Showtime as Wraps Come Off the October Yearlings

One doesn't need to delve too far into the Group 1 results to find a graduate of Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, and come Saturday afternoon another may be added to the list, with the G2 Coventry S. winner River Tiber (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and G2 Gimcrack S. winner Lake Forest (GB) (No Nay Never) among those favoured to go well in the G1 Juddmonte Middle Park S. at Newmarket.

By that stage, there will be frenetic action of a different kind just a mile up the road at Park Paddocks where several days of Book 1 inspections will be underway ahead of the start of the nine-session October Sale on Tuesday. The first three days are devoted to Book 1, the profile of which continues to rise to ever dizzier heights. A 200,000gns median last year tells its own story, that figure having doubled in a decade. The average meanwhile settled at its own record high, just shy of 300,000gns and, at the final ringing of the tills, more than 126 million gns was spent across three days in 2022 for 424 fledgling racehorses. Looking ahead to this year's sale, it is hard not to envisage more of the same, or perhaps just more. 

Jimmy George, the marketing director for Tattersalls, says, “It's an outstanding catalogue. Book 1 seems to collect the cream of the British and Irish, and perhaps wider European yearling crop year after year. And it's not only a catalogue of real quality, it has diversity as well. In simple terms, it's probably fair to say that it represents the biggest collection of yearlings by the best turf stallions in the world that you'll find anywhere.”

In the bloodstock world's version of chicken-and-egg, the fact that Britain and Ireland continue to enjoy a golden age of stallions no doubt influences the fact that there is a growing throng of international breeders keeping mares in those countries, or indeed transporting them to be covered. We cannot forget, however, the importance of those blue hens and classy matrons in making these stallions what they are in the first place. 

“The consistency of these top stallions at the moment, the seamless movement on from the Galileo era, it's just amazing,” George says. 

“I'm not ranking them in any particular order, but you have Frankel, Dubawi, Kingman, Lope De Vega, Wootton Bassett, Sea the Stars, and there's the thick end of 200 yearlings by those six stallions in Book 1 of the October Yearling Sale.

“And I think that tells prospective buyers all they really want to know, these are game-changing stallions on their own, but that collection together is pretty mighty.”

From Program Trading (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) landing the GI Saratoga Derby on only his third start to the victory of Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) claiming his third Group 1 – one for each season of racing – in the Tattersalls Gold Cup and Good Guess (GB) dominating the G1 Prix Jean Prat for a Japanese owner in France, the broad international success of the October Sale, and Book 1 in particular, remains a strong theme.

“It gives [owners and breeders] access to these top stallions; they recognise the quality of the horses standing in Britain, Ireland and also France at the moment,” George continues. “And if they're going to have regular access to these sort of horses, they come here and buy them as yearlings, and in the case of yearling fillies, perhaps leave them over here [to race] and breed from them in the future.

“One of the aspects of Book 1 that strikes me year after year, is that the top owner-breeders will also target Book 1 for their broodmare bands. They're racing these beautifully-bred fillies and they can go on to have a huge impact on their own broodmare bands later down the line.

“In the Juddmonte International this year, which was won by Mostahdaf, and Nashwa was second, both of them are raced by owner-breeders, and both of them are out of mares who those owner-breeders have bought as yearlings at Book 1.”

The sale dovetails nicely with two weekends of Group 1 action on the Rowley Mile, making a trip to East Anglia in October an extra draw.

“Newmarket is the hub, not only in the British racing and breeding industry, but really the European racing and breeding industry,” says George.

“We've got two racecourses here, we've got numerous stud farms in and around the area standing some of the best stallions in the world, we've got all the top veterinary facilities, we've got 70 to 80 different racehorse trainers here, the most fantastic training grounds, and we've got Tattersalls.”

He adds, “The owner-breeders feel comfortable here, they come to Newmarket, whether it's to race or whether it's to see their broodmare bands and their young stock, or to buy. Which is obviously why they come to Tattersalls.”

Some 500 Book 1 yearlings will usher in a fortnight of action at Park Paddocks, where the newly refurbished and levelled yards at Somerville R, S, T have just been unveiled. Naturally there are some swanky pedigrees to digest. 

