Laatansa the leading light at 250,000gns as Autumn Horses in Training Sale ends

There was a distinct sense of deja vu at the concluding session of a record-breaking renewal of the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale on Thursday, as leading spenders Najd Stud would not be denied for the session's most sought after offering.

The Saudi Arabian operation, which has been assisted in its talent search by Peter and Ross Doyle Bloodstock, added the progressive Laatansa to its 14-lot haul at a cost of 250,000gns.

The two-year-old son of New Bay came on the market after three promising efforts for Shadwell and Ed Dunlop, the most recent of which came at Newmarket when third to New London.

"We liked him as a physical, he's a very nice horse," said Najd Stud's representative Saud Al Qahtani. "He's by a promising young stallion who is already producing Group 1 winners, all his progeny are booming, and he's from a good family. We hope he will be a very nice horse next year."

Laatansa is out of the Listed-placed Louve Rare, a Rock Of Gibraltar half-sister to the Wildensteins' Group/Grade 2 winner Loup Breton, while Prix d'Ispahan hero Loup Sauvage appears beneath the third dam.

Laatansa in the Park Paddocks parade ringCredit: Jason Bax/Equuis

Laatansa was making his third appearance at public auction, having been pinhooked by Blandford Bloodstock at €38,000 before being picked up by Shadwell at 205,000gns at Book 2. Najd Stud's man was standing in for Saad bin Mishraf, who has signed for the majority of the operation's purchases this week.

"Saad is on his way to the airport but he called me and said, 'Don't let this horse go!'," said Al Qahtani. "In Saudi Arabia we already have the most valuable race in the world and all the good horses from around the world are coming now. It is the destination for the best horses in the world at the end of February."

The six-figure acquisition of Laatansa took Najd Stud's Autumn Horses in Training Sale spend to 2,791,000gns, a haul that included the 700,000gns top lot Grocer Jack and the third-most expensive offering, the 400,000gns Boltaway.

Thursday's Shadwell draft also included the 85,000gns Janoobi, a once-raced son of Night Of Thunder knocked down to Gaelic Bloodstock, while Richard Ryan and Ian Williams went to 80,000gns for Kitaab, a Showcasing half-brother to Listed winner Bahrain Pride who was third at Kempton on the most recent of two outings for Marcus Tregoning.

Angus Gold: 'I think the horses have sold very well'Credit: Laura Green

Over the four days of the Autumn Horses in Training Sale Shadwell sold 118 lots for receipts totalling 5,238,500gns. The operation's Angus Gold reflected on the dispersal by saying: "It has been a very good week in terms of the market, I think the horses have sold very well.

"They were incredibly well presented by the team at Shadwell, so it's a big credit to them and all the trainers who have sent them to us in good order. It's obviously sad but it had to come and it's on to the next chapter now. As we have said over the last couple of months we will be smaller in number, but there will be plenty of quality on offer.

"I'd like to thank all the purchasers and wish them all the best. There was a huge selection to choose from, obviously so many of our horses were untried and were in the catalogue due to exceptional circumstances. A lot of people wanted to get stuck in and it was reflected in the figures.

"We've had a great year on the track this season, and, of course, we are not going to have the same sort of number of results, but if we can keep to quality, cutting down to the main quality mares and breeding them as well as we can, all being well, I'm sure we will have some decent horses.

"I'd like to thank everyone at Shadwell who has worked so hard, it's the first time we have ever sold anything like this number of horses and they have really jumped to the fore and done incredibly well."

Sangster swaps roles

Sam Sangster, who enjoyed a red-letter day on Tuesday when selling Hannibal Barca to BBA Ireland for 500,000gns, resumed purchasing duties on Thursday when giving 80,000gns for Ebtihaaj, another to emerge from the Shadwell consignment.

The two-year-old son of Night Of Thunder was catalogued as unraced but had since shown ability when ninth of 12 over seven furlongs at Yarmouth earlier in the month. That debut effort came for Brian Meehan, and Sangster explained that Ebtihaaj would remain under the trainer's care, albeit not necessarily at his familiar Manton base.

"He's for existing owners of Brian's," said Sangster. "We've liked the horse all along, Brian suggested the horse to the owner and they were keen to buy.

Sam Sangster: 'We've liked the horse all along'Credit: Laura Green

"We have a little bit of an interesting angle for next year – Brian is hopefully going to shuttle a few horses over to France, we're going to take a yard over there.

"This horse has the premiums, we bought four yearlings in France last week and we have got another four in the yard already, so we are going to send ten horses out there. We're just trying to piece together how it's all going to work."

