Lively Start at Tattersalls as Frankel Filly Brings 1.5m Gns

A robust start to the second day's trade at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale soon featured a yearling to match the previous day's top price of 1.5 million gns when lot 201, Newsells Park Stud's filly by Frankel (GB) out of Shambolic (Ire), was sold to Coolmore.

Interested parties included Juddmonte's Simon Mockridge and agent Richard Knight, but it was MV Magnier who made the final bid from outside the auditorium. A first foal, the filly was bred by Newsells Park Stud in partnership with Craig Bennett's Merry Fox Stud. Her 6-year-old dam, by Shamardal, is a half-sister to the Hong Kong champion Viva Pataca (GB) (Comic Strip, in Europe) by Marjui (Ire) and the GI Flower Bowl Invitational S winner Laughing (Ire) (Dansili {GB}).

Lot 201 is the fourth seven-figure yearling sold at Tattersalls so far this week.

 

 

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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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‘Sir Michael Stoute Gave Me a Bollocking and Told Me Not to Be a Pessimist’ 

He has been branded a pessimist by Sir Michael Stoute for admitting as much, but Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock, who bought Cazoo Derby hero Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), believes Saturday's achievement will never be topped.

Brown, a renowned bloodstock agent with over 20 years of experience in the game, went to 280,000gns to secure Desert Crown on behalf of Saeed Suhail at Book 2 at Tattersalls in 2020 and counts himself as extremely lucky to have sourced what he believes is a once-in-a-lifetime colt. 

“I ended up at Sir Michael's for quite a few glasses of wine on Saturday night,” said Brown on Monday. “I called him yesterday [Sunday] to thank him and I said, 'look, you've done this before but I haven't and I'm sure I never will again.' 

“He gave me a bollocking and told me not to be a pessimist. I think it's once-in-a-lifetime stuff, mainly because so few Derby winners are offered up at public auction and you are up against the might of the top breeding operations like Coolmore, Juddmonte, Aga Khan and Godolphin. The chance of buying a horse like Desert Crown is so slim. We got very lucky.”

Desert Crown became Stoute's sixth Derby winner when powering home at Epsom under Richard Kingscote who, like Brown, was securing his first Derby. Prior to Saturday, Brown may have been best known for sourcing dual Group 1-winning juvenile Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) and top-notch sprinter Dream Ahead. However, Desert Crown eclipses all other achievements in the business and Brown is convinced he will never come across one better. 

He explained, “This won't be topped. It can't be topped. Rabbah Bloodstock was formed in 2006 and Jono Mills, who is one of my greatest mates, is the managing director and I work very closely with him, Bruce Raymond and Philip Robinson. It's through them that I have been able to buy for the people that I do. Also, I have known Sir Michael for a long time and, while we haven't done a lot of business together, we share a pretty big passion for cricket, which is all we ever seem to talk about. To be a small part of that team and to do it with these guys is very special.”

Brown added, “I am fortunate to buy for the people I do. I get to go to the sales and pick out the horses I like for people who trust me. It gives you a sporting chance. I spent many years going to the sales and not being able to buy these types of horses so I realise how fortunate I am that I have people who will back me to stretch out if I like one.”

Brown clearly liked Desert Crown as a yearling, as did plenty of others, given the colt fetched 280,000gns, above average for a colt by Nathaniel. But Brown was never going to be beaten to Desert Crown. Such was his love for him as a yearling, Brown revealed how he even ignored his own advice by laying his cards on the table and declaring his interest in the colt before he walked into the ring.

He recalled, “It's easy to say it now but he was outstanding, just a gorgeous horse with a great temperament, which he is showing now as a racehorse. We put a lot of emphasis on temperament at the sales and he just showed fantastically well. 

“I actually pride myself on my poker face at the sales but I couldn't hide my love for this guy. I told Gary Robinson, who bred the horse, what an outstanding specimen that he was and, as the words were coming out of my mouth, I was thinking 'what are you doing, what about your poker face?' He was just bombproof, such a cool dude, and he showed that on Saturday. He walked around the paddock and down to the start like a pro and he was a pro during the race as well.”

Brown has been buying for Desert Crown's owner Saeed Suhail, whose colours were also carried to Derby glory by Kris Kin (Kris S) in 2003, for three years. He sources between eight and 10 yearlings for the owner every year and, while the first batch were forgettable, Brown believes he is making up for his mistakes with Desert Crown. 

He explained, “Desert Crown is part of the second crop of horses I bought for Saeed Suhail. I didn't do a very good job with the first crop. We had some winners but didn't have a good horse. “I don't think I got the brief properly in the first year but we gave a good throw for a few horses in the second crop and luckily it's working out. To produce a Derby winner for Saeed Suhail is fantastic and there's some very positive reports about a couple of the 2-year-olds so hopefully that first crop is well and truly forgotten now.”

Brown added, “Nathaniel is a top-class stallion. You can't sire a mare like Enable (GB) without being top class. Andrew Stone of St Albans Bloodstock, who I do a lot of work for, had God Given (GB). She won a Group 2 in Britain before winning a Group 1 in Italy and was actually Luca Cumani's last Group 1 winner, so we have been huge fans of Nathaniel all the way through and the market does not give him the respect that he deserves. 

