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Market Holds Up At Tattersalls Ireland

Fledgling consignor Clare Manning of Boherguy Stud stole all the headlines during the opening session of the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale on Monday when selling her grandfather Jim Bolger’s Teofilo colt (lot 165) for a sale record price of £325,000, and it was more of the same on Tuesday when Manning sold Bolger’s New Approach (Ire) colt out of the dual Group 3 winner Maoineach (Congaree) (lot 260) for a session-topping £190,000 to Robson Aguiar acting on behalf of Amo Racing and trainer Roger Varian.

Like the Teofilo colt 24 hours earlier, the New Approach colt had been the beneficiary of a major update since the printing of the catalogue. His 2-year-old full-brother New Treasure (Ire), unraced at the time of catalogue printing, broke his maiden in the G3 Round Tower S. on Aug. 28 and was second in the Listed Blenheim S. on Sept. 21 for Bolger.

Amo Racing has burst onto the scene this season with flagbearers like Listed Marygate Fillies’ S. scorer Sardinia Sunset (Ire) (Gutaifan {Ire}) and G3 Albany S. second Setarhe (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) with Varian, and it looks as if they will have another quality runner to go to battle with next year. After outbidding the likes of Dwayne Woods and Matt Coleman, Aguiar deflected credit for the find, saying, “Roger [Varian] really liked this horse, I am just helping. The colt has everything there; he is a nice horse and has a nice pedigree.”

Clare Manning reflected on her successful week, saying, “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. There was a bit of apprehension coming to sale as we knew we had nice individuals but you’re just not sure how deep people are going to be willing to put their hands into their pockets.”

Considering global economic unrest and complications of travel, figures held up remarkably well over the two-day sale. From 396 offered during Part I, 333 yearlings were sold for €8,009,140 at a clearance rate of 84%; it was 86% last year. The average was on par at €24,051, while the median dipped 12% to €17,582. The sale was conducted in pounds sterling but statistics converted to Euros for ease of comparison.

Another Thunder For Hannon

Few people would know Night Of Thunder (Ire) better than Richard Hannon, the trainer having guided the rising star sire through a three-year racing career including victories in the G1 2000 Guineas and G1 Lockinge S. Hannon will take charge of Night Of Thunder’s lone offering at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale, with Ross Doyle having outbid trainer Stuart Williams at £155,000 for lot 421 from Grove Stud.

“He is a very nice individual,” said Doyle. “I took Richard Hannon to see him yesterday and he said that this horse reminds him of his sire Night Of Thunder, whom he trained. This colt looks a 2-year-old type, he walks well, he is from a good farm in Grove Stud and, of course, Night Of Thunder is doing so well, he has some fantastic stats–gives you great chances of getting a good racehorse.”

The chestnut is the first foal out of Tuolumne Meadows (GB) (High Chaparral {Ire}), a half-sister to G3 Prix Thomas Byron victor Circumvent (GB) (Tobougg {Ire}) and three other stakes-placed winners. He represented a good pinhooking score for Holland, who paid 30,000gns for him at Tattersalls December last year.

Another excellent pinhook result was achieved by Timmy Hillman and Phil Hoare, whose Starspangledbanner (Aus) filly (lot 414) blossomed from a 2,500gns foal to a £42,000 yearling yesterday when bought by Hubie de Burgh and trainer Fozzy Stack. The filly’s dam, The Last Sister (Ire) (Lord Shanakill), is a half-sister to Group 3 winner and producer Lady Springbank (Ire) (Choisir {Aus}), and the third dam is the good German producer Santina (Ger).

Hillman recalled from last year’s Tattersalls December Sale, “We were sat on the seats here and watching her go around and not making a lot. We had not seen her beforehand, but said, ‘let’s stick in a grand each.’ So we did and bought her for 2,500gns.

“She has been a very simple filly to do, and has been busy since she has been here.”

DeBurgh added, “We love Starspangledbanner–we bought Aloha Star here last year. We have been very lucky with him. This is a beautiful filly, and has a great page, too.”