The brother (lot 316) to 2022 Derby hero Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) – himself a 280,000gns Book 2 gradate in 2020 – features among the Newsells Park draft, while a Dubawi half-brother to Imad Al Sagar's treble Group 1 winner Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) heads a select consignment from Blue Diamond Stud and, catalogued as lot 35, may well prove to be one of the early highlights on Tuesday.

The McCartan family's Ballyphilip Stud brings lot 240, a half-brother to that brilliant sprinter Battaash (Ire) who is by another brilliant sprinter and budding young stallion, Blue Point (Ire). Meanwhile, Blue Point's own immediate family is represented by his three-part-brother [lot 81] from the first crop of fellow Darley stallion Earthlight (Ire) and consigned by Hillwood Stud. 

From the same Shamardal sireline, and with a typically strong female family behind him, comes the Lope De Vega (Ire) half-brother to St Leger and Irish St Leger winner Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), the colt having been pinhooked for 300,000gns from Kirsten Rausing's St Simon Stud draft at the December Foal Sale. He is reoffered by Eugene Daly's Longview Stud as lot 226.

Among the colts on offer from Cheveley Park Stud is a three-quarter-brother to the farm's champion filly Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}). The son of Ulysses (Ire) features on the first day of Book 1 as lot 127 and is one of eight yearlings to be offered by the Thompson family, along with a Kingman (GB) colt out of the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf winner Queen's Trust (GB) (Dansili {GB}).

The above is just a taster. It's easy to make a case for pretty much every yearling in the opening book, and for agents and trainers tasked with doing just that for potential purchasers, it is made a little easier by the existence of the Book 1 Bonus. It's a scheme which is now well established and has over recent years pumped almost £8 million in additional prize-money to owners with more than 340 bonuses now having been won. From next year, that individual bonus is set to rise from £20,000 to £25,000, with all yearlings catalogued for Book 1 of this year's sale eligible for the scheme.

George says, “I think people are unnecessarily negative about the sport in Britain at times. There's so much to be positive about. One, it is the most magnificent sport.

But two, there are aspects of British prize-money that need to be recognised, and Britain is the most lucrative place to own a horse in Europe, if it's a decent horse. British prize-money for group and listed races is superior to anywhere else in Europe, and that's a fact. And it isn't always a fact that is put out there often or loudly enough, in my humble opinion, but you only just have to look through the Pattern book and look at the prize-money available for British group and listed races and compare it with France and Ireland, who are the obvious main competitors in that respect. Britain is comfortably number one. The average prize-money for a Group 3 race, a Group 2 race, a Group 1 race in Britain is significantly higher than anywhere else in Europe.”

What is often grumbled about of course is the lower levels on offer for maiden races and handicaps, but a significant number of maiden and novice races for two- and three-year-olds have been boosted this year by extra sponsorship from Juddmonte, Darley and the British EBF. On top of that, a Book 1 graduate has a chance of scooping an extra pot, and that is not restricted to British races, but also includes Ireland.

“We know the impact it's having,” he continues. “We've distributed directly to racehorse owners in Britain and Ireland the thick end of £8 million in prize-money, with no deductions, just directly to the owners, since the inception of that scheme.

“That is a lot of money to win for winning your maiden. The average price, or the average win prize-money next year for a Book 1 Bonus winner, will be I'd say comfortably over £30,000, which is significant. It's not headline prize-money, it doesn't show up in statistics, but it is significant.”

George adds, “I think it's so important for us not to talk ourselves into thinking that there isn't opportunity out there, because there is. Whether it's our bonuses for Book 1, or whether it's Great British Bonuses, or certain sales races, or other angles that are out there, there's more there than sometimes we're led to believe.”

Traditionally, the October Sale, under its various guises over the years, brought the curtain up on the autumn season at Tattersalls, but since a reshuffling of venues, which brought the Ascot Yearling Sale, now known as the Somerville, to Tattersalls, the sale grounds have already been busy in Newmarket since the yearling season began, and we head into a frenetic fortnight on the back of encouraging results not just at the Somerville, but pretty much across the board in Europe and America. 

“The sales calendar bears no resemblance to how it once was, and we've had the addition of the August Sale and Somerville Yearling Sale in recent years just at Park Paddocks alone. Under the Tattersalls umbrella it's grown out of all recognition, with Cheltenham and Tattersalls Ireland and the online sales,” George says. 

