Buyers with Stars in their eyes at Tattersalls
Day two of Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale brought some increasingly intense trade that reached boiling point shortly after 7pm when Roger Varian struck the day’s highest bid of 700,000gns (approx. AU$1,299,000) to secure the Sea The Stars (Cape Cross) colt out of Along Came Casey (Oratorio) from Longview Stud.
The dam won four races, including a brace of Listed contests, and has bred two winners since retiring to paddocks. The best of her brood is Feliciana De Vega (Lope De Vega), whose record is capped by victory in the Darley Stakes (Gr 3, 1m 1f).
“I think the stallion can’t do much wrong at the moment,” said the trainer from his usual bidding position down the back stairs opposite the rostrum. “The mare is a stakes winner and she’s bred a very good one already, so he ticked all the boxes.
“We had to dig deep to get him, but I’m delighted we did. He’s a late-summer horse and he’s bred to want middle-distances at three. You never know how quickly they’ll come to hand but he’s quite a mature horse.”
That took Varian’s Book 2 haul to 1,000,000gns having also signed for a 300,000gns (approx. AU$556,000) Saxon Warrior (Deep Impact) colt during day one. He continued: “I thought [the Sea The Stars’ colt] was one of the better horses of the week.
“There’s a few this week with that real Book 1 quality and I thought he was one of them. I didn’t realise he’d cost as much as that; I didn’t know what he would cost or what I would have to spend, but my client [on the phone] was keen to get him.”
Trade went up a gear or two compared to day one, so while the opening session’s figures kept on par with 2021, Tuesday’s results brought some chunky year-on-year increases. An almost identical number of lots were offered and sold as 12 months ago, with 217 selling at a clip of 88 per cent, and those transactions brought turnover of 23,366,000gns (approx. AU$43,134,000), a 26 per cent increase.
The average was also up by 26 per cent at 107,677gns, while the median rose by eight per cent to 70,000gns, having been 65,000gns 12 months ago. Those sales took turnover across the two days to 41,984,000gns, leaving the sale just 12,528,000gns shy of a Book 2 record with a full session and 273 catalogued lots to go.
Magnier joins Night Of Thunder fan club
Coolmore joined the growing fan club behind Night Of Thunder (Dubawi) when MV Magnier’s name appeared on the docket of two lots by Darley’s Kildangan Stud-based stallion. The pricier of the pair was knocked down to Jamie McCalmont, who signed alongside Magnier and White Birch Farm at 575,000gns (approx. AU$1,064,000).
The colt was offered by Mountarmstrong Stud and is out of Asidious Alexander, a daughter of Windsor Knot who won the Prix Six Perfections (Gr 3, 1400m) and finished runner-up in the Prix du Calvados (Gr 2, 1400m) in the colours of Noel O’Callaghan.
“He’s a lovely horse by Night Of Thunder,” said McCalmont. “We thought he was the best colt in the sale and was the one horse we wanted to buy today, so we bought him. Between this sale and the last, we thought he was probably the best individual by the stallion.”
Earlier in the day Mark McStay of Avenue Bloodstock went to 265,000gns (approx. AU$491,000) for the Night Of Thunder filly out of Violet’s Gift (Cadeaux Generoux) from Ballyhimikin Stud. The youngster is a sibling to two winners, most notably the Listed-placed Kodiak West.
“She’s a gorgeous filly by a sire who’s just getting better and better,” said McStay. “He’s had an amazing season with Highfield Princess. We had to dig deep to buy her.
“She’s come from a good nursery at Ballyhimikin. She’s a lovely specimen, the mare’s already bred a black-type horse and the Coolmore boys were very high on her. I believe she goes into training with George Boughey.”
