It was an electric second day at Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale with eighteen lots selling for 300,000 guineas or more and a turnover record for a session at this fixture. The turnover, average and median all rose by double digit percentages when compared with this session last year whilst the clearance rate was 88%.
Sea The Stars Colt Tops Second Day at 700,000 Guineas
The top priced lot on the second day of Book 2 of the October Yearling Sale was the son of SEA THE STARS out of the Listed winning ORATORIO mare ALONG CAME CASEY who was knocked down for 700,000 guineas to trainer Roger Varian. The half-brother to the Group 3 Darley Stakes winner FELICIANA DE VEGA was consigned by Eugene Daly’s Longview Stud and secured by Varian despite a determined effort by underbidder Michael Donohoe of BBA Ireland.
Varian said: "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. He is a late summer type, bred for middle distances at three, but you never know how quickly they will come to hand. He was quite a mature horse, although he is quite a big horse, he is quite well grown. He will have a quiet first half of the season and, hopefully, will come into things from August and September. We will see how we go.
"We saw him two or three times, and watched him closely in the ring, he has a lovely way of going. Time will tell how good he is! I thought he is one of the better horses of the week. He is for an existing client, and I did not realise he would cost as much as that but he is a very nice horse," added the trainer, who was on the phone throughout the bidding process.
McCalmont Secures Night Of Thunder Colt for 575,000 Guineas
It was late in the evening when the NIGHT OF THUNDER colt from Noel O’Callaghan’s Mountarmstrong Stud lit up the ring when selling for 575,000 guineas. Agents Anthony Stroud, Ben McElroy and Richard Brown all made bold bids to secure the stunning colt but it was Jamie McCalmont, standing alongside the Coolmore team, who prevailed on behalf of MV Magnier and Peter Brant’s White Birch Farm.
"We thought he was the best colt in the sale and he was the one horse we wanted to buy today, and we've bought him!" said McCalmont.
The colt is out of the WINDSOR KNOT mare ASIDIOUS ALEXANDER, a winner of the Listed Prix Six Perfections and placed in the Group 3 Prix du Calvados and Group 3 Prix d’Aumale. The sale represented the best price achieved by Mountarmstrong at Book 2 of the October Yearling Sale.
Chasemore Farm’s Brother to Breege Sells for 550,000 Guineas
The third highest price on the second day of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale was the son of STARSPANGLEDBANNER from Chasemore Farm who realised 550,000 guineas to the bid of Michael Kinane on behalf of the Hong Kong Jockey Club after a protracted duel with Alex Cole, standing alongside owner Jim Hay.
Jack Conroy, farm manager at the stud, said: "We've had a very nice bunch this year. This colt has come up and done everything right, he is a real man of a horse. He has got a stallion's pedigree. His sister has helped a lot, she was always a lovely physical as well.
"All the right people vetted him. We have never been so busy with vets as with this lad. He passed without scrutiny, and they all turned up and followed him in. We were confident he'd go well, maybe not that well!"
The colt is a full-brother to the Chasemore Farm owned filly BREEGE, who has been placed twice at Group 3 level this season in the Prestige Fillies’ Stakes at Goodwood and the Princess Margaret Stakes at Ascot. His dam WOWCHA is a half-sister to the Group 1 Prix Morny winner THE WOW SIGNAL who is also by STARSPANGLEDBANNER.
Conroy continued: "Starspangledbanner is such a good stallion and the family had worked already with his uncle The Wow Signal and his older sister. He does not demand such a high fee as some stallions, and perhaps really deserves a bit more respect."
The sale represented Chasemore Farms’ second best ever result, only behind the 750,000 guineas realised by their KINGMAN colt out of WALL OF SOUND at last week’s October Book 1 sale.
Derby Winning Team Secure Frankel Colt for 450,000 Guineas
Blandford Bloodstock’s Richard Brown bought this year’s Derby winner DESERT CROWN at Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale two years ago for owner Saeed Suhail and the team will be hoping that history repeats after securing the FRANKEL colt out of the SEA THE STARS mare SEPTEMBER STARS for 450,000 guineas.
"He is a smashing colt, we tried on a load of Frankels last week and did not get close. 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 three-year-old," said Brown.
Consigned by Watership Down Stud and bred by Andrew Rosen and Edward Easton, the colt is out of the Stakes winning mare SEPTEMBER STARS who was bought for her breeders at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale in 2014. She won twice for trainer Ralph Beckett before being transferred Stateside where her three victories for trainer Patrick Gallagher included the Listed Possibly Perfect Stakes.
She is a half-sister to the Group 3 winner TEODORO from the family of the two-time Grade 1 winner ANGARA and the European Champion ARCANGUES.
BBA Ireland Buy Fittocks’ Frankel Filly for 425,000 Guineas
Yearlings by FRANKEL continued to be in great demand at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale with his daughter, out of the LAWMAN mare VIA LAZIO, selling for 425,000 guineas, the top price for a filly today.
Consigned by Luca and Sara Cumani’s Fittocks Stud, the filly was knocked down to BBA Ireland’s Michael Donohoe after he saw off the buying teams from Shadwell Estates and Juddmonte Farms.
Following his purchase, Donohoe said: "Frankel is an outstanding sire, and this is a lovely, sweet filly. She looks racy and is probably a precocious type. She should come to hand early. We will send her to Ireland, get her broken in and decide on a trainer in either England or Ireland. She is for an existing client who has had some luck with the sire before."
VIA LAZIO is out of the Group 3 winner VIA MEDICI and is a half-sister to the Group 1 Hong Kong Mile winner ADMIRE MARS and the Listed winners VIA PISA and VIA FIRENZE. She was purchased by Sara Cumani at the 2019 Tattersalls December Mares Sale for 210,000 guineas.
The Fittocks team offered the FRANKEL filly for sale at last year’s Tattersalls December Foal Sale but elected to hold onto her for another year, a decision that was vindicated.
"She is not the biggest," said Sara Cumani. "We thought she'd change and develop over the year, and be worth keeping for now, which she has and luckily we kept her. Frankel has had an amazing year, and such a strong Book 1. We couldn't be happier with that result. She is a real pocket rocket and we wish the new connections the best of luck."
Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale continues at 10am on Wednesday 12th October with the third and final session.
