Juddmonte supply August Sale top lot as Fabilis fetches 350,000gns

With Covid-19 restrictions easing, Park Paddocks witnessed plenty of footfall during a busy second renewal of the Tattersalls August Sale.

At around 4.15 on Wednesday afternoon Peter Doyle was among the crowd in the auditorium, but the esteemed agent was not merely an interested spectator.

After a spirited round of bidding Doyle signalled a play of 350,000gns from his position opposite the rostrum to secure the progressive middle-distance performer Fabilis.

Rising star trainer George Boughey was involved in the early exchanges, as was Byron Rogers, but Tattersalls' Jason Singh, taking instructions on the phone by the entrance to the ring, ultimately proved Doyle's stiffest competition.

As was the case with many of the August Sale's eyecatching prices, Fabilis will now continue his racing days overseas.

Peter Doyle in high spirits after securing the sales-topping FabilisCredit: Laura Green

"He's been bought for Najd Stud, who've been clients for a long time," said Doyle after signing the six-figure docket. "He's a lovely horse and comes from a very good operation. Juddmonte have been very successful so it's always nice to buy a horse from them.

"I didn't think he'd make that much but a lot of people liked him and we'll hope for the best. He'll go and race in Saudi Arabia and be aimed at races like the Crown Prince Cup. We've had some success finding horses for that race for these connections before."

The top lot was bred and sold by Juddmonte Farms and won three races while under the care of Ralph Beckett. The most recent of those victories came just five days before the son of Frankel came under the hammer, with his one and three-quarter length Newmarket success earning him a career-high Racing Post Rating (RPR) of 102.

Fabilis in the Park Paddocks ring before being knocked down to Peter Doyle for 350,000gnsCredit: Laura Green

The three-year-old colt is out of the Grade 3-winning Mirabilis, a Lear Fan half-sister to Nebraska Tornado, which makes him a sibling to five winners, most notably his Darley Stakes-winning brother Monarchs Glen.

The two-day sale concluded with turnover of 5,375,200gns (down 36 per cent year on year from an offering that was down by 44 per cent), an average price of 18,794gns (up 14 per cent) and a median of 10,000gns (up 11 per cent).

The clearance rate was 91 per cent as 286 of 313 offered lots found a buyer.

Super sub O'Toole

The second-top lot looks set to stay closer to home after Mags O'Toole struck a final bid of 185,000gns for classy handicapper Zabeel Champion, who was sold by Mark Johnston's Kingsley Park on behalf of Rabbah Bloodstock.

It transpired O'Toole had stepped in for fellow agent Tom Malone, who had left Newmarket and was on a flight bound for Germany ahead of the BBAG Yearling Sale on Friday when Zabeel Champion passed through the ring.

Zabeel Champion, a Poet's Voice half-brother Group 2 scorer Dame Malliot, won six times from 14 starts for Johnston and Jaber Abdullah, including when he recorded a quickfire hat-trick earlier this year with a brace of victories at Ripon followed by a success at Newmarket.

Zabeel Champion exits in the Park Paddocks ring after fetching 185,000gnsCredit: Laura Green

He hit his peak RPR of 109 when third to Quickthorn in the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Speaking once he had touched down in Germany, Malone said: "He's our type of horse and he's a lovely big scopey chaser in the making. He came highly recommended and they weren't going to release him too lightly.

"He showed loads of pace to win over ten furlongs at Ripon and stayed a mile and a half on heavy ground at Royal Ascot. He's got a beautiful pedigree so fingers crossed he goes on and does his job as a novice over hurdles. He's going to Paul Nicholls in Ditcheat."

Another for Nass

Another six-figure lot bound for the Gulf region is Tawaareq after the three-year-old son of Shamardal was knocked down to Fawzi Nass, who was huddled by the gangway with Oliver St Lawrence, at 180,000gns.

The brother to Listed scorer Zawraq ran eight times while under the care of Sir Michael Stoute and advertised his credentials with a three-length success at Newbury that doubled his tally of wins and enhanced his peak RPR to 93.

Fawzi Nass: 'There's a lot of options for Tawaareq within the new international series'Credit: Laura Green

"He's been bought to go to Bahrain," said Nass. "I think he'll handle the fast turf out there and there are plenty of races for him. He's got an official rating of 90 so there are a lot of options for him within the new international series. He vetted cleanly too so we're happy to get him."

