In a little over a year, Wathnan Racing has carved out a reputation for being an emerging ownership force, and the early signs are that the operation is here for the foreseeable future after continuing its recruitment drive by spending 500,000gns on talented sprinter Dark Trooper (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses-In-Training Sale on Wednesday.
That purchase through Blandford Bloodstock's ace agent Richard Brown came after the team spent 750,000gns on He's A Monster (Ire) (No Nay Never) and Just Bring It (Ire) (Harry Angel {Ire}) from Alex Elliott's Imperium Sales draft on Tuesday.
The modus operandi has been simple; source quality horses, and in Dark Trooper, Wathnan Racing have secured a talented sprinter whose best days could be ahead of him still. Trained by Ed Walker, Dar Trooper has won six times and reached a rating of 104. He was last seen finishing sixth, beaten just two lengths, in a Group 3 at Ascot.
“The idea is to buy quality over quantity, that is the message from Olly Tait to me and Ali Al Kubaisi, who is working the sale with me,” Brown said. “This horse has been on the radar for most of the year because Al Donald, who bought him and managed him, and Ed Walker, who trained him, have been trying to get me to buy him most of the year saying there is a lot more to come.”
Brown added, “He won a very competitive Ascot handicap on quick ground and then was unlucky in the Bengough. He is an interesting horse and will go to Qatar. There is a programme for him in that part of the world, but he is the sort of horse who could come back here. He is a gelding so can run on for a number of seasons. He will be trained by Alban de Mieulle and we'll see how things go.”
There was a good feeling at Park Paddocks throughout Wednesday and that extended to the figures. The average climbed 5% to 48,248gns while the median fell 2% to 23,500gns. However, the aggregate was down 12% to 11,869,000gns and the clearance rate fell 3% to 89%.
The 104 rated DARK TROOPER (by Dark Angel) sells for 500,000gns at the #TattsAutumn HIT Sale
The Ed Walker consigned gelding has been bought by Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock. pic.twitter.com/tBj779kRsm
— TDN (@theTDN) October 25, 2023
Saudi Buyers Go Head-To-Head For Classy Sea The Casper
Two heavy hitters from Saudi Arabia went head-to-head for the 105-rated Sea The Casper (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) with Mubarak Al-Ruwis seeing off Najd Stud at 425,000gns.
Sea The Casper will be aimed at the Saudi Cup Carnival, according to the owner Al-Ruwis, who has a small but select string in the Gulf.
The owner said, “He will ship straight to Saudi. We have two horses already in Saudi. We need a quality horse for the big Saudi Cup meeting. We think this horse could be a champion.”
Predictably, the Saudi investment at Tattersalls this week has been strong and Najd Stud struck earlier in the evening for Group 2 winner Jack Darcy (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}).
Trained by Paul and Oliver Cole to land the G2 Grand Prix de Deauville in August, Jack Darcy was one of the wildcards added to the sale and was drafted by Barton Sales.
Oliver Cole said, “I think he is a Group 1 horse in the making. I would have preferred to keep him in training with us but owners have to do what they want to do.”
“We wanted to run in the Prix Dollar and he ran very well, arguably his best race, and we wildcarded him here.”
Najd Stud also went to 170,000gns to secure Bresson (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) from Juddmonte and paid 155,000gns for Godolphin's Parchemin (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) earlier in the session. The leading Saudi buyers have added 12 horses to their haul this week to the tune of 1,483,000gns.
Royal Patronage Off To Oz
He has advertised his abilities in Britain and America but now Australia beckons for the 110-rated Royal Patronage (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) after Johnny McKeever signed for the four-year-old on behalf of Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.
It was McKeever who lit up Park Paddocks on Tuesday evening when going to 575,000gns for Balance Play (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) out of Alex Elliott's Imperium Sales draft.
Royal Patronage came highly recommended by his trainer Graham Motion, according to McKeever, whose total spend has now reached 1,280,000gns for the week.
He said, “We spoke to Graham Motion about the horse and he gave us a very positive report.. The horse had a few small training issues, nothing to worry about at all.
“He is an ideal horse to go to Australia so we were confident that this is the right thing to do. It is hard to find Group form in the sale and he has got a certain quality. We are not guessing here, we know he is a pretty good horse if all goes well for him.”
Royal Patronage has not raced since June. Prior to that, he landed an allowance race at Keeneland for the Motion team. But he is perhaps best known for showing high-class form for Mark and Charlie Johnston in Britain–for whom he landed the G2 Royal Lodge S.–before he was shipped to America.
Juddmonte Draft Adds Intrigue
A Juddmonte draft always generates plenty of attention regardless of the sale and it was no different on Wednesday with 13 horses selling for a combined 1,368,000gns.
The draft was headed by Halfway Line (GB) (Zoffany {Ire}), a three-time winner and listed-placed for Francis-Henri Graffard, who was knocked down to BBA Ireland online for 320,000gns.
BBA Ireland's Mick Donohoe revealed afterwards to the Tattersalls blog that the horse had been bought alongside Niall Dalton of Stakes Horses and will continue his career with trainer Phil D'Amato in America.
Donohoe said via telephone, “I have left the sale ground and so it worked well for me to bid online. The horse has been bought in conjunction with Niall Dalton of Stakes Horses to go to California and is for a new client with trainer Phil D'Amato, who has had a good bit of success training European horses.”
