Small breeder rides the ‘emotional rollercoaster’ as Camille Pissarro’s half-sister sells for December Yearling Sale record of 900,000gns

Receiving 900,000gns for a filly bred from a mare who cost just 14,000gns might sound like the kind of result about which every small breeder dreams but, in so many ways, this was just another day in the life of James Cloney, who has been on one heck of a journey with bargain buy-turned-blue hen producer Entreat. 

Cloney added Entreat to the Clara Stud broodmare band in July 2016 when the daughter of Pivotal was in foal to Lethal Force. The colt she was carrying turned out to be Golden Horde, who fetched £65,000 as a yearling before going on to land the Commonwealth Cup. Golden Horde now stands under the Sumbe banner at Montfort et Preaux. 

In 2017 Cloney sent Entreat to visit Mehmas, and the result from that tryst was the Listed-winning sprinter and £260,000 yearling Line Of Departure. The mare then visited Coolmore for the first Irish season of Wootton Bassett, to whom she duly bred Camille Pissarro. The 1,250,000gns Coolmore and White Birch Farm yearling purchase was last seen winning the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere.

Those exploits drew a host of bidders to Tattersalls on Monday when the mare’s Dark Angel filly was presented at the December Yearling Sale. Plenty took an interest in the bidding but matters ultimately boiled down to Henry Lascelles and the team from Yulong Investments, including the organisation’s principal, Zhang Yuesheng. 

Henry Lascelles: buyer of the Dark Angel half-sister to Camille Pissarro and Golden HordeCredit: Alisha Meeder

Lascelles won out with a bid of 900,000gns, a record price for the December Yearling Sale. The previous high mark was set in 2006 when Demi O’Byrne signed at 700,000gns for Irish Oaks heroine Moonstone. 

“She’s some mare, she just pours pure class into her stock,” beamed a delighted Cloney. “It’s an emotional rollercoaster with her but when she does it, she does it so well. As breeders, we’re all dreamers and you do kind of dream for this to happen. It’s unbelievable that it just keeps happening with this mare. It’s kind of exciting, especially because Entreat has travelled to Justify, so we’re expecting a nice foal by him in early January. She’s back with me now, she came back home in May, so she’ll be getting an extra scoop of nuts this evening!” 

Monday’s transaction took Entreat’s yearling sale receipts to a colossal £3,191,500 since she was purchased for the equivalent of just £14,700 eight years ago. It would be a major understatement to say the 18-year-old is now worth many multiples of that humble price tag, but Cloney said he has never been tempted to cash in by selling “the family pet and a complete star.”

He said: “With her, I feel she’s so unique. Sometimes you get mares who produce good racehorses but they don’t perform at the sales. But in my eyes, and I think in a lot of people's eyes, she ticks every box because she’s able to throw the stock and then they go and back it up on the track. There are not too many mares with two Group 1s winners under their belt, or four stakes winners, especially all by different stallions.” 

The filly was making a belated appearance in the Park Paddocks ring having been due to sell at Book 1, just three days after Camille Pissarro landed Group 1 laurels, only to get cast in her box at the 11th hour. 

“She stamps her stock no matter what stallion she goes to,” continued Cloney. “This is a big, strong filly and I’d draw a lot of comparisons with Camille Pissarro. I know I might sound biased but I actually thought she might be that little bit stronger at the same stage. She was due to go to Book 1 but, typically when you get a big update, you get a setback. But these things happen and it’s great that Tatts have this sale on and are still able to deliver results like this.” 

Lascelles was unable to offer much by way of details about the filly’s future, but said: “She’s got an amazing pedigree and two of her siblings are going to be stallions. There’s a lot of Pivotal coming through in her physically. She’s not going to be an early type, she’s a big girl and will take a bit of time. But the mare is an amazing producer and hopefully she’ll be a broodmare of the future too. We’re really happy to get her.” 

On the record-breaking price, the agent added: “I didn’t think she’d cost quite that much. But with that pedigree alone, and when we saw who we were bidding against, we thought we might end up getting to that level. She’ll go into training in Britain for an English owner-breeder.”

McCalmont keeps it in the family

While the 900,000gns Dark Angel filly understandably pulled focus in the market, there were plenty of other noteworthy transactions besides. Agent Jamie McCalmont was behind the 400,000gns bid that secured the Sea The Stars filly out of Crimean Queen from Norelands.

That price is exactly double what McCalmont paid for the youngster’s brother Seacruiser, who changed hands at Book 1 last year. Sent into training with Ralph Beckett by owner Marc Chan, Seacruiser looked like a horse with a bright future when breaking his maiden by a length and a quarter over a mile at Newmarket on his second outing. 

The Sea The Stars filly purchased by Jamie McCalmont for 400,000gnsCredit: Alisha Meeder

This filly is set to sport the same silks, as McCalmont said: “She’s been bought for Marc Chan. He has the brother, Seacruiser, who we hope will be a really nice horse for next year. We bought Sir Dinadan from Norelands last year, then Seacruiser and Green Impact were raised there too. It was a farm that was founded by Harry [McCalmont] and my grandfather [Dermot], so there's a lot of sentimentality and, more importantly, it seems to be working.” 

The 400,000gns filly is the joint third-most expensive lot to change hands at the December Yearling Sale, a position she shares with Barney Roy’s half-sister Qatar Queen. 

McCalmont added: “She’s a lot shorter-coupled than her brother, he looks like a real one mile four furlong horse. Marc wants to start breeding and Sea The Stars is a great broodmare sire. If the brother ends up really good, it will be really nice to have a sister. Marc is really happy, he really wanted this filly.” 