Tawaareq proved to be the highlight of a sizeable draft offered by Shadwell, as 36 lots sold for a total of 858,000gns and an average price of 23,833gns.

De Burgh doubles up

Hubie de Burgh made his presence felt when securing back-to-back lots from the Ballydoyle Stables draft at an outlay of 180,000gns. First up was the 80,000gns Father's Day, a twice-raced son of Galileo whose dam is a sibling to the likes of Hydrangea, Hermosa and The United States.

He was swiftly followed by the 100,000gns Iowa, another son of Galileo whose siblings include the Group 2-winning pair Hawksmoor and Royal Dornoch. Iowa won one of his 12 starts for Aidan O'Brien and the Coolmore partners and hit a career-best RPR of 101 when fourth behind Master Of Reality in a Listed contest at Down Royal on his penultimate outing.

"They're both going to Australia for Darby Racing," said De Burgh. "They're not making any more Galileos and we love taking them down to Australia. Aidan [O'Brien] does the work for us early on and then they're ready to go when they arrive.

Hubie de Burgh: 'They're not making any more Galileos and we love taking them down to Australia'Credit: Laura Green

"Father's Day has a huge page and the brother, Somerset Maugham, has already gone to Australia and won four races and The United States won a Group 1 in Australia too. Because this horse hasn't won yet we have the advantage of being able to go for a maiden down there. He vetted very clean for us and he stays a mile and a half so it all just fitted into place.

"Iowa is obviously more exposed but he's another with a huge page and his best runs have been his last runs as he's been stepped up in trip. He just looks nailed on for Australia, he's going to be a mile and a half horse down there. His run against Master Of Reality, who finished second in the Melbourne Cup before being disqualified, was pretty good."

Although De Burgh's purchases were towards the head of the August Sale market, he said the sums involved looked set to prove good value considering the bumper purses available in Australia.

"Buying these horses at auction is such better value than if you went to buy them privately, the prices are so different," he said. "Scott Darby [director of Darby Racing] likes the auction process as he feels we can get better value than if we went after these horses privately.

"We got two very good horses from Tattersalls a couple of years ago in Harpo Marx and Spirit Ridge and they were first and second in a Group 3 [at Kembla Grange] on Saturday, so why would you change the process if it's working? Hopefully we'll be winning Group races with these two new purchases in the not too distant future."

Blandford's Boman gets busy

Blandford Bloodstock's Stuart Boman was busy throughout the session, with a handful of noteworthy purchases made on behalf of a range of clients.

Leading the haul was the 95,000gns Pretreville, a six-year-old son of Acclamation whose career highlight came when winning the Group 3 Prix Bertrand du Breuil, a race in which he beat the subsequent Group 1 winner Skalleti by no less than five lengths.

"It's pretty simple as he's the highest-rated horse in the sale," said Boman. "He's been a high-performing horse throughout, including in his first run back this year when he ran to a mark of 116 and had a Group 1 winner [Victor Ludorum] back in third. He's a lovely horse to look at and vetted very cleanly for a six-year-old.

"He started off with Jean-Claude Rouget and has been handled beautifully by Pascal Bary recently. He still seems to have plenty of miles on the clock and older horses have served me well previously, and he's a top-class horse. He'll be heading abroad for an undisclosed client and will be aimed at international options."

Pretreville, a €100,000 Arqana October purchase by Rouget back in 2016, was offered by Jamie Railton.

Stuart Boman: Blandford Bloodstock agent was busy throughout the second session of the August SaleCredit: Laura Green

Earlier in the day Boman dipped into the Ballydoyle draft to secure Sir William Bruce with a bid of 90,000gns. The Coolmore homebred, a winner of a Leopardstown handicap on his penultimate outing, is a brother to two horses boasting bold black type, namely Easter Lily and Circling, and will bid to do his bit to uphold family honour from his new home in Australia.

"He's the first purchase up here for Grant Morgan's On Track Thoroughbreds," said Boman. "He raced Brazen Beau, so that's his main connection with Europe, and he brings tours up every year - or when Australians could travel anyway!

