‘Getting the better of him hasn’t been easy this week’ – Boughey digs deep to secure 800,000gns Night Of Thunder colt
Anthony Stroud has proved a hard man to pass at Tattersalls over the last week, particularly when bidding on behalf of Godolphin. However, George Boughey served the leading agent a rare reversal of fortune when landing the Night Of Thunder colt out of Quenelle D’Or at 800,000gns early in the final session of Book 2.
The youngster is the first foal out of the Listed-winning daughter of Golden Horn, who shares her page with Stanley House Stud’s most famous recent graduate Ouija Board. He was sold through New England Stud and bred by Lady Riblat and Stanley House.
Boughey, who was standing on the opposite side on the packed gangway of his main market rival, has enjoyed recent success with the progeny of Night Of Thunder courtesy of Bow Echo.
Sheikh Mohammed Obaid’s homebred was last seen maintaining his unbeaten record in the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes. Wednesday’s six-figure signing will now sport the same owner’s familiar yellow and black colours.
“He’s a lovely colt,” said Boughey. “We had to go a lot further than we thought we would but we had some stiff competition. It looked like Anthony Stroud over there, and getting the better of him hasn’t been easy this week. He’s been bought for Sheikh Mohammed Obaid and this horse looks very similar to his Bow Echo. He picked him out and I’m delighted to train the horse for him.
“We’ve had three or four by Night Of Thunder who’ve all won their maiden but Bow Echo is the first one to go and look like he’s better than that. This colt is from a good family, the mare was a Listed winner, and he’s just a lovely colt. I think he’s a summer two-year-old onwards but he’s got a patient owner so we’ll try to emulate what Bow Echo has done.”
On the price, Boughey added: “I had to pick the phone up twice to the owner because the horse went well over budget, but he wanted the horse and I think he might’ve known who he was taking on. It’s great to add this horse to the barn.”
A delighted Peter Stanley of New England Stud reflected on the transaction by saying: “For a first foal to fetch that sort of price is magnificent, it’s really thrilling, but then Night Of Thunder is an incredible stallion. He’s upgrading his mares to an extraordinary level and we’re lucky we’ve taken the punt and used him.
“I thought this would be one of the nicest horses in the ring this week, and I said to my brother [Lord Derby] that this horse could make any amount of money – you start at a level and you just need two people to lock horns. We were lucky that two great judges were there and did just that. I do think he’ll be a racehorse. He has it all, he has class and he has a lovely outlook, we’ve been excited about him for a long time.”
Coolmore move for Caburn’s Camelot half-brother
A bold bit of pinhooking was rewarded when Alex Elliott went to 475,000gns to secure the Camelot colt out of Tigrilla from Stanley Lodge. The youngster, whose dam won a Deauville Listed race at two, saw his value increase markedly against the 80,000gns he fetched at last year’s foal sales, where the docket was signed by NWC Bloodstock and Highpoint.
The colt is a sibling to three winners, including the Weatherbys Super Sprint Stakes scorer Caburn, and was secured on behalf of Coolmore’s MV Magnier and Peter Brant’s White Birch Farm.
“He’s been bought for MV and White Birch and he’s going to go to Ballydoyle,” said Elliott. “Paul Shanahan, MV and the whole team thought he was the standout colt today. Obviously he’s by Camelot out of a black-type mare who’s produced a good Twilight Son. He’s a gorgeous horse and was extremely well bought by Nick Cope and a couple of other boys.
“A lot of the Camelots look like staying types but I think the mare is going to speed this guy up a good bit. You could be looking at anything from seven furlongs upwards as a two-year-old then a mile plus as an older horse. We all like the idea of the speed the mare was putting into the mix.”
Pinhooker Nick Cope, who manages Stanley Lodge, said: “Myself and Tom and David Brickley of Ard Erin Stud buy a few foals together, and sometimes we unearth a couple of nice ones on the way. But this horse was more than that: he’s a real deal of a horse. He didn’t put in a bad show here and when they do that, you can’t ask for much more. When it all works, it’s amazing what can happen in this ring.”
Cope also reflected on the scale of their initial investment. He added: “It was at the top of our budget. We gave a lot of money before on a foal and got stung on him and we just thought what on earth were we doing spending that sort of money. We reassessed, brought it back down to earth and planned to buy a Book 2 horse with a pedigree or physical who might become a Book 1 type if there was an update. We landed on selling in Book 2 for this lad as we wanted to stand out. Thank God it’s worked.”
Ryan reloads
Kevin Ryan re-entered the fray to spend 400,000gns on the Starspangledbanner filly out of Reyaadah from Manister House Stud. Not only was the dam placed in the Group 3 Sweet Solera Stakes, her four winners at paddocks include the Listed-placed Tamreer.
“She’s a lovely, athletic filly with a great temperament,” said Ryan. “I haven’t had many by Starspangledbanner, they’re hard to find, but I’m delighted to get her. She looks a very racy filly and hopefully she turns out that way.”
The 400,000gns mark was hit for a second time when Amo Racing secured the Starman half-brother to the Listed-placed Letherfly from Gerrardstown House Stud. Amo’s in-house trainer Kevin Philippart de Foy said: “He was Robson Aguiar’s favourite since the weekend. He knew the horse beforehand and he knows these types of horses so it made sense to buy him.”
The colt is the sixth Starman yearling Amo Racing have bought at this year’s Book 2, a group that cost a combined 1.98 million guineas.