Operating out in front at 250,000gns at international Tattersalls August Sale
Sales correspondent James Thomas reports from a busy session at Park Paddocks
Buyers with overseas ambitions were out in force at the Tattersalls August Sale in Newmarket on Wednesday, where an international market was headed by the 250,000gns Operating.
Offered by The Castlebridge Consignment on behalf of the Coolmore partners and George von Opel’s Westerberg, the well-related son of War Front was knocked down to Tattersalls' Jimmy George, who was taking instructions over the phone from the Saudi Arabian operation Najd Stud.
Operating won two out of five starts for John and Thady Gosden, with his wins coming in a Windsor maiden and a Nottingham handicap from an official mark of 83. The brother to Round Tower Stakes scorer Intelligence Cross changed hands with a career-high rating of 91.
George said: “The Najd Stud team has been following the sale from home. There were a few on their shortlist and he was very much the name at the top of it. He’s a nice prospect and very much fits into the mould that the team has bought here in the past."
Prince Faisal bin Khalid bin Abdulaziz’s Najd Stud has been a big supporter of past August Sales, including with the previous years’ top lots, namely the 350,000gns Fabilis, who was sourced through Peter and Ross Doyle in 2021, while Voute Sales signed for the 220,000gns Walkinthesand in 2020.
The busy session of selling brought receipts totalling 5,267,300gns, which was down just two per cent year-on-year despite 69 fewer lots changing hands than at 2021's two-day renewal.
The average price was up by 29 per cent at 24,273gns, while the median rose by 40 per cent at 14,000gns. The clearance rate also improved by a point, with 236 lots offered and 217 selling at a clip of 92 per cent.
Mr McCann bound for Bahrain
The second-top lot was the smart Mr McCann, who brought 210,000gns from Alastair Donald. The three-year-old son of Kodiac won three times at two while under the care of Tom Dascombe, and added a fourth success to his record when he won a Haydock handicap on his latest outing for Hugo Palmer.
“He’s going to Bahrain,” Donald said after signing for the 101-rated colt. “It’s hard to find three-year-olds with that sort of rating at that kind of price. If he’d had a couple of less starts he might have been a lot more valuable for somewhere like Hong Kong, or if he’d been here in October we might’ve had the Saudi buyers here.
“He’s pretty rock solid, he goes on all grounds, although it’ll be fast where he’s going, and he’s a good-looking type who vets very well.”
Another offered by The Castlebridge Consignment, Mr McCann was making his third appearance on the public market, having first fetched 45,000gns from Mags O’Toole as a foal before Lynn Lodge Stud sold the youngster to Sackville Donald for £65,000 at the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale in 2021.
Last year’s August Sale was a two-day affair, and Donald said he hoped the event would once again attract a bigger catalogue in future. He said: “I think it’s been a good sale but I’m surprised it hasn’t been better supported, personally.
"It makes more sense to get your money in before the yearling sales, for the lesser horses you can save two months’ training fees and if you have a fast ground horse you’ll find the ground changes soon.
"I hope the sale gets bigger and stronger and that Tattersalls and the trainers support the event in the future. I think this sale has a good future as long as people get behind it.”
Murphy on the mark
Another lot bound for the Middle East is the progressive The Covex Kid, who was signed for by Sultan Aldeen Al-Khalifa at 160,000gns when offered by Amy Murphy Racing. Ali Majeed Ali, who was on bidding duties, said: "The horse is to now be trained by Fawzi Nass in Bahrain. The horse has some improvement, he will get ten furlongs and enjoys firm ground.”
The three-year-old son of Mehmas brought just €8,500 from Tally-Ho Stud as a foal and fetched £26,000 from Keep Dreaming Bloodstock as a yearling, and Murphy was hoping connections would be tempted to reinvest after a fruitful sale with the five-time winner, whose rating rose from a lowly 46 to 80 after his latest triumph.
The Newmarket-based trainer said: “He has been an absolute dude of a horse, he’s really straightforward and has gone from strength to strength throughout the whole summer. I don't think he’s finished here – it won't be the last we will hear of him. He’s got a great constitution and a great racing brain. He loves fast ground, goes around a bend so well so I think Bahrain will be perfect for him."
