Tag: Tattersalls October Yearling Sale

Sea the Stars On Top Again at Tattersalls

NEWMARKET, UK–Sea The Stars (Ire) provided a showstopper on day one and repeated that feat during the second session of Book 2 when Longview Stud's half-sister to the Group 3 winner Feliciana De Vega (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) (lot 1048) was bought by Roger Varian for 700,000gns.

For an unnamed owner already in Varian's Newmarket stable, the chestnut is a son of the dual listed winner Along Came Casey (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire}), who has already been represented by three previous six-figure offspring, including the four-time winner Abnaa (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}).

“We tried for the Sea The Stars colt who topped the sale yesterday,” Varian said. Quite a few horses this week have that real Book 1 quality.

“The stallion can't do much wrong at the moment, the mare was a stakes winner and has bred a very good one already. We had to dig deep to get him, but we are delighted.”

The consistent demand for offspring of the stallions of the calibre of Sea The Stars, Frankel (GB), Night Of Thunder (Ire) and Dark Angel (Ire) has fuelled strong trade since the start of the October Yearling Sale, and if Monday's start to Book 2 was a little hesitant, trade roared back into life on Tuesday. Turnover was up by 26% for one fewer yearling sold on the same day last year, with 23,366,000gns paid for 217 yearlings at a clearance rate that remained steady at 88%. The average was also up by 26% at 107,677gns, while the median rose by 8% to 70,000gns.

Breeder Noel O'Callaghan's Mountarmstrong Stud was responsible for one of the late highlights of the evening when the second foal of his French listed winner Asidious Alexander (Ire) (Windsor Knot {Ire}) was the subject of a bidding tussle between Ben McElroy, Richard Brown and Jamie McCalmont, with the latter coming out on top at 575,000gns for Coolmore.

The colt was yet another expensive yearling by Darley's increasingly popular Night Of Thunder (Ire), whose Book 2 average is currently running at 178,400gns for 20 sold, putting him at the top of the sires' list so far this week.

 

 

Chasemore Colt to Hong Kong

A strapping bay son of Starspangledbanner (Aus) provided another sale-ring highlight for Chasemore Farm when selling for 550,000gns to the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC).

Standing only metres part, the HKJC representative Mick Kinane and Dr. Jim Hay exchanged bids for a time, with Kinane finally having his way for the brother to the Group 3-placed juvenile Breege (GB) and out of a half-sister to one of Starspangledbanner's best runners, The Wow Signal (Ire).

Chasemore's Andrew and Jane Black bought the colt's dam Wowcha (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) as a yearling at Goffs UK and she went on to win as a 3-year-old, before producing two winners with her first two runners, including Breege, who this season has been placed in both the G3 Princess Margaret S. and G3 Prestige S.

Chasemore's manager Jack Conroy said of lot 1008, “The Wow Signal was an unbelievable racehorse and the mare was lovely and scopey so it made a lot of sense to send her to Starspangledbanner. Breege has obviously really helped the pedigree as well.

“[The colt] has been incredibly popular–I've never had so many vettings on a horse, even in Book 1. Sadly we lost the mare last November but she has left us Breege.”

Chasemore sold four horses at Book 1, all for six figures and led by a 750,000gns Kingman (GB) colt out of Wall Of Sound (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}).

Reflecting on the stud's good run, Conroy added, “I'm really proud of the job the team has done last week and this week. Every horse is prepped exactly the same, from Book 1 to Book 3, and we have had a lot of comments on how well they look. We take a lot of pride in that.

“It's an incredibly busy week and our Book 3 horses have just arrived but hopefully we can celebrate on Champions Day. A Group 1 win for [homebred] Brad The Brief would be a nice way to round off the week.”

Starspangledbanner ended up with two yearlings in the day's top eight as nine lots later (lot 1017) came New England Stud's half-sister to the listed winner Mrs Gallagher (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), bred by ORS Bloodstock and Stanley House Stud, who was signed for by Hugo Merry at 340,000gns.

