Bargain Buys – Byrne, Hillen and Harris in Search of More July Sale Riches

If it's bargains you want, look no further than the Tattersalls July Sale, but you will need to be able to think outside the box to secure them. 

Nobody can accuse Edgar Byrne, Stephen Hillen and Milton Harris for rigid thinking, however, as the three men are responsible for unearthing arguably the best value buys at Newmarket in the past few years. 

Just 3,000gns was all it took for Byrne to buy the Godolphin-bred Kitty Marion (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}), who went on to win a group 3 in Germany, while Hillen picked up Zofelle (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), who would go on to achieve a group 3 victory and become group 1 placed in America, for a mere 27,000gns.

Trainer Milton Harris recorded his best ever season over jumps last term by sending out 56 winners, highlighted by Knight Salute (GB) (Sir Percy {GB}), a horse he picked up for just 14,000gns at this sale 12 months ago, bagging the G1 Jewson Anniversary 4-y-o Juvenile Hurdle at Aintree in the spring. 

Put simply, there are bargains to be found at the July Sale this week. However, according to Byrne, not only do you have to spend hours trawling through the catalogue but you also need a heavy helping of luck.

Recalling Kitty Marion at the sales, Byrne said, “She had a lovely pedigree. Her dam is a half-sister to Wootton Bassett (GB) so, even on that basis, I couldn't believe she went through as cheaply as she did.”

He added, “If she never set foot on a racecourse again, she was a winning filly with a nice pedigree and I couldn't believe we got her for 3,000gns. We were prepared to pay a fair bit more for her to be honest. 

“That's the beauty of buying at the July Sale and buying off Godolphin. They have fantastic pedigrees and disperse regularly.”

Despite costing just a shade more than a month's training fees, Kitty Marion belied her basement buy status when landing the G3 Baden-Baden Goldene Peitsche in Germany last season, a win that was made extra special by the fact that the filly was trained by Byrne's close friend Guillermo Arizkorreta.

He explained, “She was bought for the champion trainer in Spain, Guillermo Arizkorreta, who is a great friend of mine. We rode together as amateurs a long time ago and I bought a very good miler, Amedeo Modigliani (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), for him as well so we are always looking. 

“We were extremely lucky to find Kitty Marion for 3,000gns and, at the end of the day, you need a bit of luck sometimes. She was just completely missed by everyone and that's what this industry is all about; getting a rub of the green on a given day.”

Hillen echoed the sentiments of Byrne. The well-known bloodstock agent, who was responsible for buying the sale-topping Saxon Warrior filly consigned by Katie Walsh's Greenhills Farm at this year's Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale, explained how recruiting horses for America is not an exact science. 

In the case of Zofelle, who won just once from seven starts for Hugo Palmer before climbing the ranks in America and achieving Group 1 black type, Hillen was clearly thinking on his feet. 

“I find that if a horse does something once, it's always capable of doing it again,” he said, referring to Zofelle's debut win. “Her form had tailed off a little bit after that but, at the price, I thought she was worth taking a chance on,” he added. 

Zofelle is now worth a multitude of the 27,000gns Hillen paid for her in 2019 with the bloodstock agent explaining that, in recruiting horses for America, it's the lowly-rated horses who can sometimes usurp the bigger buys, depending on how they take to the training.

He explained, “Zofelle just looked like she wanted fast ground. I am good friends with Brendan Walsh and it's great when they turn out that good. You don't expect it when they cost what she did.”

Hillen added, “When you've only won one race, you've loads of options in America, and she obviously got confidence as she progressed through the ranks. 

“Sometimes the real naps don't work out in America. You could have one with listed-placed form and they might not take to the training. 

“Then you could get one rated in the 70s or maybe lower and they take to it. It's hard to predict which ones will take to it and it's a numbers game really.”

Hillen and Byrne will be back for more at Newmarket this week and, so too will Harris, who will be bidding to try and find the next Knight Salute. 

Harris knows that he won't be alone in trying to find the next winner of the Triumph Hurdle but expects to pick up a number of new recruits ahead of the jumps season. 

He said, “I commented a few times last year when I was interviewed after Knight Salute was winning that horses like him provide optimism to people who can't go out and spend big money on horses.”

Harris added, “Mark Adams [agent] and I, we spend weeks on this catalogue. We put together a list of 70 or 80 horses and eliminate them as we go after finding out about them and making some phone calls. That list will be down to about 40 by the time the sale starts and we will try and buy five or six.

“I am really pleased for the racing public that they can see that for 14,000 you can buy a good racehorse. I plan to buy five or six this week with the cheapest being about 10,000gns and the most expensive about 70,000. You've got a chance at the July Sale.”

 

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Regal Glory Goes Gate To Wire In Matriarch Stakes At Del Mar

No one wanted the lead in the Matriarch Stakes so Jose Ortiz and Regal Glory decided to take it all the way to the winner's circle. The 5-year-old mare went gate to wire in the Grade 1 stakes on the final day of the Bing Crosby season at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

The field of six fillies and mares were all group or graded stakes winners, including Princess Grace, who was a last-out third in the G2 Goldikova on the Breeders' Cup undercard Nov. 6 at Del Mar, and Regal Glory, who shipped west from her last-out second-place finish in the First Lady at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky. With no obvious early speed in the race, the field broke evenly, Jose Ortiz taking advantage of the absence of a clear pacesetter to send Regal Glory to the lead by 2 1/2 lengths. Zofelle was second and Viadera third as Regal Glory set fractions of :24.06 and :48.50, controlling the pace around the first turn and down the backstretch.