Murphy added: "He’s been owned by a syndicate and I’m thrilled for them. They've all got a great kick out of the wins as well as a great payday today. I think this sale works great – it’s good for the new buyers as they can plan better for the autumn and hopefully my owners can reinvest in the yearlings sales that are just around the corner!"
'He’s really put me on the map' - rags to riches Mostly Cloudy brings 150,000gns
Nass goes Nationwide
There was a new chapter in the Nationwide story as the progressive four-year-old made his fifth visit to public auction. The son of Exceed And Excel was unsold as a foal at 58,000gns but fetched €43,000 when bought by Brown Island Stables at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale.
Johnny Collins then turned base metal into gold when he sold the colt to Jamie McCalmont and MV Magnier for £525,000 at the Arqana Breeze-Up Sale, a transaction that saw the youngster sent into training with Sir Michael Stoute.
However, following two modest performances Nationwide reappeared at last year’s Autumn Horses in Training Sale, where he went the way of John Butler at just 10,000gns.
Butler plainly found the key as Nationwide won four times, taking his peak RPR from 59 to 100, with his latest victory coming last time out in a Kempton handicap from an official mark of 88.
Oliver St Lawrence signed the docket at 130,000gns on Wednesday and Fawzi Nass will now take charge of the progressive colt. The trainer said: “He’s going to Dubai for myself and Shaikh Nasser’s Victorious Racing.
"He should be suited by the dirt and he’s obviously shown some good all-weather form here and hopefully he can transfer that to Dubai. He won’t run again here and will ship in three weeks’ time. Maybe we need to take John Butler with him too!”
Nationwide was offered through consignor Jamie Railton, whose draft contributed 683,500gns to turnover courtesy of 26 sold lots.
Railton was also among the leading industry names who threw their support behind the August Sale, saying the concept better serves the needs of both international clients as well as domestic owners.
He said: "Today’s results have underlined the importance of a horses in training sale at this time of year, and the reality is it doesn’t suit a single racing country in the world to buy at the end of October [at the Autumn Horses in Training Sale].
"It's just historically that is what we have always done, but the international programme is so very different now that we have to change attitudes. Also the owner who sold today now knows exactly what he has to spend on a yearling, and he can do that next week [at the Somerville Sale]. The money is here if the horses are here."
Donald at the double
As well as securing the 210,000gns Mr McCann, Alastair Donald also gave 125,000gns for Soapy Stevens when the four-time winner was offered by Mark and Charlie Johnston’s Kingsley Park Racing.
The four-year-old son of Harzand ran 18 times and netted £136,387 in prize-money, with his four victories supplemented by seven placed efforts. He achieved his peak RPR of 103 when fourth in a class two handicap won by Ebor hero Trawlerman at Goodwood.
“He’ll go to Bahrain for a long-standing client,” said Donald. “He’s a smashing individual, he’s a big strong horse and looks in amazing nick. He’s super sound and has never really run a bad race.
“He’s ultra tough and loves the firm ground. Those stayers have done well in the mile and a half races in Bahrain because they go very hard there and this type of horse always seems to finish strong. There’s various races out there for him and if all goes well there’s a valuable race in Saudi Arabia, the Red Sea Turf Handicap, too.”
Lloyd leads the way
The first six-figure lot of the session came when Jamie Lloyd outbid Oliver St Lawrence at 125,000gns to secure Zulu Tracker from the Ed Walker Racing draft. The three-year-old son of Footstepsinthesand completed a hat-trick for Walker and Fitri Hay, a run that culminated with success in a Newbury handicap that saw him reach a peak RPR of 89.
“He’s for Tom Molloy to train out in Qatar,” said Lloyd. “We got him a nice younger horse earlier in the session [Valdai] and it’s nice to get a top-class older horse for him to go to war with too. He looks a very progressive type and he looks on the improve.
“Footsteps is one of the most international sires in the catalogue, his stock can go anywhere in the world and do the job. I’m very happy to get him and, most importantly, the trainer’s even happier!”
