Late drama at Book 1 as Galileo Gold’s half-brother brings 2,700,000gns
There was late drama at the opening session of Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale on Tuesday as Oliver St Lawrence secured the Kingman (Invincible Spirit) half-brother to 2,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m) hero Galileo Gold (Paco Boy) for 2,700,000gns (approx. AUD$5 million). The price is the highest sum given for a yearling in Europe or North America this year.
St Lawrence, who was taking instructions on the phone, delivered his bids directly to the spotter behind the rope, while Ross Doyle, flanked by key members of the Coolmore team, filled the role of frustrated underbidder.
“I genuinely didn’t think I’d be buying him,” said a visibly shocked St Lawrence as the heavens began to open over Newmarket. “He’s a lovely colt but I didn’t expect my guys to go to that kind of level, not until we went over the million mark. I’m not quite sure how the ownership will be divided up, but he’s been bought with Fawzi Nass for Bahraini interests.”
St Lawrence continued: “He’s a great-walking horse and the pedigree speaks for itself. He’s a half-brother to a 2,000 Guineas winner and he’s a stallion prospect if he does well. If you’re paying that kind of money you’re hoping to end up with a stallion; whether that happens is a different matter. We’d love him to go and win the Guineas though.”
The Kingman colt is not the first notable purchase the emerging ownership force have secured this sales season, having also gone to €2.5 million for the Dubawi (Dubai Millennium) half-sister to Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Gr 1, 2400m) hero Sottsass (Siyouni) who topped the Arqana Select Sale last month.
This session-topper was offered by Houghton Bloodstock on behalf of breeders Pantile Stud as Lot 174 and is the seventh foal produced by Galicuix (Galileo) who has bred five winners, with Galileo Gold joined by the likes of the useful Eshaasy (Oasis Dream), Choumicha (Paco Boy) and Petit Palais (Champs Elysees).
“I’d have gone to Kingman [with the mare] sooner but they wouldn’t have me!” joked the colt’s delighted breeder Colin Murfitt. “This is all down to Bo (Hicks-Little, manager of Pantile). She’s done it all; she’s foaled this colt, slept with him and did everything. Galicuix did not have a foal this year, but she’s in foal to Too Darn Hot. I keep my horses on good black fen land and it’s clearly good for them.”
The Kingman colt is not the first top lot the mare has bred, as Choumicha led the 2015 Goffs UK Premier Sale when bought by Tony Nerses for £280,000.
Godolphin back with a bang
Godolphin have largely kept their powder dry this yearling sale season, but were back in action with a bang on Tuesday as Anthony Stroud signed for eight lots at a total outlay of 7,220,000gns, (approx AUD$13.68 million) a sum that equates to 26 per cent of the session’s turnover.
That haul included three seven-figure acquisitions, with the colts by Frankel (Galileo) and Dubawi offered by Floors Stud joined by a Frankel half-sister to Golden Horn (Cape Cross) who fetched a round 2,000,000gns (approx AUD$3.78 million).
The filly is not only a sibling of the Derby and Arc hero, who now stands at Darley’s Dalham Hall Stud, but is a full-sister to the Listed-placed Dhahabi, who joined Godolphin at a cost of 3,100,000gns 12 months ago.
The daughter of Frankel was offered by Norelands Stud as Lot 162, whose Harry McCalmont joked after watching the regally-bred lot fetch seven figures: “I’m either going to faint or be sick!”
He continued: “I’m delighted Sheikh Mohammed bought her. He already owns the full-brother, Dhahabi, and I hope she’s as good, if not better. It’s a great result for the farm. The dam has a Sea The Stars filly at foot, who I promise won’t be coming here next year, and she’s in foal to Kingman.”
Asked what had prompted him to offer such a valuable yearling at a time of such market uncertainty, he explained that a Plan B was already in place should the filly have failed to bring the desired price.
“It’s a difficult year to sell but we were going to sell her only if we got what we thought she was worth,” he said. “If we’d kept her she’d have gone to John Gosden, so I thought let’s bring her t o Newmarket and we can send her to John’s straight from here if we don’t sell her, and if we do it hasn’t cost us anything.
“We’re very pleased to see Sheikh Mohammed buying here. It’s so important that he’s buying and I’m delighted he bought this filly.”
Emotional session of selling for Floors Stud
Earlier in the session there was an old fashioned superpower showdown between Godolphin and Coolmore for a blue-blooded son of Dubawi that was eventually knocked down for 2,100,000gns (approx. AUD$4 million) to Sheikh Mohammed’s operation.
