The seven-figure mark has been broken at the #BreezeUp Sale as lot 1️⃣4️⃣5️⃣, a son of @AgaKhanStuds Siyouni?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Siyouni, sells for €1,200,000 to @OStLawrence from @grovestud. pic.twitter.com/wyQweJBEvU

— ARQANA (@InfoArqana) May 13, 2023

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For reasons that are hard to fathom, ungraded sales, with horses sold merely in alphabetical order of their dam's name, can often be wildly disparate in regard to results from the different sessions. While Tuesday evening's trade looked on the tough side, with the clearance rate dropping to 69% from last year's 78%, and a 9% and 10% slide in the average and median figures, Wednesday came rallying with a late charge to level things up considerably. A final-day clearance rate of 84% meant that overall the sale settled at 76%, largely the same as 2022, with the average up by 5% and median down by 11%.

The buying bench had its usual international feel, though Amo Racing, which spent just over 1.5 million gns under various guises at last year's Craven Sale, was a notable absentee. Ironically, Kia Joorabchian's operation then won the following day's G3 Craven S. with Arqana breeze-up graduate Indestructible (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}).

As ever, we hear about the big touches, such as Roderick Kavanagh and Cormac O'Flynn turning a 42,000gns December yearling into a 625,000gns breezer, but for every hit, there are plenty of misses. Those operating in the breeze-up sector are well used to spreading the risk and praying that one horse will cover potential losses on others, especially as the cost of the yearlings now turning up at breeze-up sales has risen considerably. 

The number catalogued across the sector is also rising. Last year saw the introduction of the Goffs Dubai Sale during the Dubai World Cup week. Though this takes place in the Middle East, we can pretty much count it as a European sale, featuring as it does the same group of consignors. Across the six breeze-up sales, from Goffs Dubai in March, to Goresbridge in late May, a total of 1,115 juveniles have been catalogued this year, which is an increase of 92 (9%) from 2022.

The question on the minds of most consignors will be whether or not the specialised sector can sustain such an increase. In this sense, the breeze-ups may even have become a victim of their own success to a degree, following a banner year in which the headline horses were the Classic winners Native Trail (GB), Cachet (Ire) and Eldar Eldarov (GB).

At the top end of the Craven market, 10 horses sold for 250,000gns or more in both this year and last. This time around, 59 reached six figures, compared to 46 in 2022.

Vendor Views

Matt Eves is the managing partner of Star Bloodstock, which, like many consignors, had mixed results at the Craven Sale. From an original draft of four, one horse was withdrawn, one failed to reach her reserve, another sold for two and a half times his yearling price, while another had a setback after breezing well.

“From a personal perspective, it was a rollercoaster,” said Eves candidly. “We had a Sea The Stars (Ire) colt on the first day, and he breezed really well and we had everybody looking at him and everybody on him. And then he comes out and he's got a slight lame step and suddenly it's a nightmare. So I went from having a horse that I was thinking was going to make 300 to 400,000 to having a horse that got 165,000 and nobody bidding in the ring.”

I'll be fascinated by the end of the year to see if the increased volume of horses has meant the spend has gone up or if we've had the same spend spread thinner – Matt Eves

He continued, “It felt, for most of the sale, that the catalogue was too big.  If Tattersalls want to carry on doing a catalogue of this size, they need to look back to the success they had in 2020 [during a season interrupted by Covid] when they had an Ascot section and a Craven section. And if they go back to doing that, then from a consignor perspective it will feel a lot better, to go back to that split so you've got the speedy types in one bit of the book and you've got the more expensive horses in the other. And what you had then was people coming in, they were looking for that Ascot horse, and you had the guys on the ground who would buy one for 40 grand. So if I got one that hadn't quite breezed like I'd hoped in the Craven section, I had a man on the ground who would give me 40 grand for it, whereas I didn't have that this year.”

Eves also believes that a change in format would help proceedings. “The sale is always too long, the way it is spread out,” he said. “The after-racing factor doesn't really have a massive impact in terms of getting people in so you need to think of a better way to do that. What they did in 2020 actually worked really well.”

He added, “I'll be fascinated by the end of the year to see if the increased volume of horses has meant the spend has gone up or if we've had the same spend spread thinner.”