Zulu Tracker, who is out of the Listed-placed Panis mare Fligaz, saw his value increase markedly since he was last in the Tattersalls ring, as he was bought for previous connections by Sackville Donald at a cost of 50,000gns from the 2020 renewal of Book 2.
Earlier in the session Lloyd gave 70,000gns for Valdai, a twice-raced son of Kodiac from Clive Cox’s Beechdown Farm Stables, who is also bound for the Molloy yard. The juvenile opened his account at the second time of asking having won a Leicester novice stakes over seven furlongs, for which he was awarded an RPR of 87.
“Tom's rebuilding his stable,” said Lloyd. “We got a couple in the July Sale and we’ll try and get a couple more here before the day’s done. We’ve probably stretched a little further than we thought we’d have to on the day but if you look back at his form, an 87-rated two-year-old isn’t that much of a stretch at all really.
“There’s a nice two-year-old stakes race for him at the end of the season, which is where he’ll be targeted. I’d imagine probably where the underbidder was aiming at too so I think we’ve all been thinking the same thing. He’s a nice horse and very progressive. He was very clean on the vet reports so he should be a nice addition to Tom’s stable.”
McKeever sees pedigree potential
It wasn’t just racing prospects on offer during the session, as Johnny McKeever went to 100,000gns for the unraced New Romance, a three-year-old daughter of Dubawi and the Middleton Stakes winner Beautiful Romance offered by Godolphin.
The filly can’t boast of any form but there could be updates aplenty as her dam has a two-year-old Dubawi filly, a Lope De Vega yearling colt and a Kingman colt foal in the pipeline.
“We’ve bought her to cover her to southern hemisphere time, probably to Kingman,” said McKeever. “She’s been bought for a client called Jeffrey Liu, who’s based in Perth in western Australia.
“I liked the potential with the three siblings to come and Marie [Sullivan, Godolphin bloodstock sales manager] told me they’re all nicely thought of. If the Kingman foal is nice then we’ve a chance of breeding a brother or sister.”
Williams goes Green
Ian Williams got on the mark when the Worcestershire-based trainer landed the useful Green Team on a bid of 85,000gns. The three-year-old son of Wootton Bassett won at two for Kevin Ryan and has spent his three-raced three-year-old campaign with Owen Burrows.
Williams, whose purchase was made on spec, added: "Who knows, he might jump too! It would certainly be a safety net for him. It will totally depend on who buys him and where he ends up. Owen recommended him and we listen to what he says."
Boughey bags blue-blooded Galileo colt
George Boughey will take charge of arguably the best-bred lot in the catalogue after Sam Haggas’s Hurworth Bloodstock signed at 50,000gns to secure King Lear, an unraced son of Galileo and the dual Group 1 winner Amazing Maria.
The two-year-old was offered by Barton Sales on behalf of Lady Ogden, widow of Sir Robert Ogden in whose silks Amazing Maria won the Falmouth Stakes and the Prix Rothschild.
“The pedigree speaks for itself,” said Boughey. “He’s out of a Group 1 winner and by Galileo and there aren’t many left of those. We don’t know a huge amount about him but he’s a bit of a blank canvas. With these sorts of horses I treat them as if they’re yearlings really but he’s a great physical and his pedigree backs that up. I thought he was worth a punt at the price and if he was a yearling he’d have made a hell of a lot more than 50,000gns so he looked a bit of value.”
Boughey has done well with similar types, most notably Missed The Cut, who was sourced as an unraced three-year-old at 40,000gns but went on to win the Golden Gates Stakes at Royal Ascot in the colours of Ed Babington.
“The dam was at her best at four and he’s by Galileo so you wouldn’t expect him to be running in the August of his two-year-old career, so we’ll give him all the time he needs,” added the Classic-winning trainer. “He might still be unraced as a three-year-old but he’s a nice horse to have in the stable. He’s been bought for an existing client who’s done well with a similar sort of type.”
More sales news:
Tattersalls confirms monthly online sales for remainder of 2022
'There was a notable hunger' - Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale key talking points
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