‘The bank manager will be happy again!’ - Coolmore and Godolphin clash over 1,050,000gns Ghaiyyath sibling to Victoria Road

A stunning grey colt from the debut crop of Ghaiyyath was the headline act at the opening session of Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale having brought a bid of 1,050,000gns. 

The blue-blooded youngster had a pedigree virtually precision engineered to capture the attention of racing’s superpowers, being by the Darley sire and a half-brother to Coolmore’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Victoria Road. 

The powerhouse operations duly engaged in a seven-figure bidding bout, but, with Sheikh Mohammed at the centre of the huddle, the Godolphin buying team was in no mood to be denied. 

The Ballyhimikin Stud-consigned colt is from one of the hottest families in the stud book, being out of Tickled Pink, a Group 3-winning daughter of the increasingly influential Cassandra Go. Breeder Trevor Stewart bought Cassandra Go for 200,000gns at the 1997 Houghton Sale, and the daughter of Indian Ridge has since founded a flourishing dynasty. 

The King’s Stand Stakes victress is the dam of ten winners, most notably Coolmore's three-time Group 1 heroine Halfway To Heaven. In turn, Halfway To Heaven bred the mighty Magical, whose record features seven top-flight triumphs, and Rhododendron, successful in the Fillies’ Mile, Prix de l’Opera and Lockinge Stakes.

The family continues to develop at a rate of knots as Rhododendron’s first foal is none other than Auguste Rodin, winner of this year’s Derby and Irish Champion Stakes. 

Cassandra Go also bred the Group 3-winning Theann, dam of dual Grade 1 scorer Photo Call and Richmond Stakes winner turned Highclere stallion Land Force. Tickled Pink has already done her bit to uphold family honour, with four other winners besides Victoria Road. 

Reflecting on the sale of the seven-figure Ghaiyyath colt, Stewart said: “He’s by a first-season sire so I felt he might have some limitations, but I couldn’t be more thrilled. 

“The first few progeny of Tickled Pink were a little on the neat side so I thought we needed to get a bit more height and length into her foals, so that’s why she went to Ghaiyyath, who was a great racehorse. It was risky going to a first-season sire, but she produced this cracking colt.” 

The family has not only performed on the racecourse, as the Ghaiyyath colt is the fourth seven-figure yearling Stewart has bred. The priciest of the quartet is the three-time winner Chess Master, a son of Shamardal and Cassandra Go who fetched 1,700,000gns from Godolphin in 2014, while MV Magnier gave 1,600,000gns for Tickled Pink’s sister Fantasy three years later. 

Stewart also bred the sole lot to make seven figures at Book 2, with Shadwell going to 1,050,000gns for the winning and Listed-placed Tarhib, by Dark Angel and out of Cassandra Go's daughter Allez Alaia, in 2019. 

Trevor Stewart: 'I’ve been so lucky'Credit: Laura Green

Reflecting on the session-topping price, Stewart said: “It’s a wonderful figure, and I hate to say it but after number four, I’m sort of getting used to it! At least the bank manager will be happy again for another while.”

He added: “I’ve been so lucky and now two of Cassandra Go’s daughters have had progeny sell for over a million. I have two other daughters, one who’s just gone to stud and another who’s a two-year-old, so hopefully there’s plenty more to come.” 

Tickled Pink produced a Saxon Warrior brother to Victoria Road on March 2, with Stewart describing the colt as “outstanding” and “like a twin” to the Grade 1 winner. The mare is back in foal to the Coolmore stallion.  

The session-topping colt, who was bred at a fee of just €30,000, is comfortably the most expensive member of Ghaiyyath’s debut yearling crop. Godolphin have thrown their support behind the champion son of Dubawi in a big way, purchasing seven of his eight most expensive yearlings to date. 

“He’s an extremely nice horse from Ballyhimikin, which has produced so many good horses,” said the team's Anthony Stroud. 

“This family is second to none, and we also feel very strongly about how good a stallion Ghaiyyath is going to be.”

That purchase capped a day when Godolphin dominated the head of the market, with 11 buys totalling 6,665,000gns (22 per cent of turnover).

There was a feeling among some on the sales ground that trade had taken a while to warm up, although that assessment was not necessarily reflected in the figures, with the clearance rate dropping but the average and median figures rising. 

