Godolphin and Amo Racing clash over 3,700,000gns son of Sea The Stars
Godolphin, with Sheikh Mohammed at the centre of the huddle, squared up against Amo Racing as a well-related son of Sea The Stars fetched 3,700,000gns midway through the opening session of Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.
Amo principal Kia Joorabchian was back in his usual position opposite the rostrum, while Sheikh Mohammed and his advisors were stationed outside by the parade ring. Godolphin talent scout Anthony Stroud issued the final 200,000gns increase that moved the colt to the head of the Book 1 market.
“Don’t walk away from me,” implored auctioneer John O’Kelly as Joorabchian paced about the bidders’ area. But when the Amo Racing man declined to take the bait, the hammer fell on the day’s third millionaire offering, out of five by the close of play.
The colt became not only the most expensive yearling of 2025 but the most expensive ever sired by Sea The Stars. The youngster is also the joint-fifth most expensive lot to change hands in Book 1 history. The roll of honour is headed by the 5,000,000gns Galileo filly Al Naamah, who went the way of Al Shaqab Racing in 2013.
“He’s exceptionally good-looking and from a very good stud farm,” Stroud said after signing for the Longview Stud-consigned youngster. “He’s by Sea The Stars, it’s a very good Rothschild family and he was majestic in the way he moved. He’s an extremely lovely horse. Obviously the family works well with Sea The Stars, he’s an unbelievable stallion. He really stood out to us among the horses here.”
The colt is a sibling to three winners, including his Listed-placed half-sister Crystal Caprice and his two-time winning brother Crystal Mariner. The seven-figure youngster is the sixth foal out of Crystal Zvezda, a Listed-winning homebred for Sir Evelyn De Rothschild.
In turn, the dam is out of Crystal Star, making her a sibling to five winners. These include champion older horse Crystal Ocean, whose finest hour came when getting the better of Magical and Waldgeist to win the Prince of Wales’s Stakes. Crystal Ocean is closely related to this colt, with both being by Sea The Stars. Crystal Ocean and Crystal Zvezda are also siblings to three-time Group 2 scorer Crystal Capella and Pattison Canadian International victor Hillstar.
On the price tag, Stroud said: “You have to pay for the ones you really want, and he’s the one we really wanted, without doubt. Valuations are difficult and you always have to pay more than you feel because you want the horse. Godolphin have supported the sale hugely, and it’s only the first day. There’s still two days to go.”
The colt was bred under the Ed’s Stud banner after Crystal Zvezda changed hands during the dispersal of stock from De Rothschild’s Southcourt Stud in 2022. Stroud Coleman Bloodstock signed the ticket on that occasion at 775,000gns. The colt is bred on the Sea The Stars-Dubawi cross responsible for six stakes winners, including Group 2 scorers Map Of Stars and See The Fire.
Godolphin were back into seven-figure territory just five lots later when bidding a round 1,000,000gns for the Too Darn Hot colt out of Dane Street from Airlie Stud. The youngster is a sibling to six winners, most notably Moyglare Stud Stakes heroine Skitter Scatter, who also has a Sea The Stars filly entered in Book 1 as Lot 424 on Thursday.
Godolphin are already involved in this family as they raced the Listed-winning three-parts brother Victory Dance, while Juddmonte own the Fortune Stakes-winning half-sister Skellet.
There is plenty of top-level form high up on the page as another half-sister, Data Dependent, is the dam of Belmont Oaks heroine Aspen Grove. Consent, who appears beneath the second dam, won the Group 1 Prix de Royallieu for Sir Mark Prescott at Longchamp on Sunday.
“It’s a great price and I wish Godolphin all the best with him,” said Airlie’s Anthony Rogers. “He’s a lovely horse, he’s a racehorse. You don’t want to believe you’re going to get a million. He had a good update and we’re delighted with the result, but if I start coming to a sale saying ‘I think I’m going to get a million’ then you’re a bit bloody crazy! She’s been an unbelievable mare. We failed to sell her here about 15 years ago. That was quite good!”
Godolphin returned to a source of past success when bidding 1,000,000gns for a well-related son of Blue Point earlier in the day. The colt was presented by James Hanly’s Ballyhimikin Stud, the same outfit that sold Prince of Wales’s Stakes and Juddmonte International hero Ombudsman to Sheikh Mohammed three years ago.
The Blue Point colt is out of Boston Rocker, making him a sibling to Group 2 winner San Donato and this year’s Gimcrack Stakes runner-up Rock On Thunder.
