'Sheikha Hissa seemed determined to buy her' - Shadwell swoop for 1,600,000gns Frankel filly
James Thomas reports on a final Tattersalls Book 1 session
Day three of Book 1 burst into life late in the session when a daughter of Frankel and Cheveley Park Stakes winner Millisle brought a bid of 1,600,000gns. It was Angus Gold, standing by the partition opposite the rostrum, who pushed the price into seven figures with a subtle nod of the head, but the Shadwell man was soon engaged by the buying team from Al Shira’aa Farms, standing with David Cox outside the Park Paddocks auditorium.
The price rolled over in 50,000gns increments until Al Shira’aa’s Kieran Lalor stepped the bidding up from 1,200,000gns to 1,300,000gns. Gold, taking instructions on the phone, wasn’t for backing down, however, and once he delivered another nod of the head that signalled a play of 1,600,000gns, bidspotter Freddie McKibbin shook his head to indicate that Al Shira’aa had tapped out of the fight.
The filly was comfortably the most expensive of Shadwell’s seven Book 1 buys, a haul that cost a combined 3,660,000gns. All seven acquisitions were fillies.
“Obviously she’s a lovely first foal,” said Gold. “I saw her on the farm and loved her there and Sheikha Hissa absolutely loved her when she saw her up here. I told her she’d make a lot of money but she said, ‘We need some fillies for the stud’.
“She’s out of a Cheveley Park winner and by one of the world’s great stallions, so it’s fairly self explanatory. She seems very athletic and looks to have a very good mind. Now she’s got to be able to run a bit to justify that price.”
On the seven-figure sum, the second-highest at this year’s renewal of the blue-chip auction, Gold said: “I was getting my orders. I thought she’d make a million two, maybe a million three, but Sheikha Hissa seemed determined to buy her.
“This is obviously a period of rebuilding and it’s a long-term project for her, for long after I’m pushing up daisies! They won’t all make racehorses but we’ve been lucky this year with some of the older horses.”
Gold went on to say that Sheikha Hissa has applied a slightly different strategy with Shadwell’s older fillies, a move that was rewarded when the four-year-old Al Husn won the Group 1 Nassau Stakes. That is one of five top-flight triumphs for Shadwell in a fruitful 2023 campaign, with Anmaat winning the Prix d’Ispahan, Hukum striking in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Mostahdaf claiming the Prince of Wales’s Stakes and Juddmonte International.
“Sheikha Hissa has taken a different route to Sheikh Hamdan,” continued Gold. “He didn’t like keeping his older horses going but she’s very prepared to if the trainers, or we, think there’s more to come, and she’s been rewarded with a Group 1 winner. It’s exciting times for the stud, but you need to keep regenerating.”
Sheikha Hissa has been on the grounds at Tattersalls since Monday. On the visit to Park Paddocks, Gold said: “She loves coming here. She’d stand there by the parade ring all day if someone didn’t move her!
"She absolutely loves looking at the yearlings. We looked at them all on Monday and she’s been back looking again over the subsequent three days. She’s getting fairly knowledgeable. Like her father, she picks it up very quickly and really enjoys the business.”
The session-topping youngster was consigned by Watership Down Stud on behalf of Stonethorn Stud Farms, whose colours Millisle carried during her champion two-year-old season. The daughter of Starspangledbanner, a sibling to New Zealand Group 2 scorer Gino Severini and the Listed-winning Ithoughtitwasover, also won the Group 3 Ballyogan Stakes at three.
Simon Marsh of Watership Down said: “She was born and raised at Kiltinan, our farm in Ireland, and there was an enormous amount of interest in her. It’s extremely rare to have a filly out of a champion two-year-old, a Cheveley Park winner, coming up at the sales and to be as attractive as she is. Although it was a lot more than we thought she would make, I wasn’t ultimately surprised.”
He continued: “The mare belongs to Francis Jennings. Francis’s father Gerry was a wonderful breeder of his time who bred Sorbus, a foundation mare for Juddmonte and some other very good horses from Stonethorn Farm in the north of Ireland. Francis took on the horses and we’ve had the mares for about 15 years.
"As a family they’ve been in the racing world for a long time and this is a just reward for sticking with it and putting an enormous amount of trust in us.”
The pedigree could receive an almost immediate update as Millisle’s two-year-old sister Emerald Banner is declared for Friday’s Listed Legacy Stakes at Dundalk.
Fittocks end on a high
Coolmore and Peter Brant teamed up at 2,000,000gns to secure the sales-topping son of Frankel on day two, and the partners added another son of the champion sire to their ranks when MV Magnier outbid Juddmonte’s Simon Mockridge at 950,000gns midway through the session.
