Whitsbury Manor Stud is where he stands, and Whitsbury Manor Stud was the consignor and breeder of the top lot [221], a grey daughter of the Harbour Watch (Ire) mare Minoria (GB) who has already produced the Group 3-placed Its's Showtime Baby (GB) to another of the stud's stallions, Showcasing (GB).

Agent Matt Coleman signed for the filly at 155,000gns and noted that she will be trained by George Scott. 

“Havana Grey is almost a freak stallion and is surpassing everyone's expectations,” he said of the G1 Flying Five winner and last year's leading first-season sire. Coleman's business partner Anthony Stroud bought the G1 Prix Morny winner Vandeek (GB) by the same stallion earlier in the season at the Craven Breeze-up Sale.

Coleman added, “Vandeek has that wonderful flowing action and this filly has that, too. She is stand-out at the sale.”

She was certainly the most expensive by the sire but not the only six-figure filly by Havana Grey to pass through the ring on Tuesday. Amo Racing has already had two stakes winner by the stallion this season, the G3 Nell Gwyn S. winner Mammas Girl (GB) and Listed winner Graceful Thunder (GB), and Kia Joorabchian's team signed up another of his daughters in lot 199, who was bred and consigned by Sophie Buckley's Culworth Grounds Farm. Hamish Macauley signed for the filly out of the dual winner Last Echo (Ire) (Whipper) at 140,000gns and noted that she will go to Graceful Thunder's trainer George Boughey. A descendant of the successful Ballylinch Stud matriarch Ingabelle (GB), she is a half-sister to Oddyssey (GB), who has been placed this season in both the G2 Superlative S. and Listed Chesham S.

“Matt Coleman helped me buy the mare,” recalled Buckley, who sold another Havana Grey filly in her draft of five for 29,000gns to Antonio da Silva.

“I wanted her as she is a Whipper mare and he's a good broodmare sire. There aren't that many of them so it is hard to get them. She has had a great update this year with Oddyssey. Pat Owens has done a great job of training him to get his black type.”

She added, “I liked [Havana Grey's] foals, and I buy a lot of foals. I thought they looked very correct and good walkers. When I was asked I punted him as the stallion in that generation of sires that I thought could be the one. I thought I had better back my judgment and use him.”

Dowling's Gallic Flare 

The rising popularity of Haras de Colleville's Galiway (GB), who already has one son at stud and another as favourite for the Melbourne Cup, spread to Tattersalls on Tuesday when Drumhill Stud's lucrative pinhook [lot 152] joined the Richard Hannon team at 145,000gns.

The colt out of the winning Modigliani mare Golconde (Ire) had been bought at the Arqana December Sale for €27,000 and beautifully prepped for his Somerville engagement by Gary Dowling, who was moved to tears by the result. 

Ross Doyle signed the ticket for Hannon and, describing the chestnut as an “absolute smasher”, added that Willie Mullins, who trains the Melbourne Cup-bound Vauban (Fr), and his agent Harold Kirk had advised him to buy as many Galiways as he could. 

Dowling, whose late father Sean was also involved in the business, said, “I started off doing it with my dad and he sadly died five years ago and it was his anniversary yesterday. His anniversary is always around the time of the yearling sales and I often find myself saying 'give us a dig out this year, Dad'. I think he was listening this year.

“We hoped he might stand out a bit at this sale. The mare is two from two with juvenile winners, and thankfully the plan has paid off. There are a couple of lads involved in him with me so we'll all get a few quid. It's what it's all about.”

Galiway was recently joined at stud in Normandy by his son Sealiway (Fr), winner of the G1 Champion S., who stands at Haras de Beaumont. 

Following an unpredictable summer in England where racecourses have fluctuated between fast ground and flooding, the sun has returned with a vengeance this week. At Park Paddocks there were more Panamas on display than in the members' enclosure at Glorious Goodwood, and there was no shortage of buyers on the hunt for the next bright, young thing.

A solid first few hours suddenly gave way to the first six-figure lot of the sale when the Hassett family's filly by Prince Of Lir (Ire) strolled into the ring and the bidding shot up rapidly. Diego Dias was the last man standing at 130,000gns and, with his colleague and co-buyer Robson Aguiar, plans to race the half-sister to French Listed winner Royal Address (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) and her full-sister, the stakes-placed Yahsat (Ire).

“We bought the mare Barqeyya at the July Sale in foal to Helmet. She's been a lucky mare and has bred two black-type winners by Dandy Man,” said Tom Hassett, whose children Maebh, Orla and Richie are the members of Trio Bloodstock which bred the filly.

“It is very much family affair for the three children. My wife and I are getting nothing out of this.”

The family also divulged that Barqeyya was originally booked in to a different stallion.

“This was Plan B and it has not been a bad Plan B in the end. Ballyhane has been very lucky for us and Joe [Foley] has bought a lot of horses from us.”