Plenty more Stars

Sea The Stars’ progeny also filled third and fourth spots on the day’s price list. YuLong may have missed out on the sales-topping Dark Angel filly but the outfit had better luck when securing the Sea The Stars colt out of Group 3 Prix de Lieurey winner Cloudy Dawn. 

General manager Vin Cox, who signed the name Willingham on the docket, said: “We felt he was a very likeable horse by a stallion who’s doing a particularly good job and he’s out of a proper racemare. He fits the plans we’re trying to put together, to get a good batch of horses to go to the races. We’ll break him in and we will worry about a trainer further down the line.” 

The colt, who was offered by Barton Stud, was another making a belated sales ring reappearance having skipped a trip to Arqana in October. The youngster was pinhooked from the West Blagdon Stud draft at last year’s December Foal Sales, where XL Racing signed the ticket at 100,000gns. 

Zhang Yuesheng was in attendance for his YuLong operationCredit: Alisha Meeder

“He was bought by a pinhooking syndicate who liked the horse at last year’s foal sale,” said Barton’s Tom Blain. “He was a bit of a frame of a horse and he had plenty to do. We’d planned to go to the October Sale in Deauville but ended up changing our mind and targeting this sale instead. I’ve had a lot of luck at this sale, and, as always, if you bring a nice horse you’ll always find there are people with orders left over. 

“It doesn’t always work out, but at the end of the day this colt is by Sea The Stars and out of a Group-winning mare and from a good pedigree. He looked like a racehorse to me so I’m delighted with who bought him. I don’t really know how we got him so cheaply last year. He was a bit of a sweaty mess in the stable but he just looked like a foal that would improve from foal to yearling. That’s what the syndicate behind him try to do, they try to buy the slightly less obvious foals. It doesn’t always work but this time it has.” 

William Haggas knows plenty about the progeny of the Sunderland Holding-owned My Timing, having trained the mare’s first three foals, all of whom are by Sea The Stars. The trainer will also take charge of the mare’s fourth foal after going to 360,000gns for the daughter of Sea The Stars offered by The Castlebridge Consignment. 

“She’s for one of my owner-breeders,” said Haggas. “I’ve had lots of the family and all of them were more than useful. The first of them [Sea On Time] was the best; Truthful was useful but had soundness issues; and Sea Just In Time was very small and didn’t go quite as well as I’d hoped. This is a nice, straightforward but very backward filly. It’ll be at three and four that she comes good.”

Stroud on a spree

Anthony Stroud was among the busier agents on the ground, signing for a host of lots under the Stroud Coleman Bloodstock banner as well as a 170,000gns No Nay Never colt from New England Stud on behalf of Godolphin. 

Stroud’s biggest purchase of the day was the 240,000gns Blue Point colt from Plantation Stud who is set to head into training with Charlie Johnston. The January-born youngster had been scheduled to appear at the Somerville Yearling Sale but Plantation Stud manager James Berney said the extra time proved a blessing in disguise after the colt thrived during the autumn months. 

Anthony Stroud was in action for a number of different clientsCredit: Alisha Meeder

“We’re delighted with that,” said Berney. “It’s a good start to the week and hopefully it’ll continue. He missed his earlier slot but that might’ve worked out for the best; he’s done very well through the autumn. The mare’s first runner has been placed and looks like she should win. It’s a good start for the mare, who is in foal to Ardad.”

The colt is out of Achnaha, a half-sister to Listed-winning Dusky Queen, who won twice herself and was also third in the Group 3 Park Express Stakes. She later achieved two further Grade 3 placings having finished her racing career in the US. She joined the Plantation Stud broodmare band at a cost of 150,000gns in December 2018. 

Achnaha’s first foal is the Earthlight filly Skyelight who was last seen finishing third of 12 in a Wolverhampton nursery. 

Stroud also signed for a brace of 130,000gns lots, first landing the Too Darn Hot colt out of Moonlit Garden from Barton Stud before going to the same price for the Zarak half-brother to Group/Grade 3-winning siblings La Mehana and Ocean Fantasy from European Sales Management. 

Seeing is Believing for Tinnakill

Dermot Cantillon of Tinnakill House Stud pulled off a nifty pinhooking touch when Thady Gosden signed at 125,000gns for the Make Believe colt out of Unaccompanied. 

The youngster, whose dam won the Alleged Stakes on the Flat and two Grade 1 contests over hurdles, was picked up from breeder Moyglare Stud at a cost of just €30,000 at the Goffs February Sale earlier this year. 

“I don’t pinhook too many foals but I’m a big admirer of that family,” Cantillon said. “When I saw him in the ring in February, I just took a liking to him and bought him. I like stayers and I like late foals. 

Tinakill House's Make Believe colt made a bright start to the session when selling for 125,000gnsCredit: Alisha Meeder

“When everyone else is going the other way, I like to buck the trend. It was always the plan to come to this sale because he was a May foal and he looked like he was going to need every day. It was always the plan but he has made way more than I was expecting.” 

The youngster is from the same family as Moyglare celebrities such as Free Eagle, Kyprios and Search For A Song, while his three winning siblings include the Group 3-placed Keep In Touch. 

John Gosden was on bidding duty, and reported: “Thady came and found him. He’s a lovely sort; scopey, a good mover and, of course, we know the sire well through Mishriff. We’ll put together a syndicate to own him.”

Encouraging first figures

The yearling session of the December Sale ensured a big two weeks at Tattersalls got off to a notably buoyant start.

Turnover rose 50 per cent year-on-year to reach 7,170,000gns. The median price also climbed 50 per cent to hit 30,000gns, having been 20,000gns 12 months ago. The average price of 51,957gns showed a 38 per cent increase. The clearance rate was a solid 82 per cent as 138 lots sold from 168 offered.

Trade continues on Tuesday when the four-day December Foal Sale begins at 11am.

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