This colt was bred and offered by Fittocks Stud and is out of the Listed-placed Materialistic, dam of two winners from as many runners. The daughter of Oasis Dream is a half-sister to Listed winners Drill and Pinzolo, and the stakes-placed Poplin, who bred the 900,000gns Frankel colt bought by Godolphin on day one.
“He’s always been a fantastic individual and from the moment he was born he looked strong,” said Fittocks’ Luca Cumani. “He’s always been a lovely horse to have around and we’re delighted.
"We have to thank the Juddmonte team because they were underbidders, so without them we wouldn’t have got this far! Coolmore have been great supporters of ours and it’s all worked out well.”
The family has served Coolmore well in the past as the likes of Magic Wand, Chicquita and Emily Dickinson appear beneath the third dam, Puce. This is the same family as Ecurie des Monceaux foundation mare Platonic, who was sold by Fittocks for 100,000gns in 2004 after winning at La Gacilly the previous year.
“I bought Souk, Puce’s dam, as a yearling in Goffs for 100,000 Irish punts, and when I got home I got a hell of a bollocking for spending that amount of money!” said Cumani. “Thank God it’s worked out all right.
“Platonic struggled to win a race. I’d given up with her, but someone told me if I sent her to the provinces in France that she’d win something, and she eventually won as a four-year-old. Look what she’s produced since! It’s a great family and we owe them a hell of a lot.”
Fittocks sold eight lots throughout the three days of Book 1, with the draft generating receipts worth 2,750,000gns.
Asked for his reflections on the week, Cumani said: “Up and down. We sold one for more than we expected and four for less than we expected. Last year it was the other way around but this year has been a bit trickier. This was a great result though and we’re grateful for the people who’ve supported us and the people who work for us.”
Thursday’s session also saw BBA Ireland, bidding alongside Yuesheng Zhang of Yulong Investments, go to 650,000gns for the Frankel colt out of Foxtrot Liv from Voute Sales.
Bennett homebred lights up the ring
Godolphin topped the buyers’ charts with 20 purchases costing a cumulative 12,030,000gns – 13 per cent of turnover. The priciest acquisition on day three was the 800,000gns Dubawi filly out of Luminate who was offered through the sale’s leading consignor, Newsells Park Stud.
The dam, a daughter of Lawman from the family of Kalanisi, was a dual Group 3 winner in France and is now owned in partnership by Newsells Park and Craig Bennett of Merry Fox Stud after being picked up for 900,000gns in 2018.
“We’ve been very well paid and she’s going to a very good home,” said Bennett. “She’s bred on a great cross, Rainbow Quest in the second generation really suits the sire, particularly for fillies, so I think they’ve got a very good chance of her being a good horse. The mare is in foal to Lope De Vega and carrying a filly and we’re just working out mating plans for next year.”
Bennett has enjoyed a productive time of it at recent editions of Book 1, not least when selling Ylang Ylang to Coolmore and Peter Brant for 1,500,000gns 12 months ago. However, the Group 1-winning owner-breeder said he does not necessarily relish bringing his stock to market.
“I enjoy racing, and I enjoy the selling once they’re sold,” he said. “I can’t say I enjoy selling as a process though. When you’re buying you’re in control, but when you’re selling you’re not. You have to accept that and go with the flow. Last year we sold two lots for over a million and this year we’ve sold all four, so I’m very pleased.”
Reflecting on the elite, and occasionally selective, nature of Book 1, Bennett continued: “You have to match the physical to the pedigree. If you get it right you should be okay. If you try to sell a horse in Book 1 that’s not a Book 1 horse, you won’t sell it. It’s as simple as that.
"I also think, and I’m lucky to be in this position, that if the horse isn’t going to sell you have to have the wherewithal to race it yourself and make your own improvement to the page.
“We’re lucky that we can do that as we try to keep about 25 in training. It’s a hefty number but it’s my passion. If we have weeks like this and last year, it helps a lot. We tend to roll it all back into nominations, though, because you can’t stop.”
Farish takes flight
Four lots fetched 500,000gns on the day, including the Night Of Thunder filly out of Lillebonne from Baroda Stud. The half-sister to the Listed-winning and Group-placed Magnanimous, Seisai and Thornbrook was signed for by Will Farish, son of Lane’s End Farm principal Bill Farish.
“She’s a beautiful filly and we’ve liked her ever since we got here,” said Farish. “It’s been a long wait over the last couple of days as we’ve tried on a couple of other fillies, but we always had our eye on her so we’re excited to get her.”
Expanding on his transatlantic talent search, Farish continued: “We’ve been looking for the bigger, well-made horses who we think will be able to withstand running over in the US.
"Night Of Thunder has obviously proven he can do it as well. We might leave her here for her two-year-old year or we might just bring her over immediately. I’ll talk to my dad and see what he decides.”
Farish also provided an update on unbeaten world champion Flightline, who began his stallion career at Lane’s End earlier this year.