Prince Of Lir has subsequently moved from Ballyhane Stud to stand in India, and he was represented by his first Group 1 winner only recently when the Adam West-trained Live In The Dream (Ire) won the Nunthorpe S. Though not bred by the Hassetts, that gelding is the result of a mating they planned for his dam Approaching Autumn (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) whom they sold in foal to breeder Lorna Doyle. 

Talking Points

• This sale doesn't pretend to be about anything other than those who on paper look to be fast and precocious sorts, and you had to get to the 18th name on the sires' table for the day, Galiway (GB), to find a stallion who had won beyond a mile. Most showed their best form at significantly less than that.

• There was an upwards shift in all sectors, with the number of six-figure yearlings rising to seven from four last year, the average improving by 5% to 31,904gns and the median by 4% to 27,000gns. Turnover of 8,646,000gns (+12%) was accrued from the sale of 271 yearlings at a clearance rate of 89%.

• Tally-Ho Stud sold 27 yearlings last week at the Goffs Premier Sale in Doncaster and brought another 26 to the Somerville Sale where the team ended the day as leading vendor with 24 sold for 746,000gns. The offspring of Mehmas (Ire), one of the stars of the Tally-Ho roster, continued to be sought after, with 14 sold for an average of 43,571gns.

• Whitsbury Manor Stud's Havana Grey (GB) is another of the most popular young sires in Europe at the moment and his 16 yearlings returned an average of 58,188gns. His stud-mate Sergei Prokofiev has his first yearlings for sale this year and they also found favour with buyers. Fourteen found a buyer at an average price of 28,179gns.

• Let's not forget Havana Grey's late sire Havana Gold (Ire), who was a great loss to Tweenhills and to the British stallion ranks when he died earlier this year just after the start of the covering season. There will be one more crop of yearlings to come from the stallion whose son Chipotle (GB) was one of the star graduates of this sale's forerunner, the Tattersalls Ascot Sale, when bought by his trainer Eve Johnson Houghton and Anthony Bromley. Havana Gold's five yearlings at the Somerville sold for an average of 30,600gns.

• There was a truly diverse list of buyers, predmoninantly on the domestic front, with 170 different entities represented.

• The Somerville boasted a big book for a one-day sale but the Tattersalls auctioneers were taking no prisoners when it came to ensuring the bidding was conducted in as timely a manner as possible. They may not be as fast as their colleagues across the water who are currently gearing up for the Keeneland September Sale, but their increased tempo was appreciated by all involved in the proceedings on a sweltering day.

Buy of the Day

The fact that the average and median were so closely aligned spoke to the strength of the middle market, but that said there are always some bargains to be found. Dylan Cunha, a Group 1-winning trainer in his native South Africa who is now in his second season training in Newmarket, has already proved what he can do with some inexpensive purchases and it would be no surprise to see him repeat the feat with the Cable Bay (Ire) filly he picked up for the minimum bid of 1,000gns. There's certainly cause for optimism when it comes to lot 54 as Cable Bay has already worked some magic in the family in the case of the dual winner and stakes-placed Belle Anglaise (GB), who is a half-sister to the filly's unraced dam Belle Monde (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}). 

It's a pretty good bet that Cunha will be syndicating this filly. Go on, people, get involved. You'll have a lot of fun in the stable run by one of the nicest trainers in Newmarket. And, no, I'm not on commission.

Thought for the Day

Certain regulars on the sales circuit are starting to feel a little long in the tooth compared to the massive influx of young faces on the sales grounds in England over the last few weeks. It's great to see so many new people getting involved in foal and yearling pinhooking syndicates. And, who knows, some of them may eventually be coaxed into racehorse ownership as well as trading.

Chairman's Comments

“The Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale has established itself as an important fixture in the European yearling sale calendar in a remarkably short period of time,” said Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony. Only two years ago the turnover at the inaugural Somerville Yearling Sale was below five million gns, the average a fraction over 21,000gns and the median was 16,250gns. Today's third edition of the Somerville has produced records across the board with turnover above 8.5 million gns, an average well over 30,000gns and a median of 27,000gns.

“Somerville yearlings have enjoyed an extraordinary recent run with the likes of Bradsell, Indian Run and Relief Rally showcasing the sale to great effect on the home front and Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks winner Anisette providing the best possible advertisement across the Atlantic.

“Top British and Irish consignors have sent us some smart yearlings and their confidence in our newest yearling sale has been reflected in a sale of real depth with a clearance rate approaching 90% and the number of yearlings selling for more than 50,000gns and more than 100,000gns increasing significantly on last year's impressive numbers. 

“The pinhookers have also enjoyed some spectacular returns on their investments and today's robust trade has given us a positive start to the Tattersalls yearling sale season as we now look forward to Books 1 to 4 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale and the unveiling of our newly renovated Somerville Yard which is the latest major investment undertaken at Park Paddocks.”

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Seeking Gold has won once and placed once in five starts, his most notable performance a second, beaten just three-quarters of a length, behind subsequent G1 2000 Guineas hero Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}), in his debut last year.

Bidding on Seeking Gold will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on the Tattersalls Online website.

