Coolmore secure 2,100,000gns sale-topper but Mabs Cross fails to fire

It took a bit of persuading to get Coplow into the Tattersalls ring during Tuesday's session of the December Mare Sale, but by the time the budding blue hen exited stage right the bid board was showing 2,100,000gns and Coolmore's MV Magnier was walking away having secured one of the most promising young producers around.

"She's worth the wait, I promise," quipped auctioneer Edmond Mahony as the daughter of Manduro suffered a brief moment of stage fright. After the dam of 1,000 Guineas heroine Billesdon Brook, offered by Stowell Hill Stud in foal to Kingman, stole the show, it was impossible to disagree with his claim.

James Delahooke and Ross Doyle, who stood at opposite sides of the packed auditorium, forced the price up in six-figure increments, with David Redvers also involved earlier in the piece.

View full Tattersalls December Mare Sale results and stats

Doyle, stood with a member of the Barnane Stud team by the far partition, threw in the biggest increase as he jumped from 1,800,000gns to 2,000,000gns in one fell swoop.

But no sooner had it seemed as if the winning hand had been played, Magnier raised his iPad above the crowd in the packed gangway - just where he had stood when he secured Marsha for 6,000,000gns in 2017 - and delivered the decisive raise.

Coplow: Classic winner-producing dam in the Park Paddocks ringCredit: Laura Green

As was the case with Marsha, Magnier indicated that Coplow would likely be destined for a liaison with perennial champion sire Galileo. He said: "She's a nice-looking mare and has obviously bred two good horses already.

"She's in foal to a hot stallion too. She's done it already so let's hope she continues to do it. I'd imagine she's going to go to Galileo but I'll talk to the lads and see what they want to do."

Coplow continues to pay tribute to her breeder, the late Bob McCreery, who purchased her dam, Anna Oleanda, for 45,000gns at the 2005 December Mare Sale. Anna Oleanda produced five black-type performers for McCreery, most notably the Group 3-winning trio Anna Nerium, Middle Club and Piping Rock.

While Coplow, ironically the only offspring of Anna Oleanda not to win, may not have reached those heights on the track, her exploits at paddocks have been nothing short of exceptional. Not only is she dam of dual Group 1 winner Billesdon Brook, but her first foal is the Listed-winning Billesdon Bess, a daughter of the disappointing Dick Turpin.

"It was a good sale," said McCreery's widow, Jeanette. "She's gone to a good home and it means that she'll go to the best stallions. It also means that we can keep the others. One of them had to go and I woke up one morning and thought Coplow was the one, as then we could race the others."

'The others' McCreery referred to are Billesdon Brook, who will remain in training with Richard Hannon next year and Coplow's two-year-old Sepoy filly Bruisa. The dam produced a "lovely" colt by Dubawi earlier this year.

"The Hannons really made this mare," added McCreery. "If they hadn't trained Billesdon Brook and Bess, we would never have heard of her."

Mabs heads home

Confusion reigned earlier in the session as Group 1-winning sprinter Mabs Cross came under the hammer.

It looked as though the whole of Newmarket had squeezed into the Park Paddocks ring to see what had been billed the headline act of the December Mare Sale, including those with form when it comes to spending sizeable sums on blue-chip breeding prospects.

Bidders jumped off at the 500,000gns mark and headed towards the million mark. An unidentified figure appeared at the top of the back stairs and delivered an increase that took the price to 1,000,000gns, at which point auctioneer Ollie Fowlston announced that Mabs Cross was on the market.

A bid of 1,100,000gns came from an elderly gentleman stood just behind Anthony Stroud, so often a player at the top table on behalf of Godolphin, from the bottom of the stairs by the bidders' area.

Fowlston then turned to the Coolmore team huddled in gangway and said: "I'm waiting on you in the gate."

The crowd held its breath for another raise, but with none forthcoming the gavel came down. The mystery bidder wouldn't be drawn into commenting on his purchase, and simply said: "I've bought her as a Christmas present."

Mabs Cross strikes a pose on the Tattersalls sales groundCredit: Laura Green

However, after a brief period of confusion over the identity of the buyer, it was revealed that Mabs Cross had been bought back.

"We had a figure in mind and she didn't reach that - that's the top and bottom of it," said Emma Armstrong, wife of the mare's owner, David. "We'll look at getting her in foal; David's got his mating plans on the table as we speak and he's got another one to think about now!"

The Armstrongs are accustomed to being taken to the big stage by Mabs Cross, though Armstrong added the sales ring spotlight was a new experience for the owner-breeders.

"It was different, a bit strange," she said on watching Mabs Cross come under the hammer. "Obviously we've been here to buy before but we've never sold - and especially not anything as high-profile as Mabs. We're not really known for selling."

Mabs Cross had given the Armstrongs good cause to value her at more than 1,100,000gns, with the homebred daughter of Dutch Art and the Pivotal mare Miss Meggy having won seven times while under the care of Michael Dods, including the Group 1 Prix de l'Abbaye and back-to-back runnings of the Palace House Stakes.

When asked what Mabs Cross meant to the family, Armstrong simply said "priceless" before adding, after a lengthy pause for thought: "She's taken us to places we could only ever dream of."

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