“But it still remains that the Tattersalls sales season really kicks off with the October Yearling Sale. That's when we become the focal point and it's pretty intense for those two weeks of Books 1 through to 4.

“It's a busy time, but it's an exciting time, and there's a lot riding on it for everybody. It's very busy for the trainers and the agents, but the owners enjoy their time at the sales as well. And long may that last, it's very much part of the ownership experience.”

 

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Tattersalls Poised for Blockbuster Finale 

NEWMARKET, UK–There is no doubt that the mares' section of the Tattersalls December Sale will create much of the hoopla at Park Paddocks over the next fortnight. Blockbuster names such as Saffron Beach (Ire), Alcohol Free (Ire), Pearls Galore (GB), and La Petite Coco (Ire) and are set to come under the hammer, not to mention Desert Berry (GB), the dam of this year's G1 Derby winner Desert Crown (GB) back in foal to his sire Nathaniel (Ire).

The Monday and particularly the Tuesday evening sessions of the mares' sale are always frenetic and this year Tattersalls has branded a portion of those days as the Sceptre Sessions, for which an elite collections of fillies and mares have been gathered. That star-studded focus aside, there is still strength in depth to be found across the four days of that catalogue, not to mention two significant warm-up acts in the December Yearling Sale which kickstarts the December-in-November action this Monday, followed by four days of foal action from Wednesday to Saturday.

 

Last Chance For A Yearling

A last chance to buy a yearling at auction in Europe is provided when around 160 youngsters take to the ring for Monday's solo session. Britain's leading sires Dubawi (Ire) and Frankel (GB) hogged the limelight during Book 1 of the October Sale, and while they are sparsely represented here, there are still yearlings to note, including lot 31, the Dubawi daughter of the Wildenstein-bred G1 1000 Guineas winner Miss France (Ire) (Dansili {GB}), and lot 154, Shadwell's colt out of the listed winner and G2 Rockwell S. runner-up Fadhayyil (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}) who has already produced Australian Group 2 winner Turaath (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}). Frankel meanwhile features towards the end of the session as the sire of lot 178, from Glenvale Stud, the half-brother to Group 3 winners Peace Envoy (Fr) (Power {GB}) and Our Last Summer (Ire) (Zamindar).

A quartet of yearlings by Invincible Spirit (Ire) features the Voute Sales-consigned half-sister to recent juvenile winner Bedazzling (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}). Offered as lot 43, she is inbred 3×3 to Invincible Spirit's granddam Eljazzi (GB) (Artaius), while Norris Bloodstock offers lot 112, an Invincible Spirit colt out of the young Frankel mare Aspirer (GB), a Juddmonte-bred daughter of the G1 Prix de Diane winner Nebraska Tornado (Storm Cat) from the family of this year's G1 Irish Derby winner Westover (GB) (Frankel {GB}).

 

Not Just a Pinhookers' Paradise

Tuesday may be considered a dark day at Tattersalls, but it is only in the ring itself that the lights will be out. Around the grounds prospective foal buyers will be hard at it before daylight has even appeared as they assess those on offer during the four sessions of weanlings, with the strongest pedigrees slated for Friday.

Many opinions will already have been formed during a strong opener to the foal sales season at Goffs last week, and this is especially so when it comes to the first glimpses of the stock of the new sires.

Among those already finding favour with buyers at Goffs was the Darley duo of Ghaiyyath (Ire) and Earthlight (Ire), sons of the operation's flagship sires Dubawi and Shamardal, respectively. Former Horse of the Year Ghaiyyath has another 14 on offer at Tattersalls, including lot 685 from Yellowford Farm who is interestingly inbred to Dubai Millennium's dam Colorado Dancer (GB) (Shareef Dancer).

Last year's December Foal Sale was responsible for the highest price for a European weanling for the last 20 years when Genesis Green Stud's Dubawi colt out of Madonna Dell'Orto (GB) was sold for 1.8 million gns. The year prior to that Dubawi had featured as the sire of three of the four top lots but in among them was a Frankel colt from the Dutch Art (GB) mare Suelita (GB) offered by his breeder Whitsbury Manor Stud. Back then he was already a half-brother to juvenile Group 2 winner Alkumait (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), but boy look at him now. Bought for 550,000gns by Juddmonte, named Chaldean (GB), and sent into training with Andrew Balding, the colt is now one of the best in his generation in Europe as the winner of four of his five starts this year including the G1 Dewhurst, G2 Champagne and G3 Acomb S.