Dandy Man Colt Lauded By Sackville

Ed Sackville went to €46,000 at this sale last year to secure an Acclamation (GB) colt who is the first foal out of the stakes-placed 2-year-old Thatsallimsaying (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}). That colt, now named Lauded (GB), won on debut at Haydock on June 8 by 4 1/2 lengths for Manor House Racing, prompting Al Shaqab to buy into him. He was subsequently third in the G2 Richmond S. Sackville clearly has a high opinion of Lauded, having gone to £70,000 to secure his close relative on Tuesday. Ballyhane Stud’s Dandy Man (Ire) colt (lot 276) is a full-brother to Lauded’s dam Thatsallimsaying.

Of his most expensive of nine purchases during Part I of the sale, Sackville said, “This colt is by a stallion that we love, and this is a family that we know well–we had Lauded and Julius Geezer [under the second dam]. This colt looks fast, a real sharp-looking 2-year-old type. He is a fairly similar type to Lauded.”

Champers Team Back For More

Johnny Murtagh and Eddie Linehan selected none other than Champers Elysees (Ire) (Elzaam {Aus}) for €28,000 at this sale two years ago, and she went on to provide her trainer with a first Group 1 win in that realm in the Matron S. earlier this month. Murtagh and Linehan were back out in force in Newmarket, signing jointly for seven lots during Part I of the sale, with another three credited to Linehan.

The dearest among them was lot 437, Salcey Forest Stud’s £70,000 Acclamation (GB) colt out of Voom Voom (Ire) (Bahamian Bounty {GB}), a half-sister to top-class sprinters The Tin Man (GB) (Equiano {Fr}) and Deacon Blues (GB) (Compton Place {GB}). Murtagh revealed that he has the mare’s 2-year-old Get Funky (Ire) (Pearl Secret {GB}) in his yard, that one having been bought for £26,000 by SackvilleDonald at Doncaster’s Premier yearling sale last year.

“We’ve waited some time for him today,” Murtagh said. “He looks a ready-made 2-year-old and I have the half-brother, who is a very genuine horse and this colt looks faster than him.”

Others on Murtagh’s and Linehan’s list on Tuesday included lot 244, a filly by Lope De Vega who was the lone offering by her sire in the sale for £47,000; and lot 314, a Requinto (Ire) colt from Kildaragh Stud for £32,000.

Acclamation’s son Mehmas (Ire) was understandably in demand during the session, the Tally-Ho Stud resident doing as well as he is with his first runners this season, and he had a pair of colts sell for £65,000. Tally-Ho offered its homebred colt out of She Bu (Ire) (Bushranger {Ire}) (lot 374), and he was picked up by Kevin and Anna Ross on behalf of Paul and Clare Rooney.

“His sire Mehmas is doing so well,” said Kevin Ross, “He has proved he can get a good horse. This colt looks a hardy 2-year-old type, is from a fast pedigree and he looked to us as though he could be a type for Royal Ascot. He is for Paul and Clare Rooney, and a trainer will be decided upon at a later date.”

The unraced She Bu is a half-sister to listed-winning sprinter Ruby Rocket (Ire) (Indian Rocket {GB}), the dam of G1 Prix de l’Abbaye scorer Maarek (GB), as well as Alexander Alliance (Ire) (Danetime {Ire}), whose current 2-year-old is the dual group-placed Mehmas colt Mystery Smiles (Ire). Another sister produced the G2 Flying Childers S. winner and first-crop yearling sire Ardad (Ire). Overbury Stud resident Ardad himself had a colt (lot 340) sell for £55,000 on Tuesday–“I have been very impressed with the sons of Kodiac that have had runners, and I have liked a lot of the Ardads that I have seen,” said Luke Lillingston after signing for that one for Kennett Valley Thoroughbreds.

Mehmas’s lot 265 is one of a large handful of yearlings from this sale headed to Italy, having been bought by Marco Bozzi for £65,000. Breeders Peter and James Jones will have been pleased with their decision to bring him home from last year’s Goffs November Foal Sale after he was led out unsold at €20,000.

“He has been bought by Mrs Roveda and he goes into training in Milan with Mr. Biondi,” Bozzi explained. “We have been buying for many years at Tattersalls. We liked this horse a lot, he is very strong and Mehmas has been going very well.”

