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Figures Strong At Sportsman’s Sale

There was barely time for the dust to settle on a successful renewal of the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale before the firm continued on Thursday with the first of two days of its Sportsman's Yearling Sale, which likewise returned strong results.

The Sportsman's Sale, like the Orby, was relocated last year to the Goffs UK headquarters in Doncaster with the pandemic making it all but impossible for visitors to travel to Ireland, and back at its rightful home in Kildare on Thursday the first session returned positive figures. Whereas in 2020 during the first session 104 yearlings had grossed £1,404,000, 186 were sold on Thursday for €3,945,000. This year's average of €21,210 was up 43% on last year's figure of £13,500, and even improved on the 2019 first-day average of €17,954. The median likewise climbed 45% to €16,000; it was £10,000 last year and €14,000 on day one in 2019. The clearance rate was 90%.

Topping trade on Thursday was a Dark Angel (Ire) filly from Lumville Farm knocked down to Cathy Grassick of Brian Grassick Bloodstock for €140,000. Bred by Shadwell, Lot 475 is the first foal out of the listed-placed Ghazawaat (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), whose dam and half-sister Simply Striking (Fr) (Kheleyf) were both stakes-placed.

“In terms of this sale she was a standout and we're delighted to have gotten her,” said Grassick. “I've bought horses this week for a new client and ones from America and Australia and they are going to keep their purchases in training here which is great to see.”

There was one Siyouni colt offered on the day, and Tom Whitehead of Powerstown Stud swooped to get him at €105,000. He is likewise a first foal; lot 577 was bred by Sunderland Holding and is out of the placed Dawn Approach (Ire) mare Miss Aiglonne (GB), herself a daughter of the G3 Prix Fille de l'Air victress Aiglonne (Silver Hawk) and a half-sister to four stakes winners including G1 Prix d'Ispahan scorer Mekhtaal (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) and G3 Prix Thomas Bryon victor Normandy Bridge (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}).

Bungle Inthejungle (GB) has been in the news of late thanks to his G1 Nunthorpe S. winner Winter Power (Ire), and a filly by the Rathasker Stud sire found favour with Rodrigo Goncalves and Robson Aguiar at €90,000. The filly (lot 630) offered by Rathasker is out of the listed-winning Princess Janie (Elusive Quality), and a half-sister to the listed-placed Lundy (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), and she will be raced by Kia Joorabchian's Amo Racing.

“She has been bought in partnership with Robson Aguiar for Amo Racing and she is a lovely filly,” said Goncalves. “She looks a really sharp and early type and she is by the same sire as Winter Power so hopefully she can progress like her. She looks a filly with a real future.”

First-crop sire US Navy Flag enjoyed good results at Orby, and a filly by him bred by Peter and Hugh McCutcheon sold for €82,000 on Thursday to Montgomery Otto.

Cotai Glory has enjoyed good results with his first runners this season, and he accounted for three of the top 10 sellers on Thursday, including a filly (lot 497) picked up by Joe Foley for €68,000.

All yearlings purchased at the Sportsman's Sale are eligible for the €100,000 Goffs Sportsman's Challenge, which will be held over six furlongs at Naas next September.

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Caravaggio Colt Tops Second Day Of Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale

The Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale continued in robust fashion during the second and final session with a son of Caravaggio lighting up the sale ring when selling for 240,000 guineas. The clearance rate remained a feature of the sale, finishing on 88 percent, whilst the turnover of 10,408,500 guineas was the fourth highest for the sale since 2008.

SackvilleDonald's Alastair Donald secured the attractive colt by first-season sire Caravaggio for 240,000 guineas after seeing off the efforts of Irish trainer Michael O'Callaghan. The son of the Galileo mare Bright Sapphire is a half-brother to the group-placed colt Wall of Fire.

“He is for a new Hong Kong client, he will go out to Hong Kong at the end of the season,” revealed Donald. “He will be pre-trained in England, he is a lovely big horse and he has a nice pedigree. He breezed well for a big horse and looks the type to do well in Hong Kong.”

Donald added: “They don't race until they are 3-year-olds, so don't want a 'here and now' horse. The sire looks like he has got a very nice 2-year-old already and this is the first I have bought by the sire. I did like the yearlings – they are particularly good walkers, and this horse's movement is very good.”

The colt was sold by Yeomanstown Stud, who bought the colt at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale for 155,000 guineas. Yeomanstown Stud's David O'Callaghan commented;

“He is a beautiful colt, he breezed really well and has a great attitude. We're very pleased, he was always a lovely horse and he hasn't missed a day.”

Kuwaiti buyer Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah bought the second highest priced lot for the day when going to 185,000 guineas to secure the Union Rags colt out of Careless Jewel. Named Tattered Flag, the February born colt was bought last September by Tom Whitehead of Powerstown Stud for $115,000 and was part of a three-horse draft that included lot 90, a colt by the fellow U.S.-based sire Practical Joke. He made 140,000 guineas and was bought by trainer Michael O'Callaghan.

“I am very pleased,” said Whitehead. “They are two nice horses, and the Union Rags will be a lovely horse later in the year.”

