Progressive Mukhtalif sells to Maher for 325,000gns
Ciaron Maher’s head of bloodstock Will Bourne is on his annual visit to the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale, and got the trip off to a productive start by landing the top lot at the opening session of the five-day Newmarket auction. The progressive middle-distance performer Mukhtalif (Sea The Stars) brought the gavel down at 325,000gns (approx. AU$694,060)
The Shadwell homebred has won his last two starts for William Haggas, with the most recent of those coming in a class two handicap at York. That performance saw the well-bred three-year-old hit a career-best Racing Post Rating (RPR) of 94.
Mukhtalif is the second foal out of Maqsad, a Listed-winning daughter of Siyouni (Pivotal) from the family of the Daniel Wildenstein’s Prix de Diane heroine Aquarelliste (Danehill). Not only does he boast a deep female family, but Bourne pointed to the success Mukhtalif’s sire Sea The Stars (Cape Cross) has enjoyed down under.
“He’s progressive and, having inspected the horse, you can see he’s a beautiful animal,” said Bourne after signing the ticket alongside Billy Jackson-Stops. “We really like the fact that the stallion works in Australia. David Hayes had the Australian Cup winner Fifty Stars and Johnny McKeever bought the Metropolitan winner Just Fine out of this sale, and they’re both by Sea The Stars too. This horse is a progressive stayer so he profiles perfectly for us and we’re happy to be taking him down there.”
Expanding on the six-figure valuation, Bourne said: “It really depends if you’re going toe-to-toe with another Australian, but I thought that was about his money. I thought he might’ve made a little more but there wasn’t a lot of Australian competition on him, which I thought there might be.”
Bourne also said that the all-conquering Maher stable had found sourcing European imports more of a challenge than in previous years, but that with continued success on the track in Australia, the team were determined to make the most of the Tattersalls buying mission.
“There’s a few more left in the catalogue,” he said. “When you look at Ciaron’s results in the last two months, Royal Supremacy won a Metropolitan and our runners in the Melbourne Cup this week are from Europe, so we’ve just got to keep sourcing these horses out of here.
“We have a number that we try to hit, but buying this year has been very hard. We’re probably ten horses down on where we’d like to be, that’s privately and through the sale ring. It’s been extremely difficult to buy the horses that you want at the right price, which hasn’t been helped by the Australian dollar. All these marginal factors, and more competition on tried horses, means it’s been really hard. That can affect our bloodstock portfolio so we’re keen to get a few here.”
Mukhtalif was the outfit’s second noteworthy signing on the day, having earlier gone to 150,000gns (approx. AU$320,300) for the useful Zain Blue. The four-year-old son of Blue Point (Shamardal) won three races for Newmarket handler John Butler, including striking in a 0-95 handicap at York last time out. That effort was given an RPR of 89.
“Johnny Butler was obviously touting him as a very nice horse and we liked his profile, his data has been very good,” said Jackson-Stops.
“We thought he could work over a mile-and-a-quarter down there, probably in Sydney where’ll get a bit of cut in the ground, and might end up looking like a horse who hopefully will look like he was very good value. We all know Johnny very well and he’s always been very positive about his ability and his soundness. He’s got the right sort of profile to keep on progressing down there.”
Zain Blue was making his second appearance at Tattersalls having been picked up by Butler for 170,000gns at Book 2 in 2022.
Mulcaster uncovers the Evidence
Maher was far from the only southern hemisphere stable stocking up on Monday, with Chris Waller’s long-serving talent scout Guy Mulcaster going to 200,000gns (approx. AU$427,110) for Bath novice winner Hard Evidence (Zarak).
The two-year-old son was purchased as a yearling by Alex Elliott, whose Imperium Sales draft consigned the youngster at Tattersalls. Hard Evidence was trained by Ed Walker for Anthony Ramsden’s Valmont operation.
“I think it helped that the commentator said he ‘powered away!’” said Mulcaster with typically dry humour. “The second horse had had one start at Ascot and the third had one start and had been third, so I think the form is pretty strong. He paraded really well here today, he looked beautiful in the back parade ring.
“We thought he had a lot more to come; he looks like he wants to be three and wants to be four, so we’ll take him along quietly and see where we end up. He’s a beautiful horse, though. I know Zaraks are better horses with a bit of time too. He was a €90,000 yearling and they’ve put him all through training, but they’ve got a little bit more back today. Everybody’s happy.”
Dwyer dips in again
Henry Dwyer has plundered a couple of major European prizes this summer, landing the Nunthorpe Stakes (Gr 1, 5f) and Prix de l’Abbaye (Gr 1, 1200m) with his stable star Asfoora (Flying Artie). The Group 1-winning sprinter will soon be joined by the progressive sprinter Synners Kid (Ten Sovereigns) after Hurworth Bloodstock agent Sam Haggas landed a bid of 110,000gns (approx. AU$234,910) on Dwyer’s behalf.
The two-year-old, who was offered through Baroda Stud, has won both starts in nurseries for owner Ana O’Brien and her trainer brother Joseph, with his five-length stroll at Bellewstown last time out earning an RPR of 83.
“He was bought with Henry Dwyer,” said Haggas. “He came to the sale for the first time last year and we bought a couple. One of them, Cote Atlantique, won a Listed race at Seymour a couple of weeks ago, so Henry was keen to go again.
“The horse will end up with him in Australia, it’s just a question of whether he goes immediately or stays here into the summer. I don’t know if Asfoora will come back, there’s a chance she might, but there’s some nice meetings this horse can run in. He could target Royal Ascot as he’d qualify for a Britannia or maybe even a Golden Gates, but long-term his future will be in Australia.”
Haggas expanded on Synners Kid’s appeal, saying: “I was very impressed with him the last day. He showed a really nice turn of foot and essentially bolted up. It might’ve been a smallish nursery at a smallish track, but the manner in which he did it suggested he had plenty more to come. We hope he might improve for some better ground and he’s a progressive horse with a turn of foot. Hopefully he’s got plenty more to come.”
Darby put their faith in Coolmore offerings
Appeared (Justify), who was offered with a RPR of 85, and was consigned by Coolmore, was bought by Darby Racing and De Burgh Equine for 120,000gns (approx. AU$256,270).
The three-year-old son of Justify (Scat Daddy), out of Living The Life (Footstepsinthesand), a three-time Graded stakes winner in the US, won a 1m 4f maiden at The Curragh on October 16.
Meanwhile, the same duo also snapped up Listowel maiden winner Grafton Street (Wootton Bassett) for 48,000gns (approx. AU$102,500). The three-year-old was also offered by Coolmore.