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It may be time-consuming for prospective buyers to work their way through this batch of youngsters down in the Solario Yard but it could also prove worthwhile. In 2015, Mickley's Richard Kent and his co-breeder, the late Lady Caroline Lonsdale, brought a Havana Gold (Ire) foal to sell who went on to become the Group 1-winning sprinter and young Whitsbury Manor Stud stallion Havana Grey (GB). Another weanling that was overlooked two years ago and ended up being sold privately, an El Kabeir colt named Don Chicco (GB), is now Italy's champion 2-year-old, having won the G2 Gran Criterium at Capannelle in October as well as the listed Premio Giuseppe de Montel.

“You dream about breeding a horse like Havana Grey who will then go on to be a stallion. It's just great,” said Richard Kent at Park Paddocks on Monday as he and son Finn were overseeing the sale of their final yearlings of 2021.

“I'm also proud of the fact that the people who have bought our foals have made a lot of money. Michael Fitzpatrick bought our Mehmas (Ire) filly out of Country Madam (Ire) for 75,000gns last year and he got 250,000gns for the yearling to go to Chad Brown. We also sold a Showcasing (GB) foal for 110,000gns to Pier House Stud and they got 200,000gns, and he is also going to Chad Brown. It's great that out of two mares who cost £13,000 for the two, that their yearlings make 450,000gns to go to America. We're going to have to start following the American racing results more closely. It's what keeps us dreaming.”

The half-brother to that Showcasing foal forms part of the Mickley Stud draft this year as lot 720. The colt is by Advertise (Ire) and is out of the dual winner Cherubic (GB), who shares her sire Dark Angel (Ire) with the dam of Havana Grey.

Also among the largest consignment of the foal sale are three weanlings by Ardad (Ire), the leading first-season sire in Britain who counts the G1 Middle Park S. and G1 Prix Morny winner Perfect Power (Ire) among his offspring. 

Ardad has proved immensely popular this year and has covered 156 mares, largely on the back of his first crop's exploits on the track, but it had been a different story during the 2020 covering season when mares were in short supply for him.

“We have a lovely colt by Ardad out of Dora's Sister (lot 518) with a fantastic temperament,” Kent said. “We've three Ardad foals this year and he only has a crop of 19 so hopefully they will be very popular. He's done everything right for everyone so far and we are delighted to have a share in the stallion. [Overbury Stud's] Simon Sweeting has been very good to deal with and we have ended up with 10 mares in foal to him this year so we're happy with that. Simon has priced him very sensibly and he has been very fair to the shareholders who used him from the start so I hope he goes right to the top for them.”

While Kent will doubtless feel some reflected pride next year once the Havana Grey 2-year-olds start running, he will also be closely monitoring the success of his own stallion, the 2000 Guineas runner-up and G2 Hungerford S winner Massaat (Ire), who is one of several Shadwell-owned stallions to have stood at Mickley Stud. “Massaat is going great,” he reported. “He has lovely scopey yearlings. Very sadly Sheikh Hamdan has died and he owns 51% of him. We are sad that he won't be racing any of his stock but they have been bought by some good trainers such as Mark Johnston, John Quinn and Tim Easterby. They sold much better than we thought–we brought one here and he had a 10,000gns reserve and he made 42,000gns–so that was grand. They seem to have good minds and to be athletic horses so hopefully next year they will be good racehorses who can carry on that genuine Teofilo line. Massaat is out of an Acclamation mare and his stock look like they will have plenty of speed. Mick Channon and Richard Hannon also bought his yearlings and they are proper speed trainers.”

No fewer than 11 Massaat foals feature in the draft from the Shropshire stud, but Kent has also not overlooked his old friends Havana Gold, the sire of two fillies in the Mickley Consignment, and Havana Grey.

“We've used Havana Grey a couple of times,” he said. “We sent down the biggest mares on the farm to him and he has produced beautiful, tidy horses. We sold a beautiful yearling filly by him out of Radio Gaga (GB) earlier this year for £50,000. Everybody in England seems to have something good to say about him at the moment. He's been lucky for the breeders so far so let's hope he goes on to be lucky for the trainers.”

Balancing out what is a fairly speed-orientated draft is a filly by Camelot (GB), who is clearly close to her breeder's heart. Slated as lot 787, she is out of a half-sister to the G3 Winter Derby winner Robin Hoods Bay (GB) (Motivator {GB}) and has the former champion 2-year-old Bianca Nera (GB) as her third dam.

“She's gorgeous and she absolutely loves herself,” said Kent. “When we'd go down to feed her in the summer she used to smash the mirror off the jeep as she was always trying to look at herself. She has a lot of presence and character.”

Like many breeders and vendors this year, Kent has been heartened by the demand for bloodstock in all tiers of the market. 

He said, “Tattersalls are going to have to build a bigger car park because every sale we've gone to this year there's hardly been a car parking space. Years ago you'd come to the first day of the December Sales and there might be very few cars parked. It seems to be high fashion to want to be at sales now and the trade has been great at every level.”