Whitehead's 2020 buying mission took place during the real depths of the COVID pandemic with travel restrictions and problems, but he is now obviously delighted that he managed to make the journey stateside;

“It was touch and go whether we'd get to the U.S. last year. That has been a great start, but we are only halfway there – we've another seven or eight to sell”

At the conclusion of the 2021 Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale, Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony commented;

“We introduced the £250,000 Craven Royal Ascot/Group 1 Bonus this year, in addition to the lucrative £15,000 Craven Breeze Up Bonus and it is clear that owners have embraced these unprecedented bonuses. We have seen solid and diverse demand at all levels of the market from start to finish which has produced the best Craven Breeze Up clearance rate since 2000 and key indicators which have held up well, especially when taken in the context of the COVID – related challenges and restrictions which we are all still grappling with and which continue to hinder international travel.

“Nevertheless, to hear consistently positive feedback from owners, trainers, agents and consignors about the bonuses has been gratifying, and reinforces our commitment to exploring as many innovative ways as possible to reward owners who buy at Tattersalls with extra prize money. There is no doubt that we will see plenty of this crop of Craven Breeze Up graduates performing at a high level and it would be even more pleasing than usual if the Royal Ascot and Group 1 bonuses were won in the coming months.

“Despite the prolonged difficulties with international travel, overseas buyers have again demonstrated their appetite for high class Tattersalls breeze up 2-year-olds. Buyers from America, Bahrain, Dubai, France, Italy, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Singapore have all been active, many of them using the live internet bidding platform, and as well as paying tribute to the consignors who have as ever presented an outstanding collection of two year olds, we must again commend everyone for their patience with the regulations and determination to overcome the obstacles we continue to face. We are still having to conduct sales under strict guidelines, but as well as looking forward to the forthcoming Guineas Breeze Up and Horses in Training Sale, we are also looking forward to returning to more normality in the not too distant future.”

The next chance to buy a 'breezer' at Tattersalls is at the Guineas Breeze Up and Horses in Training Sale which takes place from April 28-30, with all lots breezing on the Rowley Mile at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, April 28 before the sale on Friday, April 30.

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Chantilly Double For Powerstown Breezers

As Covid travel restrictions prompted delays and relocations, last season's breeze-up sales were anything but plain sailing for many consignors. Some consolation was found on Thursday at Chantilly for Tom Whitehead of Powerstown Stud, who celebrated two first-time-out winners with Keeneland yearling purchases.

The first race of the day, the Prix du Rond du Manege, went to Bellharbour Music, a May-foaled colt from the first crop of Mshawish, bought in September 2019 from Brookdale Sales for $30,000. Now trained in Chantilly by Alessandro and Giuseppe Botti, Bellharbour Music is still in Whitehead's ownership having picked up a small injury prior to his intended appearance at the Arqana Breeze-up, which last year was held at Doncaster in July.

He is the first runner and winner in France for his second-crop sire, who was himself a breeze-up graduate from the Arqana sale having been bought in Kentucky by Whitehead's friend and colleague Johnny Collins for just $10,000. A profitable pinhook, Mshawish was then resold at two to Nicolas de Watrigant on behalf of Al Shaqab Racing for $170,000 and went on to win a listed race in Deauville before becoming a dual Grade I winner in America.

After his victory in the GI Donn H., Mshawish closed out his career by running sixth to California Chrome in the Dubai World Cup of 2016 and both stallions then retired to Taylor Made Farm in Kentucky the following year. Their names were linked again at Chantilly when, two hours after Bellharbour Music's win, California Chrome's 3-year-old daughter Injera made a similarly impressive debut. The filly, trained by another French-based Italian, Gianluca Bietolini, triumphed in the Prix de la Croix Vaillant to become the first European winner for her sire, who is now at Arrow Stud in Japan.

“The colt just had a minor setback and he couldn't go to the sale. I sold the filly privately when we didn't know if the sales were going to go ahead,” explained Whitehead. who is based in Co Kilkenny, Ireland.

“I sent them both over to France around Christmastime so they've been there around six weeks. They weren't worked hard at home but by jockey bookings and betting they were both fancied so they must have been doing some nice work. I know it's only February but it's never easy winning in Chantilly.”

Whitehead is a regular at Keeneland and works the yearling sales in tandem with Nancy Sexton. He bought last season's GII Fountain of Youth S. winner Ete Indien (Summer Front) at the September Sale for $80,000 before reselling him at Arqana to Patrick Biancone for €240,000.

Casting his mind back to the purchase of Bellharbour Music, he said, “I knew the stallion Mshawish when Johnny sold him at the breeze-ups and I followed him through his racing career. When the first crop came up for sale in America I knew he was a good horse and I thought why not buy one. He won on dirt and turf and he was tough, racing until he was six.”

Whitehead's Powerstown Stud will have a team of 25 juveniles to offer at the forthcoming breeze-up sales. He added, “We're happy enough for now but the next month or two will tell. They are roughly half and half American and European horses. Now we just need lockdown to end and to get people back racing.”

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