Bred by Rabbah Bloodstock from the Listed-placed Cape Cross mare Gold Sands, Ebtihaaj shares his page with Prix de Diane heroine Le Cressonniere and joined the Shadwell fold at a cost of 200,000gns as a Book 2 yearling.

Bromley buys for team Buzz

Highflyer Bloodstock's Anthony Bromley has quite the track record when buying for Thurloe Thoroughbreds, having bought the syndicate's Cesarewitch Handicap winner Buzz as a five-year-old horse in training at Goffs UK in 2019.

Bromley had not bought for the ownership group again until dipping into the Shadwell draft on Thursday to secure the unraced juvenile Maksud at 65,000gns. The gelded son of Golden Horn, a half-brother to two winners and out of a Street Cry sibling to Grade 1 scorer Gabby's Golden Gal, had been in training with John Gosden.

"I've bought him for Thurloe Thoroughbreds and the last horse I bought for them was Buzz," said Bromley. "We've been trying to buy an older stayer all week but have failed, so this is a bit of a different angle being an unraced two-year-old.

"Angus Gold recommended this horse to James Stafford of Thurloe and myself, and we understand John Gosden liked the horse as well. He's a lovely stamp of a horse and I like Golden Horn a lot, he has a very high percentage of horses rated over 80. I think he's a good solid sire who's underrated."

Anthony Bromley: 'It's great that the global market still respects our racing so highly'Credit: Laura Green

Bromley continued: "He's a good-looking, easy moving horse who's already been put through his paces and is ready to move up through the ranks next year. I'm pleased to get him, but that was our last bid. Hubie de Burgh was underbidder and he goes back a long way with Angus, so we took some confidence from that."

Bromley signed 18 dockets with a broad range of clients over the four sessions, with his purchases totalling 686,500gns. The priciest of those was the 135,000gns Line Of Descent, who is bound for a career over hurdles with Warren Greatrex, while the cheapest was the 6,500gns stayer Angel On High.

Reflecting on the four days of trade, Bromley said: "These dispersal type sales usually generate good trade because the horses are all being sold for a genuine reason. We've just come out of some record-breaking yearling sales where British owners had to pay good money for their yearlings, so it's good to see such good second-hand trade.

"It might frustrate us as agents trying to buy now, but we can't really argue because we've just been spending a lot of our clients' money on yearlings, so it's important they're able to sell these horses into a strong market. It's great that the global market still respects our racing so highly."

Figures hit record levels

A remarkably strong renewal of the Autumn Horses in Training Sale concluded with monstrous gains across the spectrum of key market indices. Aggregate sales rose by 45 per cent to 31,471,300gns, while the average was also up by 40 per cent to 31,377gns.

The most punchy increase was in the median price of 16,000gns, a 78 per cent gain on the 9,000gns figure recorded 12 months earlier. Some 1,095 lots were offered and 1,003 of those found a buyer for a clearance rate of 92 per cent.

At the close of trade, Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony said: "An extraordinary renewal of a unique sale. There is no sale in the world quite like the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale and there has never been one quite like the sale that has just taken place.

"Records for turnover, average and median are always notable landmarks for any sale, but when the record margins are so large it suggests that maybe new factors have come into play and to an extent that may have been the case this week. There is no doubt that the major consignment from the late Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum's Shadwell Estates has introduced a new dynamic.

"A consignment of that size and quality does not go unnoticed and the buyers have seized the rare opportunity to source horses from one of the finest owner-breeder operations in the world. Additionally, the numerous racing carnivals that now take place during the autumn and winter months throughout the Gulf region have had a huge impact on the sale.

"Buyers from the Gulf have been major contributors to Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sales for many years, but new racing opportunities have brought buyers from the region in even greater numbers than before and, crucially, they have been active at all levels of the market.

"Equally important has been the sustained success-driven demand throughout the sale from Australian connections and this has been despite continued difficulties surrounding travel. There will be around 40 horses heading to Australia from this week’s sale and that is in addition to the 30 or so yearlings which were purchased at the recent Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

"The Australian buyers deserve huge praise for their collective commitment using every means possible to continue buying here despite being unable to travel, and we look forward to them being rewarded with more success along the lines of recent Tattersalls Australian superstars Zaaki and Russian Camelot."

He added: "The strong domestic demand we saw at our yearling sales has also been replicated and we can not only look back on a successful month at Tattersalls, but also take encouragement as we look forward to the Tattersalls December Foal and Mare Sales which, similar to this week, features outstanding consignments from Godolphin, Juddmonte Farms and Shadwell Estates."

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