Classic Pretensions For December Top Lot

NEWMARKET, UK—Sending an Oaks winner to a Derby winner is no guarantee of success but it’s a great place to start and it is a recipe which has worked in the recent past for Classic winners Australia (GB) and Sixties Icon (GB). Those connected with the top lot of the Tattersalls December Yearling Sale will be hoping for similar glory in two years’ time for the Sea The Stars (Ire) colt out of Talent (GB) (New Approach {GB}), who was offered by his breeders James Rowsell and Mark Dixon through Rowsell’s Ashbrittle Stud and bought by Anthony Stroud for 300,000gns.

“He looks like he will need a bit of time, but he is by a Derby winner out of an Oaks winner,” said Stroud of lot 160. “I saw him as a foal and he has been progressing well.”

Rowsell and Dixon raced the 2013 winner Talent as well as her first foal, Ambition (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who was trained in France by Xavier Thomas-Deameaulte to win the G2 Prix Corrida. 

As is so often the case, a yearling who has missed an earlier sale date through a minor setback can prove a smash hit at the December Sale, and so it proved with a number of the day’s leading lots. Talent’s son missed his slot in October Book 1 with a haematoma, while Kirsten Rausing’s Sea The Stars (Ire) half-sister to G2 York S. Winner Shine So Bright (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) missed hers through a soft tissue injury a few weeks prior to the sale. Brought to the December Sale as lot 7 through the Castlebridge Consignment, the filly had plenty to recommend her as a member of Lanwades Stud’s banner family. With dual G1 Champion S heroine Alborada (GB) (Alzao) as her great grandam, the grey’s first four dams are all stakes winners and producers, and she was bought by a partnership representing two major breeders in Ireland and America for 260,000gns.

“She is for Norelands and Craig Bernick of Glen Hill Farm,” explained Norelands Stud owner Harry McCalmont after signing for the daughter of Group 3 winner Alla Speranza (GB) (Sir Percy {GB}).  

“We had good yearling sales so we wanted to reinvest, and she is by a stallion that we love and from a wonderful family which has been very well managed by Kirsten Rausing. There are a large number of fillies from the family breeding and they are going to good stallions. It’s not often that one comes up for sale but Coolmore has a branch, Juddmonte has a branch and now we have one too.”

McCalmont added that the filly is likely to go into training with John Gosden, who will also train the day’s top lot. 

Sea The Stars accounted for three of the top five yearlings of the day, with the third making a quick reappearance after being sold for 135,000gns at October Book 1. The Watership Down Stud-bred Sea The Stars colt out of Crysdal (GB) (Dalakhani {Ire}) (lot 31) was this time consigned by New England Stud and knocked down for 125,000gns to Charlie Gordon-Watson.

As has been the hallmark of the yearling sales at Tattersalls in a year in which many vendors understandably feared the worst, the figures returned for the final auction of its kind in 2020 were encouraging. From a smaller catalogue, 142 were offered and 122 sold, leading to an improved clearance rate of 86%, compared to 78% last year. The aggregate was down slightly at 3,986,300gns and the median dipped by 20% to 20,000gns but the average was up by 3% to 32,675gns.

There was a major update this season for Knockatrina House’s Starspangledbanner (Aus) filly out of Plying (Hard Spun), who was pinhooked from Goffs in February for €40,000, seven months before her half-sister Alcohol Free (Ire) won the G1 Cheveley Park S. Withdrawn from the Goffs Orby Sale in October, the filly (lot 119) duly made 130,000gns this time around when bought by Creighton Schwartz Bloodstock.

Knockatrina House’s Canice Farrell said, “We were lucky enough that Alcohol Free came along. This filly was entered in an earlier sale, but had an over-reach. She needed the time.”

The filly’s breeder Jossestown Farm bought the three-time winner Plying at the Goffs November Sale of 2018 for €21,000, just over half the amount her weanling daughter by No Nay Never fetched at the same sale when bought by Jeff Smith’s Littleton Stud. The page has continued to be enhanced since then, with Plying’s son Alexander James (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) having won the listed Prix Le Fabuleux last season. The mare’s colt foal by Dandy Man (Ire) is catalogued to sell at the Goffs Foal Sale, which has been postponed until December.

Daniel Creighton of Creighton Schwartz Bloodstock added, “Her sister has done well his year and she is by a popular sire. Let’s hope it all adds up to her being a good filly on the track and eventually a good broodmare, too. She is a lovely big filly and has a lot of quality. She is for a new client and will go into pre-training with my brother.”