The colt out of the Grade 3-placed Galileo mare Cushion, who in turn is out of the mighty Attraction (Efisio), was offered as Lot 109 by the late Duke of Roxburghe’s Floors Stud, who bred the youngster in partnership with Coolmore.
The old foes traded increasingly costly raises from their respective positions by the parade ring, with Anthony Stroud and David Loder representing Godolphin and MV Magnier, who was joined by Georg von Opel, on bidding duties for Coolmore.
The bid board ticked over in 25,000gns increments deep into six-figure territory, prompting auctioneer Ollie Fowlston to remark: “The first to a million might just get him.”
Magnier won that particular race when, at the 925,000gns mark, he looked towards the bid spotter by the rope and raised his left index finger to signal the jump to 1,000,000gns. However, Stroud remained resolute despite the strong-arm tactics, and fired back with a 50,000gns increase of his own delivered with a subtle nod of the head in the direction of the bid spotter on the podium by the entrance to the ring.
An expectant hush fell around Park Paddocks while the seven-figure jousting intensified, as engrossed onlookers followed the back-and-forth bidding duel like spectators watching a marathon rally at Wimbledon.
Ultimately it was Stroud who proved the more determined, with a final 100,000gns increase enough to bring the gavel down with a resounding thwack.
“He’s a lovely horse who’s obviously by Dubawi,” said Stroud after signing the session-topping docket. “He moves incredibly well and comes from a very good stud. Collectively we really liked him. It just shows you, when a nice horse comes into the ring, there are still people there for these collectors’ items.”
Stroud continued: “It’s so sad that Guy Roxburghe isn’t here as he was a wonderful breeder, a good friend and a great enthusiast.”
The Dubawi colt is the second foal produced by Cushion, who won two races in the colours of the Duke and also finished runner-up in a pair of US Grade 3s having switched from John Gosden to Christophe Clement. The mare produced a colt by No Nay Never on February 29 this year and subsequently returned to the son of Scat Daddy (Johannesburg).
The Dubawi colt was the second seven-figure lot sold by Floors Stud on Tuesday after Godolphin also secured the Frankel colt out of Attraction, Lot 41. Stroud saw off the attentions of Andrew Balding to secure the full-brother to Elarqam with a bid of 1,100,000gns (approx. AUD$2 million).
“We’re ecstatic, we’re very, very excited, it’s tear-jerking stuff,” said the Duchess of Roxburghe, Virginia Wynn-Williams. “I’m thrilled for my late husband, who did nothing but dream of Attraction and she’s really done us proud today.
“They were two lovely horses and have been since they were foals. My husband always thought they were two of the best he’s ever produced and he’s been proven right. We wish Anthony Stroud and the team all the success in the world.
“I’ve got some huge help between Ed Sackville and Simon Marsh, and the team at Floors have been amazing too. Chris Gillon, the stud manager, deserves a special mention as he has produced these horses to such a wonderful standard.”
The results were particularly poignant for the Floors Stud team, as the Duchess revealed the operation would be scaling back its breeding interests, with the remaining broodmare band set to be boarded away from the famed Scottish Borders farm.
“We’re very keen, myself and my son George Innes-Ker, to carry on, but in a smaller, more commercial way,” she said. “And it won’t be remaining at Floors Stud, which is very sad but that’s the way it’s going to be unfortunately.”
Godolphin’s haul also included a 520,000gns (approx AUD$980,000) Dubawi filly out of Be My Gal (Galileo) offered as Lot 53 by Oakgrove Stud and two lots secured at 480,000gns (approx AUD$900,000) apiece, namely a Frankel colt out of As Good As Gold (Oasis Dream) Lot 36 from Newsells Park Stud and a son of Dubawi and Black Cherry (Mount Nelson) consigned as Lot 63 by Highclere Stud.
McCalmont lands Capri sister
Jamie McCalmont struck the winning bid for the day’s fifth-top lot having gone to 850,000gns (approx AUD$1.6 million) for the steel grey Galileo filly Lot 122 out of Dialafara (Anabaa) offered by Camas Park Stud. The filly is a full-sister to five winners, most notably St Leger (Gr 1, 1m6f) and Irish Derby (Gr 1, 1m4f) hero Capri.
The successful purchaser was represented by Kelsey Lupo, who said: “We bought her for a client of ours. She’s a beautiful, classy filly and is going to develop really nicely, so what’s not to love about her? She has plenty of residual value so she’s worth that all day.”
Lupo could not reveal the identity of the filly’s new owner, but said: “She’ll be racing in Europe, they have some other horses in Europe but they are fairly new to racing.”