Mehmas ended the sale as leading sire by average with three or more sold, his 14 averaging €41,429.

Ascot Dreams For Kodiac Filly

Kodiac (GB) had his name in lights at Royal Ascot this year, with Group 2-winning juveniles Campanelle (Ire) and Nando Parrado (Ire) starring alongside G1 Diamond Jubilee winner Hello Youmzain (Ire). The former went on to win the G1 Prix Morny and highlight another excellent season for juveniles for the Tally-Ho sire, one which also includes G2 Flying Childers S. victor Ubettabelieveit (Ire), G3 Firth of Clyde S. winner Umm Kulthum (Ire) and listed winners Frenetic (Ire), Zoetic (Ire) and Bahrain Pride (Ire).

Tim Palin of Middleham Park Racing has his sights firmly set on Royal Ascot after shelling out £68,000 for Croom House Stud’s Kodiac daughter of the G2 Debutante S. second Oui Say Oui (Ire) (Royal Applause {GB}) (lot 306).

“A gorgeous filly, probably the nicest filly we saw this week,” said Palin. “Ross [Doyle, who signed the ticket] just used the word ‘queen,’ and she is. The auctioneer commented about Royal Ascot and you could just see her winging around Chester in the Lily Agnes and going to the Queen Mary or the Albany.”

The family has some scope to it as well; the second dam is the excellent producer Mohican Princess, also responsible for the G3 Ballyroan S. winner Eye of the Storm (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), G3 Sirenia S. and G3 Joel S. scorer Satchem (Ire) (Inchinor {GB}) and Mohican Heights (Ire) (Australia {GB}), winner of last year’s Stonehenge S. and third in this season’s G2 King Edward VII S.

“It’s a fantastic page and she’s quite a progressive mare, who is really just getting going,” Palin added. “We might just have had one or two bids too many but we fell in love with her. She’s going to Richard Hannon.”

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

“The obvious highlight was the new record top price of £325,000 for Jim Bolger’s outstanding Teofilo (Ire) 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 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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Military March Out Of Epsom Derby

Godolphin G3 Autumn S. winner and G1 2000 Guineas fourth Military March (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) has been ruled out of the July 4 G1 Investec Derby after suffering a setback, according to trainer Saeed bin Suroor. Military March was third favourite for the blue riband.

“He’ll be back by the end of the season, but his setback means no Derby,” the trainer said. “He’s a nice horse, we like him and he was doing really well so it’s really unfortunate. He’ll have a break now, but he should be back in October and we’ll look forward to that.

“It’s sad that he’s not running. He ran a good race in the Guineas and the Derby looked the perfect race for him; we’ve always felt he was a mile-and-a-quarter or mile-and-a-half horse, but he’s still one to look forward to in the future. It’s not serious, but he just needs time.

“He would have been my best chance in the Derby for a long time.”

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Record Enshrines Legend Of Galileo

And still the arrow holds its course: that perfect blaze, tapered down from the fletching between his eyes until opening into the neatly pointed tip above his nostrils. His whole life has seemed to obey the inexorable momentum implied in that warpaint. Ever onwards, ever upwards. Sure enough, with perhaps the most telling of all his records secured outright by his daughter Peaceful (Ire) in the G1 Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas on Saturday, Galileo (Ire) maintains his unwavering trajectory even into the evening of his career.

With another spring of undiminished virility behind him, at 22, Galileo could well elevate this latest benchmark–the 85th elite scorer of his stud career–beyond the reach of any future paragon. Even if pensioned tomorrow, Galileo would have four crops still to enter the fray; all, naturally, produced by mares of due eligibility. As such, even a century of Group 1 winners seems perfectly within his embrace.

The breed, then, can already count a relative longevity among the many Galileo assets to which it is indebted. Danehill, with whom he had previously shared the record, died in a paddock accident at 17. And Montjeu (Ire), the son of Sadler’s Wells who contested the succession most ardently with Galileo, was lost through septicaemia complications at 16. Happily, their sire set a more hopeful example, having been retired from stud duty only at 27.

