RATOATH, Ireland–Well, Highflyer certainly soared at Fairyhouse this week with Anthony Bromley signing for 16 yearlings, including two for €100,000 on Wednesday.
However, it was Alex Elliott who was responsible for the top lot (243) at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale, a €115,000 Tradewinds-drafted New Bay (GB) colt that was purchased on the same afternoon.
No buyer had a busier two days than Bromley, though. Much like a man rushing to get his Christmas shopping done, he admitted to setting his stall out to fill the lion's share of his orders at another yearling sale where more impressive figures were recorded.
Of the 458 yearlings offered, 448 were sold, representing a clearance rate of 90%. While the aggregate was down 2% on 2021 figures to €12,421,000 and the average also fell 5% to €30,075, the median jumped 11% to €26,000.
For a list of reasons far too complex to enumerate, this year's yearling market has proved incredibly strong despite the global economy supposedly heading down the swanny and, after spending almost €600,000 across the two-day session, Bromley shared a belief that things were about to get even harder for buyers.
He said, “The market is remarkable and it's hard to work it out. Everyone who comes through the gates at a sale must just switch off their telly and forget everything else that's going on in the world. I thought this sale was really healthy and strong but not crazy. I felt that this was the sale to buy at because it's a domestic market. If you look around, it's mostly just English and Irish, whereas next week at the Orby Sale, there will be a surge of Americans and Newmarket will be the same.”
Bromley added, “When you think the sales are too strong, you hear of people saying that they are going to wait until the later sales but, in practice, that is probably the wrong thing to do. It's better to get some tickets for the lottery now. I still have orders for Goffs and for Tattersalls but it's better to get some tickets early sometimes. If anything, it looks like the market is going to get stronger, so I am happy to have got some business done early.”
Bromley spent a total of €581,000 at an average of €36,312 and it was a filly by Tally-Ho's Inns Of Court (Ire) [lot 279] and a colt by Sioux Nation [lot 390] that forced him into the six-figure mark on both occasions.
Speaking after securing Gibbonstown Stud's Sioux Nation colt, Bromley said, “He has been bought for Andrew and Jane Megson, the owners of Polly Pot (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}), the winner of the G2 May Hill S.
“The Megsons also owned Severance (GB) (Nathaniel {GB}), the half-brother, and this guy is a big scopey horse by a red-hot stallion. He will be trained by Ben Pauling.
“He's a beast of a horse and he won't be rushed. Ben's Flat string is starting to grow and Harry [Dunlop] has entered Polly Pott in the [G1] Irish 1000 Guineas today so the Classic dream is alive. “Polly Pott will have one more run this season and they have agreed to supplement for the [G1] Fillies' Mile at Newmarket.”
The €100,000 Highflyer paid for Tally-Ho's Inns Of Court filly meant that the Westmeath stud's young stallion was responsible for two of the top three lots of the sale after Ed Sackville paid €110,000 for Mountain View Stud's colt on behalf of John and Jess Dance on Tuesday.
Bromley revealed that lot 279 was purchased on behalf of Simon Munir and Isaac Suede, who purchased four yearlings all told at Fairyhouse. Three of the four will be trained by Joseph O'Brien, including the Inns Of Court filly, while lot 85, a €21,000 Cotai Glory colt, will join Richard O'Brien.
“The Inns Of Court was for Simon Munir and Isaac Souede,” Bromley said. “We've got a good 2-year-old with William Haggas called Alpha Capture (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}) and he was beaten two inches in the £300,000 sales race at Doncaster. They have a small Flat string but they have a little bit of quality in there and they were looking to expand that. We've been buying for them at the previous yearling sales and I bought three for them on Tuesday as well. Three of the yearlings we've bought will go to Joseph O'Brien and one will go to Richard O'Brien. Joseph will train the Inns Of Court.”
On the burgeoning relationship with Richard O'Brien, he added, “We bought Impulsive Dancer (Ire) (Dragon Pulse {Ire}) off Richard and then we sent him Surac (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) after that and he managed to win with him over hurdles. We thought we'd give him a yearling and bought him a colt by Cotai Glory (GB).”
Tally-Ho's Roger O'Callaghan told TDN Europe that the best was yet to come from Inns Of Court after the stallion posted some impressive results at the Premier Yearling Sale last month and how right he was. Bromley was suitably impressed by the stock.