Brendan Holland of Grove Stud sold all three horses offered at the Craven, with two making a tidy profit, including the most expensive filly of the sale, a daughter of Night Of Thunder (Ire) bought for €90,000 and sold to Kerri Radcliffe on a behalf of an unnamed, new London-based client for 600,000gns.

“One of the main things from the first two sales has been the poor clearance rates,” Holland said. In addition to the listed clearance rate of 76% at Tattersalls, the Dubai Sale weighed in at roughly the same on 74%.

“And there did seem to lack a middle market. On a positive note, there's new buyers for the top lots and there are more international buyers. They had an increased catalogue, the average did hold up, and the aggregate jumped accordingly. But on the back of such fantastic results last year in particular, and for a few years now, we would like to have seen a stronger clearance rate really, there's no doubt about that. I mean, it's a tough sector of the industry. You have to perform. It's not forgiving. It is about separating them and trying to find the good ones. I accept that.

“We've done okay so far, but the worry this year starting the season was that there's an increase in the numbers overall being sold. I think the sales companies have struggled to contain the numbers, understandably. They've been inundated with applications. But it's been proven over the last 10 years that there is only a certain market for a certain number of breeze-up horses, and it's not a thousand; it's not anywhere near that.  So I would think the theme will remain the same for the rest of season. There'll be plenty of money there, but there will be poor clearance rates.”

Holland also believes that there is a misconception that 'better' horses are being held back for the Arqana sale in mid-May.

“As vendors, we keep hearing it, but we're selecting in January, and we have to remind them by the first week in February,” he noted. “No-one knows in the first week of February who the best ones are. We pick them based on suitability for an early sale and a later sale, and it's a different type of horse. It's nothing to do with ability.

“I would traditionally have more late-maturing horses than early-maturing horses. I would struggle often to find what I would consider suitable Craven horses. I mean, I had three this week, I wish I had more, but when I sit down and go through the bunch, the drafts that I've bought, that's all I felt were suitable for a high-class early sale, which is what the Craven is. 

“But as regards the better ones going to France, that's a ridiculous statement to make really, if you think about how the horses are selected in the first instance. We can't be selecting abilities in January because we don't know then.”

Buyer Views

A skilled selector of young horses, Richard Ryan was in action at the Craven sale and signed for a Starspangledbanner (Aus) colt who will run in partnership for Teme Valley and Coolmore. A recent breeze-up purchase of his, the Group 1-placed French Claim (Fr) (French Fifteen {Fr}), runs in Saturday's Listed Vintage Crop S. at Navan.

From a buyer's perspective, Ryan opined that the middle market at the Craven was stronger than he had anticipated. He said, “I have been around a little while and I couldn't value accurately even closely on occasion. I was wide of the mark on many occasions to the tune of them far exceeding what I expected them to make.

“If you take the sums of some of those higher-echelon lots around the 600,000 mark, what would that get you in Book 1? Would you expect to find something by a proven, Group 1 or Classic-producing stallion? Highly likely. From a very high-class page with a very effective broodmare sire that may even have stakes pretensions under the first dam? Highly likely. 

“Spending that sort of number on a breezing two-year-old in April by a sire that has had a couple of maiden winners on occasion, that's all, and nowhere near Group 1-producing level yet, from some indifferent pages as well, and the fact that it has been asked to achieve a sub-12 second furlong for one or two furlongs, if at all, is actually head-scratching. In the global market for proven horses in training, £600,000 will get you a stakes winner. So I scratch my head a little bit at the rationale of some of those upper-echelons figures, but if two people are bidding against each other, then so be it.”

I was wide of the mark on many occasions to the tune of them far
exceeding what I expected them to make – Richard Ryan

He continued, “If you take a Sea The Stars or Dubawi, or for example Wootton Bassett, or a nice No Nay Never, something that has a rake of evidence supporting it, then there will be numbers of people willing to bat against each other. But even those by middle-market stallions, that weren't the dearest individuals as yearlings, probably aren't quite there yet and whose breezes were just adequate, were far exceeding my valuations in the mid-ranges, so I genuinely felt wide of the mark in terms of rationale behind the hammer fall this week.”