She added of the Book 1 offerings: “It’s a very strong catalogue and the physicals are very strong as well, so it gives you a lot of choice. My shortlist wasn’t very short!”
Horde sibling heads to Coolmore
MV Magnier may have come off second best for the 2,100,000gns Dubawi colt earlier in the day but the Coolmore man enjoyed better fortune when he secured the Zoffany (Dansili) half-sister to Commonwealth Cup (Gr 1, 6f) hero Golden Horde (Lethal Force) at 580,000gns (approx AUD$1.08 million). The filly was consigned by Highclere Stud as Lot 148 having been bred by Clara Stud, whose James Cloney said: “It’s a fabulous result. The mare just keeps producing jewels. She’s such an unusual mare to be able to keep producing stock who have the looks, the ability, everything. I’m delighted that MV purchased her. Hopefully she’ll stay in Ireland and I’ll be able to attend the races when she runs!”
The result provided Cloney with another big return having purchased the dam, Entreat (Pivotal), for a mere 14,000gns in 2016. She has gone on to breed Golden Horde and his smart half-brother Line Of Departure (Mehmas), himself a £260,000 yearling.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing to own a mare like this,” continued Cloney. “I bought her in the July Sales, she’s a very good-looking mare and being by Pivotal was a key thing. At the time she’d been covered by Dutch Art four times so, in my opinion, she was only really exposed to one stallion. I thought trying something different might work, though I didn’t think it would work that well though!
“It’s been an exciting year for us as we have Golden Horde and we also bred Dream Of Dreams. For a small farm in Kilkenny to produce two Group 1 winners has been amazing.”
Highland Reel half to Palace Pier leads first season sires
Plenty of eyes at Park Paddocks were on Highclere Stud’s Highland Reel (Galileo) half-brother to brilliant miler Palace Pier (Kingman), and agent Jamie McCalmont expressed delight at securing the classy colt, Lot 55, who will head into training with John Gosden.
The fifth foal out of the unraced Nayef (Gulch) mare Beach Frolic, the athletic bay commanded plenty of attention in the ring but it was McCalmont who struck the winning note and signed the docket for 320,000gns (approx AUD$606,000).
McCalmont, who disclosed that the colt was for a new client, said: “John and Thady (Gosden) were very keen on the horse, and were determined to get him.
“His half-brother is one of the best three-year-olds this year, and the fact John Gosden trains that horse and was keen on his brother is highly encouraging.”
The colt was bred in partnership by Highclere and the Duke of Roxburghe’s Floors Stud, which sold two seven-figure lots on a memorable day.
It was a striking personal best result for Highland Reel, who moved to the head of the sale among first-season sires. The Coolmore resident struck in the Vintage Stakes (Gr 2, 7f) at two and in going on to record seven top-level victories worldwide and earn more than £7.5 million, he is arguably the best servant the owners and trainer Aidan O’Brien have ever had.
Palace Pier, unbeaten in five starts, has taken the European mile division by storm this season with wins in the St James’s Palace Stakes (Gr 1, 1m) and Prix Jacques le Marois (Gr 1, 1600m). The son of Kingman is due to be seen next in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (Gr 1, 1m) at Ascot a week on Saturday.
The opening session of the three-day auction brought trade broadly in line with pre-sale expectations, with turnover of 27,750,000gns (approx AUD$52 million) down 22 per cent on the corresponding day last year. The average was down 14 per cent at 223,790gns (approx AUD$422,000) and the median dropped 33 per cent to 120,000gns (approx AUD$227,500). The clearance rate was 78 per cent, with 124 of 158 offered lots finding a buyer. The same metric was 83 per cent in 2019.
O’Brien and Brummitt back for more
Danny O’Brien and agent Jeremy Brummitt were busy on the opening day of the sale, as they purchased a colt by Tamayuz (Nayef) and a filly by Nathaniel (Galileo) for a combined total of 210,000 gns (approx AUD$400,000).
Russian Camelot (Camelot) was among two yearlings the pair sourced at the corresponding sale two years ago, and having returned to buy four yearlings 12 months ago they were once again active.
The Tamayuz colt offered by Ballyhimikin Stud out of the family of champion mare and Group 1 winner Pride (Peintre Celebre), listed as lot 156 went the way of the pair for 130,000gns (approx AUD$246,000).
For the first time at the sale they also completed the purchase of a filly, paying 80,000gns (approx AUD$154,000) for lot 126, the Nathaniel filly offered by Deerfield Farm.
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