“That can happen. I have always thought he was a very underappreciated stallion so, when I saw a colt as nice as Desert Crown, I knew we had a chance. If he was by Frankel (GB), Dubawi (Ire) or Sea The Stars (Ire), I wouldn't have been able to buy him. He's an absolute beauty and the exciting thing is that he was still one of the more unfurnished colts in the Derby field so there should be a lot more to come from him.”

There is still an amount of celebrating to do before a plan is drawn up for the rest of the season but Brown is convinced that Desert Crown can build on Saturday's heroics. 

He said, “Sir Michael's training was exemplary. This horse had a minor setback in the spring. I went to see him in March and he was standing in his box so he was definitely undercooked heading into the Dante. When he won the Dante, I did think we had something special on our hands and it's looking that way now.”

“We are all having dinner tonight and I am sure it [future plans] will be discussed but that's well above my pay grade. The great thing is that, when you have guys as experienced as Bruce Raymond, Saeed's racing manager, and Sir Michael, you don't need to worry about it. They'll get things right. Where they decide to go next, that's down to them, I'm just lucky to be a small part of the team.”

 

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Strawberry Fields Forever

“The Derby is a different game,” breeder Gary Robinson told TDN's Alayna Cullen on camera last week, and he now knows that for sure, for his Strawberry Fields Stud just outside Newmarket can proudly boast of being the birthplace of the Derby winner Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}).

While most of Robinson's team from the farm travelled to Epsom to watch their graduate's crowning moment, the stud owner himself took a leaf out of The Queen's book and watched the race at home from the comfort of his own sofa.

As the horse's trainer Sir Michael Stoute received three cheers from the Epsom crowd so delighted to see him back in the winner's circle he first visited on Derby day with Shergar (GB) 41 years ago, Robinson said via telephone, “I'm going to the pub now to tell everyone I don't do handicaps.”

He added, “I stayed at home with my daughter and her partner and it was just so exciting to watch. I wasn't a bit nervous, I have nerves of steel.”

The breeder said that he had believed in the horse from the start, and indeed he had employed a bold marketing approach when offering Desert Crown during Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, with an advert including the strapline, “A future Classic winner?”

It worked, as Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock went to 280,000gns to purchase the half-brother to Hong Kong Group 3 winner Flying Thunder (GB) (Archipenko) for owner Saeed Suhail.

Robinson can now remove that question mark, with Desert Crown having freewheeled around Tattenham Corner and down the hill to a sixth Derby success for Stoute and a second for Suhail, who also owned the 2004 winner Kris Kin (Kris S.), as well as 2000 Guineas winner King's Best (Kingmambo).

“When I sold him I said to people, 'do yourself a favour and buy something for the weekend'. I always knew he was going to be a Classic winner,” Robinson said with a laugh. “But joking apart he was a lovely horse and he went to a fantastic stable.”

Desert Crown's Juddmonte-bred granddam Foreign Language (Distant View) is a half-sister to Binche (GB) (Woodman), whose four stakes-winning offspring for Prince Khalid Abdullah include the Group 1 winners Proviso (GB) (Dansili {GB}) and Byword (GB) (Peintre Celebre).

“We're not breeding sprinters, we've gone for Classic types if we can,” Robinson added. “We're in to the end.”

Those are words that Julian Dollar of Newsells Park Stud would doubtless be pleased to hear more often from breeders of varying sizes, and indeed Robinson has returned to that particular well twice, as Desert Crown's dam Desert Berry (GB) (Green Desert) has a full-brother to the Derby winner at foot and is now back in foal to him. The well-bred Nathaniel, a Group 1 winner at 10 and 12 furlongs and one of the stud's three resident stallions, has had dwindling support from Flat breeders despite producing one of the standout performers of the modern era, Enable (GB), from his first crop. The 14-year-old son of Galileo (Ire) has been busy this season but an increasing number of mares sent to him in Royston are from the National Hunt sector.

“I feel a bit of vindication,” said Dollar as he left Epsom on Saturday. “People have started to doubt him and that has made me question if we can stand him at Newsells Park Stud as he is not fashionable enough.”

He continued, “The owner/breeders who should be supporting him have not been supporting him as much, but he has proven himself over and over again. He's had Enable, and now this horse, who looks seriously exciting, but it's not just them, he's had a French Oaks winner and plenty of other good horses.

“I can't change things and we all know how the market is but it does frustrate me when some horses get so hyped and Nathaniel doesn't get the respect he deserves. But we are governed by the market, and that is just the way it is.”

Prior to Saturday, Nathaniel's five other Group/Grade 1 winners were all fillies: the Classic winners Enable and Channel (Ire), along with last season's Nassau S. victrix Lady Bowthorpe (GB), God Given (GB), and the former French-trained Mutamakina (GB), who won the EP Taylor S. at Woodbine.

Dollar added, “A day like today makes me feel like it's a bit of a two fingers up to the market and to the sales houses who won't take a Nathaniel. I'm overwhelmingly proud of him and it is my privilege to work alongside him. He has three mares left to cover today, and another three tomorrow, and probably three the day after that given the type of mares he is covering these days.

“This is a fantastic day for the breeders. I saw the team from Strawberry Field Stud and had a glass of champagne with them. They are all delighted and so they should be. It's what we all still want to do, to breed a Derby winner.”

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