Ryan, whose previous breeze-up purchases also include the stakes winners Mitcham (Ire), Peace Offering (Ire) and Buxted (Ire), added, “The breeze-up sector is an incredible indictment of the skills of the vendors. It shows the enormous depth of horsemanship they have as a wider team. It is quite impressive to say the least that they are able to produce a horse at this time of year, keep it intact without overdoing it, and giving the trainers that follow on cause for confidence.”

Anthony Stroud is also no stranger to the full range of bloodstock sales and has enjoyed success through breeze-up purchases Native Trail, Sir Gerry and A'Ali (Ire) among others. At this year's sale he signed for the co-top lots, one for Godolphin and the other for an undisclosed client, among four purchases.

Regarding the increase in numbers this season, he said, “There's no doubt that the breeze-up sector is a very good medium for buying horses but it is difficult to know where all the clients will come from.”

Of the Craven Sale in particular, for which the horses breeze on the turf of Newmarket's Rowley Mile on the Monday, followed by two post-racing sale sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday, Stroud added, “I think what's very difficult is that as the weather improved the ground got a bit better for the horses breezing later. Consistency of ground is very important for everyone, whether you start early in the morning or whether you're the last one up. People have to take account of that when they are doing the timings and the stride patterns. Going up the Rowley Mile for Tattersalls is a very good test but the consistency is something that needs to be discussed between the consignors and the sales company.”

Stroud continued, “I think there needs to be a break of, say, 20 minutes during the breeze because it's quite a lot for people to take on board, the concentration levels required, though they are very efficient at getting through them quickly. 

“They've added an extra 30 horses and the last horse I bought was at 9.40 on the Wednesday night. I think that's too late for everyone involved, especially the staff. Mind you, I don't think it necessarily makes any difference to how the sale goes. However late a horse sells, people will be there to buy the right horse.”

The European breeze-up action moves on to Doncaster next week with the gallops session for the Goffs UK Breeze-up Sale taking place on Monday from 9am, followed the next day by the sale at 10am.

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Ghaiyyath himself was sold at this sale in 2015 for €1,100,000 before proving himself a world-class performer on the track for Godolphin and the Kildangan Stud-based sire has enjoyed a good start at Goffs this week.

The Ridge Manor Stud-drafted colt was sold to Pier House Stud, whose Brendan Morrin revealed that any hopes of nabbing lot 474 cheaply soon dissipated when Tony O'Callaghan appeared ringside.

But it was Ridge Manor who fought off a strong drive from the Tally-Ho Stud boss to secure the colt who will be offered for resale as a yearling.

Morrin said, “I was talking to the people at Darley about him and I thought he was the best horse in this sale here today. He's by a son of Dubawi–sire of New Bay (GB) and Night Of Thunder –so for me, those Ghaiyyaths were all very much to type.

“He's a grand big scopey horse for the first foal. We didn't think we'd have to pay €185,000 to get him but we were anxious to get him all the same. He's coming from a good farm.”

The Tuesday sale topper is out of three-time winner Cross My Mind (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}), whose dam Zaaqya (GB) (Nayef) has produced Group 3 scorer One Voice (Ire) (Poet's Voice {GB}).

Morrin added, “Ghaiyyath was the highest-rated horse in the world at one point and we've bred to the horse twice ourselves. We bred to Space Blues (Ire) as well. You couldn't have enough Dubawi in any family.

“He's the best sire in the world. The horse spoke for himself and Tony O'Callaghan was the runner-up on him. To tell you the truth, I was disappointed when I saw Tony there because I knew he was going to make him expensive on me. I try to buy them as cheap as I can and sell them as dear as I can. This lad will come back to the yearling sales.”

Three foals by Ghaiyyath sold on Tuesday for an aggregate of €314,000 and an average of €104,667.

Lot 474 @Goffs1866 November Foal Sale is by first season sire Ghaiyyath @DarleyEurope. The colt was consigned by Ridge Manor Farm and bought by Pier House Stud for €185,000. pic.twitter.com/HugItFVfLT

— TDN (@theTDN) November 15, 2022

The Night Of Thunder colt (lot 516) was consigned by Airlie Stud and signed for by Brendan Holland of Grove Stud. He is out of the black-type performer Good Place (Street Cry {Ire}) and Holland is hoping that his luck continues with the sire whose progeny is in high demand.”