With 15 fewer lots changing hands compared to 2022’s opening session, turnover was down by four per cent at 30,638,000gns. The average price went up by seven per cent to 247,080gns, while the median jumped by 28 per cent to 205,000gns, having been 160,000gns 12 months ago. The clearance rate was 81 per cent as 124 yearlings sold from 154 offered. Last year 139 sold at a clip of 86 per cent.

Fitting first seven-figure lot

There was a fitting first seven-figure lot at this year’s Tattersalls October Yearling Sale as the final foal out of blue-hen mare Shastye fetched 1,000,000gns. 

Agent Matt Houldsworth, bidding from the back stairs alongside Newsells Park Stud’s owner Graham Smith-Bernal, went deep into six-figure territory for the son of Dubawi, but, as was so often the case throughout the session, it was Godolphin’s Stroud, standing by the parade ring with Sheikh Mohammed, who played the winning hand. 

The Dubawi colt out of Shastye becomes the first yearling to make seven figures at the 2023 Book 1 SaleCredit: Edward Whitaker

The Dubawi colt became the sixth Book 1 millionaire bred by the brilliant Shastye, who died in May 2022 at the age of 21. The daughter of Danehill was described as a “commercial stud farmer’s dream” by Newsells Park’s general manager Julian Dollar, with her progeny’s achievements in the sales ring bettered only by their accomplishments on the racecourse. 

Her six winners at paddocks include five with bold black type, most notably the Galileo siblings Japan, Mogul, Secret Gesture and Sir Isaac Newton. Japan won two Group 1s during his time at Ballydoyle, namely the Juddmonte International and Grand Prix de Paris. The latter race was also won by his brother Mogul 12 months later during a campaign that ended with a second top-flight triumph in the Hong Kong Vase. 

Shastye’s progeny have now generated Tattersalls yearling sale receipts totalling a staggering 15,200,000gns. The most expensive of the brood was Group 3 winner Sir Isaac Newton, who fetched 3,600,000gns from Coolmore’s MV Magnier in 2013, while another Galileo sibling, the unraced filly Skylark, topped the 2020 renewal at 3,400,000gns, matching the price brought by Japan two years earlier. 

Shastye, a half-sister to Prix l’Arc de Triomphe hero Sagamix, was added to the Newsells Park broodmare band at a cost of 625,000gns through John Warren in 2005. 

Reflecting on her latest sales ring smash hit, Dollar said: “The money doesn’t really matter, but the figure of a million is a nice bookend for the mare. She was such an amazing mare for Newsells, and for me really as I’ve often jokingly said that she kept me in the job for 15 years! 

“The fact that she produced such a lovely foal with her last offspring, and that he’s come here and Sheikh Mohammed bought him for a million, it’s just really nice, for want of a better word. 

Shastye's final offspring in the parade ring at Park PaddocksCredit: Edward Whitaker

“We’re all in this business as much for emotion because we all love horses, so for that reason it was a very nice three-quarters end to the story. Obviously there’s still another 25 per cent to come when this colt races, but for us it was a nice sign off.” 

He added: “I’ll never find another one [like Shastye], I’m not that greedy. But I’ll treasure the days we had here and on the racecourse with Shastye and her offspring. She’s a commercial stud farmer’s dream.” 

Shastye struck up a particularly fruitful association with Galileo, producing six offspring by the Coolmore colossus. But with the 12-time champion well into his dotage by the 2021 covering season, Shastye visited Dalham Hall Stud for a mating with Galileo’s old rival Dubawi. 

Dollar said Dubawi had certainly stamped his mark on the mating, saying of the seven-figure colt: “He’s a bit stronger, deeper through the girth and thicker through his middle, shoulder and quarters, like the Dubawis can be. He had the same great temperament, the same class when he came to the sale and the same aura about him, though. 

“She’s just such a remarkable mare, and it was nice to see Dubawi having a Grade 1 winner out of a Danehill mare [Master Of The Seas] just the other day, so we know the cross works.” 

The 1,000,000gns transaction continued a busy afternoon for Sheikh Mohammed and his team, who were out clear at the head of the buyers’ charts by number of lots bought and total spend. 