This year Whitsbury Manor returns with his half-brother, slated as lot 1025 and by Kingman (GB), who provided the top three lots at the Goffs November Foal Sale, but he is far from the only weanling with enticing updates this year as there are also half-siblings to two of this season's British Classic winners on offer. Kirsten Rausing's St Simon Stud offers a Lope De Vega (Ire) half-brother to G1 St Leger winner Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) as lot 1027, while breeder John Bourke of Hyde Park Stud brings a Mehmas (Ire) half-brother to the G1 1000 Guineas winner Cachet (Ire) (Aclaim {Ire}) who has been catalogued as lot 1033 in what is bound to be a hectic Friday session.

“Obviously the foal sale is the primary target of the pinhookers, but it's a sale that has had a huge amount of success on the racecourse this year with the likes of Chaldean, Saffron Beach (Ire) and Blackbeard (Ire),” said Tattersalls' marketing director Jimmy George. “And I think, again, it reflects how lucky we are to have the stallions that we have at our disposal at the moment, and I don't think that goes unnoticed. I think with the way the yearling market has gone, the strength of the October yearling sales, which defied gravity to a degree, that gives a great backdrop with which to go into the December Foal Sale.”

 

Western Super Mares

As if the aforementioned mares weren't enough to whet the appetite for four days of trade for breeding prospects, since the catalogue was published some extra big names have been added, including Group 1 winners The Platinum Queen (Ire) and Princess Zoe (Ger). Five years ago the crack sprinter Marsha (Ire) set a new European thoroughbred auction record when selling from Heath House Stables for 6 million gns. Whether that record will be bettered next Monday or Tuesday remains to be seen, but it seems likely, during a run of strong sales around the world, that at least one mare or filly will come close.

“We've got six Group 1-winning race fillies in what is a very strong December Mares catalogue,” George said. “We announced the Sceptre Sessions back in the summer this year. It's clearly struck a chord, the support has been fantastic, and it's great to see the quality of the fillies and mares that have been earmarked for the Sceptre Sessions by the consignors.

“But they're not alone in terms of quality offerings, because there's a plethora of Group 2, Group 3, and stakes-winning fillies as well, and of course a huge number of well-covered, very well-bred mares. It's fantastic to have this sort of quality when we are launching something like the Sceptre Sessions, which are named in tribute to one of the most remarkable race fillies ever, who also had a rich Tattersalls history herself, as a record-breaking yearling way back in the mists of time.”

Among the mares in foal to be offered during the Sceptre Sessions, which collectively number around 90 individuals, is High Heels (Ire), a young stakes-placed daughter of Galileo (Ire) who is in foal for the first time to Siyouni (Fr), representing a cross that has been utilised with notable success in recent years. The 4-year-old is slated as lot 1868 from the Castlebridge Consignment.

In the same Tuesday evening session, Tweenhills Stud, which is selling a bumper draft of 44 mares, offers Qatar Racing's G1 St Leger and G1 QIPCO Champion Fillies and Mares S. winner Simple Verse (Ire) (Duke Of Marmalade {Ire}), who is in foal to Too Darn Hot (GB) on a May 3 cover and is in the book as lot 1886. There is also a decent draft of 18 fillies and mares from The Royal Studs, and while it is not an uncommon name to find on the list of consignors, there is extra poignancy to their presence in the months immediately following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

George continued, “I think we've got some real collectors' items in the catalogue this year and there's been a huge amount of interest from throughout the world ever since we released details of some of the stars that were coming to the sale. It's for a good reason, because the Tattersalls December Mares Sale is widely regarded as the most international sale of its type in the world, and you'd expect a very international crew to descend upon Newmarket in the coming days.”

Dispersals are fairly regular features of the December Sale and this year Philippa Cooper will disperse the stock of her successful Normandie Stud through Newsells Park Stud, with six mares forming part of the second Sceptre Session, including the G3 Prix de Flore winner Loving Things (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), who is offered as lot 1899 in foal to Sea The Stars (Ire).