He said, “I have been very taken by all of the ones I have seen by him. They do look athletic. A lot of the Inns Of Courts stayed on my list for a second look which is a good sign. There were some nice ones at the Somerville and I really liked the one that made €110,000 on Tuesday. I actually bid €100,000 for him. I thought this filly was a queen and, while she was a bit more expensive than I thought she'd be, if you like them, you have to go for them.”
Bromley added, “We got two big ones today and we got 12 on Tuesday. I've had one of my best years on the Flat. I've had 25 2-year-old winners, which is unheard of for me, because it's not a big part of my business. A lot of those horses cost less than 30 grand, so we've had a good run. Polly Pott was 21,000gns, Streets Of Gold (Ire) was £27,000 and Bradsell (GB) was just £12,000 so it's been a good year. Let's hope it can keep going.”
A record 70 horses sold for €50,000 or more at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale and Simon Kerins lauded it as a success.
He said, “This week saw the September Yearling Sale take place in Ireland for the first time in two years and the trade has been incredibly strong. Most noteworthy was the record number of horses selling for €50,000 or more and turnover that surpassed all previous sessions held in Ireland.
“We had a catalogue of quality yearlings catering for all sectors of the market and the footfall seen across the last few days has been phenomenal. We focused extra attention on welcoming buyers back to Fairyhouse and we were rewarded with the buzz that was felt around the barns and newly improved sales complex. Purchasers descended in their droves from the UK as well as a strong contingent of overseas buyers who all went to battle with a strong Irish buying bench.”
He added, “We would like to thank the vendors who supported us and purchasers, all of whom have contributed to the success of the past two days. Our thanks also go out to Irish Thoroughbred Marketing who have been exceptional to work with on the lead up to the sale and enticing customers with their excellent IRE Incentive Scheme. The sale has displayed remarkable resilience the last two years and we look forward to moving ahead with it now and continuing to build on it year on year.”
Tradewinds Come Up Trumps With New Bay Colt
Shane Power's love affair with Tattersalls Ireland continued as three of his Tradewinds pinhooks made eye-wateringly good profits, including the New Bay colt that topped the entire sale at €115,000 to Alex Elliott on behalf of Australian-based Spicer Thoroughbreds.
He may be just 29 years of age, but Power had already built up an impressive reputation for being a top-notch purveyor of equine talent, further evidenced by the prowess advertised in transforming his €24,000 foal purchase into a sales-topper.
As if that wasn't impressive enough, Power also secured tidy profits with a Due Diligence filly (lot 152) sold to Joe Foley on Tuesday followed by a Sioux Nation colt (lot 354) that was snapped up by Mick Donohoe of BBA Ireland on Wednesday.
He said, “This place has always been very lucky for us. It's funny, we'd no luck at this sale when it was in England the past two years, but every time we bring horses to Fairyhouse, we tend to do alright. We've had good success at the breeze-up sales here as well. It's been a lucky place.
“We brought six here this week. The Sioux Nation colt was €7,000 into €50,000, the Due Diligence filly was €6,000 into €78,000 and the New Bay colt was €24,000 into €115,000, so it's been great.
“I actually bought an El Kabeir filly today to go breezing as well. We sold Bright Diamond (Ire) (El Kabeir) here in May for €52,000 and she's going for the G1 Fillies' Mile. Hopefully this El Kabeir can be as good.”
Power added, “We set up Tradewinds five years ago. It has taken a bit of time for us to build up relationships with the buyers but, when Bright Diamond won her maiden at Newmarket by nine lengths, it gave us a bit of credibility. Hopefully people will think that we half know what we're looking at now.”
Knowing what you are looking at is one thing, but backing your judgment to go out and buy these foals and then produce them in tip-top shape as yearlings is another. So, what's the secret?
“It's a lot of hard work and some long days,” Power explained. “We don't just turn up with these horses. If your horses don't come here looking well, the likelihood is that you'll be coming home with them. We feed them four times a day and there's a lot of pulling and dragging involved but it's worth it on days like today.”
He added, “It's great coming here and getting a few quid but, when you sell a horse and it goes on to do something, that's the real buzz. We sold Lauded (GB), a colt by Acclamation (GB), in our first year to Ed Sackville. He won his maiden first time out, was placed in the G2 Richmond S. and won a load of races in Dubai as well. He kick-started the whole thing for us.”