"That got his ownership group interested in buying European horses so it's a project we've been working on for the last six months. The horse will be going to Queensland to be trained by Tony Gollan. New South Wales and Victoria have been the real focal points with these European horses but there are still a load of good opportunities for European imports in Queensland.

"As for the horse himself, he's a gorgeous son of Galileo out of a Danehill mare who's still lightly raced. He hasn't run since Ascot, which was an issue, but he vetted very cleanly and he's highly rated so I thought he was particularly good value."

Elliott lands a slam dunk

American interests got in on the action when Alex Elliott gave 60,000gns for the Shadwell-consigned Moraweth during the early stages of Wednesday's session. The son of Speightstown was bred in the US and is set to return to his place of birth to race for the Slam Dunk Racing ownership group.

The three-year-old colt won one of his seven starts while under the care of Charlie Hills, with his Lingfield success earning him a career-high RPR of 82.

"I've bought him to go to California for an owner called Slam Dunk Racing who've had numerous stakes horses this year, including Ginobili who won the Pat O'Brien at the weekend," said Elliott.

"He'll get all his conditions over there as I think he's an out-and-out dirt horse to look at and on pedigree. He won on Polytrack last time out and Jim Crowley got off him and said he'd loved the surface so I think he'll improve even more on dirt.

"I was actually out in America when Tapizar, who the dam is a full-sister to, was on the Derby trail and he loved California. I think this horse is going to really step up once he gets out there. Even if he doesn't enjoy the dirt, which I think he's made for, he should be competitive on the turf as he's shown good form on grass too."

Slam Dunk Racing have enjoyed success with their past European imports, most notably the Grade 2-winning and Grade 1-placed Madam Dancealot, who landed the Dick Poole Fillies' Stakes while with Joe Tuite but took her form to new heights once she joined the Richard Baltas stable.

On the immediate plans for Moraweth, Elliott added: "He'll get a good break now and Nick Cosato, who's the principal of Slam Dunk, will make a plan for him but I'd expect to see him at Santa Anita in the new year. Me and Nick have bought quite a few stakes horses together and he's a very shrewd operator - Slam Dunk is really on the up so it was great to add this horse to the team."

McStay on the mark

Mark McStay of Avenue Bloodstock and Blandford Bloodstock's Richard Brown clashed over Shalanez, who proved the highlight of the draft from Richard Hannon's East Everleigh Stables draft after the former party won out at 47,000gns.

The filly, a 260,000gns yearling purchase on behalf of Saeed Suhail, failed to get her head in front in six starts but was second on her first two outings and achieved a career-high RPR of 70 when beaten just a neck at Wolverhampton.

However, McStay explained it was the daughter of Shalaa's improving pedigree, rather than her race record, that proved the main attraction, as she is a half-sister to the Group 3-winning and multiple Group 1-placed Spectre

"She's a lovely filly and she's been bought for an existing client and long-standing friend," said McStay. "It's a family I know well as I purchased the Galileo colt out of Spectre from Newsells Park Stud last year [for 450,000gns].

"That mare is in foal to Dubawi and has a Frankel foal, and I Siyou Baby [out of half-sister Stacey Sutton] looks like she can probably add black type to the family too, so it's a really exciting pedigree and she's a good physical to go with it.

"She was bought to breed from but I'll leave it to my client to decide what he's going to do with her in terms of mating or racing plans."

Mahony hails August Sale's long-term future

At the conclusion of trade, Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony said: "Last year’s inaugural Tattersalls August Sale, which was born out of Covid-related disruption to the racing calendar, was a huge success and the second renewal has returned figures which suggest that the fixture very much has a long-term future.

"With the recent July Sale returning to its customary numbers, the August catalogue was significantly smaller than last year, but the vibrance and extraordinary level of international participation, which are the hallmarks of sales of this nature at Tattersalls, have been in evidence from start to finish.

"Buyers from throughout Europe, the Gulf region, Australia and the USA have added to the strong domestic participation and we have yet again hosted a sale which has achieved a clearance rate in excess of 90 per cent and generated sustained demand in all sectors of the market.

"Equally pleasing has been the fact that the August Sale has seen a return almost to normality after more than a year of staging sales which have been hampered by Covid-related protocols. It has been a real pleasure to have welcomed so many people back to Park Paddocks as we turn our attention to the Tattersalls yearling sales season starting with the Somerville Yearling Sale next week."

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