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Galileo: The Hardest Of Acts To Follow

In a temporarily upside-down world, a comforting air of normality can be found in a perusal of the end-of-year stallion tables. To Benjamin Franklin’s certainties of death and taxes, in this smaller world we can add just about the only sure thing in racing and bloodstock: Galileo (Ire) is champion sire.

Perhaps the greatest compliment that can be paid to the King of Tipperary is the fact that, even at his home at Coolmore, the operation which naturally has free-flowing access to the supersire via some of the best mares on the planet, the hunt is still on for his rightful heir. It may be too much to expect that a son will be able to continue the line with a show of such dominance, as Galileo did for his own sire Sadler’s Wells, and he in turn for Northern Dancer. Galileo certainly has some very good sire sons out there—not least his greatest achievement, Frankel (GB), and the former champion 2-year-old Teofilo (Ire)—but he once again remains way out in front of allcomers after another record-breaking year.

Galileo officially turns 23 on New Year’s Day and he has now been champion sire in Britain and Ireland for more than half of his life. After the most unsettling year in living memory, when the Guineas, Oaks and Derby were all delayed, Galileo once again left his increasingly imposing mark on the season’s Classics.

His daughter Love (Ire) won the 1000 Guineas before posting arguably the most impressive performance by a 3-year-old all season when going on to land the Oaks. Between those two races, her stablemate Peaceful (Ire) had pushed Galileo into new record-breaking territory when becoming his 85th individual Group 1 winner in the Irish 1000 Guineas, thereby wresting the title from Danehill, the stallion with whom he has shown such an affinity.

Further records were to follow. The Derby of 2020 was a memorable one, perhaps not for the right reason, but the tearaway winner Serpentine (Ire) meant Galileo went clear as the most successful Derby sire of all time, his five winners putting him ahead of Sir Peter Teazle, Waxy, Cyllene, Blandford, and his erstwhile stud-mate Montjeu (Ire).

With over £5 million in progeny earnings for 2020-more than double the tally of his nearest pursuer Dubawi (Ire)—Galileo duly claimed his 12th sires’ championship in Britain and Ireland, and he is the European champion, with almost £6.4 million in earnings, £777,199 of which was accrued by his top earner, the mighty mare Magical (Ire). It is worth noting that this tally is significantly lower than last year’s haul of just over £16 million owing to drastic prize-money cuts during a Covid-affected racing season. Galileo was also a long way clear by number of black-type winners: 27 in Britain and Ireland, and 32 in total across Europe, which was almost 11% of his runners.

Dubawi Provides World Beater
Darley’s admirable Dubawi (Ire) is used to playing understudy to Galileo but he is a fantastically successful stallion in his own right, and clearly the best in Britain. With an increasing array of promising young sire sons, he is also responsible for the top-rated horse in in the world in 2020: Ghaiyyath (Ire). In his 5-year-old season Ghaiyyath had Enable (GB) and Magical (Ire) behind him respectively when winning the G1 Coral-Eclipse and G1 Juddmonte International, following his front-running romp in the relocated G1 Hurworth Bloodstock Coronation Cup. And Ghaiyyath is of course out of Galileo’s first Classic winner, Nightime (Ire) and thus bred on the same cross as his Kildangan Stud mate Night Of Thunder (Ire), who has made an eye-catching start to his own stallion career.

Dubawi posted 13 stakes winners in Britain and Ireland in 2020 to take second in the table, and with 23 stakes winners overall in Europe, he was third in the European championship behind Siyouni (Fr), who was responsible for Arc winner Sottsass (Fr) and is the champion sire in France. We’ll be looking at the French and German tables in greater depth in Sunday’s edition of TDN.

Dark Angel (Ire) and Kodiac (GB), representing different branches of Ireland’s O’Callaghan family at Yeomanstown Stud and Tally-Ho Stud respectively, are both hugely reliable sources of winners and they were the only two stallions to notch in excess of 150 winners, with Kodiac on 155 and Dark Angel on 152.