 

 

Suhail Back for a Frankel

In an increasingly familiar refrain, Frankel (GB) also featured prominently on Tuesday's leaderboard, with two of his yearlings occupying spots in the top five.

The top lot for much of the day was lot 853, a colt bred by Andrew Rosen and Edward Easton from September Stars (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire})) and, at 450,000gns, he became the latest yearling to be recruited by agent Richard Brown on behalf of owner Saeed Suhail, the owner of Desert Crown (GB).

“We tried on a load of Frankels last week and didn't get close,” said Brown. “He is an immature horse, he needs a little bit of imagination, but there is a lot of improvement to come, he is a big frame. He will be given plenty of time and hopefully will reward us as a 3-year-old.”

A Book 1 graduate herself, September Stars, a half-sister to Group 3 winner Teodoro (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) and Group 1-placed Altruistic (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) from the Wildenstein family of Arcangues and Aquarelliste (Fr), went on to win at stakes level in California for Patrick Gallagher. Her current 2-year-old, a filly by Kingman (GB), is in training with Roger and Harry Charlton.

Like Watership Down Stud, Fittocks Stud also enjoyed a good week during Book 1, and the Cumani team returned to the limelight on Tuesday when selling a Frankel filly (lot 974) out of a Lawman (Fr) half-sister to the treble Group 1 winner and Japan-based sire Admire Mars (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}). Following a theme from Monday, the filly had her roots in a family which has been well cultivated by Andreas Putsch at Haras de Saint Pair, who bred both her dam Via Lazio (GB) and granddam Via Medici (Ire) (Medicean {GB}).

Michael Donohoe of BBA Ireland saw off both Shadwell and Juddmonte to buy the filly at 425,000gns.

“We bought Via Lazio in 2019 carrying to Zoustar (Aus). She is a young mare and from a great family, and she is in foal to Time Test (GB) with a Sea The Moon (Ger) filly this year,” said Sara Cumani of Fittocks Stud.

“We put the [Frankel] filly in Book 2 because we thought she might be a little bit lost with the great big Frankels in Book 1. We couldn't be happier with that result. She is a real pocket rocket, we wish the new connections the best of luck.”

 

Peter Harris Strikes for Ballyshannon Colt

Peter Harris has seen his colours carried to glory by two juveniles trained by Jane Chapple-Hyam this year and the former trainer and breeder has been reinvesting in some yearlings this week at Tattersalls, including lot 991, a colt by Sea The Stars (Ire) bought from Ballyshannon Stud for 350,000gns. Anthony Stroud signed for the first foal of the G3 Fairy Bridge S. winner Waitingfortheday (Ire) (Elzaam {Aus}), and he had also been responsible for the purchase of Audarya (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), who carried the Harris silks to Group 1 glory in the name of Peter's daughter Alison Swinburn.

Having confirmed that Jane Chapple-Hyam will take charge of the colt, Harris said, “I like first foals because you start with a clean sheet. I always ignore first-season sires as 75% of them are no good, but statistically a mare's first and second foals tend to be better–that's my theory anyway.”

James Hughes of Ballyshannon Stud, who consigned the colt on behalf of breeder Angela Roche, said, “He has gone to a good home, and it is fantastic result for a first foal. The credit has to go to the staff at home: they have reared him and from the feedback we have been getting, we've done okay.”

Hughes purchased the Kildare-based Ballyshannon Stud with his mother Fiona, who died last year. “She would have got a great kick out of this,” he said. “It would have been great to have had her here too.”

 

Ballyhimikin's Beauty

A Ballyhimikin Stud yearling towards the top of the charts is a familiar sight at Tattersalls, and James Hanly's dependable outfit delivered again on Tuesday with lot 930, a colt by Night Of Thunder (Ire), who will go into training with John and Thady Gosden after being bought at 340,000gns by Anthony Stroud. The agent also purchased the colt's full-sister this time last year for the more modest sum of 38,000gns.