Poignantly, a partial dispersal is being conducted through New England Stud and Freemason Lodge on behalf of Sir Evelyn de Rothschild's Southcourt Stud. Sir Evelyn, the breeder of a host of good horses topped by Horse of the Year Crystal Ocean (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), died on Nov. 7 at the age of 91.

“We've got two smallish, but nonetheless very good dispersals,” George noted. “It is with sadness that we offer the dispersal from Southcourt Stud, Sir Evelyn de Rothschild's famous nursery. Dispersals are always tinged with sadness, and obviously, with his recent death, it is now even more so. But these families pay a tribute to decades of breeding top-class horses. The great Crystal Ocean, arguably the best horse Sir Evelyn ever bred, will be fresh in everybody's minds as some of these wonderful fillies and mares from his family go through the ring.”

A number of chances to buy into Southcourt's successful 'Crystal' family are presented through the sale, including through an enticing in-training prospect, Crystal Caprice (Ire), a daughter of Frankel (GB) with three wins, listed black type and a rating of 101 to her name. The 3-year-old is catalogued as lot 1895 by her trainer Sir Michael Stoute's Freemason Lodge.

In anticipation of nine days of trade at Tattersalls in the coming fortnight, George concluded, “It has been a spectacular year at Park Paddocks so far and in terms of the strength of the respective catalogues–December Yearlings, December Foals and December Mares–I think we've got all the ingredients to bring the Tattersalls sale season to a fitting close.”

The December Sale action begins on Monday with the yearlings from 11 a.m.

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Plenty of Bang For Your Buck at Tattersalls

There are undoubtedly many good reasons to have a rounded life with interests beyond the breeding, training, buying and selling of a supreme equine athlete who can run faster than his contemporaries. Those of us whose waking hours are mostly consumed by one or more of these bloodstock industry pursuits can rightly be accused of not getting out more, particularly at this time of year. But when the daily non-racing headlines revolve around the British economy in freefall, hurricanes and floods decimating parts of the world, and President Putin looming like a rapidly unravelling Bond villain intent on obliterating Ukraine, then remaining within the 'racing bubble' can seem an eminently sensible idea.

So here's the good news: people still want to buy horses. In fact, lots of people from lots of different countries want to buy horses. Unexpectedly, that fact became even more apparent throughout the Covid pandemic, and now we are all flying free once more the demand has only continued to increase. 

This week Great British Racing International (GBRI) launched an 'Invest in the Best' campaign, which in the words of its press release is “designed to highlight the strength and importance of the British racing industry globally and encourage future international investment.”

That is an admirable intention, but the excellence of the British racing 'product' is hardly a secret, and the massive international participation in the sales in this part of the world for many years stands testament to that. That starts with the breeders of course–and in fact if we are talking about massive international participation then nowhere is this more apparent than in the breeding juggernauts that are Juddmonte, Darley and Shadwell in particular being headquartered in Britain but owned by overseas individuals. With the passing of two of the heads of those organisations in recent years it is equally apparent that the sport cannot necessarily rely on that support forever, though other emerging nations are beginning to make their presence felt.

It has long been a personal belief that, while being proud of the success of one's own country is all well and good, British racing and breeding would be best served by taking a far more collaborative approach, particularly with our colleagues in Ireland, and also in France. This aim has been dealt a heavy blow by Brexit, but we can, and should, rise above that.

Away from the politics, a happy blending of the British and Irish thoroughbred industries can be found on every sales ground, and it is the sales companies who are to be applauded for driving the demand for racehorses bred in those two countries thanks to their constant international roving, wining and dining. Perhaps nowhere will the fruits of these endeavours be more apparent than at Park Paddocks next week, where Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale begins its three-day run on Tuesday. 

“For the overseas buyers, it's success-driven. They come, they buy, and they come back.”

The European yearling scene has been rolling along on a high since August but there remains a feeling that, as Bachman-Turner Overdrive once sang, you ain't seen nothing yet. For the few of us attempting to write a sale preview, it's a daunting prospect even to open the pages of Book 1 because too many corners are swiftly turned down as markers.

