Johnson and Seymour Bloodstock move for progressive Grenoble at Tattersalls
Australian buying subdued at record-breaking sale but agent secures Thursday’s top lot in lightly raced son of Siyouni
The Tattersalls July Sale continued to generate rampant growth despite muted buying activity through the three-day auction from the large contingent of Australians on-site at Park Paddocks.
Before the final day of trade yesterday, turnover had already surpassed the total revenue of the 2021 sale, with receipts of 12,574,785gns (approx. AU$23,160,300) eclipsing the total revenue of 12,301,300gns from a year ago.
With just yesterday’s final evening session to play out, the average of 31,299gns (approx. AU$57,645) was up 36.9 per cent on last year’s figure from 456 lots sold, with the clearance rate sitting at a remarkable 99 per cent.
Australians were active in the market, however, and in the evening session on Thursday bloodstock agent William Johnson teamed up with Mark Pilkington and Darren Thomas of Seymour Bloodstock to secure Grenoble, a winning son of Siyouni (Pivotal), for 130,000gns (approx. AU$239,435), with the three-year-old gelding set to continue his career in Australia.
During yesterday’s morning session, Paul Moroney and Catheryne Bruggeman struck for the twice-placed two-year-old filly Favourite Queen (Massaat) for 27,000gns (approx. AU$49,730) on behalf of client Perry Sambor.
Yulong, having purchased 14 lots on Wednesday through their various stallion syndicates, added a second filly by Pivotal (Polar Falcon), the damsire of their dual Group 1-winning filly Hungry Heart (Frankel), on Thursday. Signing under the Grunt Syndicate with BBA Ireland, Yulong went to 27,000gns to prize away Isakova, a granddaughter of English 1,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m) winner Russian Rhythm (Kingmambo), who won three further Group 1s in an illustrious ten-start career when trained by Sir Michael Stoute for Cheveley Park Stud.
Johnson, who was bidding over the phone to Tattersalls’ marketing manager Jason Singh, saw off a strong challenge from in the ring to land Grenoble, who has won once from seven starts for William Haggas and has an official rating of 94.
Despite having performed up to a mile and a quarter and his half-brother Ispolini (Dubawi) being a Group 3 winner over one mile and six furlongs, Johnson believes Grenoble is a horse open to progression that can strike over shorter distances.
“Darren Thomas and Mark Pilkington at Seymour Bloodstock were very keen on the horse. I’m fortunate to do a bit of work for them and with the logistics of me being over in the UK I just lended my hand to help secure the horse, having inspected him,” Johnson said.
“He’s a lightly raced horse that might have won one or two races more. He’s got a profile that he’ll come to Australia on a nice rating and he can work his way through the grades. The prize-money [available] doesn’t need any introduction and hopefully he can end up in a nice handicap for a bigger purse.
“I think with the way they are trained in Australia, with shorter, sharper work, I don’t think it’s out of the realm he could be effective over a mile.
“He’s able to get ten furlongs and is by a good stallion with a nice pedigree, so he’s got a good profile for Australia.”
Out of Giant’s Causeway (Storm Cat) mare Giants Play, Grenoble is a half-brother Deutsches St Leger (Gr 3, 1m 6f) winner Ispolini, who finished second to Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) winner Cross Counter (Teofilo) over two miles in Dubai, and stakes placegetters Vivionn (Dubawi) and Playful Sound (Street Cry).
Moroney and Bruggeman continued their association with Melbourne businessman Perry Sambor in picking up another progressive filly from a European sale to take back to Australia.
Bruggeman was present at the Tattersalls December Mare Sale last year when she signed for the winner Dawndiva (Dawn Approach), who is now in training with Leon and Troy Corstens, for 27,000gns, as well as at Arqana when she went to €25,000 to buy Iffraaj (Zafonic) filly Damned, and this time it was Moroney at Park Paddocks who went to 27,000gns to secure Favourite Queen.
The filly is winless from four starts, but Moroney believes she shapes as one who can develop into a useful performer in Australia, given the time to develop.
“She made my first list of horses to look at as potential race fillies. Perry is looking for those types to take Down Under,” Moroney said. This filly has enough pedigree behind her and I think the speed and form she’s shown at two, connected to Royal Ascot winners and placegetters, probably defied her pedigree.
“I looked at her and thought there was a lot more development in her to come. She looks like a middle distance filly. She clearly has ability and we’ll give her every opportunity to go down to Australia and mature and I think she can be prosperous down there. The plan would be to get some black type and then trade her on at a healthy profit.”
Favourite Queen is the seventh foal out of German-bred mare Endless Night (Tiger Hill), herself a sister to stakes winners Eye Of The Tiger and Echoes Rock and half-sister to Group 2 winner Eagle Rise (Danehill) as well as stakes winner Even Song (Waky Nao).
Her pedigree also traces back to All-Star Mile (1600m) winner Mugatoo (Henrythenavigator).
The filly is by a sire relatively unknown in southern hemisphere quarters in first season sire Massaat, a son of Teofilo (Galileo), who won the Hungerford Stakes (Gr 2, 7f) at four, and has two winners from ten runners in Europe.
“Massaat was a high-class racehorse and a very highly rated horse by Teofilo, who works Down Under,” Moroney said.
“I keep an open mind and he could be one of those who turns out to be a very good stallion. He could’ve been a horse that was well received in Australia. He might be from a little bit of left field, but I’ve bought plenty of those over time and some of those have succeeded and some haven’t.”
Buyers continue to be drawn to stock bred by the late Hamdan Al Maktoum, as clearly evidenced by the 540,000gns Rihaam (Dansili) setting a Tattersalls July Sale record on Wednesday.
And that trend was maintained on Thursday when Blandford Bloodstock’s Tom Biggs went to 130,000gns for Albasheer (Shamardal), who was bred by Shadwell and sold by the operation during the morning session and, along with Grenoble, claimed top lot honours on day two.
The lightly raced four-year-old has made just five starts over two seasons with trainer Owen Burrows, but he has shown a high-class level of form nonetheless.
His racing career began with a six-and-a-half length romp at Doncaster on his debut before he finished a length second to Chindit (Wootton Bassett) in the Champagne Stakes (Gr 2, 7f) when a short head in front of subsequent four-time Group/Grade 1 winner State Of Rest (Starspangledbanner).
Shadwell offered eight lots at this year’s July Sale for receipts totalling 917,000gns (approx. AU$1,688,935).