People have long since cottoned on to the fact that Power knows what he is doing. An even bigger secret that has gotten out of the bag, much to the frustration of Elliott, is that New Bay is one of the hottest sires around.
The leading agent said, “The sire has been unbelievable for me. He has been picked up for Brad Spicer. I met him at a sale in Germany a few years ago and, when Covid hit, he couldn't get over so he asked me if I would do some work for him. That was in 2020 and we bought him two Almanzors (Fr), a Camelot (GB) and a Sea The Moon (Ger)–that type of horse.”
Elliott added, “I sent him two horses from this sale and he really liked the look of the New Bay. There's going to be a day coming soon when I can't afford these New Bays so I'm trying to buy as many of them as I can now. They come in all shapes and sizes but they all look like they'd run through a brick wall.”
Ballyshannon Bag Emotional Success
One of the most emotional results of the week was achieved by James Hughes of Ballyshannon Stud who, along with the help of his late mother, was responsible for the most expensive Havana Grey (GB) to go through the ring in Ireland when Peter and Ross Doyle paid €70,000 for his colt by the leading first-season sire.
Hughes picked up the grey at Newmarket last December for just 14,000gns from Whitsbury Manor Stud and admitted that Wednesday's result was tinged in sadness over the loss of his mother back in February.
He explained, “My late mother, who unfortunately passed away from Covid in February, gave me the thumbs up when I sent her the video of this horse last December. She told me to go ahead and buy him off the video. We set up Ballyshannon together. It's just a pity she wasn't here today to see it.”
Hughes added, “I loved the yearlings by Havana Grey. I thought that they were all fast and early 2-year-olds. We had done a bit of business with Ed Harper at Whitsbury before and found him to be very easy to deal with. He's straight up and there's no bullshit with him. We try to go back to the same farms every year and like doing business with Ed.”
The significance extended beyond the fact that lot 248 became the most expensive son of Havana Grey to be sold in Ireland, but the result was badly needed after Ballyshannon were forced to buy back lot 29 at €33,000, a colt by Havana Gold (Ire), the previous day.
Hughes said, “We were delighted because we've put in a lot of effort and turned the farm around from being a foaling unit into what it is now. We used to look after 80 to 100 mares and last year we just decided that we needed to take a break and that it was getting too much for us.
“My mother was getting on a bit in age and said she'd like to enjoy the racing a bit more and the pinhooking side of things as well because she loved coming up to the sales.”
He added, “We had a little syndicate on the farm between the three of us and bought four foals. The first one didn't go well, we had to vendor him, and we were coming here thinking, 'have we done the right thing here?' Thankfully it has worked out.”
Lupini Reinvests After Another Big Sale
No sooner had Natalia Lupini wrapped up a deal for Listed Ingabelle S. third Highly Desirable (Ire) (Twilight Son {GB}) to continue her career in America, the County Down-based Italian was busy replenishing her stock alongside boyfriend Craig Bryson, with the pair signing for three yearlings across the two days.
Lupini told TDN Europe in the build-up to Irish Champions Weekend that she felt Highly Desirable would out-run her odds of 125-1 in that listed contest and, after doing just that, the filly caught the attention of a number of the big outfits.
Similarly to Arinniti (Fr) (Karakontie {Jpn}), who Lupini sold to Team Valor and Paddy Twomey after the filly posted a creditable second on debut at Naas, Highly Desirable netted connections a huge profit.
Those profits were reinvested on Tuesday and Wednesday with Lupini keen to keep the wheel turning after securing a colt by Twilight Son and fillies by Wootton Bassett and Masar. An owner at the sales also decided to entrust her with a filly by Galileo Gold to train.
She said, “Highly Desirable finishing third in a listed race on Irish Champions Weekend was our biggest result. She has now been sold to continue her career in America and an Irish agent got the deal done. It was a great weekend for us and, to see Arinniti go and win for Paddy Twomey last weekend was good to see as well. I think Paddy is talking about entering her in a listed race at Dundalk next week so we hope she can go on and do well for them.”
Lupini added, “We put our heads together last year and decided to train a few 2-year-olds and it's gone well so we have got a few more yearlings this week. It's also good that people have decided to send us 2-year-olds off the back of that, which happened today, when an owner approached us asking if we'd train a Galileo Gold (GB) filly.”
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