So let's hear from the man charged with spreading the word, Tattersalls' marketing director Jimmy George, who was also a guest on this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast, and who stresses the importance of the fact that pedigrees on the page deliver on stage.

“It's not just about pretty yearlings,” he says. “It's about top-class racehorses, and year after year Book 1 yearlings continue to perform at the highest level, and from all sectors of the Book 1 market.”

That in itself is a significant comment, as it is easy to dismiss Book 1 as a sale solely for the elite, with many buyers tempted to wait for the tide to turn the following week so as to swim in shallower waters. And in fact this perception dogged Book 1 for a time, prompting Tattersalls to take decisive action and to launch the Book 1 Bonus Scheme. 

All horses catalogued for Book 1, whether sold or not, are eligible, upon payment by their owner of £1,700, for the Book 1 Bonus. The scheme awards a £20,000 bonus to the winning owner of  a Class 2, 3 or 4 two-year-old maiden or novice race in Britain the following season, or any 'open' two-year-old maiden run in Ireland.

When this year's catalogue was published there were already 284 winners across six years, but that number has already risen to 307 and a total payout of £7,265,000 in bonuses following the win of Vermilion (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) for Andrew Balding and the Highclere syndicate at Newmarket last Saturday. The Balding stable had also won the landmark 300th bonus with Glenfinnan (Ire) (Harry Angel {Ire}), a 100,000gns purchase for owners Mick and Janice Mariscotti who have been staunch supporters of the concept since its launch in 2016.

“From the perspective of Tattersalls, to have owners like Mick and Janice Mariscotti winning the 300th bonus is absolutely what the Book 1 Bonus scheme is all about,” George says.

“I would say their Book 1 horses this year have won the thick end of half a million pounds in prize-money, but that doesn't include the bonus prize-money that they've won. Coltrane, who won the Doncaster Cup recently, is one of the most exciting young stayers in the country and he is another Mariscotti-Balding Book 1 purchase [for 50,000gns].”

He continues, “It might be fairly obvious to say that at Tattersalls we really believe that if there's a prize-money sector that deserves attention the most, it is at maiden level, and decent maiden winners winning decent prize-money. These bonuses mean that it's competitive with certainly any other country in Europe, or better if you're winning £25,000 for winning your maiden, or more at times. If you've won the Convivial Maiden with a Book 1 Bonus horse, you'd be winning about £70,000.”

Even by its own lofty standards, Book 1 does look a proper belter this year. Its 549 entrants include siblings to 61 Classic or Group 1 winners. That recommendation is bolstered by results on the track this season, which include seven Group 1 winners bought from Book 1 for 200,000gns or less–a sum below the 2021 sale average of 230,317gns.

“I think that is indicative of the quality throughout,” George says. “It's an amazing list of Group 1 winners in that sector of the market, and staggering to think that Native Trail (GB), who was an unbeaten champion two-year-old and a Classic winner at three, was actually the least expensive of the lot at 67,000gns.

“Then there's horses like Al Riffa (Fr), who won the National Stakes the other day, who could be bought for 150,000gns last year, and Luxembourg (Ire), who's now favourite for the Arc, was also bought for 150,000gns two years ago. To see horses of that calibre that were purchased for those sorts of figures emerging every year is very much part of the Book 1 story.”

Those three big names mentioned are backed up by this year's Irish Oaks winner Magical Lagoon (Ire), whose price tag of 305,000gns looks inexpensive considering that she is a daughter of Galileo (Ire) and a half-sister to the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. winner Novellist (Ger). Sadly, we are coming towards the end of the days when we see Galileo's youngsters at the sales, but there are 16 members of his penultimate crop among the pages f Book 1, including a full-brother to the Arc winner Waldgeist (GB), who is just one of many enticing yearlings from the draft of Newsells Park Stud, which has been the leading vendor at Book 1 on six occasions. In fact, it will be important to be ringside in good time on the opening day because the first lot through the ring is New England Stud's full-sister to GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Line Of Duty (Ire).

A 400,000gns Book 1 purchase , Line Of Duty is just one example of the international success of the sale's graduates. This season alone, three Grade 1 winners in America–McKulick (GB) (Frankel {GB}), Ocean Road (Ire) (Australia {GB}) and In Italian (GB) (Dubawi {Ire})–have emanated from Book 1.

