‘He has the pedigree of a stallion’ – Coolmore and Godolphin renew sales ring rivalry over €2,000,000 Frankel colt

Bidders practically queued up to throw their hat into the ring when Denis Brosnan’s Croom House Stud presented a highly touted Frankel colt on day two of the Goffs Orby Sale. Joseph O’Brien, BBA Ireland’s Michael Donohoe and US firm Legion Bloodstock all played their hand as the price inched its way through six-figure territory. 

But, as has so often been the case down the years, by the time the business end of proceedings were reached, the last two standing were the buying teams from rival powerhouses Coolmore and Godolphin. Anthony Stroud, standing outside the Godolphin office on the top deck of the auditorium, joined in at the million mark, and what had been a slightly cagey round of bidding suddenly descended into a seven-figure slugfest. 

After a flurry of €100,000 increases auctioneer Henry Beeby announced bidders were in the last chance saloon at €1,800,000. However, just before the hammer fell MV Magnier indicated another raise after a noticeably longer period of deliberation. But when Stroud wasted no time in returning a six-figure raise of his own, the Coolmore man turned away from his position to the right of the rostrum and exited the ring, leaving the hammer to fall at a cool €2 million. 

“He’s a lovely horse, a great first foal by Frankel,” said Stroud. “He moved extremely well and we, all of us in our team, liked him a lot. He’s from Croom House, who have bred a number of very good horses. We had to stretch a long way to get him but we’re very pleased to have purchased him for Godolphin. This horse will go to Charlie Appleby and hopefully he’ll go on.” 

Anthony Stroud: "We had to stretch a long way to get him but we’re very pleased to have purchased him"Credit: SARAH FARNSWORTH

Reflecting on the latest round of sales ring rivalry with Coolmore, Stroud said: “Coolmore are fantastic at what they do, they run a fantastic operation with a fantastic team of people. If we see a nice horse it’s always going to be tough to buy, and that’s the way it should be.” 

Asked whether the colt had the potential to make a Darley stallion of the future, Stroud said: “Who knows? We hope.” 

When Brosnan was quizzed over whether that price tag was in line with expectations, he calmly replied: “He was always going to be between one and two million, it’s just a case of the last few bids taking him there. We weren’t surprised when we saw him passing the one million mark.

“He was an outstanding foal and yearling all the way through. The pedigree is there, he has the pedigree of a stallion, so let’s hope he goes and does it on the track. I’m delighted Anthony Stroud bought the horse because they have missed out on some of our really good ones over the years. Let’s hope this is another good one.”

The colt is the second generation of the family bred at Croom House after grand dam Ashley Hall was picked up at Keeneland in 2007 at a cost of $825,000. The colt's dam, Loch Lein, is the best of seven winners out of the mare having won the Listed Prix Amandine, which was followed by third-place finishes in the Fairy Bridge Stakes and the Sceptre Stakes. 

A hush descends around the sales ring at Kildare Paddocks as Godolphin wins the €2 million battle for Croom House Stud's Frankel coltCredit: SARAH FARNSWORTH

Brosnan revealed the daughter of Invincible Spirit had been due to continue her racing career at four until fate intervened. 

“It was interesting how this filly ended up with Frankel because our top mare, Sweepstake [dam of Broome, Diego Velazquez and Point Lonsdale], was supposed to go to him but that autumn we had to remove an ovary and she couldn’t make it,” he said. “Loch Lein was in training with Jessica Harrington at the time so I phoned her and said ‘You’re about to lose one of your top fillies, she’s going to Frankel.’ Jessie wasn’t happy because she’d been due to stay in training as a four-year-old. She was a Group winner in waiting.”  

Reflecting on his farm’s latest sales ring success, Brosnan said: “We’ve had some good times here and every now and then we come up with a touch like this. That keeps the fires burning for another while, and the team gives it everything so they deserve it. We have three more horses to sell today though so we’ll have to go back to the real job of selling cheaper horses now!”

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

The €2m Frankel was not the first time Godolphin and Coolmore clashed on Wednesday. Earlier in the session the rival camps locked horns over a Sea The Stars colt from a deep German family who ultimately brought the hammer down at €900,000. 

Stroud, standing with David Loder in his usual position on 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, Magnier paused before delivering the subtle nod that indicated the next €50,000 increase. But when Stroud swiftly returned another €50,000 raise, Magnier turned 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 strong Gestut Schlenderhan German pedigree. 

“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 the 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.” 

The Sea The Stars colt shows his photogenic side at Goffs Orby 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 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, so 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 that 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 because 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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