Poignant result for Chasemore Farm
Chasemore Farm has had more ups than downs this season, with graduates such as Lezoo (Zoustar) and Noble Style (Kingman) winning major prizes on the racecourse. Andrew and Jane Black’s operation welcomed another big result at Tattersalls on Tuesday as their Starspangledbanner (Choisir) colt brought 550,000gns (approx. AU$1,020,000) from Mick Kinane of the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
Starspangledbanner has already clicked with this family to great effect as the colt is a full-brother to the Group 3-placed juvenile Breege, while the dam, Wowcha, is a Zoffany half-sister to the stallion’s first-crop star The Wow Signal.
However, all the highs of breeding wouldn’t mean so much without the lows, and Chasemore manager Jack Conroy revealed there was a poignant subplot to the six-figure transaction as Wowcha was lost a little less than 12 months ago.
“The sad news is we lost the mare around this time last year, but she left us Breege so hopefully she can continue the line for us,” said Conroy.
“It was an absolute choker, losing a lovely young mare like that. This colt has been fantastic though and we’ve never had so many vettings on a horse, even in Book 1. He passed all the scrutiny thankfully and Mick Kinane loved him.”
Explaining the thinking behind the mating, Conroy said: “The Wow Signal was an unbelievable racehorse and the mare was lovely and scopey, so it made a lot of sense to send her to Starspangledbanner, who’s a proven stallion at a very reasonable price considering his results.
“Breege has done fantastically and we think she’ll be more of a three-year-old as she’s got a bit more length of back than this lad, he’s got a heavier shoulder and will be more of a six-furlong horse. He’ll be all speed.”
Chasemore sold four lots for a combined 1,405,000gns (approx. AU$2,605,000) during Book 1 of the October Sale, including a personal-best sale of 750,000gns (approx. AU$1,390,00) when Richard Knight signed for the Kingman (Invincible Spirit) colt out of Wall Of Sound (Singspiel).
Reflecting on a busy week for the team, Conroy said: “All the staff do a great job and it’s a real team effort. Everyone has said how great our horses look and we take great pride in that. From Book 1 to Book 3, they’re all prepped the same.
“This lad could have gone to Book 1 but we chose to come here to stand out. I saw a few Starspangledbanners sell well last week and started to wonder whether we’d made the right decision! Thankfully it’s worked out, so happy days.”
Frankel fever continues
Reigning champion sire Frankel (Galileo) was responsible for a couple of the pricier lots of the day, headed by the 450,000gns (approx. AU$835,000) colt out of September Stars (Sea The Stars) from Watership Down Stud who was knocked down to Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock.
Bred by Andrew Rosen and Edward Easton, the colt is the third foal out of September Stars, a Sea The Stars half-sister to Group 3 scorer Teodoro (Teofilo) and the Group 1-placed Altruistic (Galileo). The dam won at an ordinary level in Britain before switching to trainer Patrick Gallagher in the US, where she won the Possibly Perfect Stakes (Gr 1, 10f).
“He’s a smashing colt,” said Brown. “We tried on a load of Frankels last week and didn’t get close. He’s an immature horse, he needs a little bit of imagination, but there’s a lot of improvement to come. He’s a big frame so will be given plenty of time and hopefully he’ll reward us as a three-year-old.”
Later in the session Michael Donohoe of BBA Ireland outlasted Juddmonte’s Simon Mockridge and Shadwell’s Angus Gold to secure the Frankel filly out of Via Lazio (Lawman) from the Cumanis’ Fittocks Stud at 425,000gns (approx. AU$787,000).
“She’s a lovely sweet filly, who looks racy,” the agent said. “She’s probably one of the more precocious Frankels as she looks like she’ll come to hand early. We’ll take her back to Ireland to be broken and a trainer will be decided on later. She’s for an existing client who’s had some luck with the sire before.”
Via Lazio was bought by Sara Cumani for 210,000gns at the December Mares Sale in 2019. The daughter of Lawman is a half-sister to three black-type winners, most notably three-time Grade 1 winner Admire Mars (Daiwa Major). The mare’s two-year-old, the Zoustar (Northern Meteor) filly From Beyond, brought an update to the catalogue page by running third in a warm-looking Leicester novice on her most recent outing.