Shadwell land seven-figure Dark Angel filly to smash Book 2 record

Record-price lots were like London buses at Tattersalls on Monday, as no sooner had Coolmore gone to 900,000gns for a son of No Nay Never, then Angus Gold struck a winning bid of 1,050,000gns for a well-related daughter of Dark Angel who will now carry the famous colours of Hamdan Al Maktoum.

An opening offer of 100,00gns gave little indication of the record-setting territory the Ballyhimikin Stud-consigned lot was headed for, but, after a protracted round of bidding between Gold, sat at the top of the steps to the left of the rostrum, and Kevin Ryan, high on the stairs opposite auctioneer Alastair Pim, the filly became the first ever seven-figure yearling to be sold at Book 2.

The result provided yet another huge slice of sales ring success for Trevor Stewart's famed Cassandra Go family, as the filly is a granddaughter of his great mare via her daughter Allez Alaia, whose first foal, Allez Sophia, added more weight to the page having won her maiden since the catalogue's publication.

View full Book 2 results and buyers

"It's the most amazing family that just goes on and on," said a delighted Stewart. "She's the most lovely filly but we had a few Dark Angels here last week as well and we felt it was best to split them up and let her stand out. She went way above expectations, though."

Stewart has seen other yearlings from this family fetch seven-figure sums in the Tattersalls ring, with Fantasy sold to Coolmore for 1,600,000gns in 2017 and Chess Master bought by John Ferguson for 1,700,000gns in 2014.

"I have plenty out of the family, including the half-sister who is now a winner," continued Stewart. "And then I have the two-year-old out of Tickled Pink and a yearling filly by Gleneagles out of Cassandra Go who is going to Ger Lyons, so something had to be released. Although at lunchtime I was really thinking that I shouldn't be selling her!

"She will probably be the last filly to be released from Ballyhimikin. Coolmore have several from the mare, including Halfway To Heaven and Fantasy. Now Shadwell are lucky enough to buy into it too."

Stewart was not the only one shocked by the Dark Angel filly's price, with Gold himself expressing surprise at how determined the sheikh had proved in his pursuit of the session-topper.

Angus Gold: 'Sheikh Hamdan saw her this morning and obviously liked her very much'Credit: Laura Green

"No, no I did not!" was his response when asked if he'd expected the filly to fetch such a price. "But Sheikh Hamdan saw her this morning and obviously liked her very much. That pedigree is so strong, the two-year-old has won now too, so if she could just win a couple of races she's worth it to get into that family going forward."

Gold revealed he had been on the phone to his employer during the bidding, and added: "I promise you I wouldn't have bid that much off my own back!"

Allez Alaia does not have a foal on the ground but is back in foal to Galileo. As for Cassandra Go, she has a colt foal by Churchill and is in foal to Saxon Warrior.

King's Stand and Temple Stakes heroine Cassandra Go has excelled since retiring to the paddocks, with her eight winners led by Irish 1,000 Guineas heroine Halfway To Heaven, herself the dam of Magical, Rhododendron and Flying The Flag.

Other daughters include the Abernant Stakes winner Tickled Pink and Evie Stockwell's Theann, winner of the Group 3 Summer Stakes and also the dam of Photo Call and Land Force.

BOOK 2: DAY ONE STATS

Offered249
Sold205 (82 per cent)
Aggregate16,064,500gns (down one per cent)
Average78,365gns (up three per cent)
Median55,000gns

King Power land Palace Pier sibling

Big prices continued to come well into the evening, including when Alastair Donald went to 300,000gns for the Camelot half-brother to Palace Pier offered by Highclere Stud.

Few, if any, lots boasted as eye-catching an update, as his Kingman half-brother is listed as unraced in the catalogue but had since recorded two bloodless successes at Sandown to announce himself as one of the most exciting juveniles of the season.

"I've waited all day for him as he was the only one on our list," said Donald, who secured the colt on behalf of King Power Racing. "We were very keen on his half-brother, Palace Pier, last year but missed out on him.