He said, “Night Of Thunder is a super stallion. There are not a lot of them on the market and there's only three for sale at Newmarket next week. He's out of a black-type mare who's produced a 2-year-old winner this year. He's just a nice horse by a nice stallion.”

Holland added, “I've been lucky with the sire with the few that I have had by him. I sold a black-type winner [Lady Penelope (Ire)] and a 2-year-old winner this year.”

The aggregate on day two was €8,316,750 which represents a 10.5% rise on last year's figures. The average of €38,863 was also up 12.6% and the median was up 7% to €30,000. Of the 257 foals offered, 214 were sold, equating to a 83% clearance rate.

New Bay And Mehmas: The Emerging Powerhouses

The progeny of New Bay and Mehmas (Ire), the emerging powerhouse stallions in Europe, went down a bomb at Goffs and made up €850,000 of the day's trade.

If Saffron Beach (Ire) laid the groundwork for a memorable season for the Ballylinch-based New Bay, well then Bay Bridge (GB) and Bayside Boy (Ire) cemented his status as a top tier stallion when storming to Group 1 triumphs within the space of an hour on British Champions Day.

Mehmas had a similarly productive season, highlighted by Group 1-winning sprinter Minzaal (Ire), who was introduced at €15,000 for his first year at Derrinstown Stud.

And it was a colt by Mehmas, whose 2023 fee at Tally-Ho Stud has been set at €60,000, who first broke the €100,000 barrier at Goffs on Tuesday, eventually selling to John Rowe for €115,000.

Rowe, a graduate of the Darley Flying Start programme, was signing for the colt (lot 365), consigned by Dermot Kilmartin's Kildallan Farm, on behalf of Lilly Bloodstock.

He later went on to buy a New Bay colt consigned by Ballylinch Stud for €145,000 on behalf of Spirnac Bloodstock and revealed the plan for both acquisitions will be to return to the yearling sales.

Speaking about lot 424, the New Bay colt, Rowe said, “We really liked him and thought he was the nicest foal here today. New Bay is absolutely killing it and he ticked all the boxes. The sire is going in the right direction and this colt is just a king. He had everything; the walk, the physical and great strength. We loved him.”

On the Mehmas colt, a full-brother to Mehmar (Ire), who sold for €200,000 to Michael O'Callaghan at the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale in April, Rowe added, “He will come home to the farm and he'll come back to the sales next year. He's a lovely colt with a great walk and great presence about him. He had the page and ticked a lot of boxes for us.”

That sale cemented a productive opening two days to the sale for Kilmartin's Kildallan Farm after they sold a Saxon Warrior colt (lot 231) for €88,000 to Ballyhimikin Stud on Monday.

Kilmartin said, “He is a cracking colt. All the right people were on him and we're delighted with the price that he made. We kept it local going to Tally-Ho Stud and it worked. The mare is back in foal to Starman (GB).”

Tally-Ho also supported their star stallion when going to €145,000 to secure Amy Marnane's Mehmas colt (lot 446) out of the three-time winner and black-type performer Azagba (Fr) (Deportivo {GB}).

This colt by Mehmas was consigned by @amymarnane and has been bought by @HoStud where the stallion stands. He made €145,000. Mehmas is proving popular on day two @Goffs1866 November. pic.twitter.com/Zwj0j6Jbwk

— TDN (@theTDN) November 15, 2022

However, it was the sale of another New Bay colt, lot 401, for €140,000, that supplied one of the more emotional stories of the day at Goffs.

Sold to Camas Park Stud, the colt was consigned by Oghill House Stud, who recently mourned the death of Hugh Hyland, the head of the family dynasty, at the age of 72.

John Hyland said, “My father passed away about six weeks ago and he would've loved to have seen that today, so it's a little bit emotional. We're going to enjoy it and we'll raise a glass to my father this evening. This is his legacy and we're going to continue it on for him and make sure we do him proud.”

“It's a brilliant result. This is a tremendous colt and from the day he was born we've been really fond of him. New Bay has gone from strength to strength and has had a great season, you can see that with his new fee, which is well deserved because he's a phenomenal stallion.

Wheeler Dealer Does It Again

English football manager Harry Redknapp famously stormed off a television interview when a sports reporter labelled him a “wheeler dealer”. One assumes Jerry Horan would not take such offence to a similar appraisal.