The latter finished ahead overall in the table, with his 11 stakes winners headed by the top-class sprinter Battaash (Ire), who was faultless in his three starts in 2020, landing the G1 Coolmore Nunthorpe S. for the second year in a row having started out with victory in the G1 King’s Stand S. He also won Goodwood’s G2 King George S. for the fourth time, beating subsequent Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint heroine Glass Slippers (GB).

Kodiac enjoyed a memorable Royal Ascot in the juvenile division as the sire of Campanelle (Ire) and Nando Parrado (GB), but leading the charge for him in Berkshire was the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. winner Hello Youmzain (Fr), who has now become the first son of Kodiac to retire to stud in France.

A Champions Day To Savour
The redoubtable veteran of the British stallion ranks is Cheveley Park Stud’s Pivotal (GB), whose range is such that he was runner-up to Galileo in the broodmare sires’ table and provided the French champion sire, his son Siyouni. In his own right he was responsible for a British Champions Day Group 1 double via Glen Shiel (GB) and Addeybb (Ire), the latter having also won two Group 1 races in Australia back in the spring while European racing was on lockdown.

Pivotal had only 79 individual runners in Britain and Ireland in 2020 – less than half of most of the sires around him in the top ten list, but he can still more than hold his own and was fifth overall.

Ballylinch Stud’s Lope De Vega (Ire) is a stallion whose popularity stretches across continents and, while his GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Aunt Pearl (Ire) doesn’t count towards his local earnings, he had a Group 1 winner on Irish turf in Keeneland Phoenix S. winner Lucky Vega (Ire). That runner’s stable-mate Cadillac (Ire), winner of the G2 KPMG Champions Juvenile S. for Jessica Harrington, looks another exciting prospect for the 2021 season.

One of the stand-out older fillies of 2020 was Sheikh Hamdan’s Nazeef (GB), winner of the G1 Falmouth S. and G1 Sun Chariot S. on each of Newmarket’s tracks. She was also the headline act for her sire, the Irish National Stud’s Invincible Spirit (Ire), now 24 and joining his half-brother Kodiac on the leaderboard at number seven. He too was represented by a Grade I winner in America when 4-year-old Digital Age (Ire) landed the Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic at Churchill Downs for Chad Brown.

Zoffany (Ire) may struggle for attention against some of his stud-mates at Coolmore but he nevertheless can be relied upon to provide his fair share of smart juveniles. Albigna (Ire) was his Group 1 star in that regard in 2019, and the following season that honour went to the Aidan and Annemarie O’Brien-bred Thunder Moon (Ire), winner of the G1 Goffs Vincent O’Brien National S. for Chantal Regalado-Gonzalez and who helped to boost his sire to the top 10.

King In The Making
The youngest of this group is Juddmonte’s Kingman (GB), whose first crop were four in 2020 and included his first Classic winner, Persian King (Ire). The classiest of his most recent Classic generation was the champion 3-year-old colt Palace Pier (GB), winner of five of his six starts, including the G1 St James’s Palace S. and G1 Prix Jacques le Marois. Kingman posted nine stakes winners in Britain and Ireland, and he was sixth overall in the European table, with 16 black-type winners to his name, including another two Group 1 wins for Persian King in the Moulin and the Ispahan.

Completing the top ten in Britain and Ireland was Gilltown Stud’s Sea The Stars (Ire), sire of the massively popular champion stayer Stradivarius (Ire) among his 18 black-type winners, eight of which came in Britain and Ireland. Fanny Logan (Ire) got the better of the colts in the G2 Hardwicke S., while another of his Royal Ascot winners, Hukum (Ire), could well be a stayer to follow this year.

Galileo’s first two sons in the table appear just outside the top ten. The profile of Australia (GB) was lifted in 2020 by his first Classic winner, Galileo Chrome (Ire), in the St Leger, while farther afield Order Of Australia (Ire) emulated the Breeders’ Cup success of his elder half-sister Iridessa (Ire) (Ruler Of The World {Ire}).