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NEWMARKET, UK–Well, maybe these guys just don't have radios or newspapers. Maybe they haven't heard about the challenges at least affecting the domestic environment: chronic deficiencies in prizemoney, new volatility in the economic landscape. Or perhaps the international investors who might be relatively immune to such concerns have forced even the local market to new highs by putting such a squeeze into Books 1 and 2. Who knows? Just conceivably, this show of faith in our industry could yet prove the foundation for a sustainable bull run. Whatever the answer, roaring trade at the October Yearling Sale at Tattersalls spilled into the next tier down on Thursday as the opening session of Book 3 maintained breathless momentum throughout.

Once again, trade dizzily eclipsed both the surprisingly resilient trade of the equivalent session last year and the very similar yields achieved in the boom times of 2019. In fact, turnover on day one very nearly matched historic expectations for aggregate business through both sessions.

With a virtually identical offering into the ring (273 against 270), a total of 7,268,800gns changed hands for 259 sold (a hectic clearance rate of 92.5%, itself up from a robust 87.8% last year). That represents a perfectly staggering 42.7%t leap on 5,092,700gns last year, and translated to an average of 28,065gns and median of 26,000gns—respectively up 30.6% and 62.5% from 21,488gns and 16,000gns (figures that stacked up against 21,805gns and 16,000gns in 2019).

Obviously there were still moments of disappointment, for individual vendors, but overall it was tougher going for those seeking a bargain. It's their work that always makes Book 3 such an instructive spectacle, with the makes and registrations in the car park as ever confirming that those who could not afford the obvious, in Books 1 and 2, were now ready to pit their wits against those complacent in deeper pockets.

But a parallel process also occurs among the vendors, and it was apt that the day's highest price should reward a punt made deep in the basement of the foal market last winter–albeit a Goliath of a pinhook was credited to a resolutely self-effacing David.

Its subject was a Ulysses (GB) colt discovered as a foal for just 4,000gns by David Hegarty (via Galley Flash BS) at the December Sale. Returned to the same ring as Lot 1451, he catapulted his value by a factor of nearly 40 when Matt Coleman signed a docket for 150,000gns.

No doubt the colt's cause had been assisted when older brother Gwan So (GB) outran his odds for third in the Listed Flying Childers S. last month. One way or another, anyhow, the word was certainly out, with a conspicuous crowd following the colt into the ring after his short journey from the Left Yard before falling into appreciative hush as the bidding soared.

Hegarty was reluctant to break that silence afterwards, leaving it to wife Geraldine to provide some modest background to their breakthrough success.

“David works full-time at Genesis Green and I work in a school,” she explained. “We live at Genesis, at the moment this is just a hobby, but it's something we eventually want to take further. This horse has been very straightforward, he's never given us a problem: he came into prep and just blossomed. David chose him, he loves a really good-walking horse and his walk just said it all.”

The couple's diffidence was redressed by Paul Thorman of Trickledown Stud, a grateful partner in the pinhook.

“I sent David a foal who looked a bit like a corkscrew and when it came back as a yearling it was still a corkscrew, but it looked unbelievable,” Thorman said. “I thought, 'Here's this lad paying buttons for foals and turning them out brilliantly but getting nowhere.' So I said to him that we would buy a few foals together. We've been relatively lucky, but mainly because David is seriously gifted, and he and Geraldine work like you wouldn't believe.

“This particular foal was in the Trickledown draft last year and he had gone through a rough patch, didn't look at his best, but both David and [Thorman's wife] Sara could see that there was scope there.”

But this kind of dividend they had “never imagined for a millisecond.”

“He didn't have a great hock as a foal, but that just got better and better,” Thorman reflected. “Gwan So is talented, and became a bit of a talking horse, so everything worked really. He turned into the most stunning horse and his full brother and Ulysses did everything they could to help him.

“I hope it gives David the scope to buy foals that are worth buying. Sara and I were lucky when we were starting off that we had people helping us, and I loved that. It's just one of those really good stories: the pair have been trying to buy a house, so I hope this will help get them there.”

Coleman, for his part, was acting in tandem with the absent Sean Clancy, whose client Bill Mathis recently celebrated success in the G3 Sirenia S. with Eve Lodge (GB) (Ardad {Ire})–herself recruited through Coleman after breaking her maiden before Royal Ascot. This colt will join her in the care of Charlie Fellowes.

“Bill was keen to try and buy a few yearlings,” Coleman explained. “He took a share in a couple of fillies, including one in Book 1, and we were trying to find a couple of colts as well. But we found Book 2 very strong, so thought we'd keep going here. And I just thought he was the best colt I saw here, he's very athletic.”

The page is full of Cheveley Park's red, white and blue, with a dam by farm stalwart Pivotal (GB) out of Group 1 winner Regal Rose (GB) (Danehill). Obviously Ulysses complements that with his Epsom Classic bloodlines, and Coleman remarked: “This colt is a light-framed, athletic, Galileo (Ire) type, and I could see him doing well here for Charlie and then going to the States.”

