Emotions ran high deep into the opening session of Book 3 at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale when young pinhooker Luke Coen produced an incredible result with his Invincible Spirit (Ire) filly selling for 115,000gns.
Coen may be in his early 20s but he knows the time of day and came to Park Paddocks full of confidence with his €23,000 foal purchase from Goffs last November.
After an entertaining bidding war, it was Olivia Perkins-Mackey, who works closely with bloodstock agent Justin Casse and trainer Joseph O'Brien–and who was involved in the selection of a 310,000gns Siyouni (Fr) colt during the Book 2 session–who landed the winning blow.
But that didn't come without breeze-up handler Danny O'Donovan doing his best to secure the filly from Q-Cross Stables by throwing his iPad in the direction of auctioneer Matt Hall whilst standing in the gangway.
It proved to be in vain as the American-based agent wasn't to be beaten on the Invincible Spirit filly with the winning bidder and consignor visibly emotional after the tussle.
Coen said, “It was unreal, now. I couldn't stand still inside there. To be fair, the day I bought her at Goffs, I just couldn't believe that I got her. I was delighted. And to be fair, when we came here, I was quite boastful as I knew she was a bit of a queen. I'm delighted she proved me right.”
The youngster, who works full-time with the sales company, is a nephew of prominent Irish trainer Andrew Slattery. He is also a brother to top Flat jockey Ben Coen and, after the conversion rate, netted well over €100,000 in profit from the sale.
He added, “I told Gavin [Davies] at Tatts when I first started working for him that I was bringing a top filly to Book 3 and that I was going to come close to topping it. I'm fairly happy I put my neck out.
“I think I owe Danny O'Donovan a pint. Fair play to him, he loved her and went all the way, and fair play to Olivia. I hope the filly is very, very lucky for her and that she can be the queen that I always thought she could be for her new connections.”
Perkins-Mackey was just as emotional as Coen after the sale, where she revealed that the filly would go into training with Joseph O'Brien.
She said, “I saw her this morning and loved her. I sent her details on to Joseph and he loved her, too. She has a beautiful walk. There is nothing to knock about her. She is a May foal so there is plenty of room for improvement. The consignor has done a great job.”
The Invincible Spirit filly is out of Galileo (Ire) Mardie Gras (GB). She has produced two winners and is from the family of classy German performer Moonlady (Ger).
Too Darn Hot Colt Leads The Way At 130k
Coen couldn't cling on to top-lot status. That belonged to a 130,000gns Too Darn Hot (GB) colt who was knocked down to Ted Durcan on behalf of trainer Richard Hughes who was buying on spec.
The Book 3 day one sale-topper was consigned by Adrian O'Brien of Hazelwood Bloodstock and is from a family that Durcan knows well.
He said, “Richard and his team had seen the horse this afternoon and we all loved him. He is a smashing big horse and the sire is red hot. I know the family extremely well from my time in the Middle East, which helped-Mike De Kock and Sheikh Khalifa had the whole family.”
Durcan added, “Richard was adamant that we were not to leave the sale without him. We spent plenty on him but he was a horse that Richard really wanted. I respect Adrian O'Brien, he is a great producer and has a marvellous nursery. He was adamant that this is a horse we should have. We are over the moon to have this horse and there is no owner for the horse as of yet.”
Of the 303 horses offered on day one, 265 were sold at a clearance rate of 87%. The aggregate was down 14% to 6,541,500gns while the average dropped 20% to 24,685gns and the median 19% to 21,000gns.
Tally-Ho Stud Adds Earthlight Colt To Breeze-Up Squad
You can't beat the old dog for the hard road and, while others had cried enough after almost two weeks of helter-skelter action at Newmarket, Tally-Ho Stud's Tony O'Callagahan was still at Park Paddocks sniffing out value and signed for an Earthlight (Ire) colt for 95,000gns.
The Earthlight was bred by Con Harrington and consigned by James Hughes of Ballyshannon Stud. The sale represents yet another vote of confidence for Darley's young sire with O'Callaghan revealing that Plan A would offer the colt at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale in the spring.
He said, “We'll get him home and see how he performs before we make a plan, but he'll probably come back here in April. We liked him from the word go; sharp, a good walker, nicely balanced. We've sold one by Earthlight that went quite well and he's getting nice stock. They look racy and behave well. This colt is from a good family, too, and Con Harrington is a good breeder.”
The Earthlight colt is out of the Group 3-placed Crafty Madam (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), herself a half-sister to Profitable (Ire). Tally-Ho Stud ended Book 2 as the leading consignor by selling 28 yearlings for over 2.6 millions gns in a week where all of the key figures were down on last year. However, O'Callaghan remained positive about the trade carried out at Newmarket.
He said, “If you got it right it's been very good. If you have a nice horse then you'll get well paid. You have to know your horse, value it correctly and not live in dreamland.”
Half-Sister To Nunthorpe Winner Sparks Another Dream
An Elzaam (Aus) half-sister to the brilliant Nunthorpe winner Live In The Dream (Ire) (Prince Of Lir {Ire}) boasted one of the strongest pedigrees in Book 3 and sold accordingly when Chasemore Farm stud manager Jack Conroy snapped the filly up for 80,000gns.
The filly was purchased on behalf of an existing Chasemore client and will go into training. As well as producing the brilliant Live In The Dream, Approaching Autumn (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) has proved her worth as a broodmare with the listed-placed Live In The Moment (Ire) (Zebedee {GB}).
“She has been bought for a client who boards a few broodmares with us,” Conroy said. “We liked this filly, she has a lot of residual value, and we think Live In The Dream has every chance of going on to win at the Breeders' Cup. Hopefully, this filly will be as sharp as her half-brother.
“The mare has done it more than once and our vet Pat Sells helps with Live In The Dream so knows him well, which is helpful. This filly is a late April foal so she should grow and Pat is sure she will develop and get to be bigger than Live In The Dream. At that money she makes sense and has a chance.”
Marnane The Man For Blue Point Colt
Con Marnane, the man who produced arguably the touch of the century with Givemethebeatboys, will be hoping to turn more profit with the Blue Point (Ire) filly he bought from Kilcarn Park for 66,000gns.
The renowned breeze-up handler described himself as “a big fan” of the stallion and explained that his latest acquisition by the dual Royal Ascot-winning sprinter was bought for resale.
“She looks a fast filly,” Marnane said. “We have just been very lucky with Blue Points and we have four yearlings to breeze, a mare in foal to him and a two-year-old in training. You can say we are big fans! He is a phenomenal stallion, he did it himself and he is doing it himself now.”
Con was standing alongside his daughter Amy to the left of the rostrum when the hammer fell. Amy revealed how the pair plan on staying at Tattersalls for the long haul in a bid to bolster their squad for the upcoming breeze-up season.
She said, “We have bought three this week-two by Blue Point and a Starspangledbanner (Aus). I will be here for Book 4. I have bought four from Book 4 and they have all become stakes horses-everyone else has gone home by then. I have the stamina to stay through to the end, I hope the horses don't have as much stamina as I do!”
Buy of the day
There was plenty of value on offer at Book 3 but perhaps the 40,000gns that Peter and Ross Doyle spent on a Nathaniel (Ire) colt out of Jamie Railton's consignment on behalf of Thurloe Thoroughbreds could prove best.
More of a three-year-old type, the Nathaniel colt could even develop into a dual-purpose performer in time. Whether he's the next Buzz (Fr) (Motivator) or not, only time will tell, but he fits the profile for that job alright.
Given what three-year-olds with a rating of, say, 80 and above are making to go hurdling, he could prove a bit of a no-brainer.
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