By his own lofty standards, Frankel (GB) had a quieter year in Britain and Ireland, but he was responsible for 11 stakes winners and on the international stage he was represented by G1 Metropolitan H. winner Mirage Dancer (GB) in Australia and GI Asahi Hai Futurity winner Grenadier Guards (Jpn) in Japan.

Global Success
The Irish-based duo of Dandy Man (Ire) and Camelot (GB) were also represented by international Grade/Group 1 winners, with River Boyne (Ire), a son of the former, landing the Frank E. Kilroe Mile in America, and Russian Camelot (Ire) breaking new ground by becoming the first northern hemisphere-bred 3-year-old to win a Classic in Australia with his victory in the South Australia Derby. Camelot’s Australian reputation was further enhanced by the G1 Cox Plate victory of Sir Dragonet (Ire).

Closer to home, Even So (Ire) gave Camelot a domestic Classic victory in the G1 Irish Oaks, and Dandy Man’s daughters Dandalla (Ire) and Happy Romance (Ire) shone brightly. The former landed Group-race wins at Royal Ascot and Newmarket’s July meeting, while Happy Romance beat subsequent G1 Cheveley Park S. Winner Alcohol Free (Ire) when landing the G3 Dick Poole Fillies S.

Also making the top 15 was Showcasing (GB), whose list of sons at stud now stretches to five, the most recent recruit being his top performer of 2020, the G1 Sussex S. winner Mohaather (GB). In fact, Showcasing’s top two runners of the year were both trained in his ‘home’ stable of Whitsbury by Marcus Tregoning for Sheikh Hamdan, with Alkumait (GB) displaying his talent with victory in the G2 Mill Reef S.

It takes a mighty effort to make it into the top 20 stallions in Britain and Ireland with just one crop of runners, but the prolific Mehmas (Ire) achieved just that, finishing in 17th position overall with 46 winners, and 56 across Europe from his 101 runners. His tally smashed Iffraaj’s record of 39 first-crop winners and included G1 Middle Park S. hero Supremacy (Ire) and G2 Gimcrack S winner Minzaal (Ire). There will be more about his explosive season in Saturday’s edition when we review the leading first- and second-crop sires in Europe.

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Sea The Stars Colt Tops Tattersalls Thursday

NEWMARKET, UK-They say that necessity is the mother of invention. The very fact that Tattersalls is contriving to stage the December Sale, while adapting to the strictures of lockdown, attests to that axiom. And so, too, did the fact that the highest bid of the second session was made online–by someone who was actually on site, and could have dived into the ring in an emergency.

That resourceful gentleman proved to be Gerard Lowry of Oneliner Stables, who emerged from the cloak of cyber anonymity after the hammer came down at 170,000gns for a January colt by Sea The Stars (Ire) consigned as lot 718 by Newsells Park Stud.

“It’s a platform that’s there to be used, and it’s nice to see it succeed,” Lowry reasoned. “It’s an interesting tool and it was good to try it out.”

Lowry, in fairness, has never lacked enterprise; nor its close kin, daring. Two years ago, after all, he went as far as 330,000gns for another son of Sea The Stars at this same auction, and returned for Book 1 of the October Sale in 2019 to sell him to Godolphin for a game-changing 725,000gns. Relative to the built-in stud fee, this colt represented a relatively feasible ‘stake.’ He is out of a young Dubawi (Ire) half-sister to three Group 1 winners in Italy.

“Sea The Stars out of a Dubawi mare, he had it on both sides and comes from an outstanding family, with two champions under the second dam,” said Lowry. “He’s a lovely individual, has great movement, and was our top pick of the day so we’re delighted to get him. All going well, and with a bit of luck, he’ll be back for Book 1 next year and try to do us proud.

“Obviously we’re going back to the same well. Understanding the stallion’s stock, knowing his record on the racecourse, seeing what is coming through–that is a massive help. Then there’s the second dam by Barathea, so you are getting Sadler’s Wells over Urban Sea. It stacked up on a lot of fronts. It is a big plus, too, that he has come from such a great farm, and they’ve done a fantastic job with him.”