New Bay Typifies the New Dawn…

Joe Foley, flanked by Federico Barberini, stoked up the embers of the session when going to six figures for one of the final lots into the ring, and then gave his authoritative testimony to the eye-watering strength of the market.

“It has just been great trade since Doncaster, the best I have seen, all the way through, in years,” he declared, after signing a 100,000gns docket for a New Bay (GB) colt [1602] presented by Baroda Stud. “There has been a huge trade all season. Trade has been so heartening, and people making money, and it bodes well for the mare and foal sales. This sale has been the cherry on the top, and it's so heartening to see. Maybe people can really see the green shoots.”

Foley, who was acting for regular patron Clipper Logistics, had known that he would have to stretch for this China Horse Club-bred colt, whose dam is a Medaglia d'Oro half-sister to the prolific Canadian racemare Raylene (Tabasco Cat) from the family of the multiple Group 1 winner Ad Valorem (Danzig).

“He was the first horse I saw in Book 3, and I thought, 'Jesus he's a good one,'” he said. “We went back to see him this morning, the two of us, and loved him. In the outside ring he was just like a cat, and there were a few shrewdies hanging out the back so we came up here to the back stairs. There's a lot to like in the family, Ad Valorem is a champion 2-year-old in there, and he's from a top-class farm.”

The icing on the cake was a sire for whom Foley has deep regard.

“I bought a colt by him on Monday,” he said. “He's doing really well, the colt was impressive in Germany last Sunday and Sheila Lavery's colt also. We admired Bayside Boy (Ire) here last year, and this one reminded us of him.”

Another admirer of the Ballylinch stallion is Foley's compatriot Mags O'Toole, who gave 72,000gns shortly afterwards for his son consigned as Lot 1610 by Garranehill Stud. This was one of several fine pinhooks on the day, having been acquired at Goffs last November for just €16,000 by Tim Bourke, but it looks as though he is expected to maintain that steep curve of progress for a while yet.

Long And Winding Road Gets Gold Paving…

Barberini, having served as lieutenant in landing the New Bay, had earlier spent nearly as much on his own account for a colt out of a cosmopolitan mare in Storybook. Foaled in the UAE, during her sire Halling's sojourn in the desert, she has divided success both as a runner and producer either side of the Atlantic, and here wrote another chapter in her peripatetic tale with a yield of 92,000gns for her Havana Gold (Ire) colt offered by Lodge Park Stud [1492]. And it augurs well for a profitable sequel that this specimen was able to satisfy a judge as discerning as Barberini.

Storybook was acquired at the Keeneland November Sale three years ago for just $50,000, despite having contributed a couple of stakes performers to a strong family. Subsequently her final Kentucky foal turned out to be the graded stakes-placed Get On The Bus (Uncle Mo), while the Declaration of War colt she was carrying on reaching Lodge Park is Chicago Soldier, who has achieved a rating of 91 in his first campaign for Johnny Murtagh.

“I went to Havana Gold because as a good physical match,” said Burns. “And I also thought that he might have a good year coming up. This is a very professional horse with a lovely temperament. I put him in Book 3 to stand out, and he did.”

Barberini could not disclose his client and no trainer will be chosen until the colt is broken in, but the odds are that he will find himself in Newmarket.

“He's a smashing horse by a sire who has done incredibly well this season,” the agent said. “He's a real 2-year-old type, a great mover with lots of athleticism. There are no certainties in this game, but the mare has already done it a few times, and the sire has done very well with his first crop: to me it made a lot of sense.

“The market has been tough all week, and the previous week too. But I think, overall, this horse is not expensive. At this price he sticks out a bit in Book 3, but he would not have been out of place in Book 2. And obviously he comes from a very good nursery.”

Dutfield Pinhool Produces Timely Harvest…

By the time they reach Book 3, prospectors tend to have to compromise on something. But the highest price of the first hour's trade, 82,000gns, was paid by Richard Brown on the premise that the Havana Grey (GB) filly presented by Harry Dutfield [1330] had all bases covered. On the one hand, the Blandford agent considered her the type to be up and running before Ascot; on the other, she is underpinned by a transparent residual value, her dam being an unraced half-sister to Showcasing (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) and Camacho (GB) (Danehill).

“She's for a client of David Simcock's who has a few mares, and the brief was to get a filly with a page,” Brown explained. “But we've been blown away looking for those the past two weeks! I'm delighted to get her, she looks a runner. We've been impressed with the Havana Greys we've seen so far, and this looks a very forward, sharp, mature filly. Obviously she's from a speedy Juddmonte family so I hope she'd be a fairly early sort.

“Harry does a superb job, he has presented her here looking amazing. I saw her again this morning at about 8 a.m. and she came out like a lion.”

Dutfield bought this filly from breeders Whitsbury Manor Stud in the same ring last December for 25,000gns, as a moonlighting project alongside his work for Hazelwood Bloodstock. And this payout could not be better timed.