“He is a beauty, the sire didn't do any harm either–I should put up a statue of him,” said Hanly, who raced the colt's dam Syndicate (GB) (Dansili {GB}), having bought her through Stroud from Juddmonte as a 3-year-old for 25,000gns.

“The pedigree has really come good since we bought her. My friend John Feane trained her and won with her in England. She showed a lot of ability.”

The mare's two full-brothers, Runnymede (GB) and Stipulate (GB) are both stakes winners, and the further family also includes the G1 Prix Jean Prat winner Mutual Trust (GB) (Cacique {GB}).

 

Smart Fillies Signed Up By Breeders

Big owner-breeders joined the buyers' bench on Tuesday with Cheveley Park Stud, who were “on the hunt for sharper types” going to 320,000gns for lot 862, Tally-Ho Stud's sister to Indestructible (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), who has twice finished runner-up to G1 Dewhurst winner Chaldean (GB), in the G3 Acomb S and G2 Champagne S.

Shadwell paid the same amount for lot 847, a filly by Too Darn Hot (GB) from Newsells Park Stud's signature family of Shastye (GB) (Danehill). The yearling's dam Secret Sense (Shamardal) is a half-sister to the Galileo (Ire) Group 1 winners Japan (GB) and Mogul (GB), and to Group 2 winner Secret Gesture (GB).

“She looks a very tough filly, there is a masculine look about her and plenty of Shamardal,”said Shadwell's Angus Gold. “We are trying to find fillies with pedigrees, she has one of the best pages in the book.”

 

Coolmore Purchase to Kingsclere

Hillwood Stud has had a successful first two days at Book 2, with Tuesday's offerings including a Lope De Vega (Ire) filly sold for 300,000gns to Alex Elliott on behalf of MV Magnier.

“She'll go to Andrew Balding,” the agent confirmed. “The brother is not a bad horse–he won a Newmarket maiden–and the mare was rated 100 and is by Sea The Stars. It's a great staying family, she'll take a bit of time and I'm delighted to get her.”

The dam Yarrow (Ire) emanates from the Ballymacoll Stud family that included 2000 Guineas winner Golan (Ire) and Derby runner-up Tartan Bearer (Ire), and her second foal, the juvenile Tenerife Sunshine (GB), is the Newmarket winner in training with Mark and Charlie Johnston.

 

Pinhookers In Clover

Among several notably good pinhooks during the second session, the brothers David and Tom Brickley of And Erin Stud deserved a gold star to go with their considerable profit made on lot 873. Bought for 50,000gns last year, the Exceed And Excel colt did of course benefit from several striking updates from his half-brother, the 'TDN Rising Star' Sakheer (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), the winner of the G2 Mill Reef S. who is owned by KHK Racing.

Oliver St Lawrence bought the 2-year-old colt at the breeze-ups, and he returned for the yearling, going to 270,000gns on behalf of associates of Fawzi Nass.

“He is an absolute dude of a horse, an absolute dude,” said Tom Brickley. “Sakheer came up, too, and the stars aligned, it is exciting stuff.

“He has been straightforward all the way through and we think he is a champion. Let's hope he's an Ascot 2-year-old for next year–we've never been to Royal Ascot.

The colt, who was bred by Conor and Deirdre Cashman's Drumlin Bloodstock, is out of Shortmile Lady (Arcano), who, along with Sakheer is also responsible for the Group 3 winner Lemista (Raven's Pass).

Barry Mahon and Michael Fitzpatrick also know their stuff when it comes to pinhooking and the Mahon family's Mountain View Stud sold a smart son of Darley freshman Masar (Ire) for 240,000gns to Ed Sackville.

Consigned as lot 925, the son of Sweet Lady Rose (Ire) (Shamardal) was bred by David Botterill and sold as a foal for 32,000gns.

Masar's nine yearlings sold through Book 2 so far have averaged 100,444gns.