Julian Dollar of Newsells hoped that the result would encourage breeder Graham Smith-Bernal. “He bought the mare with Jill Lamb here three years ago from Kiltinan,” he explained. “She had a very nice Frankel (GB) who sold well [for 300,000gns as a yearling]; sadly, she then had a beautiful Kingman (GB) who died as a foal. She’s now in foal to New Approach (Ire). Mr. Smith-Brunel is a very nice man, new to the industry: he will race a few, wants to do some breeding as well, and has a few mares boarding with us.”

Lowry also took bronze on the podium for the day’s boldest prices, giving 140,000gns for a typically elegant son of Camelot (GB), sold by Belmont Stud as lot 751. He is out of an Oasis Dream (GB) half-sister to Juliet Foxtrot (GB) (Dansili {GB}), who won a couple of graded stakes and also made the frame three times at Grade I level after export to the U.S.

“The cross works,” Lowry said. “Sir Dragonet (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) won the [G1] Cox Plate and he’s out of a mare by Oasis Dream, who’s a champion broodmare sire. This foal is a good individual from an outstanding Juddmonte family, that of Dancing Brave: he ticked a lot of boxes and was pretty obvious, really. Also there’s the Australian factor coming into Book 1 now: Camelot is now a worldwide stallion.”

The dam, culled by Juddmonte, has duly proved an alert buy at the February Sale here in 2017 by Glenville Bloodstock, for 40,000gns.

A foal sale, of course, is a real test of confidence in the medium-term viability of the commercial market. And business on the second day held up tolerably well, in the circumstances. Understandably, as so often in the pandemic year, the clearance rate was conspicuously strong, with 84% sent to a new home, up from 79% at the equivalent session last year. From a slightly reduced offering (247 lots into the ring, down from 266), turnover slipped 18% to 7,014,800gns from 8,532,700gns. That yielded an average of 33,888gns, down 17% from 40,826gns, while the median slipped to 25,000gns from 33,000gns.

Hyde Backing Saxon Warrior

Among the usual cavalry of new stallions, few appear as eligible as Saxon Warrior (Jpn) to introduce something different into the European breed. The son of Deep Impact (Jpn) will also tick commercial boxes, however, as a Group 1 winner at two and a Classic miler who always travelled so strongly; and, if the development of lot 603 is any kind of guide, he is also making quite a print on his first foals.

Presented by Highclere Stud on behalf of his breeders–Leonidas and Marina Marinopoulos plus partners–he is the third foal of Aktoria (Fr) (Canford Cliffs {Ire}), a young mare who won at listed level in France, and his fifth dam is the remarkable Stilvi (GB) (Derring Do {GB}), a flying filly on the track prior to producing winners of the Irish Derby and Dewhurst S., plus runners-up in both the 1000 and 2000 Guineas.

The colt gained a precious seal of approval in the signature, on a 160,000gns docket, of Timmy Hyde Sr. of Camas Park Stud–whose seasoned eye later picked out a colt by the same sire, lot 747, for 100,000gns. (This one was consigned by Glashare House Stud.)

“Saxon Warrior was a hell of a racehorse,” Hyde said. “One of the best in many years. And this is a lovely individual. We’ll be sending him back to the sales.”

“I’m absolutely delighted for the breeders,” said Lady Carolyn Warren of Highclere. “They have been in the game a long time, and lovely people as well. Our horses live with them, when they go to French stallions, and we sell their yearlings over here. This is a gorgeous horse, with a great temperament, who was very popular down in the yard. And what a lovely example of how lovely Saxon Warrior’s stock are. He’s a real credit to his sire.”

She also stressed the gratitude of the professional community that this vital sale has been staged despite the prevailing restrictions.

“It’s an amazing thing Tattersalls have done, to put on the show,” she said. “It’s amazing that this is happening. We all owe a huge ‘well done’ and ‘thank you’ to Edmond [Mahony] and all the team.”