“I bought my own farm two months ago, 20 acres just out by Thetford, and have bills everywhere!” he said. “I work as a stud hand, and she cost basically an annual salary for stud hand! So to come back here and do that, I am just relieved. The O'Briens are very nice people, they look after me so well: I really want to stress that, I'm so thankful to them.

“She presents herself, I just had to make sure I don't mess her up. She has a really good mind on her and has kept very fresh: I didn't lunge her this morning because she had a busy day yesterday and she came out today full of herself, ready for action.”

Brown remained active after nightfall, too, contributing to the buzz for Time Test (GB) this week when giving 72,000gns for a filly consigned by Mount Coote Stud, for a breeding partnership with Mark Dixon [1557]. She belongs to the venerable Bireme (GB) (Grundy {Ire}) family cultivated by Dixon's uncle Dick Hollingswoth.

“Gorgeous filly,” enthused Brown. “She looked amazingly sharp out there, a serious athlete, very light on her feet. I only saw her for the first time this morning, have seen her twice since, and had to get on the phone to find someone for her. And I have! She also comes from a very good farm, and that's a big part of the decision-making.”

Luke Lillingston, the worthy recipient of that compliment, has been a fan of Time Test from the outset and is already responsible for the sire's first Group 1 performer in Moyglare Stud S. third Sunset Shiraz (Ire).

Burrows Out In the Open…

One of the wonders of this market is the way it has filled a big Shadwell-shaped hole right in its middle, but there's no gainsaying the fact that the world is a very different place for the likes of Owen Burrows, who owed so much to the late Sheikh Hamdan.

Nonetheless, the Kingwood trainer is embracing the challenge of a public stable and was able to go to 77,000gns for a Dandy Man (Ire) filly consigned as Lot 1416 by her breeder Noelle Walsh's Knockananig Stud near Fermoy, Co. Cork–best known, to this point, for producing the hardy G1 Oaks runner-up Mystery Angel (Ire) (Kodi Bear{Ire}).

“I bought a couple for Sheikh Ahmed in Book 2, but we were [also] after an early, sharp type, and were outbid on four of those,” Burrows said. “We thought she fitted the bill perfectly: she looks all speed, and very strong. Hopefully, she will be an April or May 2-year-old and we can have a bit of early action.

“We've got a couple of nice horses for midsummer, that I was very pleased to get in Book 2, and then hopefully some homebreds to come, though they usually take a bit of time.”

Nonetheless Burrows has had to adjust his sights when it came to the yearling sales this time round.

“Massively,” he admitted. “Normally I'm fortunate that Angus [Gold, the Sheikh's long-serving racing manager] does all the work! There's a bit more legwork now, but I don't mind that at all, other than having to be away from the yard. I had to drive back on Tuesday night to breeze Minzaal (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) next morning and then drove straight back here. These Newmarket trainers don't know how lucky they are!”

Minzaal, a 140,000gns Book 2 graduate in 2019, lines up for the G1 QIPCO British Champions' Sprint on Saturday after an auspicious return at the same track a couple of weeks ago. He won the G2 Gimcrack S. as a juvenile and also made the podium in the G1 Middle Park S.

“I was thrilled with his comeback run and he breezed very well yesterday,” Burrows said. “There's always that worry that they can bounce, after coming back from a whole year off, and there's a full field of 20. But I think that shows what an open year it is. He should have a sporting chance.”

Elliott Lands His Ulysses…

The role of the sire in the fairytale of the day should not be forgotten, and underbidder Alex Elliott sounded more than satisfied to acquire another of his sons for a little under half the cost of the day's top lot when giving 70,000gns for Lot 1522, consigned by Churchtown House Stud.

“To be honest, I couldn't really split them physically,” the agent admitted. “But the recent update for the other one made him a bit more expensive. I think Ulysses had a lot of speed, for a Galileo out of an Oaks winner, and in the six- or seven-furlong maidens he's really starting to stand out. And they can only do better next year.

“This one will go to Grant Tuer for a new partnership, a couple of pals of mine. Grant supported me a few years ago and it's nice to give him a bit back. He's an exceptional trainer, if you look at his stats he's right up there.”

True enough: from 199 runners so far this year, Tuer has had 44 winners.

Despite the frantic competition, Elliott had managed to corral 25 yearlings through the first two books for a diverse clientele at home and abroad, and remained busy throughout this session too.

One key group, he stresses, are the traders. “They recognise that we have the best product in the world, one that people will always want,” he reasoned. “If we can get good money, then we will move them on. I think it's very important, with prizemoney the way it is, if you can get people to have that mentality, and that's why a lot of people are buying horses.

“That's not good in the long term, though, and we need to sort it out. As John Gosden and others keep saying, if this is strong when we're racing for rosettes, imagine what it could be like if we were racing for good money. They're running $120,000 maidens at Churchill Downs, and what are we running for?”

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Trainer John Butler entered Declaring Love (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the sale for owner Megan Evans after she won the Listed Lansdown S. at Bath last weekend, and Butler's Charnwood Stables also adds Evans's 2-year-old Equiano (GB) colt Muskateer Three (GB) (lot 38), who was fifth in the Brocklesby Conditions S. on Mar. 27 before placing at Bath and Brighton. He is joined by another juvenile in Charlie De Rio (GB) (Coach House {Ire}) (lot 43), who was second on debut at The Curragh last week.