 

Havana Grey is Gals' Best Pal

An all-female pinhooking syndicate named The Gals Gals had an excellent first foray into the yearling market, turning their 21,000gns foal into a 150,000gns yearling. Their cause was helped by the fact that the colt was by one of this year's leading first-season sires Havana Grey (GB), but there was plenty of collective experience among the four young women who picked him out at Tattersalls last December and produced him for Book 2.

Led by Kildaragh Stud's Alice Kavanagh, the Gals Gals team consists of Florence Cain, Nicola Short, and Fay Cort, all of whom work in the bloodstock industry in various roles.

“The girls came together last year and we thought about buying a foal together,” said Kavanagh. “We were beaten on a couple, but were successful buying him towards the end of the sale. We are all heavily involved in the industry and wanted to pool our money together and have a go at pinhooking. We have been extremely lucky with how well Havana Grey has done, we couldn't have expected that and it was a pretty risky year to go with a first-season sire. We were incredibly lucky he has done so well and this colt was liked as soon as we got here.”

Cort added, “I think it's going to be a big night. There will be some champagne drunk, but it is well earned.”

The colt (lot 900) is out of Speculating (Ire) (Xtension {Ire}), a half-sister to the hardy Group 3-winning stayer Danehill Kodiac (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), and was bred by Josh Cameron.

“We will have a really nice supper and then think about reinvesting,” noted Kavanagh.

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Night Of Thunder Colt Goes For 575k Gns To MV Magnier and White Birch Farm

Night Of Thunder (Ire)'s progeny proved popular throughout the first two books of Tattersalls, and a chestnut colt (lot 1073) hammered for 575,000gns to Jamie McCalmont on behalf of M V Magnier/White Birch near the end of the session. Offered by breeder Mountarmstrong Stud, he is a son of Listed Prix Six Perfections heroine Asidious Alexander (Ire) (Windsor Knot {Ire}), who is a half-sister to the stakes winner and Group 2-placed Accepted (Ire) (Approve {Ire}). His dam also gained group black type with placed efforts in both the G3 Prix du Calvados and G3 Prix d'Aumale. Grade I winners Exbourne (Explodent), Expelled (Explodent), and Affirmed Success (Affirmed) are under the fourth dam.

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Varian Goes To 700k Gns For Sea The Stars (Ire) Colt

Longview Stud consigned a colt by Sea The Stars (Ire) (lot 1048) during Book 2 on Tuesday, and the chestnut son of dual stakes winner Along Came Casey (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire}) caught the eye of Roger Varian at 700,000gns to take the lead for the session. Also placed three times at Group 3 level, the mare has already produced the G3 Darley S. winner Feliciana De Vega (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}). Bred by Highview Bloodstock, Ltd., the colt's extended family contains GI Beverly D. S. heroine Fire The Groom (Blushing Groom {Fr}), the dam of G1 July Cup and G1 Nunthorpe S. hero and sire Stravinsky (Nureyev).

 

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Stars Align As Windmill Farm Provides a One-Horse Wonder

NEWMARKET, UK–Dubawi (Ire) and Frankel (GB) may occupy the top two spots in the sires' table, but not far behind them, and with Baaeed (GB) still to be unleashed on Champions Day, is Sea The Stars (Ire), who had his own moment in the spotlight at Tattersalls as the sire of the 800,000gns top lot.

A Book 2 record was set in 2019 when the million-guinea barrier was breached for the first time, but Monday's leading light, who was sold less than an hour after the start of trade, was still a long way in excess of last year's top price of 525,000gns.

The only horse in the sale to be offered by Fiona Marner of Windmill Farm, the colt (lot 570) was bred under a foal-share agreement by the Kitcarina Partnership and Sunderland Holdings. The partnership takes its name from the 7-year-old mare Kitcarina (Fr) (Shamardal), a winner at Kempton for Windmill Racing on her first start after she was bought as a 3-year-old from Haras de Saint Pair. The mare's full-sister Kitcara has already produced the treble Group 3 winner Al Aasy (Ire) and the listed-placed Sea Karats (Ire) from matings with Sea The Stars, and further encouragement can be drawn from a pedigree laced with plenty of German black type and containing the stallions Konigstiger (Ger) and Pentire (GB).