In fact, Horan, well-known for being adept with sniffing out a bargain, would take pride in his ability to get deals done, which was thrown sharply into focus with the sale of his Dark Angel (Ire) filly (lot 352) for €72,000.

Under the banner of Paragon Bloodstock, Horan secured the dam Scotch Bonnet (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) for 5,000gns at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale in 2020.

After securing a foal-share with Yeomanstown Stud to Dark Angel, the resulting foal was on Tuesday offered by Fearghal Hogan's recently-formed Churchland Stud, with the hammer falling Peter and Ross Doyle's way.

Hogan was full of praise for Horan afterwards and said, “Jerry owned her and gave her to me to prep six weeks ago. Everything went very straightforward with her and she is a lovely filly with a good page.

“She is a good physical and we're delighted with what she made. Jerry took a chance on the mare and it has worked out. She was an older mare but, in fairness to Jerry, he's a serious dealer and he was clever enough to get a foal share to Dark Angel after he found the mare. He deserved to get well-paid for her as she was a lovely filly.”

Hogan added, “He's just top-class at that kind of stuff–an unbelievable operator and I'm lucky he sent her to me to prep. I'm only after setting up on my own at Churchland Stud a year and a half ago and I've been lucky that people have sent me a few nice foals to consign. She was up there with some of the best of what was here today.”

All told, it was a productive day for Dark Angel, with Yeomanstown signing for two colts for the sire–lot 394 for €98,000 and lot 409 for €75,000–for a combined €173,000. Eight foals from the Classic-producing sire sold for an aggregate of €430,000 which averaged out at €53,750.

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The 'Deal or No Deal' series kicked off last year, first at Fasig-Tipton in July and then again at Keeneland in September. In question-and-answer format, prospective buyers are granted access to industry professionals who share their experiences with veterinary findings in young horses.

Panelists will be asked questions about the impacts of various X-ray findings on performance. The participants include veterinarians Dr. Mark Cheney and Dr. Bob Hunt, European pinhooker Brendan Holland of Grove Stud, 2-year-old in training consignors Niall Brennan and Susan Montanye and trainer Todd Pletcher.

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Overall, 125 horses were sold for an aggregate of €3,816,490 (US$4,448,506), an average price of €30,532 (US$35,588), an improvement of 9 percent compared with 2019, and a median price of €21,978 (US$25,617), an increase of 22 percent. The clearance rate was 85 percent.

The sale was conducted in sterling and four lots sold for six-figures with the Grove Stud consigned filly by Kitten's Joy fetching the top price of £220,000 (US$281,623) (Lot 74).

Her sale was a serious pinhook result for consignor Brendan Holland of Grove Stud – she cost just $27,000 as a yearling last summer.

“I bought her off my pals at Hunter Valley. She has done really well, she is a lovely, lovely filly, she has loads of quality. She was always very natural, I am delighted it is a great result,” said Holland.

The filly's sale was 2020's penultimate breeze up offering from Grove Stud and Holland added: “It is a great end to the season. I look forward to relaxing and watching Goodwood next week, but we have got yearlings in and we are starting to prep them.”

Another of the pinhook results of the day came late in the day – the colt by Dialed In, named Onesmoothoperator, purchased by Ger Kennedy of Sherbourne Lodge last autumn for $5,000, sold for £140,000 (US$179,217) today (Lot 244). He was bought by Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock, standing on the stairs with trainer David Simcock.

He didn't do a fast time at all, but he is bred to be a [mile and a quarter] horse so you would not expect it – he is out of a Medaglia D'Oro mare from Stormy Atlantic's family,” said Brown. “He is a phenomenal mover.  he has a wonderful way of going. He has been bought for our Never Say Die re-sale syndicate. We will put him in a field for two weeks now and he will probably go to David's in September.”

“Ger found him late on in the U.S. at the Fasig October Sale,” said Yvonne Kennedy. “Buying yearlings in France and the U.S. has been good to us this year, and there has been a lot of interest in the horse this spring.”

Ger added: “The sale companies have all been brilliant with everything this year, and there is no place like an auction ring to find the true value of a horse.”

