Early drama as Godolphin and Coolmore clash over €900,000 Sea The Stars colt

A clash between old foes Coolmore and Godolphin saw a Sea The Stars colt from a deep German family vault to the head of the Goffs Orby Sale market at €900,000 on Wednesday morning. 

Anthony Stroud, standing with David Loder in the entrance to the top deck of the auditorium, was responsible for pushing the price to €800,000 on Godolphin’s behalf.

After a brief discussion with Paul Shanahan, Coolmore’s MV Magnier paused before delivering the subtle nod that indicated the next €50,000 increase. But when Stroud wasted no time in responding with a €50,000 raise of his own, Magnier left his regular spot besides the rostrum and exited the building. 

The colt, who was presented by Norelands on behalf of the Tsui family’s Sunderland Holdings, is the second foal out of Holy Amaretta, an unraced daughter of Holy Roman Emperor from a pedigree that traces its roots to Gestut Schlenderhan. 

“Sea The Stars speaks for himself, he’s a wonderful stallion,” said Stroud. “There was a very good Sea The Stars colt here last year [Coolmore’s The Lion In Winter] and this is another very athletic horse. Norelands are extremely good at breeding very nice horses and he’s an exceptional individual. He’s a lovely horse, and it’s always complimentary when people who are recognised as being such good judges also participate in bidding. If you’re trying to find nice horses you expect that to happen, that’s all part of the auction process.” 

Anthony Stroud: "Norelands are extremely good at breeding very nice horses and he’s an exceptional individual"Credit: SARAH FARNSWORTH

The dam is out of Amarette, winner of the Group 1 Preis der Diana. This makes Holy Amaretta a sibling to the Group 3-winning Amazona and the dam of Criterium International scorer Alson and German 2,000 Guineas victor Ancient Spirit. Plenty has happened in the immediate family this year as Holy Amaretta is also a sibling to the dam of Ralph Beckett’s Listed- and Group 3-winning River Of Stars and the dam of Amazonka, who in turn bred this year’s Coventry Stakes winner Rashabar. 

Holy Amaretta was added to the Sunderland Holdings string in 2019 when purchased at the Orby Sale for €130,000. She has visited Sea The Stars in each of the four seasons since she retired to stud and also has a two-year-old filly named Nuit and delivered a filly foal on February 24 this year. 

“We liked him a lot and he was very popular,” said Norelands’ Harry McCalmont. “All the right people were on him and we had a very strong purchaser and a very serious underbidder. He was bred by Mrs Tsui of Sunderland Holdings and we’re delighted for her because she keeps quite a lot of stock with us. It’s lovely to produce a horse like that from the farm.” 

McCalmont continued: “It’s nice to see people really appreciating the middle distance horses some of us are trying to breed. This colt is from a very good German family, which I think probably should be appreciated a bit more than they are. I think a lot of people are going for sharp, early two-year-olds, but we mostly try to breed the later-maturing, middle-distance horses who can run over a mile and a quarter or a mile and a half. That’s really where the big races are and the big money is. As an industry I think we need to concentrate on that.” 

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