Anthony Stroud, in action for other clients along with Godolphin on Monday, confirmed that the colt will enter training with John and Thady Gosden.

“Since her purchase the pedigree has just really developed,” said Fiona Marner, who also divulged that Kitcarina is back in foal to Sea The Stars. “This colt has been so special all along, though I'm not sure we realised he was that nice.

“It is such a team effort, we are just a tiny farm, we only have five young mares. This mare is owned with two very longstanding and loyal partners, Derek James, who is in America–l will call him now and wake him up–and Peter Wollaston.”

As the buyers' bench broadened to include plenty of people who tried and came up short for yearlings from last week's bumper Book 1, the figures recorded during the first of three Book 2 sessions were almost identical to those set last year. Garnering overall turnover of 18,618,000gns from the sale of 209 yearlings (86%), the average of 89,081gns was marginally down from 89,318gns, while the median dropped slightly to 65,000gns (-7%).

 

 

Hot Cross for Classic Dream

The cross that has already produced the Classic winners Adayar (Ire) and Homeless Songs (Ire), and which contains the magic names of Frankel and Dubawi, as seen in effect with the day's second-top lot (lot 787) sold by Genesis Green Stud on behalf of Rabbah Bloodstock. Will Douglass made an attempt from the back stairs, but he had to settle for the role of underbidder as the son of Frankel was knocked down at 700,000gns to an online buyer which later transpired to be Michael Donohoe of BBA Ireland.

The chestnut, out of the Dubawi half-sister to listed winner Hadaatha (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), was originally intended for Book 1 until the decision was taken to delay his sales appearance.

“He was a big horse, and he was always a tall and narrow horse, but with prep he hasn't grown at all but he's [filled out]. He's turned into a Dubawi basically, with a Frankel walk,” said Genesis Green's Michael Swinburn. “And obviously it's a cross that has done so well with a number of Group 1 winners.”

 

 

Another Saint Pair Family to the Fore

A colt by Sea The Moon (Ger) out of Pearly Spirit (Fr) had been a bold pinhook at 110,000gns last year but , as the auctioneers like to say, he “walked into money” as he prowled around the ring at Tattersalls, attracting bids from Anthony Stroud, Joseph O'Brien, Karl Burke and, finally at 410,000gns, from Michel Zerolo.

Sitting in the seats with Jean-Claude Rouget, who will train the colt, Zerolo confirmed that he will race in the colours of Peter Brant's White Birch Farm, which were seen in Grade I-winning action over the weekend aboard Tattersalls graduate In Italian (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Rougir (Fr) (Territories {Ire}). They were of course also carried by the Rouget-trained Prix du Jockey Club and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Sottsass (Fr).

“He's got a fine page and it's a pedigree we know well in France,” said Zerolo of the colt whose unraced dam is a full-sister to recent G1 Matron S. winner Pearls Galore (Fr) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}).

“He comes from a very good family developed by Mr. Putsch, and Sea The Moon is most definitely a serious stallion.”

The shrewd team at Yeomanstown Stud was behind the profitable pinhook for the colt described by the farm's David O'Callaghan as “exceptional”.

He said, “He was a Book 1 horse in Book 2, but that was part of the plan. We always like to put a horse like him into Book 2. He was exceptional: a beautifully balanced horse, bay with black points, a beautiful mover and very correct. I don't think there was a man or woman on the sale ground who did not admire him.”

 

The Son Also Rises

Charlie Vigors may have had to give best to his mother Fiona Marner's top lot, but his Hillwood Stud also featured among the leading lots of the day on two occasions.