“He’s a super horse, he never turned a hair all week,” said Hanly, who bred the colt in partnership with Stroud and the late Lady O’Reilly’s Skymarc Farm. “He travelled very well, he settled in well here, he showed so many times. A week ago he was out in a field without a rug covered in mud! We like to keep them out as much as possible.”
Those purchases helped Godolphin go well clear on the leading buyers’ table, their 9.3 million guineas on ten yearlings more than double the amount invested by the day’s second-biggest buyer, with Amo Racing picking up three new signings for a combined 4.6 million guineas.
Amo Racing outmuscle Coolmore for 3,600,000gns Frankel colt
It took all of 40 minutes for Amo Racing and Coolmore to lock horns at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. The result of a protracted round of bidding saw a Frankel brother to last year’s top lot bring the gavel down at a cool 3.6 million guineas.
Whereas Kia Joorabchian stood front and centre of the bidders’ area opposite the rostrum last year, this time the Amo Racing principal delivered his bids while pacing back and forth in front of the spotter’s podium by the parade ring. Just in front of the Amo Racing huddle stood the Coolmore camp, with MV Magnier joined by the likes of Paul Shanahan, Peter Brant and Georg von Opel.
After the price vaulted up in 200,000gns increments it was Joorabchian who struck a bid of three million guineas with another determined nod of the head. Magnier took his time to respond before mouthing “one” in the direction of bid spotter Shirley Anderson-Jolag.
Five more 100,000gns raises were exchanged before, as was so often the case 12 months ago, Joorabchian had the final say. Magnier debated countering again but received a decisive shake of the head from Brant.
The Amo Racing team know plenty about the pedigree as they paid 4.4 million guineas for this colt’s sister, subsequently named Partying and sent into training with Kevin Philippart de Foy, on the same day in 2024.
“The boys loved him, we have a lot of people around us who really liked him, and we couldn’t really let him go,” said Joorabchian. “We want to keep the family tight and see how it works out. Obviously if he’s a very good horse he’s going to be a stallion, and if he’s not, he’s not going to be a stallion.”
Asked if the seven-figure colt would join his sister at Freemason Lodge Stables, where Philippart de Foy oversees the Amo Racing string, Joorabchian said: “Yeah, probably, although we haven’t decided that yet. Partying is at Freemason. Obviously we like her otherwise we wouldn’t have gone for the brother!
“Who knows though, she still hasn’t run, although this is a completely different project. If the filly doesn’t run she’s still got a huge residual value. She can be a broodmare, and we have five stallions, so that’s important. But if he doesn’t go, it’s a completely different kettle of fish.”
He added: “I thought we paid a little bit more than we expected but then we’re up against Coolmore. They make it five versus one! It’s an early strike, hopefully there’s no more.”
The Frankel colt is the third foal out of Aljazzi, whose five career victories were capped by a wide-margin score in the Group 2 Duke of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot. The daughter of Shamardal joined the Newsells Park Stud broodmare band at the end of 2018 when she sold for one million guineas at the Autumn Horses in Training Sale, a record price for the auction at the time.
That seven-figure investment has been made to look money exceptionally well spent as her offspring have now generated 8,750,000gns in Book 1 receipts.
“When I did the budget in December last year I put a valuation of half a million on him because I think some of these big, raw Frankels can still make that, even if they’re just legs,” said Newsells Park’s general manager Julian Dollar. “He really came together through the year, especially during prep. I suppose coming in here I thought there was a chance he might make seven figures, a bit like I felt with the sister last year. When you get two big-hitters locking horns, there’s always a chance they can make unbelievable amounts, which that really was.”
Asked if that result alleviated any pressure ahead of an important three days, Dollar said: “Yes, a lot! This really helps. These horses we’re producing here, they’re expensive to breed. The nominations are expensive and we’re very fortunate that we sometimes get rewarded. They’re expensive though, and sometimes the harvest doesn’t go as well as you’d hope. That was a nice start.”
Although Joorabchian joked that he hoped the Frankel colt would be Amo Racing’s only signing of the day, two more recruits were made later in the session.
A Lope De Vega filly out of a half-sister to Group 1-winning siblings Forever Together and Together Forever, the latter the dam of City Of Troy, brought 550,000gns when offered by Ballylinch Stud. Another Frankel colt, out of the classy Bocca Baciata, cost 450,000gns when presented by The Castlebridge Consignment, taking Amo’s day one spend to 4,600,000gns.