Sceptre Sessions-bound The Palace Girl no small matter for Atomic Racing

Were Tamfana not staying in training, she might well have ranked among the likes of Mabs Cross, You Got To Me and Vertical Blue as truly illustrious inclusions in the Sceptre Sessions at this year’s Tattersalls December Mares Sale.

The Classic-placed Sun Chariot Stakes winner also counts as one of the most inspired yearling purchases of the moment, having been unearthed for just €20,000 by Jeremy Brummitt in Baden-Baden.

Trainer Kevin Coleman and Sean Grassick’s Atomic Racing, however, can provide something close to a copy in The Palace Girl (lot 1770B), Tamfana’s two-year-old half-sister who made a particularly promising racecourse debut at the Curragh in October.

Considerable kudos must be given to the young combination, as they parted with €30,000 on their first visit to the BBAG auction for a daughter of Areion whose price tag had risen not long after she had arrived in her new home.

"The mare [Tres Magnifique] hadn’t produced a winner then, she’d had only a runner over hurdles when I bought the filly," explains Grassick.

"Tamfana made her debut about two weeks afterwards, so there was no angle at all there. 

Tamfana has emerged as a top-class filly this season for David Menuisier and Quantum LeapCredit: Alan Crowhurst

"The sire was proven as a champion sire in Germany and I think Zoffany is going to be a good broodmare sire, but I just liked her. She’s just a very good-looking filly with a very good action."

As The Palace Girl settled into her routine at Coleman’s Tipperary stable, her older sister began to make waves for David Menuisier, including landing the Prix Miesque at Chantilly, later claiming fourth in the 1,000 Guineas and third in the Prix de Diane.

"When Tamfana broke her maiden so impressively at Kempton we were delighted, it was a bonus, so when she won the Group 3 in France it was the icing on the cake," recalls Grassick. "This year . . . you couldn’t have imagined it. 

"We’ve enjoyed following her career. You need a lot of luck and we’ve certainly had it with her on our side."

It was just an hour before Tamfana landed the Sun Chariot that The Palace Girl made her debut, coming with a late surge under Robbie Colgan to defy her 40-1 starting price. 

She was beaten only three-quarters of a length by Aidan O’Brien’s Giselle, who had already finished second to her brilliant Royal Ascot-winning stablemate Bedtime Story. 

Grassick says: "She’s a big filly, 16.1 hands, and she showed up well in the spring before we gave her a break as we thought she’d be a back end-of-the-season filly. 

"Ours would usually take a run, we expected her to run well but we couldn’t have asked for a better debut. She was outside on the wing but when the penny dropped she galloped right out and got a lovely ride from Robbie.

"It was a good maiden too, the winner was Group-placed and they think a huge amount of her, then the third, Carolina Jetstream, won at Dundalk the other day."

Grassick, a cousin of Curragh trainer Michael Grassick from one of Ireland’s foremost racing families, worked for the likes of Wesley Ward and Coolmore Stud, and has had a long association with powerhouse bloodstock agent Demi O’Byrne.

The Atomic Racing project, run in alignment with his close friend Coleman, has been visible on both sides of the Irish Sea, selling on the likes of Uluru, now a black-type performer for Team Valor and Joseph O’Brien.

Debut Gowran winner Uluru was one of the early success stories for the Atomic Racing team Credit: Patrick McCann

"The Palace Girl was in our third crop of yearlings," says Grassick.

"The aim is to buy them, race them and trade on, so everyone in our group of yearlings has a share of every horse. There are 11 involved, from small shares upwards.

"Some people have never had a racehorse before and it’s a broad mix of people from all walks of life. Last year we had ten horses, and we’ve got 15 yearlings for next year. We had Shining River, we got her for 10,000gns and sold for 75,000gns after she won a Great British Bonus, which was a good result.

"The way we look at it, sometimes you have to sell the ones you wish to keep, but if we sell a few then the owners can enjoy the ones that maybe aren’t as commercial and still be able to keep reinvesting."

A wildcard spot in the Sceptre Sessions takes the syndicate to another level, both in terms of attention and potential cashflow.

"We're traders; we had loads of interest in her after she ran and we decided we'd go with the sale option," says Grassick. "She’ll be on the market and she’ll be a very exciting filly to look forward to next year, one to aim at the [Classic] trials once she breaks her maiden.

"Kevin holds her in very high regard. We’ve had some stakes fillies in the past, but she's definitely the best we’ve ever had."

The Palace Girl sells right at the end of the second Sceptre Session on Tuesday, with the four-day sale starting at 9.30am on Monday.

There are quality performers or producers wherever you look through the Sceptre Sessions. Last-time-out Listed winner Caught U Looking (1466) and Zero Gravity (1485A), the dam of Kalpana, are among those catching the eye on Monday.

Doing likewise on Tuesday are Irish Oaks heroine You Got To Me (1753), Irish 1,000 Guineas runner-up A Lilac Rolla (1735), Prix Marcel Boussac winner Vertical Blue (1770A) and Fantastic Moon's dam Frangipani (1747).

Sale factfile 

Where Park Paddocks, Newmarket 

When Four-day sale begins on Monday, with each session starting at 9.30am

Last year’s stats From 842 lots offered, 630 sold (at a clearance rate of 75 per cent) for turnover of 67,752,800gns (down 16 per cent year-on-year), an average of 107,544gns (down eight per cent) and median of 32,000gns (unchanged) 

Notable graduates Futoon (dam of Charyn, sold by Hambleton Lodge Stables, bought by Kevin Ryan for 3,000gns); Zero Gravity (dam of Kalpana, sold by Juddmonte, bought by Blandford Bloodstock for 35,000gns); Suelita (dam of Chaldean, sold by Castletown Stud, bought by Whitsbury Manor Stud for 21,500gns); Queen Blossom (dam of Blue Rose Cen, sold by Taylor Made Sales, bought by Durcan Bloodstock for 110,000gns)

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