Hillwood sold lot 669, a Lope De Vega (Ire) sister to G3 Solario S. runner-up King Vega (GB) for 375,000gns to Paddy Twomey, and lot 644, a colt by Showcasing (GB) out of Megan Lily (Ire) (Dragon Pulse {Ire}), to Anthony Stroud, for 260,000gns.

“We knew they were two nice horses coming here and they vetted out clean and well. Thankfully the market agreed with us,” Vigors said.

The Lope De Vega filly was bred by Fortescue Bloodstock from the Teofilo (Ire) mare Moi Meme (GB), who up until this season has been mated exclusively with the Ballylinch Stud resident, producing some notable results in the process. A listed winner herself and a daughter of the dual Group 3 winner Di Moi Oui (GB) (Warning {GB}), the 10-year-old was bought for €440,000 and her four previous yearlings have all commanded six-figures sums in the sale ring, including the maiden winner King Of Conquest (GB), who was bought by Godolphin for 900,000gns.

Having started life with Andrew Balding, the Group 3-placed King Vega is now at Graham Motion's stable in the US, which is also the country where another of the mare's offspring, Capital Structure (GB), ended up after being bought by Mike Ryan for Klaravich Stables. He recently finished runner-up in the GIII Waya S. at Aqueduct.

Vigors explained, “Fortescue Bloodstock is one of our breeding syndicates that breeds on a commercial basis. The mare has been fantastic for us on the commercial front and has gone on and is delivering on the track. That's a cross that has been working well and she is actually in foal to Night Of Thunder now. It's an exciting family.”

 

New Bay Colt for Derby-Winning Owner

In his days working for the late Duke of Roxburghe, Chris Gillon was no stranger to consigning expensive yearlings at Tattersalls, and now under his own Gillon Bloodstock banner and still operating from Floors Castle, the consignor featured on the top 10 list.

The New Bay colt he prepared on behalf of breeders Joanna and Malcolm Imray was Gillon Bloodstock's sole offering for Book 2, and he will eventually race in some famous silks, having been bought by agent Richard Brown for 325,000gns on behalf of dual Derby-winning owner Saeed Suhail. His most recent victory in the Epsom Classic came just this year with Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), who was also bought by Brown from Book 2 two years ago.

“It's fantastic to do that in only our second year and our first time at Book 2,” said Gillon.

“Joanna and Malcolm Imray are just 10 miles from Floors and sent him to us in February. He has exceeded expectations and has been very popular here. He sold himself–he showed himself off and looked a million dollars. When you look at his page, he has a strong page as well.”

That page for lot 723 includes his Group 3-winning half-brother Psychedelic Funk (GB) (Choisir {Aus}) and the 13-time winner Gale Force Maya (GB), his half-sister by Gale Force Ten (GB), who has won two listed sprints in September since the catalogue was published. Their dam, Parabola (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) was picked up by the Imrays at the July Sale of 2010 for just 4,000gns but died last year, making her New Bay colt her final offspring.

Brown added, “I'm a big fan of the stallion. I think he is going places–any son of Dubawi you have to take very seriously and he is doing it. He is for Saeed Suhail, who is here and will be here all week.”

“We will work out training plans once the week is over. Saeed makes all the decisions with racing manager Bruce Raymond. I am sure any trainer would be delighted to have this horse.”

Brown also issued an update on Desert Crown. He said, “Desert Crown is absolutely fine. He had a bit of hiccup, but he is now out in the paddock and will go back into training in the next couple of weeks. We're all really excited about next year for him.”

 

Grande Result For Whatton Manor

Fresh from selling a 1.5 million gns Dubawi colt to Godolphin during Book 1 on behalf of breeder Andrew Stone, Whatton Manor Stud was back in the limelight on Monday and this time with a homebred. Lot 659, a filly from the first crop of Too Darn Hot (GB), is out of the Oasis Dream (GB) mare Minwah (Ire), who was unraced herself but has already produced a black-type winner in her current 3-year-old, Grande Dame (GB) (Lope de Vega {Ire}).