“He’s doing incredibly well and he’s taken to his new role like nothing we’ve ever had before,” he said. “We couldn’t be more happy with how he’s settled in.”
Sea The Stars colt bangs the drum
Day three got off to a bright start when the second lot into the ring, Hillwood Stud’s Sea The Stars colt, went the way of Godolphin at 625,000gns.
The six-figure youngster is the first foal out of Feliciana De Vega, a daughter of Lope De Vega who won three races for Ralph Beckett. Her best performance came in the Group 3 Darley Stakes, which she won by three lengths.
“It’s a fantastic price and I’m hugely grateful to Godolphin for buying him, and obviously Ed Sackville for underbidding him,” said Hillwood’s Charlie Vigors. “I think Richard Brown was in there until the death as well. He was a lovely colt so it’s nice to see so many good judges on him.”
He added: “Sea The Stars needs no introduction and she was a very good racemare herself, we felt the pairing would work and thankfully she produced a cracking first foal. The mare boards with us so he was foaled at home and we’ve reared him the whole way through, which always makes it extra special.”
The colt was bred under the banner of Stone Roses Bloodstock. When Vigors was asked if he was a fan of the Madchester movement that saw acts like Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets and The Stone Roses rise to prominence, he said: “I’d like to say we’re fans of trendy 80s rock bands, but the first mare we bought for this syndicate of investors was actually called Stone Roses, so we’re not quite as trendy as it sounds!”
The three-day auction concluded with turnover of 95,395,000gns, which was down 25 per cent compared to 2022’s record-busting renewal. The average price was 243,975gns, an 18 per cent dip on 12 months ago, while the median dropped by ten per cent at 180,000gns. The clearance rate was 83 per cent as 391 yearlings sold from 470 offered. Last year saw 424 lots sell at a clip of 87 per cent.
End-of-sale statement
Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony said: “Book 1 of last year’s Tattersalls October Yearling Sale produced some outlandish figures which will most likely remain in the record books for many years to come and it is no surprise that this year’s renewal has not matched the extraordinary 2022 returns which saw a year on year rise in turnover of almost 40 million guineas. Nevertheless, Europe’s premier yearling sale has enjoyed plenty of memorable moments, very much reflecting the quality of the yearlings which have been on show throughout the past three days.
“Year on year the consignors show enormous faith in Book 1 of the October Yearling Sale, with the sale showcasing the very best that Europe has to offer and yet again we have seen so many of the world’s leading owners competing for the finest turf bred yearlings to be found anywhere in the world. Among them have been a greater number of yearlings selling for one million guineas or more than all other European yearling sales combined, Europe’s highest-priced yearling yet again and 40 yearlings selling for in excess of 500,000 guineas, which similarly is more than all other European yearlings sales to date this year.
"As ever Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale has attracted buyers from throughout the world, so many of them drawn annually to Park Paddocks by the consistent success of Book 1 horses at the highest level on the global stage. In the course of the past three days buyers from Abu Dhabi, Australia, Bahrain, China, Dubai, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the USA have all made significant contributions at all levels of the market, confirming the unparalleled esteem in which the finest European yearlings are held and specifically those found annually at this particular sale."
He continued: "This is a sale that produces stallions and breed-shaping broodmares on an annual basis and it is the sale's unrivalled reputation which annually makes this fixture an unmissable event for so many of the most influential thoroughbred owners in the world.
“Among the success stories and numerous pinhooking triumphs, there has nevertheless been a selectivity to the market which we must recognise. Last year’s game-changing October Book 1 was always going to be a challenging target, and so it has proved with the sale turnover some way short of the massive 2022 total, but the median has held up well, second only to last year’s record level, the average of almost 250,000gns is an impressive figure and the clearance rate in excess of 80 per cent is a solid number.
"We extend our gratitude as ever to the consignors and purchasers alike whose support is what makes Newmarket and Tattersalls a true hub for the European bloodstock industry and we look forward to seeing this year’s crop of October Book 1 yearlings competing globally at the highest level, as well as earning their owners in Britain and Ireland yet more lucrative £25,000 Tattersalls October Book 1 Bonuses.
“In the meantime, we now turn our attention to Books 2, 3 and 4 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale which commences on Monday with a quality three-day catalogue for Book 2, which is a sale with a rich history for producing outstanding racehorses, including the likes of 2022 Derby winner Desert Crown, Emily Upjohn, Hong Kong superstar Romantic Warrior and this year’s outstanding two-year-olds Big Evs and Iberian."
Read more from Tattersalls Book 1:
'There's just something about her' - Sumbe returns for 850,000gns full-sister to Charyn
Coolmore and Godolphin renew Tattersalls rivalry as blue-blooded Frankel colt fetches 2,000,000gns
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