Into the far turn, Regal Glory held a two-length lead, as Zoffelle and Viadera started their closing moves. The daughter of Animal Kingdom was able to maintain her lead down the stretch, striding out to a three-length lead in the last sixteenth. Zofelle held on for second, with Princess Grace passing Viadera late to take third.

The final time for the one-mile Matriarch was 1:35.33. Find this race's chart here.

Regal Glory paid $5.20, $3.00, and $2.10. Zofelle paid $5.40 and $3.00. Princess Grace paid $2.40.

Bred in Kentucky by the late Paul Pompa, Regal Glory is out of the More Than Ready mare Mary's Follies, a graded stakes winner. She is owned by Peter Brant and trained by Chad Brown, who scores his second stakes win of the day after Juddmonte Farm's Verbal won the G3 Cecil B. DeMille earlier on Sunday's card. Consigned by Lane's End, the 5-year-old mare was sold to White Birch Farm for $925,000 at the January 2021 Keeneland Horses of All Ages Sale. With her win in the G1 Matriarch, Regal Glory has three wins in five starts in 2021, for a lifetime record of 16-9-4-0 and career earnings of $1,244,884.

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Del Mar Prepares For Turf Festival To Close Out Bing Crosby Season

The close of entries and post position draw for Del Mar's Thanksgiving Day card that includes the $100,000 Grade 3 Red Carpet Stakes is set for Satuday afternoon. On Sunday, similar procedures will be conducted for the Friday program with the $250,000 G2 Hollywood Turf Cup at the Del Mar, Calif., racetrack.

So begins the staging process for the four-day, seven-stakes Turf Festival that will wrap up the Bing Crosby Season at the track. And if the seven previous such closing stands of the fall meeting are any indication, the eager anticipation felt by horsemen and fans is more than justified.

A contingent of quality shippers from the east will arrive Monday or Tuesday in numbers that racing secretary David Jerkens expects will be similar to past years from the stables of trainers whose names top, or are highly stationed, on national lists.

Chad Brown has won nine Turf Festival races, with emphasis on the G1 events – Saturday's $400,000 Hollywood Derby and Sunday's $400,000 Matriarch – where he's notched three in each. He's expected to put seven or eight on the westbound plane, among them defending Matriarch champ Viadera. Brown has multiple graded stakes winner Public Sector and Sifting Sands nominated for the Hollywood Derby and Turf Cup nominee Rockemperor stabled at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., and available for the relatively short trip down the freeway.

Michael Stidham's Princess Grace, who shipped in to win the Yellow Ribbon in the summer and returned for a third-place finish as favorite in the G2 Goldikova during Breeders' Cup Week, has remained on the grounds and is nominated for the Matriarch. So has Goldikova runner-up Zofelle for trainer Brendan Walsh.

Trainer H. Graham Motion, who has notched Red Carpet, Jimmy Durante, and Seabiscuit Stakes wins in past Turf Festivals, has a handful of horses on-site and could bring in reinforcements considering his six stakes nominees. Ken McPeek has indicated he will be sending Camp Hope, a winner of two starts in October at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., and Greg Sacco is sending It Can Be Done off a third-place finish, beaten two lengths by Public Sector in the Hill Prince on October 23 at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

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Going Global Gets The Win In Goldikova At Del Mar

On the undercard for Saturday's Breeders' Cup World Championships, Going Global (IRE) angled out from the rail on the far turn to find racing room and surge to victory in the Grade 2 Goldikova Stakes at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

Sitting midpack through six furlongs, Going Global and Flaiven Prat bided their time behind leader Princess Grace through early fractions of :23.22 for the first quarter and :47.55 for the half-mile. Around the final turn, Prat moved his filly out to the outside of Zofelle (IRE) and Princess Grace, and sprinted to the lead midstretch to take the Goldikova by 2 1/2 lengths. Zofelle was second and favorite Princess Grace hung on for third. Abscond, Bodhicitta, Constantia, Ippodamia's Girl, and Glesga Gal rounded out the order of finish.

The final time for the one-mile G2 stakes was 1:34.57. Find this race's chart here.

Going Global paid $7.60, $4.20, and $2.60. Zofelle paid $5.40 and $3.00. Princess Grade paid $2.20.

“We were running well all the way. She was comfortable. When I took her out she showed me a good turn of foot. When she finished she still had something in the tank,” Prat said after the Goldikova.

“I loved the position all the way around. And when Flavien (Prat) swung her outside in the stretch she really hit a great stride. This is a big step up, going against older fillies and mares, and she handled it beautifully,” trainer Phil D'Amato told the Del Mar Press Office after the race.

Bred in Ireland by N. Hartery, Going Global is by Mehmas (IRE) out of the Invasor (ARG) mare Wrood. The 3-year-old filly is owned by CYBT, Michael Dubb, Saul Gervetz, Michael Nentwig, and Ray Pagano. Consigned by The Castlebridge Consignment, Going Global was purchased by Pioneer Racing for $16,987 at the 2019 Goffs Sportsman's Yearling Sale. In 2021, the filly also has victories in the G1 Del Mark Oaks, the G2 Honeymoon, and the G3 Providencia for a record of six wins in seven starts and career earnings of $648.792.

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