"He's obviously turned out to be a good horse and this colt is very elegant and athletic. Looking around at the prices today I wasn't confident of getting him so I'm glad it's been worth the wait."

The colt was bred by Highclere Stud in partnership with the late Duke of Roxburghe's Floors Stud out of the unraced Beach Frolic, a half-sister to Dante Stakes winner Bonfire and Musidora Stakes winner Joviality.

The sale came at the end of a good day for Camelot, as the son of Montjeu sired three winners - Arthur's Kingdom, King Pellinor and Pasley - at Gowran.

Mains powers up

Philippa Mains' purchase of an Australia colt out of Sophie Germain from Galbertstown Stud topped the market for much of the day, after the agent got the better of a six-figure tussle with Blandford Bloodstock's Richard Brown at 300,000gns.

A sizeable model despite being a mid-May foal, the colt is a half-brother to Lanwades Stud Stakes scorer Creggs Pipes, and received a notable pedigree update less than 24 hours before he came under the hammer when his half-sister, Silver Spear, ran third to the impressive Tango in the Listed Legacy Stakes at the Curragh.

"He'll go to Jessica Harrington for Jon Kelly," said Mains. "He's a cracking horse. The half-sister was Listed-placed yesterday so the mare looks to be producing good stock."

Bred by John Hayes, the youngster is the fourth foal out of the unraced Indian Ridge mare, who was sourced by the breeder as a foal for €25,000 at Goffs in 2007.

Whatton Manor's winning streak

Whatton Manor Stud looked set for a busy few days with a 22-strong Book 2 draft, and the Player family's operation got the week off to a fine start with a double whammy of six-figure lots early on in Monday's session.

The pricier of the pair was the Kingman colt out of Sunsemperchi, who went the way of Shadwell after Sheikh Hamdan's racing manager Angus Gold saw off Coolmore's MV Magnier at 280,000gns.

That sum represented a chunky return on the 85,000gns FAH Bloodstock parted with to secure the well-related colt during last year's December Foal Sale.

"We were very lucky to buy him last year, we didn't think we'd be able to afford him," said Whatton Manor's Ed Player. "The stallion has carried all before him this year and it's such a current family; there have been some nice updates with Star Terms winning a Group race. We just hope he's a good horse for Sheikh Hamdan, who's a big supporter of the sale."

The colt wouldn't have looked out of place in Book 1, but Player said he had opted to stick with the familiar territory of Book 2.

"Book 2 has been very good to us, we love coming here - it's sort of our territory," he said. "We could have been in Book 1 but we, historically speaking, do better here and we'd rather shine in this book. There were so many nice horses last week. We always thought he was a bloody nice horse."

Ed Player: 'Book 2 has been very good to us, we love coming here'Credit: Laura Green

Earlier in the day the stud offered a Sea The Stars colt out of Fred Darling Stakes runner-up Sharnberry, who went the way of Tom Goff of Blandford Bloodstock for 260,000gns.

"We thought he'd sell well but never expected him to make that kind of money," Player said of the colt, who was bred by St Albans Bloodstock. "Obviously Sea The Stars is an outstanding stallion and he's out of a good black-type mare too."

While the Kingman colt was pinhooked at last year's foal sales, Player explained that, as the dam resides at Whatton Manor, the son of Sea The Stars had been with the stud from the word go.

"We've had him right the way through and he's a beautiful mover who has done very well over the past few months," said Player. "He's thrived and has developed really well. Watching him walk round up here, you could see how well he'd done. He's behaved very well up here too."

Goff, who saw off the attentions of William Haggas and Ross Doyle, said of his purchase: "He's a lovely, classy horse, a great representative of both Sea The Stars and his damsire, Shamardal. He's from a great farm and he goes into training with John Gosden. He's a rangy horse who'll be more of a three-year-old type."

Book 2 continues on Tuesday at 10am.

More from Tattersalls:

Coolmore on top again as MV Magnier lands 900,000gns No Nay Never colt

Big shoes to fill for 55,000gns half-sister to Grand National legend Tiger Roll