After watching the filly sell for 230,000gns to Anthony Stroud, Whatton Manor's Ed Player said, “When Grande Dame started doing what she did this year, winning her listed race, we knew we had a good chance, and then when she was third in the Sun Chariot that was a lovely update to come into the sale with.”

He added of Minwah, whose colt by Roaring Lion died as a yearling, but who is now in foal to Ardad (Ire), “The mare has been a little unlucky, but the two who have made the racecourse have been very talented. She is a lovely mare, we bought her here with Larry Stratton for 46,000gns. She's beautiful and luckily she breeds good-looking horses, too.”

 

Dreaming of Manderley, Again

Jonathan Portman makes something of a habit of winning the G3 Cornwallis S. and, having claimed the race for the third time on Friday with Rumstar (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}), he was at Tattersalls on Monday to buy a yearling colt out of one of his previous Cornwallis winners, Mrs Danvers (GB) (Hellvelyn {GB}).

He's a colt by no ordinary sire, either, as Mrs Danvers visited Galileo for each of her first three coverings. Two colts by the late champion sire featured in Monday's session and, mystifyingly, neither reached six-figure prices. They were both bought by shrewd trainers, however, with Mark Johnston going to 57,000gns for the colt out of Just Pretending (lot 556), while Portman is going home with the colt he came to see “for old times' sake”, having bought him from the Manister House Stud draft at 65,000gns.

“I don't like to be seen as being optimistic because then one looks silly when it all goes wrong,” Portman once told TDN on a bleak January day at his Lambourn yard. Nevertheless, Rob Hornby, who partnered Rumstar to victory at Newmarket, let on that the trainer had told him months ago that the colt would win the Cornwallis.

Portman confessed at Tattersalls on Monday, “I did say that, and I also said it about Mrs Danvers when someone tried to buy her after she'd won her maiden at Lingfield. They said, 'I know you've bought her for the Super Sprint but if that goes wrong could you bear us in mind?' And I said 'No, because she's a Cornwallis filly.' Of course we can all look clever when it happens, but it is nice to have a plan, and the pleasure is in the planning.”

Things went rather swimmingly for Mrs Danvers, who was famously a vendor buy-back at £1,000 when offered in the February of her 2-year-old season. She won on debut four months later and then just kept winning, including the Weatherbys Super Sprint, Listed St Hugh's Fillies' S. and the Cornwallis.

Asked about the plans for her son, Portman said, “Cotton wool, I should think. We don't buy expensive horses and I only came up to have a look at him for old times' sake. But he was stuck on 50 grand and I didn't want to see someone buy him for 52 that wasn't me, and then he took off a bit.”

He added, “With that pedigree I'd obviously have preferred him to be a filly, and I do love training fillies. I kept closely in touch with Jessica Harrington who bought his full-sister [Danvers Gold] last year. She was third at the Curragh and she is going to run her again soon, and she really likes her. So that gave me a bit of confidence that it wasn't just a flash in the pan.

“I like going back to families that have looked after me, and if they've been sound and had a good temperament, those are two very key things. I didn't come here expecting to go home with him. I was intending to be a spectator.”

It would seem, however, that the planning has already begun, though this time Portman is eyeing a bigger target than the Cornwallis.

He said, “He's not small but he looks ready to run now–I would like him to be ready to run on May 4, 2024. I want to win the Guineas with him. I'd happily give up the Super Sprint if he could win the Guineas.”

The trainer celebrated his surprise purchase over tea and cakes with Connie and Mark Burton, the breeders of Mrs Danvers, who leased her to the Turf Club for her racing career before selling her privately as a broodmare prospect.

“We're over the moon, we'll be even more frequent visitors to the yard,” said Connie Burton, who still owns Mrs Danvers's dam Rebecca De Winter (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}) as well as a half-sister. “They made us feel so included in all of Mrs Danvers's races and we celebrated alongside them all.”

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