He added, “Halfway Line was recommended by Francois-Henri Graffard as well as Barry Mahon of Juddmonte. He should suit California-he is progressive, he goes on firm, he has a turn of foot, all the attributes you need.”
Juddmonte's Ziryab (GB) (Kingman {GB}), a winner for John and Thady Gosden, was another major attraction in the draft. The three-year-old was sold to Peter Trainor and Ciaron Maher for 240,000gns.
Trainor said, “He goes to Ciaron Maher. Last year we bought Future History here from Juddmonte and this is the same type of horse with the same profile. Hopefully he will follow the same path and be a fun horse.”
He added, “Ziryab is well-bred and we were quite taken with his last run. He is lightly-raced and there is loads of upside with him.”
Smart Juvenile Hurdle Prospect Joins Jackdaws Castle
Just 10 days after Mt Fugi Park (Ire) (Walk In The Park {Ire}) provided syndicate Tanzanite with its first winner from as many attempts when scoring on debut for Jonjo O'Neill at Ffos Las, the owners returned to the market to snap up smart juvenile hurdle prospect Circuit Breaker (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}).
Not only can Nathaniel get you a top-class horse on the level, as we saw with the brilliant Desert Crown and Enable, but the King George and Eclipse winner has proved he can get classy jumpers as well.
The team at Jackdaws Castle will be hoping they have found the next Zanahiyr (Ire) after agent Matt Coleman signed for the Ralph Beckett-trained Circuit Breaker for 260,000gns on behalf of Tanzanite..
Coleman said, “He is going to Jackdaws and we had an order to look for a juvenile hurdle horse. This is a big fantastic-looking horse by Nathaniel. He looks like a National Hunt horse. Ralph [Beckett] was very complimentary about the horse and is extremely pleased with how well he has done on the Flat considering his size. He won on debut and ran second to Urban Outlook (GB) (Cityscape {GB}) [who made 280,000gns to Domeland] last time.”
The Tanzanite team can count themselves lucky to have come away with Circuit Breaker as, just when the hammer was about to fall, Harold Kirk tried to throw in one last bid. Alas, it was too late and the principal buyer for Ireland's champion National Hunt trainer Willie Mullins was forced to fill the role of the underbidder.
Mt Fugi Park was sourced by Coleman at the Tattersalls Cheltenham February Sale for £290,000 after he won his point-to-point for trainer Donnchadh Doyle.
Coleman continued, “We were really pleased with Mt Fugi Park. The syndicate has two horses and they are both real out-and-out National Hunt types. For instance, Mt Fugi Park is very much a staying chaser of the future, and that's why we wanted to get something here with possibly a bit more speed.”
That wasn't the only Beckett-trained gelding to be received well by the market as the previous lot, Campaign Trail (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), was sold to Ed Bailey Bloodstock and Peter Kerr Syndicates for 200,000gns. Both horses were consigned by Jamie Railton.
Buy of the day
Wednesday's buy of the day is something of a collaborative effort as the Racing Post's James Thomas made a strong case for Gaiden (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) to be given the nod.
Trained by Richard Hannon, Gaiden was well-fancied and sent off as the 3-1 favourite to win on debut over the minimum trip at Windsor back in April.
If connections had come away from that effort with any disappointment that would have soon dissipated with what the winner, Relief Rally (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), went on to achieve.
Sadly, Gaiden hasn't followed a similar trajectory. She followed up on that effort with a rock-solid third in a listed contest at York, bagging valuable black-type in the process, but has been well-beaten in her three subsequent starts.
Gaiden was knocked down to the Gaiden Partners for 32,000gns on Wednesday and she may well represent a bit of value. Even if she were never to set foot on a racecourse again, she has achieved black-type without winning and is by one of the sexiest stallions in the game. She looks well-bought.
Away from Gaiden, Eastmore (GB) (Awtaad {Ire}) could look well-bought by Charles Byrnes at 80,000gns. Placed in all three of his maidens for legendary trainer Kevin Prendergast in Ireland, he has been snapped up by one of the shrewdest dual-purpose handlers in the business and looks an ideal type to go down that route.
Thought for the day
Is it just me or is this the first year in a while where the National Hunt trainers have been able to play on the higher-rated juvenile hurdle prospects?
In previous years, even the top operators were being blown out of the water by international buyers for the three-year-olds who stayed 10f and beyond.
This week, we've had Jonjo O'Neill buy the 89-rated Circuit Breaker for 260,000gns while Ed Bailey landed Campaign Trail for 200,000gns. At a lower end, we saw Charles Byrnes secure a nice horse for 80,000gns while Gordon Elliott has added five to his team over the past few days.
There has been a dearth of collective talent in the two-mile hurdling division in recent years and this week's results can only be a positive with a view towards providing the sphere with a much-needed shot in the arm.
There are few things as exciting as a Champion Hurdler at full cry. Think of that golden era of Hardy Eustace, Brave Inca, Harchibald and Mac's Joy.
We have been starved of such competition in recent years over hurdles but, who knows, the first signs of this avenue being reopened to the jumps handers were apparent at Tattersalls this week. Who knows, we could be writing about Circuit Breaker or Campaign Trail by the time Cheltenham rolls around.
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