The Cigars Are On Havana Grey

A rookie with a rather different profile is Havana Grey (GB), sent to market as a straight-down-the-middle conduit of commercial speed. There is no shortage of that around, of course, so Ed Harper of Whitsbury Manor Stud was palpably moved–and quite rightly–to see lot 741, a February colt out of a mare by the farm’s stalwart Compton Place (GB), hit the ball out of the ground with a 130,000gns sale to Harry Sweeney of Paca Paca Farms.

“It is amazing, somebody from Japan wants a horse by the stallion we stand for six grand,” he said. “I did love the foal: I have just stared at him ever since he was born. There’s a slight tinge of sadness, that I suppose I won’t be watching him race here, but I can’t complain at the price. The Havana Greys have gone so well, it’s just fantastic. Everybody has been opening the doors to see them, and they have been going to good homes as well. This market is really tough, if you have the wrong model. But with the right model, you get well paid.”

This colt is certainly bred to land running, the dam having already advertised a Whitsbury stallion through G3 Cornwallis S. winner Good Vibes (GB) (Due Diligence), who had started her busy juvenile campaign at the Craven meeting and kept on running.

“I knew a lot of the really good judges were on this horse, regular clients of mine, whose support I really appreciate,” Harper added. “But I never thought he’d make that.”

Ervine Family Continues To Flourish

A February colt by Kodiac (GB) out of a speedily-bred Iffraaj (GB) mare looked a pretty safe formula for a market like this and lot 610, consigned by Keith Harte for Max Ervine, duly achieved 110,000gns from Tally-Ho Stud. But he also had the benefit of a cosmopolitan update, since the publication of the catalogue, in the recent stakes success at Aqueduct of his juvenile half-sister Illegal Smile (Ire) (Camacho {GB}), who was exported to Wesley Ward as a €35,000 Orby yearling.

Their dam is an unraced half-sister to Ervine’s fast and hardy sprinter Galeota (Ire) (Mujadil)–whose own mother had been retrieved, at the end of her racing career, after selling to Darley Stud as a yearling.

Harte, who sold a 130,000gns Churchill (Ire) colt for Ervine in Book 3 of the October Sale here, paid due credit to a patron who tends primarily to sell yearlings.

“Another great foal from Max’s farm in County Down,” he said. “We are very lucky to have him as a client. He only has five or six mares. He will put the odd foal through, it depends what way the year goes. He had a good yearling sale, but no one knew what way those sales were going to go, so he entered this foal here. He then said, ‘why don’t we just go and see how we get on?’ It has paid off. This is a cracking foal, we had a lot of interest from all the top buyers, and he was bought by the right men who support the stallion well.”

Zoustar In The Ascendant

David Redvers of Tweenhills reckoned he has seldom seen as many vettings in one day at a foal sale as preceded the arrival in the ring of lot 691, a son of the stud’s coveted Australian commuter Zoustar (Aus) from a very brisk Cheveley Park family.

Sure enough, the colt reached 100,000gns before being knocked down to none other than Tattersalls Marketing Director Jimmy George. And within five minutes George was also signing an 82,000gns docket for lot 694, a filly by the same farm’s tragic Roaring Lion. After enduring some amiable teasing from Alastair Pim on the rostrum, George explained that in both cases he was literally holding the phone for insurance broker David Howden, who has been introduced to the game by Redvers.

“David has got himself involved over the past couple of years and is very enthusiastic,” Redvers explained. “He has seen all the foals at the farm and particularly loved those two, who will be kept to race in his own colours. He also bought a number of yearlings–I bought him a beautiful No Nay Never filly. The Zoustar was one of the most popular we’ve ever had at a foal sale, and I had no idea David would be going to that level.”

The Zoustar is out of a Pivotal (GB) half-sister to Group 1 winner Hooray (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) named Bewitchment (GB), who was purchased by Tweenhills at this sale two years ago for 150,000gns. So too, for 125,000gns, was the dam of the Roaring Lion filly: Roedean (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire}), a half-sister to G3 Fred Darling S. winner Maureen (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}).