Those names, among very few of the modern era eligible for the same pantheon, all attest to the presiding genius behind Galileo. For Sadler’s Wells, Danehill and Montjeu were three other bastions of the revolution in commercial breeding inspired by John Magnier and his partners at Coolmore.

Magnier’s acumen as a breeder and dealer, of course, has been consecutively complemented by two other horsemen united by a comparable genius, the same surname, and the same stable. His father-in-law Vincent O’Brien was integral to the original transfusion of dynamic American blood into a stagnant European gene pool, most notably through Northern Dancer–sire and grandsire, respectively, of Sadler’s Wells and Danehill. In Ballydoyle’s modern epoch, of course, Peaceful’s trainer Aidan O’Brien has proved no less relentless an achiever.

Posterity, in absorbing the impact on the Stud Book of Sadler’s Wells and then Galileo, will have a convenient brand for the respective O’Brien eras. On the track, admittedly, Sadler’s Wells did not seem to belong to the very first echelon of Ballydoyle champions. Indeed, Jim Bolger remembers getting into the lift at The Curragh after the horse had just won the Irish 2,000 Guineas, finding Vincent O’Brien there, and detecting a hint of bemusement in response to his congratulations.

And it was Bolger himself, of course, who later played a pivotal role in the Galileo story. Quite apart from his contribution as mentor to Aidan O’Brien, Bolger famously bet the bank on Galileo even as the early vibes were so discouraging that his opening fee of €60,000 had been cut to €37,500. When duly coming up with Teofilo (Ire) and New Approach (Ire), moreover, Bolger also sold access to Coolmore’s most precious bloodline to the farm’s habitual antagonists in Dubai. And that, in turn, has opened new branches of the Galileo dynasty–as in the case of 2018 Derby winner Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}).

In fact, we have reached the point where lines through Galileo, Montjeu and Galileo’s half-brother Sea The Stars (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) have almost saturated the Classic endeavours of elite European operations. Certainly it has become incumbent on Coolmore, with so many of Galileo’s daughters in their paddocks, to renew precisely the kind of overseas experiments that produced Sadler’s Wells and company in the first place. Their search for a viable outcross has, once again, brought benefits for many others in Europe. War Front and Scat Daddy duly made their names as international influences, much like Storm Cat before them; and the early signs are that American Pharoah will transfer his ability to carry dirt speed onto grass.

Others, equally, have been able to share the formula evolved by Coolmore to sharpen Galileo’s genetic preponderance towards stamina. With faster and faster mates, Galileo has increasingly broadened his repertoire to the extent that contributors to this new record include many juveniles, milers and even a Group 1 winner at six furlongs in Clemmie (Ire). In demanding ground, moreover, his son Gustav Klimt (Ire) came within a length of landing an elite sprint for older horses when third in the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup in 2018.

The ultimate dividend from sprinting mares, however, has obviously been Frankel (GB)–whose own spectacular start at stud suggests that Coolmore, having kept the premier heir to Sadler’s Wells inside the corral, may not have managed to repeat that trick. Frankel, of course, is out of a Danehill mare and Juddmonte, to be fair, probably felt that his advent represented a courteous reciprocation after the sale of his damsire, at the end of his racing career, to stand at Coolmore.

This is not the place to debate the substance or otherwise of “crossing” sire-lines. It goes without saying that the Danehill mares sent to Galileo could only have been talented and/or well-bred, and the input of another great stallion should pretty reliably produce plenty of good runners as a result. Whether or not any specific affinity should be implied, it is not hard to accept that a little bit of Danzig pep could logically bring useful equilibrium to the staying power associated with Sadler’s Wells.

Regardless, as things stand 15 of Galileo’s 85 Group 1/Grade I scorers are out of daughters of Danehill. Of the dozen best on official ratings, however, only Frankel represents this supposedly alchemical formula.

There are, of course, manifold other genetic strands entwined in every pedigree. When Magnier bought him, for instance, the appeal of Danehill himself was doubtless heightened by the replication of Natalma on both sides of his pedigree: as third dam, and also as the mother of Danzig’s sire Northern Dancer.

As one of the few mares in the breed’s history to stand comparison with Natalma, Galileo’s dam Urban Sea (Miswaki) must also be staunchly defended against any clumsy inference that he inherited the Sadler’s Wells dominions simply by paternal succession.