Three-year-old filly Graceful Moment (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire}) (lot 40) has been placed on her only start this year and is from the family of G1 1000 Guineas winner Sky Lantern (Ire) (Red Clubs {Ire}) and her 'TDN Rising Star' half-sister Snow Lantern (GB) (Frankel {GB}). Babajan (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) (lot 39), a 3-year-old winner of two races, is offered with a Timeform rating of 79. The National Stud offers a pair of geldings: the once-raced 3-year-old Everett (Ire) (Kendargent {Fr}) (lot 41) and the Timeform 76+ rated Sycamore (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) (lot 42).

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The great news that the Derby has a new multi-year sponsor, after being dropped by Investec last year as the pandemic took hold, was sidetracked by its release date. It can be hard to tell real news from fake news these days but Cazoo, an online car dealership with an amusing name but serious credentials, is indeed the new sponsor of the 'Derby festival' (if we must—I still prefer the word meeting) and it can only be seen as a welcome development, despite sniffiness in some quarters as to the company's line of business. 

Frankly, though, who cares? Of far greater concern is that racing regularly fails to attract big-name sponsors beyond the betting and breeding industries. Investec was an excellent partner for the Derby and was a huge loss to one of the most important meetings in Britain, as was Magners to the Cheltenham Gold Cup, which was run last month without a sponsor. 

The fact that Cazoo, which was recently floated on the New York Stock Exchange with a value of $7 billion, wishes to add racing to its sports sponsorship portfolio of two Premier League football clubs, the forthcoming Rugby League World Cup, cricket and snooker can only be good news. Only a fool would think otherwise.

The Look Of Eagles Again?

The Prix Tourbillon was named after the 1931 winner of the Prix du Jockey Club, and heading to that French Classic this year could well be this year's Tourbillon winner Baby Rider (Fr) (Gleneagles {Ire}). 

His family has already claimed a European Classic in recent years when Wings Of Eagles (Fr) Pour Moi {Ire}) delivered a 40/1 shock in the Derby in the hands of Padraig Beggy. Like that colt, Baby Rider was bred by Gilles and Aliette Forien of Haras de Montaigu from a half-sister to Wings Of Eagles. His listed-placed dam Gyrella (Ire) is among a growing band of good broodmare daughters of Oasis Dream (GB), who was advertised even more flamboyantly as a damsire over the weekend by Sir Dragonet (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) in the G1 Tancred S. in Sydney.

Trained by Pascal Bary, who has won the Jockey Club six times, most recently with Study Of Man (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), Baby Rider has done little to disappoint his owner Jean-Louis Bouchard to date. He was second to subsequent G3 Prix Thomas Bryon winner and Group 1-placed Normandy Bridge (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) on debut last September before winning his only other start last year at Fontainebleau.

Havana Good Time

Havana Gold (Ire) made a decent impression with his first crop of 2-year-olds back in 2017, when his 24 winners were led by Havana Grey (GB), winner of the G3 Molecomb S. and runner-up in the G1 Prix Morny at two before going on to land the G1 Flying Five the following season. 

As his support dwindled in ensuing years at stud—as is so often the case for young stallions—those crucial juvenile winners started to dry up. From 11 in 2018, Havana Gold had eight 2-year-old winners in 2019 and just one last year. The good news for his supporters is that he has already doubled that tally in 2021, from his only two juvenile runners of the nascent season and from his biggest crop of foals since year one.

Chipotle (GB) was fast out of the blocks for trainer Eve Johnson Houghton to win the Brocklesby S., and Anadora (GB) followed up by striking on her debut on Friday at Newcastle, where Havana Gold was also represented by 3-year-old novice winner Havagomecca (GB).

Twenty-four hours later, Crohanne (GB), bred on the same Havana Gold-Makfi (GB) cross as Chipotle, set a smart standard when winning the Prix Durban at Saint-Cloud for her young trainer Mario Baratti, a former assistant to Marco Botti and Roger Varian. The first five fillies who finished behind Crohanne all hold entries for the G1 Prix de Diane.

Havana Gold's sire Teofilo (Ire) enjoyed an outstanding year in 2020 with six Group 1 winners in France, Germany, Hong Kong and Australia. Perhaps this year it will be the turn of the son to rise.

Little Money For Jamm

Last year's G1 South Australian Derby winner Russian Camelot (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) was recently retired with a tendon injury following his runner-up finish in the All-Star Mile at Moonee Valley on March 13. Another globetrotting son of Camelot, the aforementioned Sir Dragonet, finished ninth behind him that day and has been kept busy since. A fortnight later he was beaten just over two lengths when fourth in the G1 Ranvet S., and he bounced out a week later to win Saturday's G1 Tancred S. back at Rosehill. This of course follows his victory in the 100th running of the G1 Cox Plate last October for the Anglo-Australian training partnership of Ciaron Maher and David Eustace. 

