‘This is my best day in the sales ring, it’s very emotional’ – a new high for Luca Cumani as Frankel colt fetches 2,200,000gns
Godolphin picked up where they left off on day one by securing a 2.2 million guineas son of Frankel during the opening hour of selling at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale on Wednesday.
The opening session saw Sheikh Mohammed’s operation invest 9.3 million guineas on ten yearlings, and the ruler of Dubai was seemingly in no mood to be denied on day two either.
Juddmonte’s general manager Simon Mockridge was among those still in there pitching at the business end of the bidding, but it was Japanese trainer Mitsu Nakauchida who ultimately filled the role of frustrated underbidder. This is not the first time Nakauchida has finished runner-up on a notable Book 1 offering, as he also underbid last year’s 4.4 million guineas top lot, who was also by Frankel.
Wednesday’s seven-figure youngster was offered by the Cumanis’ Fittocks Stud and hails from a family that Godolphin already knows plenty about. The colt is a half-brother to two winners, most notably the Charlie Appleby-trained Ottoman Fleet, a two-time Grade 2 scorer in the US.
Another sibling, the two-year-old Zarak filly Ottoman Empress, made a promising debut in the Godolphin blue when second in Newmarket maiden at the end of September.
“Nearly, nearly!” said Luca Cumani as he gestured that he was holding back tears in the aftermath of the transaction. “This is my best day in the sales ring, it’s very emotional. We’re very thankful to all the people who appreciated the horse. I’m especially thankful to my stud groom Martin [Languillet] and all the staff, who’ve done so much work with the horse.
“It’s fantastic, that’s the highest price we’ve ever had. We sold one for two million last year, which was very exciting, and this is even better! He’s such a lovely horse, he’s never put a foot wrong. He’s a great-looking Frankel colt out of a mare who’s already proven. I’m delighted that he’s going to a very good home.”
The colt was bred by a partnership consisting of the Cumanis, Newsells Park Stud and the Marinopoulos family’s Marmion Vauville. Cumani explained how the partnership came together when Fittocks Stud offered the dam, Innevera, at the 2022 December Mares Sale. Jill Lamb signed the ticket on that occasion at 750,000gns.
“We were selling the mare for the Marinopouloses, who’ve been friends and owners with us for a long time,” he said. “They wanted to stay in but had to dissolve their own partnership, and at the same time Graham [Smith-Bernal, Newsells Park Stud owner] said that if we saw something nice at the sales then we should get together and do something in partnership.
“We know this mare, she’s been at our stud many times, so we said this could be a good proposition for a partnership. That’s how it came together between the Marinopouloses, Newsells Park and us.”
Godolphin remained clear at the head of the leading buyers’ table with a spend of 14.75 million guineas spread across 15 lots.
Coolmore hoping for another Delacroix with 1,300,000gns Dubawi colt
A good day for Fittocks Stud got even better a short while later when the Newmarket operation sold the Dubawi colt out of Lady Bowthorpe. Coolmore’s MV Magnier, who signed his name alongside Peter Brant’s White Birch Farm brand, delivered the winning bid of 1.3 million guineas.
Amo Racing and George Boughey were among the players involved earlier on, but it was Ed Sackville, standing beside Ed Walker and Simon Sadler of TBT Racing, who filled the role of underbidder.
The seven-figure youngster is the second foal out of the mare, who carried Emma Banks’ colours to victory in five races. The highlight of her time in training with William Jarvis came in the Group 1 Nassau Stakes of 2021, a race she won by a length and a half from Shadwell’s Zeyaadah. A brother to this colt sold to Godolphin for 2 million guineas at last year’s renewal of Book 1. He has been named Desert Knight and is in training with Charlie Appleby.
“It’s a very strange business but it’s great,” said Banks. “I’m so lucky to have a mare that has produced two beautiful yearlings. Her Too Darn Hot foal is lovely and she’s in foal to Wootton Bassett – exciting!
“I’m very happy, and this gives me an excuse to descend on Ballydoyle next year and insist I come see how he’s getting on! I’m thrilled, it’s not every day you sell a horse for that much money.”
Banks also had an update on her star mare, saying: “If the vets are right then we have a Wootton Bassett filly in the oven, so I’m thrilled about that. You dream of having a mare like Lady Bowthorpe, so I’m very emotionally invested in her, of course. That first filly stays with me, I think, although that’s still a long way down the line.”
Banks’ journey with Lady Bowthorpe began Book 2 of the October Yearling Sale back in 2017, where the daughter of Nathaniel was picked up by James Toller for 82,000gns. She went on to net almost £670,000 in prize-money and has now generated 3.3 million guineas in Book 1 yearling receipts.
“He’s a lovely horse and Lady Bowthorpe was a very good racefilly, as we all know,” said Magnier. “It’s a great result for Emma Banks, she’s a very nice lady so well done to her.
“Dubawi is still going well and thankfully we’re going to retire Delacroix at the end of this year. He’s a complete outcross for us, so he’s probably the most important horse we’d have retired in a good while. He has everything: race record, pedigree, and as a complete outcross we can really get behind the horse. If this fella is any good then he’ll follow a similar path.”