At the conclusion of the sale, Tattersalls Ireland Director Simon Kerins commented:

“Firstly, I would like to thank the vendors who have risen to the challenge of today's sale being relocated to Park Paddocks at the 11th hour. Like many in the bloodstock industry, the breeze up consignors have had to deal with difficult circumstances in the run up to the 2020 Breeze Up season, notably with today's sale original dated in May and they have met the change in date and venue with tremendous positivity and it was pleasing to see several vendors have excellent results.

“The bloodstock industry is truly resilient, and this was evident today by the strong demand for the choice lots. It was immensely satisfying to sell the second highest price ever for a two-year-old at the Goresbridge Breeze Up Sale with Grove Stud's Kitten's Joy filly selling for £220,000 (US$281,623) to David Simcock. There were considerable increases in the average of £27,284 (US$34,919) (up 9 percent from €27,992 (US$32,627) in 2019) and median of £20,000 (US$25,596) (up 22 percent from €18,000 (US$20,980) in 2019) considering that the numbers offered were down significantly on 2019, while the high clearance rate of 85 percent also needs to be acknowledged. We can now look forward to the Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze Up Sale returning to Fairyhouse Racecourse and Tattersalls Ireland respectively in 2021.

The Tattersalls Ireland team look with positivity to hosting our Derby Sale and May Store Sale on Aug. 18-20, followed by the August NH Sale on Aug. 27-28 in Ireland.”

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Whether in sterling or euros, the day’s top price of £220,000 was way in excess of last year’s €175,000 leader, and that was given for Grove Stud’s daughter of Kitten’s Joy (lot 74), who will remain in Newmarket to join David Simcock’s stable.

Brendan Holland of Grove Stud is no stranger to being atop the leader board in this sector. He has sold the top lot at the Arqana breeze-up for the last two years running, and the highlight of this sale was a filly bought at Keeneland September for $27,000, having originally passed through that same ring for just $4,000 as a weanling. Bred by a partnership including Kitten’s Joy’s owner Ken Ramsey, the April-born filly is a daughter of the four-time winner Desertstormelite (Chester House)

“I bought her from my pals at Hunter Valley,” said Holland. She has done really well, she is a lovely filly and has loads of quality. She is very natural, always.”

The pinhooker admitted to a degree of relief at the end of a delayed season. He added, “This is a great end to the season. Personally, we have done fine, and most consignors are relieved it is all over and everyone is still in the game, I’d say. I look forward to relaxing and watching Goodwood next week, but we have got yearlings in and we are starting to prep them.”

Jamie Spencer did the bidding on Simcock’s behalf and the trainer and jockey were also involved in the purchase of lot 17, a colt by Free Eagle (Ire), offered by Knockgraffon Stables and knocked down at £82,000.

“His breeze really caught the eye, the sire has been doing very well, and this is a horse for the future,” said Simcock of the third foal of the Exceed and Excel (Aus) mare Tristara (GB), whose first two offspring are both winners.

Relief All Round…

However strange and, at times, fraught this season has been, the most important thing for the breeze-up consignors and, in turn, the yearling sales to come, was to ensure that these sales took place in whatever format possible. The flexibility and patience shown by both sales houses and consignors should be applauded, and they have both been rewarded in the main with decent trade throughout the season–a relief all round when set against the backdrop of heavily reduced prize-money in Britain and Ireland and restricted access to the races for owners.

Last year’s Goresbridge Tattersalls Ireland Breeze-up delivered an impressive clearance rate of 91% and though that couldn’t quite be matched this year, the 85% recorded on Friday was still decent.

That was brought about through the sale of 125 juveniles from the 147 offered after a high number of withdrawals. This meant that the turnover of £3,473,000 (€3,816,490) was down by 24%, but from 54 fewer horses sold than last year. The figures for both average and median were up however: the average of £22,784 (€30,532) was an improvement of 9% and the median of £20,000 (€21,978) jumped by 22%.

“Firstly, I would like to thank the vendors who have risen to the challenge of today’s sale being relocated to Park Paddocks at the 11th hour!” said Tattersalls Ireland Director Simon Kerins. “Like many in the bloodstock industry, the breeze up consignors have had to deal with difficult circumstances in the run up to the 2020 Breeze Up season, notably with today’s sale original dated in May and they have met the change in date and venue with tremendous positivity and it was pleasing to see several vendors have excellent results.