Camelot's day improved later on in the northern hemisphere when the Paddy Twomey-trained Moll (Ire) got the better of the statuesque Flor De La Luna (GB) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) in the listed Noblesse S. at Cork. The 4-year-old was notching her third win from seven starts and this first black-type success, coupled with a decent pedigree, makes it all the more surprising that she raised a bid of only €3,000 when sold by Coolmore though the Castlebridge Consignment at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale. 

Her 9-year-old dam Jamm (Ire) (Duke Of Marmalade (Ire}) didn't make it to the racecourse but she is the only blot on the record of her own dam, Starship (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Mated exclusively with Danehill-line sires, the treble winner Starship is a half-sister to the brilliantly fast and precocious Superstar Leo (Ire) (College Chapel {GB}). The family has provided much success for William Haggas and his father-in-law Lester Piggott, who bred Starship and Superstar Leo with Tony Hirschfield. 

Starship's seven multiple winners are headed by the G1 Racing Post Trophy winner Rivet (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) and, notably, they have made 160 starts between them, with Booming Delight (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) and Packing Tycoon (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) both being Group 3 winners. The pair were formerly known as Out And About and Alexander Pope before being exported to Hong Kong, where Rivet also ended up and is now known as Rivet Delight.

A few months after Moll was sold as a yearling, Jamm went to the Goffs November Sale and was sold in foal to War Command to Oakley Stud for €7,000. That same season, Superstar Leo's grand-daughter One Master (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) posted the first of her three wins in the G1 Prix de la Foret. A relatively small investment in a family with such depth means there is always the chance of jam tomorrow. 

Out Of The Woods

Sean Woods spent most of the lockdown in 2020 refurbishing Shalfleet Stables in Newmarket, which he bought from Jeremy Noseda following his return from Hong Kong. 

The trainer has restarted his career in Britain with a team of 23 horses, mostly juveniles, and he certainly has them in good form. His first runner, the Woods family homebred General Panic (GB) (Outstrip {GB}), impressed on debut at Southwell on Sunday, and 24 hours later Meng Tian (GB) (Territories {Ire}) was denied by just a nose when lining up for the first time at Kempton. 

One of the stable's few older representatives, the 4-year-old Caspian Queen (Ire) (Sepoy {Aus}), is declared to make her first start for the trainer at Lingfield on Wednesday and she will be partnered by his nephew, Sebastian Woods, son of former leading jockey in Hong Kong, Wendyll Woods.

One For The Team

From July 29, the Racing League will commence its inaugural six-week run. The competition, which will be staged at the Arena Racing tracks of Newcastle, Windsor, Doncaster and Lingfield, features 12 teams made up of 30 horses from the stables of between two and four trainers, with three assigned jockeys and a manager. 

Eleven of the teams of jockeys were announced last week, with the ongoing Covid-related travel restrictions meaning a delay in the announcement of the three French jockeys who will comprise the final team. 

With £1.8million in prize-money up for grabs—or £50,000 for each of the 36 races—the competition is a significant addition to the calendar, despite the fact that racing in teams is somewhat against the ethos of the sport. However, the jockeys involved, which include Frankie Dettori, Hollie Doyle, James Doyle, Oisin Murphy and Jim Crowley, will doubtless face some tough decisions right from the start of the competition, particularly if the rule of riding at only one meeting per day is upheld as the British lockdown eases. 

The first leg of the Racing League at Newcastle on July 29 clashes with the Thursday of Glorious Goodwood, that day's racing including the G1 Nassau S., G2 Richmond S., and G3 Gordon S. The fourth of the six meetings, at Windsor on Aug. 19, is on the same day as the G1 Yorkshire Oaks and G2 Lowther S. at York's Ebor Meeting.

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In addition to the Guineas, Kameko won the G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy at two and the G2 Joel S. on Sept. 25 against elders. He was fourth this summer in the G1 Epsom Derby, G1 Sussex S. and G1 Juddmonte International.

“It was hugely exciting to have Kameko arrive at Tweenhills last night and after a gruelling 40-hour journey from Kentucky; he bounced off the lorry and has been striding around the place this morning like he owns it,” said Tweenhills owner David Redvers. “I feel we have priced him extremely competitively this year and will also be offering a small amount of equity in the horse to breeders. Details are to be released later this week.”

Also available at Tweenhills in 2021 for £25,000 will be Australian sensation Zoustar (Aus), whose first Northern Hemisphere foals arrived this year.

“Zoustar continues to enhance his already heady reputation and it is a real coup for European breeders to have such an exceptional young sire standing here again in 2021,” said Redvers. “The reviews his first crop of Northern Hemisphere foals are receiving match our expectations and I’m really looking forward to seeing his first commercial offerings at the end of the month.”

Havana Gold (GB), whose biggest crop of over 140 yearlings goes into training next year, is available for £7,500, while G1 Sussex S. winner Lightning Spear (GB) will stand for £5,000.

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