Magnier made another seven-figure signing later in the day when going to 1.7 million guineas for the No Nay Never colt out of Cheveley Park Stakes heroine Millisle. The colt, whose Frankel half-sister Alfareqa sold to Shadwell for 1.6 million guineas two years ago, was bred by Stonethorn Stud Farms and presented by Watership Down Stud.
“No Nay Never is having a very good year with the likes of Charles Darwin and True Love,” said Magnier. “Blackbeard [another son of No Nay Never] is having a great sale here and there’s plenty of good word for Little Big Bear. Millisle was a very good filly, so hopefully this colt ends up being a good, quick horse.”
Having drawn a blank on day one, the Coolmore partners ended the second session with five recruits secured for a spend of 4.8 million guineas.
‘Give me a Gold Cup anytime!’ – Amo Racing move for Gigginstown House-bred Night Of Thunder colt at 1,700,000gns
“A good five minutes’ work,” was Eddie O’Leary’s typically understated reaction to seeing back-to-back Lynn Lodge Stud lots bring a combined 2.2 million guineas midway through the second session at Tattersalls Book 1.
The lion’s share of that sum was generated by a Night Of Thunder colt who was knocked down to Amo Racing’s Kia Joorabchian at 1.7 million guineas.
Out of the Group 3 Sweet Solera Stakes third Model Guest, the colt is a brother to Zhang Yuesheng’s smart two-year-old filly Evolutionist. That €600,000 purchase could provide the pedigree with an almost immediate Group 1 update as she is set to contest the Fillies’ Mile on Friday.
The colt emerged as one of the week’s major talking horses, and O’Leary was effusive in his praise of the strapping youngster.
“He’s an absolutely beautiful horse with a magnificent mind,” he said. “The sire is obviously very, very good and I hope the filly is very good; she runs in the Group 1 on Friday. He came out of the field in February and looked like this. He’s just a stunning horse. We didn’t prep him, we just brought him up here.
“It’s a great day, we’ve more to sell, but it’s been a brilliant day. You’re never confident, you just hope the people show up, and they did. I hope he’s very lucky for Kia. I hope he’s as good as I think he is. I’d like to thank all the lads at home too, they do a great job and it’s all very much appreciated.”
The colt was bred under the banner of Michael O’Leary’s Gigginstown House, a name more closely associated with the National Hunt sphere rather than blue-chip Flat breeding. Asked where the productive spell of selling ranked among his best days in the business, Eddie O’Leary grinned and said: “Give me a Gold Cup anytime!”
The other lot in Lynn Lodge’s big-money brace was the Wootton Bassett filly out of a half-sister to Taghrooda who fetched 500,000gns from Japanese buyer Tsunefumi Kusama.
Joorabchian delegated media duties to bloodstock agent Ben McElroy after signing for the seven-figure Night Of Thunder colt, but indicated his purchase would head down the road to his base at Freemason Lodge Stables.
“He’s a fantastic-looking horse with great strength and movement,” said McElroy. “Obviously the full-sister can run, she’s entered in the Fillies’ Mile on Friday. Regardless of the sire, he was one of the best physicals here; he’s outstanding. And Night Of Thunder is phenomenal. He started at the bottom and has worked his way up. He goes from strength to strength, and hopefully this colt can add his name to the roll of honour. The sire is at the elite level now.”
The Night Of Thunder colt was Amo Racing’s second seven-figure pickup of the day, having earlier gone to 2.2 million guineas for the Wootton Bassett half-brother to Crypto Force from Marlhill House Stud. Coolmore’s MV Magnier filled the role of underbidder on both colts.
“To be honest with you, I was hoping [the price] would be half that,” Joorabchian said after signing for the Wootton Bassett colt. “Unfortunately when you’re bidding against the other big guys, you have to really like the horse and really go for it, and you don’t have much choice. He’ll go to Freemason and we’ll see how he goes.”
He added: “The two colts we paid a lot of money for [over the first two days] have very good pedigrees and are by very good stallions. When you’re talking about Frankel and Wootton Bassett, you’re talking about the cream of the crop. That’s really what we’re looking for. We’re also looking for fillies that can be potential broodmares. I’ve said before, we’re 30 or 40 years behind the big operations. We’re just a baby operation trying to catch up.”
Amo’s spending continued late into the session when another well-related Wootton Bassett colt became the day’s third yearling to make 2.2 million guineas. The youngster was bred by Al Shahania Stud and offered through Newsells Park. He is out of Qabala, a daughter of Scat Daddy who won the Group 3 Nell Gwyn Stakes and was third in Hermosa’s 1,000 Guineas.
The colt is a sibling to two winners, including the unbeaten Raammee who took his record to two from two with a 12-length romp in a Newcastle novice stakes last month.
“When the bidding started at zero I thought we might have a chance, but there were three parties out here that were whacking it back and forth pretty quickly against each other,” said Alex Elliott. “I think we’ve bought two serious Wootton Bassett colts today, the one from Marlhill and now this one out of Qabala, who was a very good filly for Roger Varian.
“The Persian King half-brother [Raammee] appears to be a bit of a freak. His performance on debut at Kempton was pretty special and then he came back and won at Newcastle. Wootton Bassett is an upgrade on most stallions, and with the page going back to that huge Juddmonte family, I think he’s got the potential to be a very special horse.”
That signing took Amo’s Book 1 spend to 11.91 million guineas for eight new recruits.