the stage was set and the pace has been unrelenting from that moment on.
“Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale annually showcases the very best yearlings to be found in Europe, and even by the lofty standards of this special sale we felt that this year’s catalogue was out of the ordinary. Nevertheless, we could not have predicted the extraordinary level of trade we have experienced over the past three days.
“Record turnover in excess of 125 million guineas, a rise of almost 40 million guineas on last year’s October Book 1, as well as a record median and a record average price just under 300,000gns are impressive statistics by any standards, but the progression of this sale in recent years has been truly remarkable. Only 12 years ago Book 1 of the October Yearling Sale produced turnover of 48 million guineas and an average of 107,000gns, which puts this week’s remarkable figures into context.”
He added: “As well as the huge rises in all of the key indicators, an unprecedented 73 yearlings have sold for 500,000gns or more and there have been 16 which have broken the million guineas mark, with the 2.8 million guineas Frankel colt from Watership Down Stud being the highest-priced yearling sold anywhere in the world this year.
“Impressive as all the statistics are, the real feature of Book 1 of the 2022 October Yearling Sale has been the sustained demand at all levels of the market, which has contributed to a clearance rate well in excess of 85 per cent.
“Buyers from throughout the world, most notably the Gulf region, America, China, Japan and throughout Europe, have all made a significant impact on a record-breaking sale and particularly notable has been the presence of so many of the world’s most successful racehorse owners here at Park Paddocks for the duration of the sale.
“Their confidence in Book 1 of the October Yearling Sale is hugely appreciated and reflects not only the outstanding quality of the yearlings which the vendors commit to the sale year after year, but also the sale’s unrivalled reputation for producing Classic and Group 1 winners and Newmarket’s status as the European hub of the thoroughbred business.”
Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale will begin on Monday with 821 lots catalogued.