Online transfer for Highclere as Great House is signed up for £175,000
Great House (Galileo), the colt who won a maiden at Limerick on his second racecourse outing in June, is to represent Highclere Thoroughbred Racing in Australia after being bought for £175,000 (approx AUD$320,000) at the Tattersalls Online August Sale.
The Coolmore-bred half-brother to French Group 3 winner Aboulie (Exceed And Excel) and the placed Rifqah (Elusive Quality), who is the dam of Group winner and sire Mustajeeb (Nayef), was offered by trainer Donnacha O’Brien under the banner of Bawnmore Racing.
He was of particular note as he was born on December 28, 2016 and hence would be more suited to a southern hemisphere age bracket.
Harry Herbert, chairman and managing director of Highclere, said: “I had spent a bit of time with Donnacha, which was fascinating, and he had mentioned this being a horse who was of interest, particularly as he’s perfect for Australia.
“He’s had to run against older horses when he’s really only three, he’s done very well and is absolutely gorgeous looking.
“We’ve had a good time with the Australian syndicates since we took Libran out there, we had a nice winner with another Tattersalls purchase, Lord Belvedere, and have others like Bartholomeu Dias in training.
“I hadn’t bought a horse online before and it’s all quite quick but I’d have thought Great House would go straight down there now and we’ll decide on a trainer.”
Akhania (Dalakhani), a winning daughter of Prix Saint–Alary (Gr 1, 2000m) scorer Fidelite (In The Wings) who came not only in foal to Golden Horn (Cape Cross) but with a Night Of Thunder (Dubawi) colt at foot, reached the second highest price of £155,000 (approx AUD$283,000) when bought by bloodstock agent Alex Elliott.
Fozzy Stack, who bought back last weekend’s Phoenix Stakes (Gr 1, 6f) placed Aloha Star (Starspangledbanner), did move useful three-year-old Meaningful Vote (Pivotal) along for £135,000 (approx AUD$246,000) to Peter Chu.
Inner Beauty (Starspangledbanner) will continue her career in America after being purchased by Kern Thoroughbreds’ Joe Miller for £100,000 (approx AUD$182,000) on behalf of Tim Cohen’s Red Baron’s Barn and Rancho Temescal.
The two-year-old was a close fourth in the Airlie Stud Stakes (Gr 2, 6f) and Miller said: “The whole Tattersalls online sale process went very smoothly and it is a well-constructed easy to use platform.
“We were delighted to buy Inner Beauty for Tim Cohen who has always done well buying at Tattersalls, most notably with Grade 1 winner River Boyne.”
After the conclusion of the sale, Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony said: “This was only the second Tattersalls Online Sale and the feedback has been extremely positive.
“The international participation was particularly encouraging with three of the five purchases set to continue their racing careers abroad, in Australia, Hong Kong and the USA.”
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