🤩 Here's Belmont Oaks winner McKulick as a yearling.

Yet another Grade 1 winner for @TheRealChadCBr1 and Klaravich Stables from #TattsOctober Book 1, bought by Mike Ryan for 180,000gns from @AdrianOBrien2's Hazelwood Bloodstock. pic.twitter.com/M6pWq9mjfK

— Tattersalls (@Tattersalls1766) July 9, 2022

“It's extraordinary to think that there were more turf graded stakes winners at Saratoga last year from the October yearling sale at Tattersalls than from any other sale in the world,” says George. 

“To see Book 1 yearlings winning at the highest level in all corners of the world every year is really the key to the sale. It's what attracts the international buyers and the domestic buyers in such numbers. They know that they will be properly and richly rewarded if they win a decent maiden or novice, but for the overseas buyers, it's success-driven. They come, they buy, and they come back.”

For people buying in overseas currencies, and in particular those pegged to the dollar, there is hardly a better time to buy in Britain. That is not something for the country to be crowing about, but it is a situation that will doubtless continue to drive the demand at the yearling sales throughout October. The strong dollar is not the sole factor, however. 

“The number of yearlings from Book 1 that have gone over to America in recent years has understandably risen based on consistent success,” George avers. “The first year that the Chad Brown, Seth Klarman, Peter Brant, Mike and Mary Ryan axis came to Book 1, they went away with 12 yearlings and two Grade 1 winners out of it, and another graded stakes winner, which is a pretty extraordinary strike-rate. Again, not one year has passed without them going home with at least one Grade 1 winner. It's a strong endorsement of the quality at the sale, but also the way they approach the sale; the rigour with which they work. It's obviously not just that team: Liz Crow's team bought Aunt Pearl (Ire), another spectacular Breeders' Cup winner.”

A strong roster of stallions currently standing in Britain and Ireland is also an appealing element.

George adds, “Buyers understand the quality of the stallions and that the largest numbers of yearlings by these particular stallions–Galileo, Sea The Stars, Frankel, Kingman, Dubawi, Dark Angel, Lope De Vega, and so on–will be in front of them at Book 1 of the October yearling sale. So it's a real magnet for anybody who's looking for superior turf performers, wherever they happen to be in the world.”

Whatever troubles there may be in the outside world, it is safe to assume that a diverse array of members of the bloodstock world will be descending on Newmarket in the coming days. It is also safe to expect that the strength of the market will continue on its merry way during 2022.

“So far this year we can't really look back on a sale that we've been disappointed in,” George agrees. “The market has been very robust, whether it be the breeze-up market or our mixed sales in July and August , through to the Somerville Yearling Sale, which had a vibrant feel to it from start to finish. Park Paddocks was alive and it's been wonderful to see.”

Trickle-down economics may not work out for Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng, but at Tattersalls a more positive forecast can be made for the predicted strong market at the top end to ensure that trade remains robust throughout two weeks, four books, and 2,000 yearlings. Watch this space.

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Tattersalls Director Jimmy George Joins Writers’ Room

A week out from his company's marquee October Yearling Sale, Tattersalls Director Jimmy George joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Tuesday as the Green Group Guest of the Week to discuss the increasing American participation in the sale, the booming yearling market, opportunities for American buyers with the lopsided exchange rate and more.

“It's not quite buy one, get one free, but it's very nearly that,” George said of the potential sales results of the exchange rate, where pounds are nearly equal to dollars at this point. “Honestly, the weakness of the pound is a little bit alarming in some senses to anybody who actually lives here, but for anybody trading in U.S. dollars, they will come to Book 1 of the October Sale next week and be buying the same quality of horse for 20-25% less than they were paying last year. That is a massive discount. This is an unprecedented opportunity for anyone who wants to race turf horses of the highest quality in North America. So all I can say is, take advantage. It probably won't be like this for a very long time.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the KTOB, Lane's End, XBTV, Three Chimneys, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, host Joe Bianca said his farewell as he moves on from the show, he and Bill Finley welcomed new co-host Zoe Cadman, and all three reacted to the sensational Saturday for superstar stallion Gun Runner. Click here to watch the show; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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