Alcohol Free’s trainer Andrew Balding was the busiest purchaser of the day, signing for six yearlings, including Hillwood Stud’s son of Lope De Vega (Ire) at 130,000gns. Offered as lot 154, the colt is the second foal of the French listed winner Stone Roses (Fr) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}), whose three foals to date are all by the Ballylinch Stud sire. The 8-year-old mare is a half-sister to fellow listed winner Straight Right (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), who was trained by Balding for King Power Racing.

Acting for Dan Hayden, Demi O’Byrne and Sean Grassick went to 115,000gns for lot 84, the Dark Angel (Ire) filly from the family of Magna Grecia (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and St Mark’s Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}). Offered by her breeder Croom House Stud, the filly is a daughter of dual winer Loreto (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), a half-sister to Cabaret (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), the dam of the aforementioned Group 1 winners.

On a day when six of the top nine yearlings sold were by Derby winners, the seventh to return a six-figure price tag was Mount Coote Stud’s New Approach (Ire) colt (lot 77) from the family of that same stallion’s aforementioned Oaks winner Talent (GB). He will be making his way back to Ireland after being bought by Patrick Cooper for 105,000gns on behalf of Alpha Racing.

“He ‘s going to be trained by Jessica Harrington,” said the agent. “He’s a lovely colt, a 3-year-old type.”

Luke Lillingston, who bred the son of La Superba (Ire) (Medicean {GB}) in partnership with Talent’s co-breeder Mark Dixon, said, “He came here for Book 2 and he was showing really well the first day but then he spiked a temperature and we had to withdraw him. He is a horse that was really sick. Thanks have to go to Damian Flynn and Emma Foley who have looked after him in the weeks since then.”

He added, “Book 2 was so strong and we were disappointed not to be part of it with this horse, but the market has revalued him again today. He is going to Jessie and that is really the cherry on the icing on the cake.”

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Average, Median Climb At Autumn Yearling Opener

Goffs staged the first of two sessions of its live online Autumn Yearling Sale on Tuesday. With the first-day catalogue of 296 scratched down to 167, 99 were sold (59%) for an aggregate of €662,400, compared to €1,134,400 last year when 192 were sold on the day from 254 offered. The average of €6,691 was up 13%, while the median climbed 11% to €4,200.

Boherguy Stud’s New Approach (Ire) colt out of Neophilia (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) (lot 192) had originally been slated for the Goffs Sportsman’s Sale, but connections opted for this spot when that sale was moved to Doncaster. While this sale was subsequently forced online, the Apr. 30 foal enjoyed a significant update in the interim, with Gear Up (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) under his third dam having won the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud on Oct. 24. E Hannon went to €40,000 for the fourth foal out of the mare, who has produced the winning New Vocation (Ire) from two foals to race. The colt is bred on the same cross as this year’s G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy scorer Mac Swiney (Ire), and also shares his breeder, Jim Bolger. The New Approach colt is also from the same family as the Bolger-bred, Boherguy-consigned Teofilo (Ire) colt that topped the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale at £325,000, he being a full-brother to Gear Up.

Earlsfort Bloodstock went to €30,000 for an Oasis Dream (GB) colt out of the listed-placed Maybe Grace (Ire) (Hawk Wing) (lot 290), who has produced two winners from three runners and is a half-sister to Australian Group 1 winner Magic Hurricane (Ire) (Hurricane Run {Ire}).

The first-crop yearlings by Yeomanstown Stud’s Scat Daddy sire El Kabeir have been well received this season, and his name also featured among the top lots at this sale when Noel Meade went to €29,000 for Eyrefield Lodge Stud’s colt out of the listed-placed Bee Eater (Ire) (lot 157). That daughter of Green Desert has produced the G3 Marble Hill S. winner Minaun (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) among her eight runners and five winners. The third dam is the champion 3-year-old filly Marwell (Habitat).

The top-priced filly of the session was Tullogher House Stud’s first crop daughter of Ardad (Ire) (lot 86) who was bought by Con Marnane for €20,000. The dam Dame Shirley (GB) (Haafhd) is a full-sister to G3 Meydan Sprint winner Fityaan (GB).