For Urban Sea, not Galileo, is the true monarch of Epsom in the 21st Century, having divided her influence there through her other great son Sea The Stars (Ire); not to forget her great-granddaughter Khawlah (Ire), who is by the same sire as Sea The Stars and gave the family another Derby winner a couple of years ago in Masar.

Masar’s luminous distinction, in being inbred 3×4 to Urban Sea, was predictably given less attention than the fact that he carries exactly the same imprint of Ahonoora (GB). By the same token, it surely behooves us to ask whether less familiar genetic strands behind Urban Sea may have contributed to her legacy. The German family is by now well familiar, decorated as it also is by the likes of King’s Best (Kingmambo) and Tamayuz (GB) (Nayef); but even Bolger has professed perplexed curiosity as to the sire of Galileo’s third dam, a forgotten grandson of Tesio’s charismatic Donatello (Ity) named Espresso (GB).

Enough dredging the past; let’s look ahead. Even the greatest empire has its frontiers. Are there still uncharted deserts Galileo can colonise?

Well, of course. Most obviously, his perennial multiple representation in the Derby makes Galileo highly eligible to claim outright the record of four winners he currently shares with Montjeu, as well as Blandford, Cyllene, Waxy and Sir Peter Teazle. And there is unfinished business, also, with his own sire. Sadler’s Wells was champion sire of Britain and Ireland 14 times; Galileo has so far managed 11 titles. As we’ve already said, however, he has plenty of ammunition still to be unloaded.

It is the horse from whom he claimed this latest record, however, who perhaps makes Galileo look to his laurels. Danehill, in addition to his three domestic titles, was champion sire of Australia nine times; and the dynasties he founded there, as a shuttling pioneer, make him one of the breed’s all-time game-changers.

Galileo, notoriously, made less of an impression after five sojourns in the Hunter Valley early in his stud career resulted in three locally-bred Group 1 winners, but a further six imports from the North have thus far brought his tally in Australasia to nine. Nor has he matched the diverse reach of El Prado (Ire), the principal conduit of their sire in America. Though El Prado and his son Kitten’s Joy conform to the Sadler’s Wells profile as unequivocal turf stallions, and Galileo ran that way when rolling the dice on dirt at the Breeders’ Cup, Medaglia d’Oro has parlayed his inheritance onto dirt both as a runner and a sire; and the El Prado line has also diversified to produce sprinters as fast as Astern, Artie Schiller and Bobby’s Kitten.

Frankel, it must be said, had a running style tailor made for dirt. Perhaps his own stock, who have shown a similar tendency to carry speed, may yet be given that chance. (His brother Noble Mission already has a top-class dirt runner in Code Of Honor.) As it is, however, the single deficiency in Galileo’s historic career might be a failure to translate his breed-shaping influence beyond a known, congenial environment. He has not matched the geographical reach of Danehill, nor straddled disciplines like El Prado’s sons.

But these are the imperfections sewn into the Persian carpet, against any presumption of divinity. Galileo has been an impeccable influence, giving a priceless glamour to attributes–stamina, constitution, courage and sheer Classic quality–that were falling perilously out of favour. What that would have meant, without him, is easy to see. Just look at the ostensible “commercial” sector in Europe: it is dominated by precocious sprinting blood, generally without the faintest pretension to breeding a Classic racehorse.

To that extent, Galileo and his clan have actually profited from an increasingly clear run, above all at Epsom, a target in effect renounced by any breeder favouring “commercial” types over stallions eligible to challenge the Derby/Oaks hegemony. The same is largely true even of the mile Classics, but Kitten’s Joy has reminded us all–from severely limited opportunities in Europe–that there are alternatives to defeatism.

As it is, however, let’s celebrate an emperor who remains gloriously in his pomp. For so long as people still breed Thoroughbreds, the legacy of Galileo will be honoured. And whatever else Peaceful goes on to achieve, her name will be preserved in the annals primarily for this latest seal on the prowess of her sire. For Galileo has redefined the very nature of the elite European racehorse–and immeasurably for the better.

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