Waterhouse and McKeever buy two at Goffs London Sale
Australian Hall Of Fame trainer Gai Waterhouse was back in London on Monday and made two signings in conjunction with agent Johnny McKeever, parting with £300,000 (approx. AU$560,435) to land Cuban Dawn (Teofilo), who was also signed for by Mt Hallowell Stud, and £260,000 (approx. AU$485,710) for New Endeavour (New Bay).
The pair previously ran in the colours of Teme Valley Racing, with Cuban Dawn, a €200,000 yearling purchase by Richard Ryan, finishing runner-up on his last two outings after a fourth-place finish behind yesterday’s dominant St James’s Palace Stakes winner Paddington (Siyouni) on debut.
A son of Teofilo (Galileo), he boasts an official rating of 91 and is out of the unraced Dawn Approach (New Approach) mare Dawn Day, herself out of a winning half-sister to Irish Derby (Gr 1, 1m 4f) winner Soldier Of Fortune (Galileo).
Meanwhile, New Endeavour, another €200,000 yearling, has won two of his seven starts, the latest success coming last time out at Kempton, for which he received a career-high rating of 95. He is the fourth foal out of an unraced half-sister to Group 3 winner Luminous Eyes (Bachelor Duke), making him a half-brother to winner Johnny Boom (New Bay).
“Gai likes to come to this sale and do something exciting for her owners,” said McKeever. “She really believes that Royal Ascot is the pinnacle of the world racing stage and she likes to get involved.
“In a way it’s easier for her to buy something and have it run than it is to prep a horse on the other side of the world, which of course she would do if she had absolutely the right horse. Here we can buy something that will give the owners a bit of fun having a first run at Ascot and then move on and have a career in the future in Australia.”
“New Endeavour will, most likely, run in the Britannia Stakes (tomorrow) and Cuban Dawn will run in the Golden Gates on Saturday.”
The Goffs London Sale topper was the Jessica Harrington-trained two-year-old Givemethebeatboys (Bungle Inthejungle), who made £1.1 million (AU$2.055 million) after a final bid of £100,000 from Con and Neil Sands, who were bidding through agent Hubie de Burgh, saw off underbidders Ciaron Maher and David Eustace.
Purchased for just £11,000 by Con Marnane as a yearling, Givemethebeatboys finished fourth, beaten one and three-quarter lengths by the winner River Tiber (Wootton Bassett), in yesterday’s Coventry Stakes (Gr 2, 6f).
Monday’s second-top lot is also due to contest one of Royal Ascot’s prestigious juvenile prizes, as tomorrow’s Norfolk Stakes (Gr 2, 5f) entrant No Nay Mets (No Nay Never) was knocked down to Liam Culman’s Tuckernuck Stables for £800,000 (approx. AU$1.49 million).
Bred in Ireland by Coolmore and signed for by Bregman Family Racing at a price of €180,000 at last year’s Arqana August Yearling Sale, No Nay Mets, who is out of the Group 3-winning mare Etoile (War Front), was offered by Jackman Bottom Trading Company at the Goffs sale.
The well-travelled son of No Nay Never (Scat Daddy) made a winning start to his career in the Royal Palm Juvenile Stakes (Listed, 5f) at Gulfstream Park where he was saddled by George Weaver.