“The bloodstock industry is truly resilient, and this was evident today by the strong demand for the choice lots. It was immensely satisfying to sell the second highest price ever for a two-year-old at the Goresbridge Breeze Up Sale with Grove Stud’s Kitten’s Joy filly selling for £220,000 to David Simcock. There were considerable increases in the average of £27,284 (+9% – €27,992 in 2019) and median of £20,000 (+22% – €18,000 in 2019) considering that the numbers offered were down significantly on 2019, while the high clearance rate of 85% also needs to be acknowledged. We can now look forward to the Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze Up Sale returning to Fairyhouse Racecourse and Tattersalls Ireland respectively in 2021.”

Walsh Out In Front Again…

Former crack amateur rider Katie Walsh had a memorable day and her Greenhills Farm led the consignors’ table with four sold through the session for a total of £323,000. That included two of the top four lots of the day.

The more expensive of the duo was lot 26, by Night Of Thunder (Ire) and the most expensive colt of the sale at £160,000, who was bought by Mark McStay of Avenue Bloodstock. The first foal of the unraced Fastnet Rock (Aus) mare Kymera (Ire) hails from a family which includes the Arc winner Sagamix (Fr) as well as dual Group 1 winner Japan (GB), who contests Saturday’s G1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth S. He will now return to Ireland to join John Oxx’s stable on the Curragh.

“The sire speaks for himself, he is doing fantastic things,” McStay said. “This horse did an exceptional breeze, he vetted particularly well and was well presented by Katie. I am delighted to get a Night of Thunder, they are only going to get more expensive as the year goes on.”

The colt was bred by Micheal Ryan of Al Eile Stud and prepared for the breeze-up by Walsh, who said, “[The Ryans] decided they would go to the breeze ups, my father [Ted] trains for Michael Ryan, Micheal’s father. He breezed really well and it is a fantastic result: great for the breeder, and great for Greenhills Farm, as well. Hopefully, he will go on now and be lucky for Mark McStay and his owners.”

Walsh added of the sale’s move to Newmarket from Ireland, “Personally, I was delighted to see the sale moved to here. You need the British-based clients, and this is where they are. It is apparent when you go into the sale ring.”

She continued, “He is an April foal and the breeders wanted to give him every chance, as he is tall, scopey and rangey, and so the Goresbridge sale was always the plan. Goresbridge has been very lucky for me in the past and I was delighted to come here with him.

“Trade has been great–it has not been an ideal year for everyone–but trade has been really good and everyone’s getting them sold, that’s the main thing. We can all go back shopping in a couple of weeks now, and that is what it is all about, it has been a short turnaround for everyone.”

Walsh’s other six-figure sale came with lot 172, a Lope de Vega (Ire) colt from the family of G1 Prix Ganay winner Corre Caminos (Fr), who was one of three juveniles signed for by Peter Nolan, this one at £100,000.

“They are for the same client, who is new to me, and they will head to Ireland,” said Nolan.

The sale concluded with a number of wildcards following the main catalogued lots and leading the way in this section was lot 244, a colt by American-based Dialed In out of the Medaglia d’Oro mare Sueno d’Oro and a half-brother to two winners. Already named Onesmoothoperator, his £140,000 tag was a huge lift from his yearling price of $5,000. The pinhooker in question was Ger Kennedy, who runs Sherbourne Lodge Stud with his wife Yvonne.

“Ger found him late on in the Fasig-Tipton Sale,” said Yvonne. “The sale companies have all been brilliant this season with everything this year. There is no place like an auction ring to find the true value of a horse.”

The colt was bought by Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock for the Never Say Die Syndicate which had already signed up an American Pharoah colt at the Goffs UK Breeze-up Sale earlier this month. After a break he will eventually be joining David Simcock’s Trillium Place Stables in Newmarket.

“He didn’t do a fast time at all, but he is bred to be a 10-furlong horse so you wouldn’t expect it,” Brown said. “He is a phenomenal mover and has a wonderful way of going. We’ll put him in a field for two weeks now and he will probably go to David’s in September with a view to probably running on the all-weather through the autumn.”

Trainer John Ryan did the bidding for lot 94, the Dark Angel (Ire) colt from the well-credentialed family of top sprinter G Force (Ire) and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf winner Flotilla (Fr) (Mizzen Mast). Offered by Knockatrina House and sold at £85,000, the son of Lethal Lena (Ire) (Thousand Words {Ire}) will race for Flash Figs Racing.