The first day of the Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale saw horses sold online to Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Kuwait, Poland, Serbia, Sweden and the UK, with 1225 online bids placed in addition to telephone bids. The second session of the sale begins at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

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Bolger Achievement Generations In The Making

To breed four 2-year-old stakes winners within a week would be a landmark accomplishment for anyone. For Jim Bolger, however, it merely scratches the surface of what he accomplished the past two Saturdays as a breeder, owner and trainer.

Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) got things going on Oct. 17 at Leopardstown with a win in the G3 Killavullan S. Bolger bred not only Poetic Flare but his first two dams and his sire, and raced them all in the white and purple silks of his wife Jackie Bolger, with Dawn Approach having eventually been sold to race in the Godolphin blue.

G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy winner Mac Swiney (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) was the highlight of a memorable day on Oct. 24 for the Bolger program, he being another third generation homebred trained by his breeder and by a sire trained and originally owned by Bolger. Mac Swiney, in fact, is a blend of Bolger’s two most successful colts, being by New Approach (who he bought as a yearling) out of a mare by Teofilo (a second-generation homebred).

Mac Swiney’s win followed five minutes on from Gear Up (Ire)‘s victory in the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud. That Bolger-bred, who is by Teofilo, was sold as a yearling to trainer Mark Johnston for €52,000. A memorable Saturday was capped by homebred Flying Visit (Ire) (Pride Of Dubai {Aus}) winning the G3 Eyrefield S. at Leopardstown. He is out of another Bolger homebred Teofilo mare.

It is a rare feat indeed for one person to enjoy such continuous success across two professions as notoriously difficult as breeding and training racehorses, but Bolger has done just that over the past 20 years in particular. Teofilo and Soldier of Fortune (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) were both from Galileo’s second crop and raised in the same paddock at Bolger’s Redmondstown Stud. G1 2000 Guineas winner Dawn Approach was from the first crop of Bolger’s Derby winner New Approach and provided the trainer with his fifth Dewhurst in seven years, all homebreds aside from New Approach, while Trading Leather (Ire) was a Bolger-bred Classic winner by Teofilo. And the program at Redmondstown has turned out plenty of top-class fillies, too, like Pleascach (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), who won the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas in the Bolger colours and the G1 Yorkshire Oaks in the Godolphin blue.

“One of the reasons I have to breed horses is that it’s the best way to get them to train, and when you get a good one you know it isn’t going to be taken away from you,” Bolger explained on Monday shortly after sending out yet another 2-year-old winner, French Fusion (Ire) (Harzand {Ire}), at Galway in his wife’s colours. “There’s great peace of mind with owning them as well because if you do mess one up you don’t have to explain it to anybody. Except my principal owner–but she’s very forgiving.”

Bolger took out his trainers license in the late 1970s, and while simultaneously training a few fillies that went on to be influential broodmares for other owners-the likes of Give Thanks, Flame of Tara and Park Appeal-began building his own broodmare band. One of his early acquisitions was the Northfields mare Amoura, who went through the ring nearly unnoticed at Keeneland November in 1994 and was scooped up by Bolger for $5,000. Eleven years old at the time and in the care of Juddmonte, the unplaced Amoura had had seven foals at the time, five of racing age and one winner.

“I had a very close association with Northfields when I started out,” Bolger said. “I always liked Northfields and his broodmares. This one [Amoura] had a very good tail female line of the Aga Khan’s. Even though she was older at the time I said ‘sure, if I get a couple of foals out of her I might get the makings of a good broodmare.’ Quest For Fame was standing out there [in Kentucky] at the time and I would have known all about him being a Derby winner. It was fortuitous for me that he was standing in America because I wasn’t going to bring Amoura home.”

Amoura’s first Bolger-bred foal was Mac Swiney’s second dam Siamsa (Quest For Fame {GB}), who won twice. Siamsa’s second foal was Halla Siamsa (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), who gave Bolger the Dewhurst winner Parish Hall (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) as well as his stakes-placed full-siblings Hall Of Fame (Ire) and Siamsaiocht (Ire). Five years later Siamsa produced the G2 Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial and G3 Ballysax S. winner and G1 Irish Derby-placed Light Heavy (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}), and the following year his full-sister, Mac Swiney’s dam Halla Na Saoire (Ire), who was Siamsa’s last foal.

Mac Swiney was making his sixth start in the Vertem Futurity Trophy, having beaten the useful Ballydoyle yardstick Wembley (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) when breaking his maiden at second asking and Jessica Harrington’s Cadillac (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) in the G2 Futurity S. on Aug. 22 at The Curragh. The heavy going and mile trip at Doncaster proved no problem for the chestnut, and Bolger described him as a horse for next year.

