Who is Lucky Vega? From Monday to Friday, he bases himself at the Irish National Stud, having retired there off the back of a successful career on the track where he won a Group 1 for trainer Jessica Harrington.
A quick scan through the results at any of the big sales either side of the Irish Sea recently and you will see that Lucky Vega (Ire) has been keeping himself busy upon his retirement, with his name featuring alongside some of the more select lots.
Lucky Vega, of course, is in fact one of the entities in which Yulong Investments have been supporting the stock by the stallion and, in cases like Wednesday, mares to visit him in the future.
One of the market leaders to make a booming start with his first two-year-olds next year, Lucky Vega appears to have the continued support of his owner Zhang Yuesheng, with the Chinese businessman signing for the 160,000gns top lot at Park Paddocks on Wednesday.
While the Wednesday trade couldn't match the unblinking excitement the Sceptre Sessions offered 24 hours previously, business remained satisfactory, with the Lucky Vega team once again bidding online to land the unraced daughter of No Nay Never from Godolphin.
Mufeeda (Ire) (lot 2027) never managed to reach the track but the good-looking No Nay Never filly boasts a strong pedigree, being a daughter of listed winner Zoowraa (GB) (Azamour {Ire}), and a sister to two black-type performers.
She came out on top on a day where the aggregate dropped off by 14% to 3,650,500 gns. The clearance rate dipped 11% to 78% while there was a further slide in the median and average. The median was down 7% to 14,000gns and the average by 9% to 19,418gns.
Japanese Buyers To The Fore Once More
The Japanese buyers need less of an introduction at Tattersalls and, off the back of Northern Farms snapping up Group 1 winners Prosperous Voyage (Ire) and Cachet (Ire) at the Sceptre Sessions, the Shadai Corporation landed Candle of Hope (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire}) from the Royal Studs for 100,000gns.
Trained by Richard Hughes, Candle Of Hope carried the Queen's colours to victory on her opening two starts at two last year before placing third in the listed Denford S. at Newbury. She also managed to place at listed level on a second occasion.
Naohiro Hosoda of the Shadai Corporation commented of lot 1920, “She has black-type and a good race record. She had lots of speed and is good-looking. I am a big fan of Green Desert, who is in the pedigree. We have not decided on her immediate plans.”
JS Company Edges Close To 1 Million Spend
Fellow Japanese buyers JS company have been busy this week, notably when going to 560,000gns for Nazanin (Declaration Of War) in the Sceptre Sessions, and the overall haul stood at eight mares at close of play on Wednesday.
JS Company paid 70,000gns for Lady's Slipper (Fr) (lot 2020), a daughter of Frankel (GB), from Godolphin on Wednesday to bring the overall spend to almost 1 million gns.
Keisuke Onishi commented, “She [Lady's Slipper] will be shipped back to Japan and visit a stallion there. The Sunday Silence line could be very suitable for this filly.”
He added on Espionne (GB) (lot 2022), a Dubawi filly purchased from Godolphin for 37,000gns earlier in the day, “There is a lot of selection for her because Dubawi mares are very popular and suitable to Japanese stallions.”
JS Company spent 959,000gns on the eight mares all told with Onishi describing trade this week at Tattersalls as competitive.
He said, “The Sceptre Sessions were quite fantastic but also difficult to purchase. We succeeded to buy one and my client was so happy. The other part is, it was very reasonable for us. I had been afraid of the currency situation–Japanese Yen is not so strong against the British pound but there were reasonably-priced horses here which meant we could participate.”
Rampal Ramps Up Support For Chindit
Gaurav Rampal is a familiar face on the Tattersalls sale ground and was as busy as ever this week signing for seven lots under his own name and others more for outside clients.
Included in the outside spend were three mares on behalf of Poonawalla Stud, who is now the home of Chindit (Ire), a dual Group 2 winner for Richard Hannon.
Rampal said, “I have bought for five different clients and have a new client who is new to Tattersalls as well. They are a mix of racing and breeding prospects. It's been a happy buying but tough buying.”
He added, “We're very excited about Chindit. He's a strong, solid horse for Dr Poonawalla who had a bit of fun racing him as well. Some of these mares will go to Chindit. He's already in India and has travelled well.”
Malka Makes 95k To Stroud
Malka (Ire), a winning daughter of Nathaniel (Ire), was sold on behalf of Normandie Stud by Newsells Park Stud to Anthony Stroud for 95,000gns.
Stroud commented, “She has been bought for Craig Mather and will be trained in France. I am very pleased to have bought from the breeder. Malka comes from a good farm and is by a good stallion.”
Buy of the Day
Credit to press bench's Nancy Sexton who, with a mischievous tone, nominated Two In The Pink (Clodovil {Ire}) as being the best buy of the day at Park Paddocks.
While Two In The Pink (lot 1876) may not be winning the best-named racehorse stakes any time soon, few can argue that she wasn't well-bought at just 4,500gns.
A sister to Alben Star (Ire), a rock-solid eight-time winner and all-weather specialist for Richard Fahey, Two In The Pink has already proved herself as a producer.
She's the dam of black-type performer You Are Beautiful (GB) (Adaay {Ire}) while Lambert (GB) (Due Diligence) is a triple winner.
In fact, a brother to Lambert sold particularly well here last week at 52,000gns, as did a Sergei Prokofiev yearling at Book 3 in October for 46,000gns.
That all bodes well for Jerry Horan, who bought Two In The Pink to visit young stallion El Caballo (GB), the G2-winning son of Havana Gold (Ire), set to stand at Culworth Grounds Farm for £6,000 in 2024.
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