The popular young stallion Night Of Thunder was to the fore again in the sale of lot 98, the sole offering from Johnny Hassett of The Bloodstock Connection, who also fetched £85,000.

The filly, who traces back to the Meon Valley foundation mare Reprocolor (GB) and is out of the Lord Shanakill mare Elevator Action (Ire), will join the newly relocated stable of William Knight after being bought by Jono Mills of Rabbah Bloodstock.

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We’ve heard far too much talk of the new normal. Most people in the racing and bloodstock world will be only too happy to return to the good old days of handshakes and hugs, and bonhomie over a beer in the sales-ring bar. That will take a while but for now we have a happy medium that many feared we would not see at all in 2020.

Almost 12 weeks after the Tattersalls Ascot Breeze-up should have taken place, and ten since the Craven, we now have the two combined for a one-day sale on Thursday. Sixty-three horses have been withdrawn from the original Craven Sale, and another 38, at the time of writing, from the Ascot line-up, including the colt listed as lot 40 for Aguiar Bloodstock but now known as the G2 Norfolk S. winner The Lir Jet (Ire) (Prince Of Lir {Ire}).

With a large percentage of the horses catalogued for the various breeze-up sales having been prepared in Ireland, the consignors have arrived en masse in the UK, where they will remain for the next fortnight while sales take place in Doncaster next week for the combined Goffs UK and Arqana auctions, and then the Tattersalls Guineas Sale on July 8.

The sense of relief that finally some action is taking place was palpable. “It’s just great that the first part is out of the way and that the horses have done as expected,” said Brendan Holland of Grove Stud on Monday afternoon as his horses were being viewed at Park Paddocks.

“Even taking into account the fact that the racecourse side couldn’t be used I still thought [the breeze session] looked to be well attended, so that was pleasing. We’re showing now and the same familiar faces are around and people look like they’re here to buy horses, so we are hopeful. Obviously we had a very anxious few months. A huge amount of work went in on the part of the sales companies, not just for this but all the sales companies, and for this one specifically on the part of Harvey Bell, and of course the team. There was a lot of pressure to put on the sale under the circumstances and we are grateful that they were able to manage it and that we were given the chance to sell the horses. I hope for everyone’s sake it goes well and that when it’s all over we are still in the game and buying yearlings. I’m sure we will be.”

Holland’s relief was heightened by the fact that the horse who has been pleasing him the most in his work, a colt by Kodiac (GB) out of the winning Pivotal (GB) mare Honeymead (Ire) (lot 53), has also received significant boosts to his page by recent racing results. On Saturday at Royal Ascot his sire was represented by the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. winner Hello Youmzain (Ire) as well as providing the winners of the two juvenile group races, Nando Parrado (GB) and Campanelle (Ire). Then the following day the colt’s 3-year-old half-brother High Accolade (Ire) (Outstrip {GB}) remained unbeaten when winning his second race for James Tate and Saeed Manana.

“There’s no secret that he’s the one I’m pinning my hopes on and I was especially pleased to see him to do what I was hoping he would do this morning,” Holland said. “He came up with plenty of style so I have my fingers crossed now for the next bit. The difficult part is out of the way.”

Tattersalls’ marketing director Jimmy George is also delighted that the sale house has been able to reopen the gates at Park Paddocks for the first time since the February Sale, albeit with strict protocols in place.

He said, “It’s great to be at this stage and to be able to put this sale on for the very patient and long-suffering consignors, and equally patient potential purchases. We are just pleased to be able to hold the sale under almost normal conditions. The ground was fantastic down on the racecourse side, the sun was shining and conditions were very good for the breeze so that’s a good start to the week.”

He added, “We’ve had a lot of medical declaration forms submitted so people have been very efficient and responded to all the requirements that we all currently face and that’s been impressive actually. While we are thrilled to be able to put the sale on, we’re equally very conscious that we have a responsibility to everybody’s health and safety in these slightly strange times.

“Logistically, so far everything has gone very smoothly. There’s been a lot of hard work put into it by the team at Tattersalls and it’s great to see everybody responding in the way you’d hope. I think that bodes well for the week and for the coming sales.”

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