“We always felt that he’d improve a nice bit as a 3-year-old because he’ll be able to stretch out further as well,” he said. “I think he’ll stay a mile and a half but we’ll probably start off in one of the Guineas and go from there.”

All going well it would be no surprise to see Mac Swiney line up in a Derby alongside his former studmate Gear Up, who took his record to three from four for Mark Johnston over the heavy Saint-Cloud ground in the mile and a quarter Criterium de Saint-Cloud.

“I was thrilled for Mark Johnston because he has campaigned the horse very well and it was lovely to see him win his Group 1,” Bolger said.

As with Amoura, Gear Up’s dam Gearanai was sourced from Keeneland for $40,000 as a short yearling at the January sale in 2008. She is a granddaughter of the four-time Grade I and Classic winner Dispute (Danzig), and this is a family that has been very good to Bolger in particular this year; Maoineach (Congaree), a great-granddaughter of Dispute from a different branch of the family, provided Bolger with yet another group-winning 2-year-old in August in the form of the G3 Round Tower S. scorer New Treasure (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}). Gearanai supplied the G3 Eyrefield S. winner Guaranteed (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) two years ago and her Teofilo yearling colt topped last month’s Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale when bought by the Hong Kong Jockey Club for £325,000. He was consigned by Bolger’s granddaughter Clare Manning’s Boherguy Stud, as was the sale’s second-top lot, a New Approach colt out of Maoineach. Gearanai has a colt foal by Parish Hall (Ire), who Bolger retained after his racing career to cover some of his own mares. Parish Hall, who has his first 2-year-olds this year, won’t have huge numbers to represent him, but it is worth noting what Bolger has done with Vocalised, who he liked enough to use as a private stallion. Parish Hall has 22 foals in his first crop and from three runners has had a winner and one placed.

“I held onto him and he covers some of my mares every year, and hopefully there’s more to come from him,” Bolger said of Parish Hall. “They would be out of lesser mares; I sent him very ordinary mares, but some of them have shown me enough this year to indicate that they’ll probably be fairly good next year.”

Flying Visit brought up the hat trick on a remarkable day for Bolger in the Eyrefield going 1800 metres at Leopardstown. Bolger bought the second dam Six Nations (Danzig), a full-sister to Chief’s Crown, for €52,000 from Goffs November when she was 17, and the second mating that Bolger planned for her produced Flying Visit’s dam Fionnuar (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}). Flying Visit is the mare’s fifth foal; she has produced two winners by Pour Moi (Ire) and placed fillies by Vocalised and Intense Focus.

“She was quite good, she won a few races for us and she’s a great-looking mare with plenty of scope,” Bolger said of Fionnuair, adding modestly, “I’m sure she’ll make a good broodmare, but I haven’t done so well mating her. Hopefully I’ll get it right now in the future.”

It was certainly a tip of the cap for Pride Of Dubai to be sent a mare by Bolger for his first Northern Hemisphere book, and the Coolmore sire has obliged with five first-crop stakes winners including Flying Visit. Bolger admitted that while the script has worked out well, Flying Visit was not the result he had planned for with the mating.

“I knew Pride Of Dubai was a fast horse and I was looking for some speed, but I ended up getting a middle distance horse,” Bolger explained. “I’ll take what I got, but it wasn’t what I intended. I probably was hoping to get a filly out of that mare with a good turn of foot that I could keep to go to stud, but anyway, it wasn’t to be but the consolation is alright.”

Flying Visit was, remarkably, making his 10th start in 10 weeks in the Eyrefield. Bolger explained, “he’s not the easiest horse to manage. He’s ridden out every day by the one person. Because he was like that, after he ran the first time he did no more fast work at home. He does everything on the track and it’s working out well for him. He’ll definitely improve for next year and he’ll stay well also.”

By the time an eventful Saturday had passed, the Oct. 17 G3 Killavullan S. must have seemed like a distant memory in the Bolger camp, but indeed it was Poetic Flare who kicked off the entire sequence that day at Leopardstown. Poetic Flare had been a debut winner at Naas on Mar. 23 over Ballydoyle’s last-out Listed Doncaster S. winner Lipizzaner (Uncle Mo), and having not been seen in over six months, finished 10th of 14 in the G1 Dewhurst S. seven days prior to the Killavullan.