No stone was left unturned to show the Dubawi-Shastye colt at his best on TuesdayCredit: Edward Whitaker

Stroud said: “He’s by Dubawi out of an incredible mare. She’s produced so many great horses, and although he’s out of a mare with a bit of age, he looks incredibly well. As a physical he’s very good looking, very athletic and he fitted our criteria. 

“We all looked at him, and the boss looked at him, and we felt we had to go for it. It’s an incredible family and we’re lucky to have him.” 

On Sheikh Mohammed’s attendance at Tattersalls, Stroud added: “It’s great that the boss is here. It’s good for all of us that he’s here.”

Oakgrove hits new heights

John Deer’s Oakgrove Stud registered a personal best at Tattersalls on Tuesday when the Frankel colt out of Poplin went the way of Godolphin at 900,000gns. 

Juddmonte’s general manager Simon Mockridge was involved deep into the bidding, as was Michael Donohoe of BBA Ireland, but that pair were consigned to the position of also-rans when Stroud struck the decisive blow from beside the parade ring. 

That price surpassed Oakgrove’s previous best, which came in 2009 when the Chepstow farm’s Book 1 draft included the winning and Group 3-placed Rudolf Valentino. The son of Oasis Dream joined the Coolmore fold having been knocked down to Demi O’Byrne at 700,000gns. 

“It means a lot as he’s the most expensive horse the stud has ever sold,” said Oakgrove’s manager David Hilton. “Obviously John puts a lot of investment in, and this horse was bred in partnership with Juddmonte so we have to say a massive thank you to them for doing that with us.” 

The colt is the seventh foal Deer has bred from Poplin, five of which have won. The best of the brood to date is this colt’s three-parts sister Alkandora, a daughter of Nathaniel who won the Listed Prix Melisande in the Godolphin blue. 

The Frankel colt out of Poplin who became an Oakgrove Stud record-breakerCredit: Laura Green

The Frankel colt is also a half-brother to Persian Royal, a son of Oakgrove’s own Al Kazeem who won four races in the Deer silks before being sold to Wathnan Racing for 450,000gns at last year’s Autumn Horses in Training Sale. The mare produced a filly by Palace Pier in March this year and is back in foal to Lope De Vega. 

Hilton said the team had always held the Frankel colt in high regard, but admitted to being left floored by the heights he had reached in the ring. 

He said: “I’ve always thought he’s a pretty special horse and he’s been very busy since we got here. He hasn’t missed a beat. 

“You can never be confident when you come up to the ring, though, even with the horse having been so popular. You can be hopeful but never confident, so watching that was a bit mad, really! 

“It’s very rare to be in that position when people follow the horse through and you can just stand back and watch. It was amazing. John’s already been on the phone and he’s delighted. I’ve got to say well done to all our staff back at Oakgrove because they’ve done an amazing job.” 

Poplin joined the Oakgrove broodmare band in 2013, when she was bought from Seven Springs Stables at a cost of 320,000gns. The Listed-placed mare hails from the Cumanis’ famed ‘P’ family, meaning the likes of Ecurie des Monceaux foundation mare Platonic and her daughter Prudenzia appear back in the pedigree. 

This family is no stranger to commercial success as Prudenzia's offspring have fetched €10,195,000 million in Arqana yearling sale receipts alone. This figure doesn’t include the €6 million price tag acquired by Chicquita when she sold at Goffs following her Irish Oaks success in 2013. Besides Chicquita, Prudenzia has also produced the Group 1-winning Magic Wand, as well as the Prix de Diane runner-up Philomene. 

Godolphin’s 11-strong haul featured six of the session’s top ten lots, including the four most expensive on the day, with the colts by Ghaiyyath, Dubawi and Frankel joined by Meon Valley Stud’s son of Kingman and Oaks runner-up Shirocco Star. The 750,000gns purchase is a sibling to four winners, most notably Godolphin’s dual Group 2 scorer Al Suhail, a 1,100,000gns purchase in 2018, Dante Stakes victor Telecaster and Starcaster, a Listed winner in Australia.

Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale continues on Wednesday with a session starting at 11am.

From Tattersalls:

'You're like a rabbit in the headlights!' - Kildaragh Stud kickstarts Book 1 with a 875,000gns brace 

'As nice a filly as on the sales ground' - Twomey and McStay on the mark with 400,000gns Lope De Vega yearling 

Photo gallery: a look at the action on day one of Tattersalls Book 1

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