Howden may be a novice but he’s in step with some of the most astute judges around, judging from the 110,000gns paid by Yeomanstown Stud for another Zoustar colt, presented by Plantation Stud as lot 738. This one gains some extra Australian dash through his dam, an Exceed And Excel (Aus) half-sister to that remarkable racemare Gorella (Fr) (Grape Tree Road {GB}).

“I have seen a lot of Zoustars, they are quite smart,” said Yeomanstown’s David O’Callaghan. “This is a fine big colt. He and the colt out of Bewitchment were the best two for us. We tried to buy the other one, and couldn’t, but fortunately got this one. He’s from a fast family and is a tremendous walker. We will bring him back next year.”

Frankel Spreads The Benefit

On the face of it, even 105,000gns for a Frankel (GB) filly appeared to represent a limited yield, given the Juddmonte champion’s six-figure fee. But lot 704 was one of those rare cases where everyone could be considered a winner.

The filly was acquired in utero when Highflyer gave 200,000gns for her dam Panmolle (GB) (Lawman {Fr}), who is out of a half-sister to Kingman (GB), in the Juddmonte draft here last year. A good portion of that outlay was redeemed, then, by her sale to Philipp Stauffenberg by Mill House Stud on behalf of Wood Farm Stud.

“The last one I bought from their draft cost me just 10,000gns,” Stauffenberg said. “She was by Cable Bay (Ire). She won in England, was stakes-placed in Germany and has now joined my broodmare band. It would be nice to do the same again.”

A Waxing Moon

Consecutive lots offered by New England Stud, acting for Stetchworth and Middle Park Studs, proved to be in warm demand: a Night Of Thunder (Ire) colt [lot 658] raising 95,000gns from Peter & Ross Doyle; and one by Sea The Moon (Ger) fetching 100,000gns as lot 959 from Frannie Woods of Abbeylands Farms.

Both had a notable third dam: in the case of the latter, G1 Prix du Moulin winner and G1 Oaks runner-up All At Sea (Riverman); and, in that of the former, a half-sister to G1 Irish Derby winner Grey Swallow (Ire) (Daylami {Ire}).

“He’s a lovely colt, though we did pay a little more than we were planning,” said Woods of his purchase. “I have a huge amount of time for the sire. Hopefully, his 2-year-old half-brother George Bancroft (GB) (Australia {GB}), who is with Roger Varian, will win next year.”

Sea The Moon scored another striking result towards the end of the session, when an Apr. 24 colt presented by Overbury Stud as lot 743 realized 115,000gns from Grangemore Stud. This really is an impressive stallion, striking that elusive balance between commercial and Classic eligibility. Bravo.

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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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Sea The Stars Leads Aga Khan Roster

Sea The Stars (Ire), whose 14 group race winners in 2020 included Group 1 stars Stradivarius (Ire) and Miss Yoda (Ger), heads the Aga Khan rosters in Ireland and France and will stand once again for €150,000 at Gilltown Stud in 2021. Sea The Stars, whose standouts this year also included Group 2 winners like Fanny Logan (Ire), Terebellum (Ire) and Valia (Fr), is siring 12% stakes winners to runners and 66% winners to runners.

Standing alongside Sea The Stars at Gilltown is his dual Derby winning son Harzand (Ire), who had his first 2-year-olds this year. He will remain at his fee of last year at €8,000.

Heading the Aga Khan’s French stallions at Haras de Bonneval is worldwide sensation Siyouni (Fr), who goes up to €140,000 after two years at €100,000. Siyouni’s seven group winners in 2020 remarkably included four Group 1 winners, headed by Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe scorer Sottsass (Fr) and also including Poule d’Essai des Pouliches victress Dream And Do (Fr), Dewhurst winner St Mark’s Basilica (Fr) and E.P. Taylor S. winner Etoile (Fr).

Standing alongside Siyouni at Bonneval is first-crop yearling sire Zarak (Fr) and Dariyan (Fr), whose first 2-year-olds this year included two black-type performers in France. Zarak and Dariyan, both Group 1 winners, stand at unchanged fees of €12,000 and €8,000, respectively.

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