“I probably didn’t manage him that well,” Bolger reflected. “He won first time out and then we got locked up with the Covid. At the same time he began to grow. He was only 15.2 when he won his maiden and he has grown 2 1/2 inches since then. So I left him alone all summer but I left him on the easy list too long. Then I had to rush him back a little bit. He needed the run in the Dewhurst so I knew he’d come on a nice bit after that. He’s ready for the big time now.”

Bolger trained Poetic Flare’s third dam Saviour (Majestic Light) for owner/breeder Tom Gentry.

“Tom Gentry was a good friend of mine and he sent me Saviour to train,” he recalled. “I won a couple races with her but she wasn’t very correct and he wasn’t interested in bringing her back to breed from her, so I bought her from him.”

Saviour’s first foal was the listed-winning Graduated (Ire) (Royal Academy) and her third was Elida (Ire) (Royal Academy), who would later foal Maria Lee (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}), the dam of Poetic Flare and listed winner Glamorous Approach (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}). Those would all be outshone, though, by Saviour’s sixth foal Speirbhean (Ire) (Danehill), who provided Bolger with the champion 2-year-old and dual Group 1 winner Teofilo, who has become so synonymous with the success of his breeder and trainer as evidenced by the past two weekends’ results.

To breed and train four 2-year-old black-type winners in the space of seven days is a truly remarkable accomplishment. For that breeder and trainer to have also developed each of those four families from at least two generations back was likely unheard of before last weekend. When it comes to the development of top-class Thoroughbred families and homebred success, there are few that can claim more accolades than Jim Bolger.

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Record Returns Continue During Tattersalls Ireland Yearling Sale’s Closing Session

Day two of the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale was in some ways a repetition of Day 1 – the session topped again by a colt consigned from Clare Manning's Boherguy Stud, bred by her grandfather Jim Bolger (Lot 260).

The April-born New Approach colt, a full-brother to the Bolger-bred and trained New Treasure, winner of the Group 3 Round Tower Stakes, was bought by Robson Aguiar. He signed for Ebonos at £190,000 (US$242,016), purchasing on behalf of Amo Racing and trainer Roger Varian.

There was plenty of interest around the ring and underbidders included Dwayne Woods and Matt Coleman.

Consignor Clare Manning said of her two session-topping colts: “I knew the two of them were lovely individuals. Although they're quite different types, they're both extremely nice individuals in their own ways, and the updates were obviously big boosts. I thought they'd be popular but they've both completely exceeded expectations. They've both really pulled it out of the bag.

“It couldn't have gone any better really. To get one touch like that is unbelievable, never mind two.”

The other six-figure sale in the day two session was £155,000 (US$197,426) given for Lot 421, a Grove Stud-consigned colt by Night Of Thunder, also a son of New Approach.

He was one of 15 lots bought over the two days by the father and son team of Peter and Ross Doyle Bloodstock, the sale's leading buyer numerically and by spend. Trainer Stuart Williams was underbidder.

The two-day September Yearling Sale Part I produced a strong and a more-than-satisfactory set of results with its average of €24,145 (US$28,274) on a par with 2019, and its median of  €17,582 (US$20,589) a fall of 12 percent. Four yearlings sold for £150,000 (US$191,070) or more, another record for the September Yearling Sale.

The aggregate dropped by 15 percent to €7,992,107 (US$9,359,123), but the clearance rate was a very healthy 84 percent throughout the two-day sale.

At the conclusion of the September Yearling Sale, Tattersalls Ireland CEO Matt Mitchell commented;

“The venue for the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale was new, but the fundamentals of the sale remained the same. We had a catalog of quality yearlings catering for all sectors of the market and the clearance rate of 84 percent demonstrates the enduring appeal of the sale, even in these challenging times.

“The obvious highlight was the new record top price of £325,000 (US$413,978) for Jim Bolger's outstanding Teofilo colt consigned by his granddaughter Clare Manning and we are delighted that his support of the September Yearling Sale has been so richly rewarded. The feature of the sale has, however, been the depth to the trade from start to finish. We have had a record number of lots sell for £150,000 (US$191,070) or more and buyers from throughout Britain and Ireland have been competing with a strong overseas contingent, most notably from Italy.

“Relocating the sale was not an easy decision and we would like to thank the vendors and purchasers, all of whom have contributed to the success of the past two days. The sale has displayed a remarkable resilience under the circumstances and is a tribute to the professionalism and commitment of all concerned.”

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